Suspended Teacher Speaks at Public Hearing on her Students Get-well Letters to Convicted Cop Killer

Marilyn Zuniga, a third-grade teacher, has been suspended with pay for sending Mumia Abul-Jamal get well letters written by her students.  The board is deciding on what, if any, further action will be taken.  

 

During the meeting that was being held, Ms. Zuniga made a public statement.  In this statement she said:

“Growing up in a predominantly white suburb, attending a majority white school district, my teachers and peers marginalized me as a first generation immigrant, Peruvian-American. The cultural gap between my educators and me caused me to feel disconnected from my school work and learning altogether. It wasn’t until my experience in the classroom my senior year of high school that I realized I could be the teacher I never had.”

 Ok, fair enough.  I hope that every teacher in the country has a passion to help all students learn and to think for themselves.  That is what a teacher should be doing.  The problem is that she is going beyond that mission.  She is putting her viewpoints into the classroom and to the heads of very innocent 8-year-olds.  

Now the problem with the supporters of Mumia is that they never answer the question about why he has never told who the murderer of Officer Faulkner is.  There is no dispute that he was there and witnesses it.  There is no dispute that he had a gun.  There is no dispute that his brother assaulted Officer Faulkner.  There is no dispute that the police arrived on the scene within minutes of the shooting.  There is no dispute that Mumia was shot by the police officer.  He was a very short distance away with a gun shot wound and a weapon when the police arrived.  

Most people want to say he was arrested due to his political beliefs.  The problem is that he was arrested within minutes of the police arriving on the scene.  They didn’t have time to find out about his political beliefs and writings.  Writing that includes talk about “killing pigs”.  For those that may be unclear what that means, it is police officers.  

Anyone that has read my writing over the years knows that I am against the death penalty.  I have no problem with him be taken off death row.  But I certainly don’t think he is some innocent lamb that is being led to slaughter.  

She is entitled to her beliefs, but she isn’t entitled to bring those beliefs into the classroom.  No teacher is.  What really kills me is the people who were at this meeting supporting her.  

“It is teaching children at a tender age one of the most valuable lessons that they need to absorb in order to mature into adults who sympathize with the plight of their fellow human beings,”

It goes on:

“The lesson that was taught through this project is that in order for society to be peaceful and just, we must care about or reach out to those members of society who are most vulnerable, including children, the frail, elderly, the sick and disabled, the poor and, yes, even prisoners.”

What about the family of the dead officer?  Don’t they deserve someone to reach out to them as well?  What about the compassion for the young woman who had to go the hospital in very early hours of the morning to see her husband with a gunshot wound to his face?  A wound that was done at very close range and literally blew most of his head off.  Where is the compassion for a woman who didn’t have her happily ever after simply because her husband was doing his job?  A car was driving down the wrong way on a one-way street so he pulled it over.  He didn’t pull that car over because the driver was black.  He pulled it over because is was posing a safety hazard and violated the law.  She has lived her life without the man she loved enough to marry and pledge the rest of her life to.  

“We are here tonight because Marylin Zuniga is our hero,” Larry Hamm, chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress, said to the board members. “We ask that you restore her to her job and let her continue to teach the compassion that our children need to learn.”

Sorry to tell you Mr. Hamm, that isn’t her job.  Teaching compassion is the job of the parent.  Her job is to teach children how to think for themselves, not what to think.  Did she go over the evidence of the case?  Did she tell these students that this man has had two trials and numerous hearings and the best the defense can come up with is that it was a racist police force that sent an innocent man to jail because he was black and a political activist?  If not, that isn’t compassion, that is indoctrination.  There are two sides to this story.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I think this way beyond what a third-grader should be taught in a classroom.  But the point is still the same.  

Yes Ms. Zuniga should lose her job.  She wasn’t doing her job.  She was making political points in a classroom.  That is a job of an activist, not an educator.  She should lose her job the same way the teacher who went an anti-Obama rant should lose hers.  You are not there to push your point of view.  You are there to help them develop their own point of view.  

If you have any doubts that she is an activist her tweet that caused this uproar says it all:

Just dropped off these letters to comrade Johanna Fernandez. My 3rd graders wrote to Mumia to lift up his spirits as he is ill. #freemumia

Comrade?  Oh yeah, she doesn’t have an agenda.   

The part I think I like best about this whole thing is this:

“In April, I mentioned to my students that Mumia was very ill and they told me they would like to write ‘get well’ letters to Mumia,”

That’s right, lets throw the eight-year-olds under the bus.  

