Show of HandsShow of Hands

TiltonAllStarz June 30th, 2013 2:15pm

SoH Congress 2013. Education System in America. It's ok to be passionate, but treat others with respect please. Do your best to post factual information and do not, just post a bunch of links. Do you have any ideas for a solution?

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olympus California
07/03/13 7:55 am

Being back shop classes. Not everyone has to waste money on college, a lot of people would be better off without it.

Superreggin
07/03/13 6:51 am

Just do the opposite of what liberals thinks should be done to improve education.

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sarah1911 Poolesville MD
07/03/13 6:25 am

Somehow the quality of the public education system needs to be raised to the level of private, and better yet charter and magnate schools. There is no sane reason I can think of that everyone can't have the best education can offer.

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catslax
07/02/13 4:59 pm

Fire shitty teachers after a 5 year period.

PenaltyKill Colorado
07/02/13 3:38 pm

The system must hold students (and parents) accountable for their learning. Measuring teacher effectiveness needs to take into account the effort put in by both students and teachers. Students, parents, and teachers need to own the process.

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PenaltyKill Colorado
07/02/13 3:36 pm

Do away with tenure. Create a system where teacher effectiveness is measurable, achievable, and rewarded. Knowledge transfer should be measured based on ability to apply and not on generic one size fits all testing.

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bubbaman
07/02/13 9:31 am

Get rid of the unions. Hold teachers accountable results. hold parents accountable for their children. Stop turning over responsibility to the school. And stop teaching subjects that should be learned in the home. Focus on fundamentals.

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kellyw The Mississippi Delta
07/02/13 9:15 am

Stop defunding the schools the schools you want to "save." That's a great start.

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CoffeeNow Powderpuff Leftist
07/02/13 7:46 am

It's very simple:

1) Disband the dept of education (it's a misnomer, they don't help educate anyone)

2) Give states the power to run their own education

3) Assess the results of each state and copy the high performers

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olympus California
07/02/13 7:36 am

Also get the gov out of higher education. The gov subsidizes student loans so there's no risk to universities they just collect the $.This is why tuition has sky rocketed, the quality of education hasn't risen just the cost b/c why not its free gov $

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olympus California
07/02/13 7:34 am

Get rid of grades as in 5th/6th on up. Have each child progress based on ability. Think about an 8th grader who's in a 4th grade English class, talk about motivation to perform and not get behind. School performance would improve overnight.

kellyw The Mississippi Delta
07/02/13 9:17 am

This is what we already do. The reason that we have grades is that the vast majority of kids the same age will be on roughly the same level. Kids who are smart kid grades, sometimes in only one subject. Others get held behind (though not as often).

JHawk3205 MD
07/02/13 12:46 am

EEE: eliminate educational elitism; prohibit massive donations to already high profiting schools, or distribute that amount to schools that actually need that money

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TheAntiLib Putnam County, NY
07/01/13 7:52 pm

It should be mandatory for any "would be" teachers to pass an exam like "the bar" for law. This exam would be very extensive and would have a great deal of psychological questions as well.

kellyw The Mississippi Delta
07/02/13 9:18 am

They have to pass tests already. Do you not know any teachers?

potusa Virginia
07/01/13 7:02 pm

Foreign language programs moved to early ages instead of high school level. Replace them with classes that teach vocational skills to students and occupational skills. Face it, some kids won't be going to college we should make sure they can succeed

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mcdkm Houston
07/01/13 6:46 pm

Start by getting rid of the unions so teachers can be held accountable for their performance, or lack of it.

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agashi24 Alabama
07/01/13 6:32 pm

Less administrators, more teachers with better pay and more power for the teachers to teach in a way that works for their kids. Parents taking more of an interest in their children's education.

