When I first heard about this: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/DN-gradefolo_16met.ART.State.Edition2.4d98197.html I thought I must have misunderstood.
But no, it appears to be true.
The Dallas school district has decided to force teachers to allow assignments to be turned in late and for kids to re-take tests on which they performed poorly.
This, of course, is to help students who are slow, or in need of a boost of self-esteem.
Let me be blunt: The people responsible for this are morons.
Faced with the problem of students not getting their work done and blowing off tests, these geniuses decided that school work must have been too hard. So, they take away any sense of responsibility, any sense of pride in a job well done and done on time and any sense that they must adhere to someone else's expectations.
The Dallas school district is creating a bunch of teenaged narcissists who will demand that the rest of the world conform to their demands on their time.
The people responsible for this are educrats who are themselves so lazy and weak they can't bring themselves to demand something from children. They're wimps and they ought to be sued for educational malpractice. They don't deserve to have a place of leadership over the development of young minds. They are a waste of taxpayer dollars.
I thought Texans were supposed to be tough. If y'all really are, boot these pantywaists out and put in some people who'll tell the kids that the people who will one day hire them from jobs take a real dim view of laziness, tardiness and selfishness, which appear to be the only things the Dallas schools are capable of teaching.
Think the Cowboys won Super Bowls with that kind of attitude? Nope.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Pinheads in the Ivory Tower
If ever you needed proof positive (in fact, I'd say this idea is about 80 proof - ha ha) that the Peter Principle is in good working order, check this out:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/08/19/20080819drinking-age0819.html .
The Peter Principle, of course, states that people will often rise to their highest level of incompetence. Well, I'd say a lot of college presidents fit that bill.
Yes, drinking on college campuses has reached epidemic proportions. Then why is the solution, according to these academics, to make booze MORE easily available? Isn't that how we got into this mess in the first place?
Now I understand that Prohibition was a failure and I guess these presidents are thinking that we should at least get the problem out in the open. But what I guess they don't know is that is ALREADY IS IN THE OPEN!
I had the chance to go to a football game at a huge midwestern university a few years back. In fact, it's one of the schools whose president advocates this strategy. The stadium seats 100,000 people or so, but there were easily twice that many outside before the game and most of them were having a beer or twenty.
I can tell you from personal observation that more than a handful of this throng was under the age of 21 and partaking of Mr. Anheuser's, Mr. Busch's, Mr. Miller's and Mr. Coors' finest products. Not to mention demon rum and a bit of Jose for good measure.
If the kids are flaunting the law, well, change the law! That'll do it! While we're at it, let's loosen up the laws on prostitution. After all, kids are having sex all over campus, why shouldn't some of them make money to pay for their outrageous textbook and tuition costs? Theft? THAT's a huge campus problem. It's hard to control, too. Make it legal, that way nobody will have to report these petty crimes like ripping off bikes or swiping a purse. Then the cops will be able to spend time chasing really bad criminals. Heck, everyone cheats. There's a whole industry based on buying term papers online. Schools presidents must know this, so why not condone or even endorse it?
Ridiculous, you say? Of course it is, but no more ridiculous than calling on the nation to lower the drinking age to 18 because adults who ostensibly operate these universities (many of them public) can't bring themselves to tell the students NO.
Here's a novel idea: Either get the cops to really crack down on these boozers (admittedly a tall order) or, do what colleges love to do in regards to guns - make the school an "alcohol-free zone." Hey, if it's good for firearms, why can't it be good for booze? Enforce the same penalties for alcohol possession that exist for weapons. Too extreme? O.K., but find something to do and really enforce it. There are large universities that do this very thing today. But, sshhhhh... they're religious in nature and we can't be nuts like them.... Yeah, well try it. You may like it.
Of course, the problem with that is at some point, the schools would lose a lot of students and the money they bring in. All you'd have left are the ones who want to learn and get a degree.
And we all know most universities gave up the mission of providing a quality undergrad education a long time ago to pursue the almighty grail of research and the money it brings...
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/08/19/20080819drinking-age0819.html .
The Peter Principle, of course, states that people will often rise to their highest level of incompetence. Well, I'd say a lot of college presidents fit that bill.
Yes, drinking on college campuses has reached epidemic proportions. Then why is the solution, according to these academics, to make booze MORE easily available? Isn't that how we got into this mess in the first place?
Now I understand that Prohibition was a failure and I guess these presidents are thinking that we should at least get the problem out in the open. But what I guess they don't know is that is ALREADY IS IN THE OPEN!
I had the chance to go to a football game at a huge midwestern university a few years back. In fact, it's one of the schools whose president advocates this strategy. The stadium seats 100,000 people or so, but there were easily twice that many outside before the game and most of them were having a beer or twenty.
I can tell you from personal observation that more than a handful of this throng was under the age of 21 and partaking of Mr. Anheuser's, Mr. Busch's, Mr. Miller's and Mr. Coors' finest products. Not to mention demon rum and a bit of Jose for good measure.