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When Does Your Job as Parent End? New Jersey Teen Suing for Parents to Pay College Tuition

Rachel Canning, an 18-year-old senior in a private Catholic high school has filed suit in Superior Court in New Jersey to pay back bills on her high school tuition and to give her access to her college fund.  Rachel turned 18 last fall.  After her 18th birthday she moved in with the family of her best friend (whose father happens to be an attorney who is funding this lawsuit).  She has been attending school since that time and is an honor student.

Her parents claim that she wasn’t following the rules of the household.  They say she wasn’t doing her chores, wasn’t coming home by her set curfew, was disrespectful, didn’t treat her sisters very well, and there seems to be an issue with a boyfriend that her parents don’t particularly care for.  They believe he is a “bad influence”.

Sean Canning said that a DCP&P representative visited his home for about three hours last fall, found nothing amiss, determined that Rachel was “spoiled” and discontinued the investigation. He said that he and his wife are beside themselves that discord with their daughter has reached this level.

Attorney Laurie Rush-Masuret, who represents the parents, said in court papers that Rachel emancipated herself and removed herself from her parent’s “sphere of influence” by voluntarily moving out of their house “as she did not want to abide by her parents’ rules….”

Rush-Masuret and Sean Canning said that Rachel was seeing a therapist long before moving out and is supposed to take medication. The parents contend she had disciplinary problems at school last term, was suspended twice, ignored her curfew at home and bullied her younger sister.

This in many ways boils down to our house, our rules.  Virtually every young adult has heard that coming from at least one of their parents.  But how far does the responsibility of parenting go once the child has turned of legal age?  She is still in high school so it does seem fair to me that her parents pay the back tuition of the school they had her enrolled in before this incident took place.  That seem very reasonable to me.  But she kind of loses me when it comes to the college education.

No parent should be forced to pay for a college education.  Has that become a “right” now as well?  My parents didn’t pay for mine.  My mother was from a generation that believed that girls didn’t need to go to college.  She has since realized that is not true in the world we live in today, but when I was in high school and college, she firmly believed that.  Should I have taken her to court to try to get money?  That seems more than just a little absurd to me.

We don’t know the details of what happened.  This is going to come down to the parents word against hers.  I am sure they will both be able to find witnesses that can testify to their version of the story.  It then leaves a judge to decide is it really the parents responsibility to support an adult while they are in college if they don’t want to?

It seems that New Jersey law may be on her side:

The mere fact that a child has turned 18 is not an automatic reason to stop financial support, according to Helfand and several longtime family attorneys in Morris County. A key court decision in the state specifies that, “A child’s admittance and attendance at college will overcome the rebuttable presumption that a child may be emancipated at age 18.”

Prominent family-law attorneys Sheldon Simon and William Laufer both called the lawsuit highly unusual and Laufer said he has seen nothing like it in 40 years of practice.

“A child is not emancipated until they’re on their own,” Simon said. “Even if a child and the parents don’t get along, that doesn’t relieve the parents of their responsibility.” Laufer noted that under New Jersey law, a child can still be declared nonemancipated even if there is a hiatus between high school graduation and college.

So let me get this straight, a child turns 18, the legal age of adulthood in this country, finishes high school, hangs out for a year or two doing heavens knows what, decides to go back to college and then should be expected to remain a child and stay the financial responsibility of the parent?  Got it.

Is it any wonder that people today are leaning more and more to nanny state government?  Now it could be that this law was designed for purposes of getting student loans.  If the child is still dependent on the parent for financial support, then the parents income is what grants and loans for college is based upon.  Most will likely receive more aid if they are nonemanicpated.  But in any case, it is still telling an adult that someone else is responsible for your life, your finances, and your choices.  I have no problem saying that to a parent who is under the age of 18 or still in high school.  But when do we draw the line, legally speaking?

A parent that has a child that they feel is disrespectful and acting like a spoiled brat may have very good reason for saying hey honey, you are on your own.  You made these decisions now you live with the consequences of them.  The parents in this case have kept the car that they bought for their daughter.  They also say that they have done nothing with the college fund that they had set up for her and that she will have access to it.

It will be very interesting to see how this case plays out.  Ms. Rachel should consider herself very lucky that I won’t be making this decision for her.  Her parents don’t owe her that college fund.  They did that because they wanted to, not because they “had” to.  It isn’t the responsibility of the parent to pay for a college education.  If they want to and can help that is wonderful, but it certainly isn’t something that is a “right” or should be forced by the rule of law.  The parents should pay the remaining tuition of her high school education.  After that, their job is done.  A college education can be had when the parents don’t pay for it, I am living proof of that.

Reason 34,294 to HomeSchool

Read the second paragraph and look at the grade.  I understand that teachers have time restraints but Oh My Gosh.