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cat3675 Bowling Green, KY
07/01/13 6:25 pm

I think schools should be more competitive; they shouldn't force teachers to teach a certain way, teach how the students learn. Also, give teachers the ability to discipline their students. A little humility never hurt anyone

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prbeth
07/01/13 4:43 pm

There is a great movie called The Cartel.
It is about teachers unions and the disfunction of the American school system. I think it is available on Amazon Prime.

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ams1210 Pennsylvania
07/01/13 4:08 pm

The government just needs to let the teachers teach. There was never an issue with education in the past. There are a lot of other major problems in this nation.. Why fix something that isn't broken? Of course... Now it's broken!!

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Bankai In God we still trust
07/01/13 3:28 pm

Get rid of the DoE, teachers unions, and common core!

snozwaffer Dove Canyon, CA
07/01/13 3:11 pm

Green Dot schools are a privatized school system that work and for less money.

Toranius California
07/01/13 11:58 am

No more teachers unions protecting bad teachers. Increased wages for good teachers. And I mean wages that would get the best minds switching over to teaching. This would increase the number of teachers and increase the overall quality of education.

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TiltonAllStarz Outside Ur Comfort Zone
07/01/13 3:11 pm

I never understood the unionization of government workers to begin with.

Toranius California
07/01/13 3:17 pm

Well, I support unions that protect worker's rights. That is, the workers who do their job well and deserve good treatment. But the teachers unions only serve to protect workers who aren't even doing their jobs. That, I abhor and do not support.

TiltonAllStarz Outside Ur Comfort Zone
07/01/13 3:25 pm

We have state laws against what the unions are "supposed" to protect workers now. The pay issue with teachers is a myth. They work 9-10 months/yr. I'd love 2-3 months vacation a year. What other profession has that? Besides congress.

TiltonAllStarz Outside Ur Comfort Zone
07/01/13 3:29 pm

Every time we throw more money at education, teachers sale ties go up, not test scores. The system needs a complete overhaul. We need educators at every level of the DoE. Not politicians. I'd be ok with an ad campaign, with today's pop culture icons

TiltonAllStarz Outside Ur Comfort Zone
07/01/13 3:31 pm

promoting education and learning. We live in a country where Honey Boo Boo and the Jersey Shore douche bags are relevant. I think it's a combination of too much Government involvement and a culture flaw.

TiltonAllStarz Outside Ur Comfort Zone
07/01/13 3:33 pm

Look at some of the richest people in society. How is it that we are willing to accept educators and scientists and math wizards are less famous than Snooky?

TiltonAllStarz Outside Ur Comfort Zone
07/01/13 3:35 pm

There are some phenomenal ideas on this thread, I love the participation. Keep them coming folks.

elcondor Rural Southern Indiana
07/01/13 8:42 am

End teachers unions, tenure, and move to a results-based system of advancement. You know, just like the real world...

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gelina44 Missouri , MO
07/01/13 7:06 am

Redeploy 2/3 of the administrative positions as teachers at teachers pay use the influx of money to increase wages for good teachers and hire more. Abolish teachers unions. Eliminate Common Core Standards. Implement vouchers. Include private schools

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honest
07/01/13 7:42 am

You need APs and Principals to run day to day operations. Teachers are tied to the classroom and couldn't do all of the work required by the district and state.

gelina44 Missouri , MO
07/01/13 7:55 am

That's right, and that is why we leave 1/3 of the board and other admin in place.

honest
07/01/13 9:50 am

Got it. I thought you meant APs and principals.

ultimo240
07/01/13 11:43 am

Furthermore, you should understand that "poison" is not universal term when talking about any one substance. Alcohol is poisonous. Toothpaste is poisonous. Proportion matters. Water in the Mid East might kill you but not those who do regularly.

ajtndfan
07/01/13 5:36 am

Get the federal government out. Let states run it. Get ride of the unions. Explain to parents this is a compliment to you educating your son/daughter not a baby sitting service and we need your participation for success.

