Jim....
Let me be clear that in my opinion, NCLB takes a lot of what is wrong with traditional schooling and makes it even worse. I'm absolutely against it.
But even though I have a decidedly libertarian streak, I think one of the roles of the federal government is to set minimal standards of conduct. Factories should not be allowed to dump their waste into our waterways. Folks with disabilities should have reasonable access to businesses and public spaces. Elections should be as fair as is humanly possible. If you go to an emergency room you should get treated, regardless of whether you can pay for it or not.
These are all federal government mandates, all are unfunded, and nobody disputes the need for them. NCLB is an unfunded mandate too, but those who decry NCLB often raise the (lack of) funding issue. They shouldn't. It's irrelevant. What is relevant is, is NCLB a good mandate or a bad mandate.
Finally we all have a dog in this fight. There's a lot at stake when it comes to educating children and young adults. And the property taxes we pay toward their education, well you know how I feel about that....
You might as well know that I believe the Dept. of Education should be dismantled, that State oversight of schools should largely be ended, and that how children are educated should be up to their parents. And if education is to be subsidized as it is today, then it should be by way of vouchers, not by way of government (aka “publicâ€) schools. But I'm really leery of subsidies in general, even for something as important as education. Subsidies usually cause more problems than they solve.
Another victim of NCLB
Moderator: Jim O'Bryan
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Tim Liston
- Posts: 752
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William Fraunfelder III
- Posts: 20
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- Contact:
Jim,
Here you touch on the crux of the issue; what NCLB really addresses is the systematic destruction of both the "common-sense, public-policy" American Public School and the NEA. The end-game of NCLB is the privatization of education at the K-12 level. What would Thomas Jefferson think of an elementary student receiving a voucher to attend an ridiculously-under-performing, for-profit school, run by a corporation, that doesn't even receive the same public censure a local system and/or school does? I think he'd be outraged and ashamed. Granted, the NEA, OEA and local teachers' unions are self-serving (by definition, what union isn't), but they still operate within communities that, for the most part, hold them to fairly high standards of practice and commitment. Cos. like White Hat Mgmt. aren't held to the same standards because when tests don't get passed, how much public outcry can a disparate, unorganized group of parents generate v. geographically-centralized, system-based parents? What is the State of Ohio's track-record for shutting-down poorly-performing and/or mismanaged schools? Read for yourself - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/us/08 ... wanted=all
Jim, you're the taxpayer. The dog will bite you, for lack of courage. And Tim, until you tell me to whom you're giving that voucher, I just might start myself up a little schoolhouse over here...
Here you touch on the crux of the issue; what NCLB really addresses is the systematic destruction of both the "common-sense, public-policy" American Public School and the NEA. The end-game of NCLB is the privatization of education at the K-12 level. What would Thomas Jefferson think of an elementary student receiving a voucher to attend an ridiculously-under-performing, for-profit school, run by a corporation, that doesn't even receive the same public censure a local system and/or school does? I think he'd be outraged and ashamed. Granted, the NEA, OEA and local teachers' unions are self-serving (by definition, what union isn't), but they still operate within communities that, for the most part, hold them to fairly high standards of practice and commitment. Cos. like White Hat Mgmt. aren't held to the same standards because when tests don't get passed, how much public outcry can a disparate, unorganized group of parents generate v. geographically-centralized, system-based parents? What is the State of Ohio's track-record for shutting-down poorly-performing and/or mismanaged schools? Read for yourself - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/us/08 ... wanted=all
Jim, you're the taxpayer. The dog will bite you, for lack of courage. And Tim, until you tell me to whom you're giving that voucher, I just might start myself up a little schoolhouse over here...