H/T to The MetaPicture

Middle School Children Assigned a Writing Assignment – Write a Good-Bye Letter to One Loved One from Twin Towers on 9/11

A middle school teacher asked the students to pretend that they were on one of the hi-jacked planes or in the Twin Towers on 9/11 and to write one letter to say good-bye as a homework assignment to mark the anniversary of 9/11.   These kids are in the seventh grade, that would roughly put them about 11 or 12.  9/11 happened before most of these children were born.

There is an uproar about the assignment.  Many feel that this is very inappropriate and outright ghoulish.  I happen to disagree.  I think this is a good assignment.  One of the things that I feel is vital in education is teaching how to think, not what to think.  This is a way to bring the finality of that tragic event to the people who were killed that day.  As a person who is lets just say older than these kids, I remember clearly that day.  I remember hearing the recordings of calls made from inside the building as well as the planes.  Betty Ong calling the airline emergency number talking about the hijackers and how low the plane was flying.  Simply heartbreaking.  Or the calls from flight 93, ending with “Lets Roll” as the passengers tried to stop the plane from hitting another building, likely the U.S. Capitol or an attempt at the White House.  Simply heroic.

I also believe that empathy is sincerely lacking in our society today.  We don’t put as much value on human life as we should.  I think this teaches these kids to think about that.  To look at their loved ones and come to the realization that on that day, thousands of people knew they were never going to see those people again.  One of the most indelible images of 9/11 are those of the jumpers.  Imagine what those people were thinking while falling to their deaths.

Now, I have spent the majority of my life living outside of NYC and Washington D.C., so 9/11 is very personal to me.  I know people who were first responders, who made it out of those buildings, and sadly I knew someone who died, and I know others who lost a close loved one that fateful day.  But, these kids don’t have that connection.  This assignment may help bring those feelings alive to these students.  The further we get away from that day, the harder it will be to really understand what happened and the shock that people in this country felt.

Again, since I have lived in the areas most directly affected by that day, I look at from that perspective.  These are children from Texas.  Now, as strange as this sounds, I remember having a conversation with a work colleague shortly after the event.  He worked in outside of Las Vegas, and I remember him saying something all the lines of he could only imagine how hard it was for people like me who lived in the D.C. area.  His connection to the event wasn’t what mine was.  I found it to be an odd comment at the time and obviously it really struck me since I remember that conversation all these years later.

Not all parents are upset about this assignment.  One mother read the letter after her daughter went to bed.  The letter was addressed to her.  She said that she cried and cried after reading it and brought her daughter into her bed to sleep with her that night.  Her words “mission accomplished”.

I don’t think this would be assignment that would go over well in the New York City area as it way too fresh for most of the people who live in this area.  The museum isn’t open, the new tower is not yet finished, New Yorker’s still live with the idea that being in that city automatically puts a target on their backs.  But do people who live in smaller towns in more rural areas think about that in the same way?  I don’t think that they do.  So trying to get that to come alive for younger students in those areas must be a very difficult task.  I think this teacher did that.  These children had to really think about what it would be like to be in a building that was on fire from jet fuel knowing that they were never going home again.  They were never going to see their loved ones again.  Of course you can never fully accomplish that, but it at least got them thinking about it.

That is what I expect from teachers, get these kids to think.  Not what they should be thinking.

Michelle Obama’s Message to the Black Community – Education Is Not “Acting White”

It is rare, but I happen to agree with Michelle Obama on something.  Over the weekend she gave a commencement speech at a historically black college and during this speech she said:

“reject the slander that a black child with a book is trying to act white.”

There was a time in my life that I wouldn’t believe that this was so widespread of a belief in the black community.  But that naiveté is long gone.  I have done some volunteer work with the scholarship program in Washington, D.C..  It is basically a voucher program that allows low-income families to apply for money to be used at the school of their choice.  The forms can be a little overwhelming, so I would help parents fill out the forms for the application.  I also did outreach to get as many as possible to apply.  During this outreach I got a little education of my own.  This is a common theme among the inner city blacks, at least in D.C..  I heard this mantra over and over again.   I also heard far too often that learning how to fight wouldn’t happen in those “white schools”.  Sadly, that is true story.

What exactly is “acting white” supposed to mean anyway?  Why would getting an education that can lift your child out of poverty and a life of low earning jobs a bad thing?  Every one of the parents I spoke with were living in low-income, high crime areas of The District.  They have lived the life of not having enough money to get their children into a neighborhood that would provide them a better school and reduce the amount of violence around them.  I went into doing this work thinking every parent would jump at the chance to get some help for their child. Wrong.

Education is an issue that I feel very strongly about.  Every child in this country deserves a quality education; regardless of the income of their parents.  Sadly, when you are living in low-income areas, the public schools are failing your children.  A lack of a good education leads to all kinds of social ills throughout your life and in many instances leads to a life dependent on government subsidies just to survive.  It also costs the taxpayers a great deal of money when you start looking at the rates of incarceration among people who don’t finish high school.  They are far less likely to add to the economy; actually they become a drain to tax payers.  From a human point of view it is a difficult life to lead.