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ajtndfan
07/01/13 6:01 am

Start teaching more of reading, writing, history, and arithmetic. Stop lowering standards and instead hold people accountable. Parental involvement is the greatest think to improving schools.

honest
07/01/13 5:32 am

Take politicians out of the decision making process. Cut back on testing. Cut back on curriculum content. Stop micromanaging the classroom environment. Support teachers with programs that make sense. Hold parents accountable for child's performance.

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honest
07/01/13 5:39 am

Yes, there are bad teachers but they're not the bulk of your problem. Making the focus to go after people is missing the opportunity to work on the overall system which is incredibly flawed.

juicebox Suburb
07/01/13 9:51 am

Get rid of the department of education,and give the money in that budget to the states for education.

snacks East Bumfart
07/01/13 5:01 am

Get rid of the teachers union & a lot of problems will disappear, along with teachers who hide behind the union.

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bien
07/01/13 5:06 am

This has been a rallying cry by republican law makers who would like to break all unions. The fact is there are means in to remove any teacher who is not doing the job. The problem is many administrators are unwilling or to overwhelmed to do it.

bien
07/01/13 5:14 am

The laws set up to protect teachers resulted from the misuse by administrators and school board members who would have a grudge against an individual teacher unrelated to their performance. With a little effort a poor teacher can be fired.

honest
07/01/13 5:25 am

Teachers seen the problem. Politicians and district personnel that are not professional educators are making the decisions that drive the system. Research has been done on effective techniques only to be ignored by decision makers.

honest
07/01/13 5:27 am

Seen=aren't.

katiee78 city
07/01/13 4:58 am

First off, I am a teacher who taught in a Title 1 school. Many people want to be tough, but I found if my kids love me, they will do anything for me. Try a little tenderness...

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beanD California
07/01/13 9:36 am

As a student, there's definitely a balance between a nice teacher and a doormat teacher - doormat teachers make for the worst classroom environments. Teachers need to be nice AND very firm and tough.

meormond New Hampshire
07/01/13 2:58 am

Public education is one of the best things this country offers to ALL children. Imagine only the wealthy being able to afford an education for their children....

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bien
07/01/13 4:45 am

The fact that we do offer an education to all students is also what causes our problems. Many countries, Japan, Korea, ..., are educating a very homogenous group. Our diverse population makes the job of education more challenging.

beanD California
07/01/13 9:38 am

It wouldn't be so difficult if they wouldn't keep taking away honors and other similar programs... That, or lowering the standards on those programs so much that they may as well have never existed in the first place.

keabrook Los Angeles
07/01/13 12:11 am

Keep in mind that this is coming from I liberal student. I think that teachers unions should be disbanded. They protect horrible teachers. I also believe an end to standardize testing would make a huge difference.

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bien
07/01/13 4:30 am

On your second point. Studies have shown that the #1 indicator of student college success and earnings is high school teacher grades. Standardize test show little or no correlation to future success of any kind.

bien
07/01/13 4:34 am

On your first point, teacher unions have initiated more useful change in schools then any other group. True quality change has been impeded by the short sited intervention of our politician who are furthering their agendas at the expense of our kids.

keabrook Los Angeles
07/01/13 12:41 pm

Teachers unions are no longer about what they used to be. It is now about a way to keep their jobs. In all of high school, I have come across three great teachers. The rest are horrible. I am in one of the best districts in the country too.

itsbread Southern California
06/30/13 11:48 pm

School choice! It makes schools competitive, meaning they'll actually work for the money they get!

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bien
07/01/13 4:57 am

It has time and again shown that charter schools perform dismally compared to public schools. When schools are run for profit it is all about the bottom line. Over and over again there are reports of these schools mishandling tax dallars.

bien
07/01/13 5:02 am

Sending tax dollars to parochial and church sponsored schools should be unconstitutional. I do not want my tax dollars lining the pockets of those who are trying to make a profit on our children by running a charter school.

ajtndfan
07/01/13 5:57 am

Churches are non profit also.