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Will Brown
- Posts: 496
- Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:56 am
- Location: Lakewood
I''d like to know how the community can, for the most part, hold the teachers' unions responsible for the performance of their members. We elect a school board, and either pass or reject levies, and that is the extent of our power. The board appoints administrators who negotiate with the unions, without our input. If the union's demands are unreasonable or counterproductive, there is no way for the community to have any say in the matter, other than to elect new members of the board who will capitulate. The idea that the community can somehow decertify an unreasonable union is laughable? And my experience is that the unions have little concern for the welfare of the students, and are only concerned with the welfare of their members. One of the union leaders is famously noted for admitting that he was solely concerned with the welfare of the teachers, as the student were not members of his union.
As to unfunded mandates, I think the people who complain about that are very careful to imply that they get no federal funds, when in fact they do. The problem is that local officials are reluctant to eliminate some of the programs that are attractive to the community (you know, programs, such as sports and music, that they threaten to cut if we don't pass a levy) and use that money to meet the standards of NCLB, so they will eliminate teachers positions, and blame it on NCLB, rather than dropping, for example, football.
I'm not convinced the schools, as a whole, were that effective before NCLB (nor, in all honesty, after). There were whole states that were satisfied to put almost nothing into public education, and turn out semi-literate graduates. I knew one boy who was in eleventh grade in West Virginia when his family brought him here, where he was tested and placed in the ninth grade. Naturally, he dropped out. Other poor or rural communities offered little in the way of academic opportunity. Others we evaluated as poor based on the true Liberal measure of opportunity, how much money was being spent. (Ignoring the apparent fact that communities with lower costs of living could often attract better teachers for less money than communities with higher costs of living.)
Since we are now to mobile a society, I think we cannot afford pockets of educational mediocrity, and NCLB attempts to address this. I'm a realist, however, and think that not all of us are concerned with academic excellence. For example, if a Charter school delivered very poor academic services, but had a championship ball team (pick your ball), I don't doubt that they would have more applicants than they had space.
The failure of our elected officials to identify and decertify non-performing charter schools is troubling, but we can solve that at the ballot box. My concern would be that the bad apples, if decertified, would just crop up again under a new name, but there are ways to handle that.
I think the GI bill that was offered to veterans in the Vietnam Era was a good example. You could get benefits if you were attending an approved school in an approved program. Generally, an approved school was one that was in compliance with one of the organizations that approved schools (I've forgotten their names) and that agreed to the reporting requirements of the VA. I think some schools and apprenticeship programs that were not approved by such a group could also be approved by the state, which had an office to insure compliance with VA bill requirements. An approved program was one that led to a recognized educational objective without waste or duplication; for example, if you objective was a BS in education, you could take the courses set out in the college catalogue for that degree, but you couldn't take truckdriving, for example, and you had to meet the schools academic standards (taking freshman English 30 times wouldn't cut it).
As with almost all government programs, this was administered inexpertly (and I'm being polite here) at first. Eventually the government noted that some schools (I'm pretty sure Tri-C was one) were gaming the system, and certifying students who took nothing but gym, over and over. Once this was discovered, benefits for the affected students were adjusted, creating substantial overpayments, and the schools were also held responsible for the overpayments.
So, at least in my case, and that of many others, the GI Bill, a voucher system, worked. But in all honesty a lot of students and schools abused it, but those abuses were discovered and corrected.
I think the voucher system is so loudly criticized because the people running and working in the public schools fear competition, and I think that fear is based on unfamiliarity, but even more on the feeling that between the boards, the administration, the union bosses, and the state and federal laws controlling their performance, they feel that they have no power to make changes that would make them more competitive.
Let me again make an appeal that we move education into the current century and take advantage of technological advances. I've started learning a foreign language using a widely advertised computer program, and it is going better than when I studied a foreign language in grade school, high school, or college. The teacher involved was there when the program was written, so I have no current teacher, but the computer pays a lot more attention to me than a teacher ever did (except for Greek in college, when there were only two of us in the class). There is no interaction with fellow students, but the interaction with the informed program seems more productive than interaction with fellow semi-informed students. And I can work on it at times that are convenient to me, rather than when a class is scheduled. I think math and science could be well taught by the same technology, and even reading (although you need some reading skills to work the program. So it seems to me we could get better results for our education dollars by using computers for most of the teaching, and using teachers for something like seminars or workgroups.