It has also been shown that pay disparities between blacks and whites disappear within one generation.  A black person who finishes two-year of college will have children that makes just as much as their white counterparts.  This is among one of the chief complaints among “civil rights” leaders.  Well, here is a your solution.  Yet, this is something that is rarely, if ever, spoken about by these race hustlers.  They just talk about all that is wrong, but rarely every talk about the ‘unspeakable”.  The apathy in the black community that has haunted far too many and allows generation after generation to live a life of poverty need to hear this message.  You can lift yourself and your family out of poverty by getting yourself an education.

She went on:

“Today, more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, more than 50 years after the end of ‘separate but equal,’ when it comes to getting an education, too many of our young people just can’t be bothered,” she said.

“Today, instead of walking miles every day to school, they’re sitting on couches for hours, playing video games, watching TV. Instead of dreaming of being a teacher or a lawyer or a business leader, they’re fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper,” Obama kept going. “Right now, one in three African American students are dropping out of high school, only one in five African Americans between the ages of 25 and 29 has gotten a college degree.”

This is something that the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don’t understand.  They continue to hold onto the belief that somehow only access to the same public schools that whites go to is enough.  The evidence that clearly isn’t true sadly is the many inner city black youths who are being robbed of a decent education.  This is demonstrated quite clearly when the NAACP sued the City of New York to keep the worst performing school in the country open.  That incident also clearly demonstrated how hypocritical they truly are about the issue.  The lawyer for the NAACP that filed the lawsuit sends her daughter to boarding school in New Hampshire.  If you are stunned by that, you really shouldn’t be.  It is par for the course.  Education for me, but not for thee seems to be mantra of the race hustlers that have money.  Letting those poor kids stay in the under performing schools is perfectly fine, as long as it isn’t their children.

I have waited four long years for the Obama family to make these type of statements.  While I truly believe that singling out people by race is a bad thing, I also truly believe that with the type of platform that they have it is a crying shame that they have not used it more effectively to reach those in the black community.  Simply being president and first lady isn’t enough.  The message must be that you too, with an education, can accomplish what we have accomplished.  You too can make it to Harvard and Princeton if you work hard.  You too can lift your families to greater heights.  I also feel that they need to talk about the family dinner table and the importance of fathers in the home and being around to raise your children.  While I have heard it from him, it isn’t nearly often enough.  Every study shows that having a father around increases grades, decreases drug use, and makes the possibility of that child growing up in poverty that much less.  In fact, the percentage that lift themselves out of poverty is more than 70% when three simple things are done, finishing high school, not marrying before the age of 21, and not having children out-of-wedlock.  This study was also confirmed by a left leaning think tank that tried to prove it wrong.

I will always give credit where credit is due.  I want to hear more of this from Michelle Obama.  I also would like other leaders in the black community to follow her lead.  Lets talk about some of the uncomfortable truths, that sometimes blacks are their own worst enemies.  Believing that getting an education is “white” then getting ahead will be nearly impossible.  The choice is yours black community, the choice is yours.

Extreme Parenting Part 10

It seems to me he really needs to be in school.

And Liberals Don’t Understand Why Conservatives Don’t Trust the Educational System

Exhibit A.

This is a page from a college text book:

University Answers To Protecting Yourself against a Gunman

These are just great.

• Wichita State University counsels students in the following manner: “If the person(s) is causing death or serious physical injury to others and you are unable to run or hide you may choose to be compliant, play dead, or fight for your life.”
• The University of Miami guidelines suggest that when all else fails, students should act “as aggressively as possible” against a shooter. The guidelines, taken from a Department of Homeland Security directive, also recommend “throwing items and improvising weapons,” as well as “yelling.”
• Otterbein University, in Ohio, tells students to “breathe to manage your fear” and informs them, “You may have to take the offensive if the shooter(s) enter your area. Gather weapons (pens, pencils, books, chairs, etc.) and mentally prepare your attack.”
• West Virginia University advises students that if the situation is dire, they should “act with physical aggression and throw items at the active shooter.” These items could include “student desks, keys, shoes, belts, books, cell phones, iPods, book bags, laptops, pens, pencils, etc.”
• The University of Colorado at Boulder’s guidelines state, “You and classmates or friends may find yourselves in a situation where the shooter will accost you. If such an event occurs, quickly develop a plan to attack the shooter … Consider a plan to tackle the shooter, take away his weapon, and hold him until police arrive.”

Seriously, throw a pencil at a gunman?  What exactly is that supposed to accomplish?