If the kids are flaunting the law, well, change the law! That'll do it! While we're at it, let's loosen up the laws on prostitution. After all, kids are having sex all over campus, why shouldn't some of them make money to pay for their outrageous textbook and tuition costs? Theft? THAT's a huge campus problem. It's hard to control, too. Make it legal, that way nobody will have to report these petty crimes like ripping off bikes or swiping a purse. Then the cops will be able to spend time chasing really bad criminals. Heck, everyone cheats. There's a whole industry based on buying term papers online. Schools presidents must know this, so why not condone or even endorse it?
Ridiculous, you say? Of course it is, but no more ridiculous than calling on the nation to lower the drinking age to 18 because adults who ostensibly operate these universities (many of them public) can't bring themselves to tell the students NO.
Here's a novel idea: Either get the cops to really crack down on these boozers (admittedly a tall order) or, do what colleges love to do in regards to guns - make the school an "alcohol-free zone." Hey, if it's good for firearms, why can't it be good for booze? Enforce the same penalties for alcohol possession that exist for weapons. Too extreme? O.K., but find something to do and really enforce it. There are large universities that do this very thing today. But, sshhhhh... they're religious in nature and we can't be nuts like them.... Yeah, well try it. You may like it.
Of course, the problem with that is at some point, the schools would lose a lot of students and the money they bring in. All you'd have left are the ones who want to learn and get a degree.
And we all know most universities gave up the mission of providing a quality undergrad education a long time ago to pursue the almighty grail of research and the money it brings...
Friday, August 15, 2008
Just checking....
If you have a kid in school, have you:
1. Checked his or her backpack for homework?
2. Gotten to know the teacher?
3. Taken a look at any pertinent academic rankings for the school? (States differ in how they do this and federal "Adequate Yearly Progress" is a joke.)
4. Investigated a charter school (if your state has any)in case your district school, well, stinks?
5. Told your kid you love him (or her) and you expect junior to do his very, very best, even if it's not always fun?
6. If not, why not?
Yes, it's August, and school hasn't started everywhere. But in lots of places, classes are in session. In any case, it's never too early or late to think about these things.
Heck, half the battle in education is just being prepared.
1. Checked his or her backpack for homework?
2. Gotten to know the teacher?
3. Taken a look at any pertinent academic rankings for the school? (States differ in how they do this and federal "Adequate Yearly Progress" is a joke.)
4. Investigated a charter school (if your state has any)in case your district school, well, stinks?
5. Told your kid you love him (or her) and you expect junior to do his very, very best, even if it's not always fun?
6. If not, why not?
Yes, it's August, and school hasn't started everywhere. But in lots of places, classes are in session. In any case, it's never too early or late to think about these things.
Heck, half the battle in education is just being prepared.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Would you go back just to say hello?
Mr. and Mrs. Reformer went to parent night at Junior Reformer's high school not too long ago.
It's hard to get an idea of what the ol' sprout's teachers are really like in just a matter of minutes. They all seem nice, of course; but we're all on our best behavior at times such as these.
But there are some things that just can't be faked...
Take Junior's world history teacher, for example. We entered the classroom knowing nothing about this man. No advance intelligence, no neighbor kids raving good things or bad about him.
He was a blank slate to us.
The room was filled, which was not unexpected, but there were lots of students without parents hanging out in the back. "What's up with that?" we wondered.
It turns out they weren't students at all; they were graduates. They had come back to say hello to a teacher who had really made a difference in their lives. This is apparently a man who has a rare ability to connect with the kids, to make the material stand out and who inspires former students to take a night out of their lives to go back to their old high school -- the very place they rejoiced upon graduating just three months ago -- to bask in the warmth of a teacher who made them love learning.
This is what school is all about, folks. I bet this teacher does not grouse to students about lousy pay. He does not moan about standardized testing or idiotic administrators. I'm sure he does expect a lot out of his students and he knows the subject inside and out. He demands that they join a service club on campus, and no job is too big or small. In other words, this teacher lives in the real world, teaches to the real world, and the students know it.
This man does not need any accolades from me. He does not need his name in the paper or on some plaque.
This is a teacher. And his reward is the people standing in the back of the room.
It's hard to get an idea of what the ol' sprout's teachers are really like in just a matter of minutes. They all seem nice, of course; but we're all on our best behavior at times such as these.
But there are some things that just can't be faked...
Take Junior's world history teacher, for example. We entered the classroom knowing nothing about this man. No advance intelligence, no neighbor kids raving good things or bad about him.
He was a blank slate to us.
The room was filled, which was not unexpected, but there were lots of students without parents hanging out in the back. "What's up with that?" we wondered.
It turns out they weren't students at all; they were graduates. They had come back to say hello to a teacher who had really made a difference in their lives. This is apparently a man who has a rare ability to connect with the kids, to make the material stand out and who inspires former students to take a night out of their lives to go back to their old high school -- the very place they rejoiced upon graduating just three months ago -- to bask in the warmth of a teacher who made them love learning.
This is what school is all about, folks. I bet this teacher does not grouse to students about lousy pay. He does not moan about standardized testing or idiotic administrators. I'm sure he does expect a lot out of his students and he knows the subject inside and out. He demands that they join a service club on campus, and no job is too big or small. In other words, this teacher lives in the real world, teaches to the real world, and the students know it.
This man does not need any accolades from me. He does not need his name in the paper or on some plaque.
This is a teacher. And his reward is the people standing in the back of the room.
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