L1B3RTAR1AN Virginia
06/30/13 11:35 pm

Stop making test so easy. Basically the same one as Sweden which is has a high Ranked educational system.

FrozenPhoton Behind the Shadows
06/30/13 10:14 pm

Start by letting people believe what they want to believe! Allow prayer (now force, allow) Do not teach theories or opinions as facts! Show both sides objectively!

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skribbleman1
06/30/13 11:36 pm

Scientific theory and theory the way you believe it is defined are not the same thing. You must be trolling.

peacechik approaching.infinity
06/30/13 9:43 pm

I agree the teachers union comments are taking over the comments a bit. While I do see that they are a hindrance to education at times (CPS strike, enough said), perhaps they wouldn't feel the need to do so if they were paid more (and perhaps administrations were paid less). Just a thought.

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beanD California
06/30/13 10:40 pm

There's also the whole "you can't fire bad/old teachers," which I believe is a union thing and a much bigger problem.

keabrook Los Angeles
07/01/13 1:36 am

As a liberal hs student, I understand the importance of unions, however, public unions make no sense. Especially the teachers union. The unions for teachers are not longer about protecting money, but about protecting horrible teachers.

theavgguy I.E.
06/30/13 9:17 pm

Yes do away with the Department of Education.

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Gunfighter
06/30/13 9:07 pm

Get the federal government out of the classroom. Return education to the states, or better yet individual communities.

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theavgguy I.E.
06/30/13 9:18 pm

100 percent wholeheartedly agree with you.

juicebox Suburb
07/01/13 9:48 am

Paul Ryan is, is ridiculous in my opinion.

juicebox Suburb
07/01/13 9:49 am

Ignore the Paul Ryan comment

juicebox Suburb
06/30/13 8:17 pm

Allow students to narrow down their courses for themselves individually. If I want to be a politician, why do I have to take a rigorous biology or calculus course?

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theavgguy I.E.
06/30/13 9:19 pm

For a well rounded education.

beanD California
06/30/13 10:41 pm

Because a 9th grader may not know that he enjoys calculus, and end up hating history/political courses by his junior year, but it's too late! Choosing courses is what college is for.

juicebox Suburb
07/01/13 6:39 am

Not everyone can go to college. If my brother who didn't go to college was able to take an engineering course, he would be better off. Lastly, why can't the junior either switch out of the history course and take more mathematics?

theavgguy I.E.
07/01/13 6:49 am

Problem in this country is we do not have an apprentice program.

beanD California
07/01/13 9:41 am

If the junior were to switch out of history, he would still be at a jr. High math level, so he'd have to go back to 9th grade math = more years of high school.

beanD California
07/01/13 9:42 am

If a student doesn't plan on going to college, he should have basic life skills, and basic life skills are acquired in all different kinds of high school classes.

juicebox Suburb
07/01/13 9:48 am

The point I am trying to make, is that schools should be based more on real-life necessities such as economics and civics. Spending more money on things that are self-sustaining like the arts, while half of the people at my school don't know who...

juicebox Suburb
07/01/13 9:49 am

...Paul Ryan is, is ridiculous in my opinion

PeppyHare Do a barrel roll
06/30/13 7:50 pm

Force kids to use problem solving/critical thinking skills... It's really all that matters in the long run.

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theavgguy I.E.
06/30/13 9:19 pm

Yes it does and they are solely lacking.

zitro34
06/30/13 7:42 pm

Throw away the teachers union. Second get rid of ALL standardized tests no matter what the state. They aren't as a effective as people think.

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beanD California
06/30/13 10:42 pm

If there are no standardized tests, how do we measure academic success in such a large country?

theavgguy I.E.
07/01/13 6:26 am

The problem is they teach to the test.

beanD California
07/01/13 9:42 am

I know, I'm a high school student, but the question still stands.