There are no easy answers, but to tell someone that using a pencil against a gunman is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard.

Quote of the Day – Michelle Obama Edition Part 7

“It is absolutely critical because we know how important it is for our children’s development.  We all know.  Every one of us who are here in this room will do whatever it takes to make sure that our own kids get access to sports and music and arts and recreation.  So if it’s good enough for our kids, it’s good enough for all of our kids, right?”

First Lady Michelle Obama

It is a real shame that she doesn’t feel that other students in Washington, DC have access to the same school her children do.  Her children have never stepped foot in a public school.  What a shame that her husband is doing everything possible to rid D.C. of the voucher program that could allow low income children to the same high quality education Malia and Sasha are getting.

You Have a Headache? Too Bad. Oh, You Need Morning After Pill, No Problem. – NYC City Schools Give out Plan B Without Parental Consent

As unbelievable as this sounds, it is true.  If you a high school student in New York City you will be given nothing to help you with a headache, but you can be given the morning after pill.  Your daughter can also get an injection of birth control that will last for three months.  New York City also does hand out free condoms as well.

Birth control pills can cause hypertension and stroke.  Are these girls being given a full exam before these are administered?  Are they being monitored by an actual doctor?

About 28 percent of city students entering ninth grade have already had sex, and more than half are sexually active before completing high school, according to city data.

My heart just breaks for these girls.  I remember when I was that age I knew only girl who was sexually active and nearly everyone had a name for her.   I was 13 when I started high school.  It is heartbreaking to me that girls that young are already engaging in an activity that they do not have the maturity to understand.  They are looking for love in all the wrong places.

One teacher says:

Teacher Rosa Chavez applauded CATCH, saying she had two pregnant students last year. Getting knocked up, she said, “is not cool and not accepted among peers.”

But Chavez worries that giving girls Plan B emergency contraception might encourage careless sex.

Gee, ya think?  Of course it gives girls the idea that they don’t have to be responsible for their actions, someone else will help them take care of it later.

“We can’t give out a Tylenol without a doctor’ s order,” said a school staffer. “Why should we give out hormonal preparations with far more serious possible side effects, such as blood clots and hypertension?”

Here we are America, the public school system has decided that they can give your children hormones without your consent.  While they do offer an opt-out plan:

But sophomore Annette Palacios, 15, outside the school with her mom, said parents should give consent in case their children are “allergic” to the drugs.

“Girls shouldn’t be sexually active at that age,” she added.

Her mom, Pania, complained that she got no opt-out letter — and does not want Annette to secretly get Plan B or birth-control pills from the nurse.

You want your food cooked with salt?  Nope.  You want to eat something that contains trans fats?  Nope.  You want a Big Gulp?  Forgetaboutit.  Birth control and Plan B pills without parental consent?  Perfectly acceptable.

It is a brave new world, America.

Quote of the Day – Joe Biden Edition Part 3

“You chose to be teachers because you know every child is entitled to do as well as they can”

Vice President Biden speaking to educators today at the annual convention of the NEA.  It is too bad that NEA doesn’t agree with his sentiment.  Remember this?

Or how about this:

“I will begin to care about the quality of children’s education in this country when they start paying union dues.”

Albert Shanker, former president of American Federation of Teachers.

I don’t understand why the rank and file teacher who does want nothing more than to give the kids a quality education allow themselves to be represented by these people.

The March Towards School Choice Continues

Since this is Mother’s Day and there is nothing in the world more important to any mother than the well-being of her child, I wanted to share with you Juan Williams’ keynote speech about school choice to the American Federation for Children in New Jersey.

Choice is becoming more and more mainstream.  We are seeing people on both sides of the political spectrum come together because our desire for our children to receive a quality education is not partisan.

School Choice is a battle we must not only fight, but we must win.  The sad state of affairs that has become our public school system is quickly becoming an issue of national security and our economic well-being depends on preparing the next generation to lead our country.

Williams also has produced a documentary on the topic as well; Two Missions.  They are long, but well worth the watch.

We must find a way to put partisanship aside and deal with the very real issue that we are failing our children when it comes to getting them an education and give power back to the parents to make the best decision for their children.

Here is a shorter version of his documentary:

If you are not interesting in spending the time to watch that, here he is discussing the documentary:

 

 

 

The Tide is Turning on School Choice

During my career, I met with thousands of parents. I have never met a parent who did not want for his or her child what I wanted for my own sons and now my grandchildren, a quality public school education. In fact, I have met far too many parents in neighborhoods with failing schools who lacked the financial resources for private school, the political connections for magnet schools, or the luck of winning the lottery for a charter school. (Philadelphia has more than 30,000 children on charter-school waiting lists.) Providing these captive parents with broad school-choice options is the only chance to improve public schools as a whole. Expanding charter schools and passing school-voucher legislation, as being voted on right now in Harrisburg, will end the public school monopoly that has failed low-income neighborhoods. Allowing parents to vote with their feet and letting some education funding to follow children to new schools is the drastic measure necessary for improving the public-education system. The more choices parents have, the better education their children will receive

This is part of an OP-ED written by Arlene Ackerman, former teacher, administrator, and chancellor of the public school system in Philadelphia.

Rahm Emanuel Now in the Crosshairs – Closing of Under Performing Public Schools Raises the Hackles of Jesse Jackson

Rahm Emanuel is about to experience for himself that the racebaiters of the world don’t care about your politics.  He is planning on closing 17 poorly performing public schools.  Not something that is sitting well with the likes of Jesse Jackson.

“I cannot wait another year and allow a child to be caught in a school system that, for five years running, has been on the watch list or the troubled list with no prospect of getting off of it. … Nothing to me is worse in the sense of discrimination than leaving kids in a system that, year-in-and-year-out, has been scored as failing.”

Not that you are apt to hear me say this often, but he is right.  These schools need to be closed and these kids have the right to get a better quality education.  Jackson on the other hand is calling it:

“educational apartheid,”

No, Mr. Jackson apartheid is keeping these black children in a failing school that gives them little to chance of becoming a productive adult.  It would be apartheid to keep them there.  Jackson is under the impression that just spending more money will solve the problems.  Chicago spends more money per pupil then they do for the students in the public school system where I live.  We have a 90% on time graduation rate and almost 92% rate of students going onto a post-secondary education.  The problems go beyond money.

Someone actually took the time to write down the costs associated with the low graduation rates for the city of Chicago (which is just above 50%) and the results of what it costs the community are staggering:

15% of high school dropouts were in the jail system in the year 2010-2011 overall and rise to 25% for blacks.  More than 50% of the prison population in Illinois are high school dropouts.

Nearly 48% of 18 to 64-year-old high-school dropouts in Chicago did not work even one week last year. The statewide number, 42%, is not much better and is four times higher than the figure of those with bachelor’s or higher degrees.

If those numbers are not enough:

The study, based on U.S. Census data, suggests that dropouts nationally will be a net drain on the government, collecting an average of $70,850 more in benefits like food stamps in their lifetimes than they’ll pay in taxes. In comparison, the typical high-school grad will make a net positive contribution of $236,060.

About 33% of dropouts will collect food stamps, twice the share of graduates, and fewer than half will own a home. And such bleak figures tend to be passed down to their children.

“Children living in families headed by high-school dropouts face a substantially above average probability of encountering cognitive, health, housing adequacy and nutrition problems that will limit their future, their chances of securing a bachelor’s degree by their mid-20s are close to zero.”

Now, I don’t believe that every person should go to college.  Some people are not cut out for it and they would prefer to do jobs that don’t require a college degree.  But they will still usually need some sort of training or education in order to find a job that will allow them to live above the poverty line.  While that is not true in all cases, it is true in many.

So it seems that Jesse Jackson would prefer that these kids just stay in these schools, increase the odds of them dropping out and have a much harder time leading lives that will bring more financially security to them.   He plans on filing a lawsuit to stop the closing of these schools.

There are no words for the stupidity of what Jesse Jackson is doing.  People need to wake up and realize that the likes of Jesse Jackson has lost all relevance and his ideas of what constitutes fairness not only are outdated but dangerous to the community that he says he is trying to help.

This report details the costs to society as a whole in just one state.  multiply this by 50% and it is not hard to see why we are broke.  Our broken educational system is not just drain on us financially, it is becoming a national security issue.  It was just 40 years ago that we had the highest rates of high school and college graduates in the world.  We now rank at 21st.  That is how far we have fallen is such a short time.

Again, you not likely to see this again real soon – Kudos to Mayor Emanuel for having the courage to take on the unions and Jesse Jackson to do what is right for children instead of what is easy.

Yet Another Feel Good Gov’t Program Going Awry – Free Breakfast Increases Obesity in School Children

We have heard a great deal about the obesity levels of young children in this country.  I agree they are startlingly high.  But the answers that the government has come up with don’t seem to be working.  Who would have seen that coming?  

Turns out that the free breakfast that is being offered to low-income children is actually increasing the levels of overweight children.  It seems that these parents are not as irresponsible as the government has thought that they were and the vast majority of these kids are now eating two breakfasts every morning, which of course increases their caloric intake for the day. 

 

Nearly half of New York’s elementary and middle-school students are overweight or obese, according to a public health official quoted in the news story. Thus the concern in expanding a free meal program created for malnourished kids from poor families that can’t afford food. Parents from low-income New York schools who were interviewed for the piece expressed concern that their kids were getting breakfast in class because they eat at home every morning.