Daniel17LU Virginia
06/30/13 7:26 pm

Destroy teachers unions. Localize education standards to a district, county, or state. And let people choose where to send their kids to school, either public or private, and send their own tax money to that school (like a voucher program).

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dtumad Minnesota
06/30/13 7:22 pm

encourage kids to learn. I love math thanks to my tenth grade math teacher. he would give problems where everyone had to find a different way to get the answer and problems that we didn't know how to solve yet. it got me to think about why things work rather than just mindlessly applying steps.

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bien
06/30/13 7:18 pm

The best public education system in the world is Finland. No standardized testing, a minimum of 40 minutes of recess a day, small class sizes, high teacher salaries and high expectations have proven to be successful.

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spiritsprite Pa.
06/30/13 8:14 pm

Where does the funding for higher salaries come from? This is futuristic, but doable....children have computer education, from broad server bank, thus eliminating the cost of maintaining brick and mortar buildings, and the school bus system.

anonymousmn Minnesota
06/30/13 9:11 pm

And please, don't forget, they have a strong union as well.

Brrrrrrrrr
06/30/13 6:53 pm

USA:
#4 most educated country on the planet
#1 most prolific publisher of academic papers on the planet

Whatever problems there are with the education system, they're clearly blown out of proportion.

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beanD California
06/30/13 10:43 pm

People are all freaked out bc we used to be #1 educated. Plus, we're like #27 in math/science, I think.

mariella9911 Colorado
06/30/13 6:43 pm

This question should have said "besides get rid of unions". Everyone on here seems so detached from anything that goes on in a public school. There are so so so many things that need to be fixed before even discussing unions. Like NCLB...

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mariella9911 Colorado
06/30/13 6:46 pm

... Which has only hurt our schools...teaching to the test and under valuing classes which focus on creative problem solving (something we value so highly in the US).

titsworth
06/30/13 6:08 pm

Get rid of teachers unions, they don't need them.

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mariella9911 Colorado
06/30/13 6:37 pm

That really won't solve anything.

Captainbstring Biden is a Clown
06/30/13 11:13 pm

How do you know that? Qualify that lame statement.

arste New York
06/30/13 6:07 pm

Schools need to spend their money better. The education system needs to be less focused on testing and more on critical thinking.

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beanD California
06/30/13 6:30 pm

Or - tests need to be focused on critical thinking!

bien
06/30/13 7:22 pm

There is no data that has proven the standardized testing of students improves the educational process. Teacher training, class size and parental involvement have been proven to be the most important factors.

paidert1 Columbus, Ohio
06/30/13 6:01 pm

Implement an operational excellence program and eliminate the issue of not being able to fire low performing teachers. No standardized tests. They're terrible and only there for funding reasons. I've also read that parental involvement is the best ..

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paidert1 Columbus, Ohio
06/30/13 6:04 pm

.. Thing for student success. Single parents working multiple jobs - have teachers send weekly or bi-weekly newsletters to parents via email. Reach out to THEM. Involve them. Don't make it hard for them when their whole lives are hard.

mac Oregon
06/30/13 9:46 pm

Bad teachers are fired, most often forced from profession by peers and admin who focus on the non- performer and design plans which show the low achiever they need a new job. Underperforming teachers mostly resign and firing not needed.

paidert1 Columbus, Ohio
07/01/13 2:03 pm

Hey Mac. My husband was involved in an operational excellence effort for a school where the teacher refused to follow new OpEx processes and was clearly underperforming, at the detriment of the students. They couldn't fire her b/c of union/tenure.

ultimo240
06/30/13 5:58 pm

I also believe we should do as most sane people and allow people to more easily volunteer or become cheap classroom aids at school. Japan's elementaries are amazing and they make it happen with hordes of volunteer aunts & people who can't have kids.

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ultimo240
06/30/13 5:59 pm

Good student-teacher ratios make worlds of difference for individuated instruction. We're so terrified of pedophiles we ignore the greatest resource of all--us Americans!