One mother said she actually reduced what her five-year-old eats at home because he has a second breakfast at school. This obviously creates doubts about the need for this taxpayer-funded meal program. Uncle Sam is already feeding a record 45 million people via food stamps and the number is quickly growing, according to the most recent government figures.

It also turns out that many of the school systems in lower-income areas are completely skipping the cafeteria and feeding the breakfast right in the classroom.  To remove the stigma.  So we are feeding children who are not even necessarily low-income, because they don’t anyone to feel bad so every child receives a free meal and the number of these free meals in the morning has more than tripled in school districts like Chicago.  

Wouldn’t the money we are spending on this program be more effectively used to improve the education that kids are receiving?  The drop out rate in the city of Chicago was 55.7% in 2008.  Well above the national average of 30%.  Other major metropolitan areas don’t fare much better.  In the city of Detroit kids are going without school books in schools that are falling down. 

We need to look at how we are spending our educational dollars and realize that the main goal is educate our children and we are failing big time in giving the next generation the tools that they need in order to thrive in a competitive world.  We continue to lower standards; instead of raising our children up we are letting them down and continue with the dumbing down our kids.  

…the mathematics components of the Common Core State Standards Initiative are a bitter disappointment. In terms of their limited vision of math education, the pedestrian framework chosen to organize the standards, and the incoherent nature of the standards for mathematical practice in particular, I don’t see how these take us forward in any way.

Says Grant Wiggins, curriculum expert.   

But hey, at least they are getting fatter.  

Cry Me a River – Michigan Teacher Upset She Can’t Retire at 47 with Full Benefits

Yes, you read that correctly.  Terri List, a teacher in Michigan, is upset that with the new law in place she can’t retire at the age of 47 with full health benefits.  She is so upset that is ready to advise her students not to become a teacher in the state of Michigan.  You see they have to start putting in 5% of their annual income (her current salary range is between $70-80K per year).  She is being asked to contribute approx. $3750 per year over her career so that she will get full health benefits for life.  Something that very few people receive anymore.  Only the chosen few.

She can actually retire in two years at the age of 47 and get $60K per year in retirement pay.  She would also be free to get herself another job that gives health benefits if she doesn’t want to pay for them herself.  Which at $60K she should be able to afford.  In order for her to qualify for free health benefits for life she will have to stay at her current job until the age of 60.  Her pay scale would be expected to reach $90K per year by that point.  Which of course will also increase her yearly retirement pay, it increases at 3% per year.  Which would give her an additional $39,000 per year.

“By the time I’m 60, I would have put in 43 years of service, earning a salary at the top of the pay scale. How does that save the district money? You could hire two people for the cost of one and encourage young people to join the profession. Right now, I would not recommend to my pupils to become a teacher in Michigan.”

Boy, they start them young in Michigan.  She starting teaching at the age of 17?  I sincerely hope Ms. List isn’t a math teacher.

“Wow. They have reached the politicians’ level of entitlement, she thinks she is entitled to retire at 47? Holy smokes. I don’t know what more to say to that. A government employee thinking that 47 is a reasonable expectation to retire shows just how deep inside their own bubble they live, insulated from the real world.”

Leon Drolet, Chairman of Michigan Taxpayers Alliance.

A sinkhole of funds and expectations good ol’…

A sinkhole of funds and expectations, good ol’ public schools. From my local paper, the Colorado Springs Gazette, a summary of the poor math performance among high schoolers:

But in the six largest districts in El Paso County — Colorado Springs School District 11, Academy School District 20, Falcon School District 49, Harrison School District 2, Widefield School District 3, and Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8 — fewer than 50 percent of 10th graders scored proficient or advanced in math. Over the last five years scores have remained flat, indicating schools haven’t found the silver bullet. 

The humor lies in the end, where local districts detail the efforts being made to improve scores. In D-2, a fifth of 10th graders scored proficient or advanced in math: 21%. The plan to help won’t:

This year they rolled out a high school math program where geometry, algebra and other courses are integrated so students can see the connection between concepts.
In elementary school, Assistant Superintendent Dan Snowberger notes, they have set aside the idea that kids can’t get into higher math until they have memorized  basics such as multiplication tables. “Some might never memorize it, so instead we get them engaged in higher math, scaffold the lessons and support them where there are deficiencies.” They are seeing positive results.

Scaffold the lessons and support deficiencies? Isn’t that what they did in Atlanta? Do you supply a table for kids to look up the answer or a calculator? I’m not sure which is worse. It’s difficult for kids to grasp the interrelated concepts if they haven’t mastered the basics, i.e. memorizing math facts.

 

In a local charter school–the one with the highest scores in the county at 90 percent proficient or advanced–the explanation for success would prove unpopular. Why? It’s no longer politically correct:

Vanguard doesn’t socially promote kids, has high expectations and stresses parent support.  Students are divided into zones based on ability rather than grade levels for math, and placement is emphasized in the  first month of school. Students repeat material until they know it, and have an extra half hour daily for homework and extra help. The school uses Saxon math curriculum, which lays a foundation of skills and builds on it. Lectures are short; more time is spent doing problems so teachers can see issues and help.

No social promotion. High expectations. Parent support. Placement for ability. And what a kicker: students repeat material until they know it. That doesn’t sound like supporting a deficiency, eh?

 

Cross-posted at politicaljunkieMom.

Is the Atlanta Public School for Scandal Typical?

USA Today has a piece noting few states check for suspicious erasures on standardized tests, in the wake of systematic cheating by Atlanta teachers:

A survey by USA TODAY of state education agencies found that 20 states and Washington, D.C., did erasure analysis on all pencil-and-paper tests required during the 2010-11 school year under the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

That means nearly 45% of the annual reading and math exams this year were scored without analyzing erasures.

A D.C. check found problems with over half.

A better approach would of course be to let the tax dollars go to the parents and follow the child. Parents know how well their children are learning, and even if some parents don’t care there are enough who do to force improvement through school competition.

By now most people know about those crazy…

By now, most people know about those crazy Swedes and their attempt to eliminate gender from language on impressionable children on the theory that language oppresses and causes boys and girls to grow up to be men and women… as verses anything else.

Somehow, every generation prior to this one survived this madness and even turned out legitimately decent sane  people, but when it comes to creating equality in the classroom, there’s only one theory.  It goes like this:

1) Whatever we’ve done before is at its core wrong and dangerous and must be stopped. (This is taken as a given truth. Why? Because someone somewhere felt marginalized and has declared that this was the cause and source).

2) Whatever we substitute must be as much as possible, the opposite of what has been done before.  (No research necessary, the classroom and its moppets are your social guinea pigs, enjoy)!

3) You may predict all good things and the utopia to follow without fear of skepticism, criticism or consequences for poor, ineffective, disastrous or ridiculous results.

4) You will be lauded for your politically correct good intentions and thought process. 

“We could just get to Utopia if everyone would do it our way” thinking is madness.  It is the root of this sort of educational reform, we can eliminate anger and  evil and pain through education if we just teach them young enough what to do.  Oppression from family and language, liberty through state education and the elimination of words from reality –got it.

Deciding that children will be like blocks of marble from which if we’re patient, fully formed beings shall emerge who define and decide their own realities according not to actual facts but their own feelings is a shortcut to how to raise a civilization of narcissists and psychopaths –who define and see the world on their terms only. 

I wish I were simply engaging in hyperbole to make a point, but if a kid thinks 1+4 is 6 until they decide otherwise, why should they ever come to think otherwise?  If a kid comes to believe because he/she has been taught that nothing is but his/her thinking makes it so, (a moral relativist ultimate conclusion, all is mine to define), why should any of these children ever give a damn about anyone else’s desired or perceived or defined reality?  I foresee a lot of hurt feelings when these kids grow enough to run into others who don’t see the world as they do which will be as soon as they go to a non state sponsored playground and meet a less purely raised individual of the same age. 

And how far are these nutjobs at the experimental Egalia willing to take this thought process.  Are they then going to declare use of gender specific language tantamount to hate speech?  Revise “Are You My Mother” to be “Are You Who Gestated Me?”

Here’s a crazy idea for those modern thinkers who come up with this tripe.  Go outside and meet actual people.  There are women lawyers and doctors. There are men who are chefs and artists. This is not the middle ages and most folks, (even toddlers) see male and female role models out there in the world and that is how they come to know what is possible.  They also see that there are men and there are women and omitting language does not do what you intend, rather it simply pretends that what is (gender based on biology) isn’t. 

Final thought for those Swedish avant-garde thinkers of new thinkery, before everyone goes off storm chasing (the kid not being assigned a gender by his/her parents) to create a society peopled with “It’s Pat” clones, maybe we ought to ask why and to what end?

Can we have school choice already?

My kids are out, thank God, but every time I see a story like this I get so steamed.

Most parents are too cowed by the possibility there will be reprisals by teachers against their child so they stay silent–unless they can afford private school.

I thought W’s No Child Left Behind might be the best we could do to break the unions at the national level, but states circumvented it.

We are at the point now I think where the only thing is to follow the Walker lead, stop the collective bargaining, push for school choice, and vote REPUBLICAN whenever you can.

We can’t afford our kids to be so ill-served as to think Big Gov is the way the truth and the life, especially when it won’t be there for them. They’ll be there for it.