As to unfunded mandates, I think the people who complain about that are very careful to imply that they get no federal funds, when in fact they do. The problem is that local officials are reluctant to eliminate some of the programs that are attractive to the community (you know, programs, such as sports and music, that they threaten to cut if we don't pass a levy) and use that money to meet the standards of NCLB, so they will eliminate teachers positions, and blame it on NCLB, rather than dropping, for example, football.
I'm not convinced the schools, as a whole, were that effective before NCLB (nor, in all honesty, after). There were whole states that were satisfied to put almost nothing into public education, and turn out semi-literate graduates. I knew one boy who was in eleventh grade in West Virginia when his family brought him here, where he was tested and placed in the ninth grade. Naturally, he dropped out. Other poor or rural communities offered little in the way of academic opportunity. Others we evaluated as poor based on the true Liberal measure of opportunity, how much money was being spent. (Ignoring the apparent fact that communities with lower costs of living could often attract better teachers for less money than communities with higher costs of living.)
Since we are now to mobile a society, I think we cannot afford pockets of educational mediocrity, and NCLB attempts to address this. I'm a realist, however, and think that not all of us are concerned with academic excellence. For example, if a Charter school delivered very poor academic services, but had a championship ball team (pick your ball), I don't doubt that they would have more applicants than they had space.
The failure of our elected officials to identify and decertify non-performing charter schools is troubling, but we can solve that at the ballot box. My concern would be that the bad apples, if decertified, would just crop up again under a new name, but there are ways to handle that.
I think the GI bill that was offered to veterans in the Vietnam Era was a good example. You could get benefits if you were attending an approved school in an approved program. Generally, an approved school was one that was in compliance with one of the organizations that approved schools (I've forgotten their names) and that agreed to the reporting requirements of the VA. I think some schools and apprenticeship programs that were not approved by such a group could also be approved by the state, which had an office to insure compliance with VA bill requirements. An approved program was one that led to a recognized educational objective without waste or duplication; for example, if you objective was a BS in education, you could take the courses set out in the college catalogue for that degree, but you couldn't take truckdriving, for example, and you had to meet the schools academic standards (taking freshman English 30 times wouldn't cut it).
As with almost all government programs, this was administered inexpertly (and I'm being polite here) at first. Eventually the government noted that some schools (I'm pretty sure Tri-C was one) were gaming the system, and certifying students who took nothing but gym, over and over. Once this was discovered, benefits for the affected students were adjusted, creating substantial overpayments, and the schools were also held responsible for the overpayments.
So, at least in my case, and that of many others, the GI Bill, a voucher system, worked. But in all honesty a lot of students and schools abused it, but those abuses were discovered and corrected.
I think the voucher system is so loudly criticized because the people running and working in the public schools fear competition, and I think that fear is based on unfamiliarity, but even more on the feeling that between the boards, the administration, the union bosses, and the state and federal laws controlling their performance, they feel that they have no power to make changes that would make them more competitive.
Let me again make an appeal that we move education into the current century and take advantage of technological advances. I've started learning a foreign language using a widely advertised computer program, and it is going better than when I studied a foreign language in grade school, high school, or college. The teacher involved was there when the program was written, so I have no current teacher, but the computer pays a lot more attention to me than a teacher ever did (except for Greek in college, when there were only two of us in the class). There is no interaction with fellow students, but the interaction with the informed program seems more productive than interaction with fellow semi-informed students. And I can work on it at times that are convenient to me, rather than when a class is scheduled. I think math and science could be well taught by the same technology, and even reading (although you need some reading skills to work the program. So it seems to me we could get better results for our education dollars by using computers for most of the teaching, and using teachers for something like seminars or workgroups.
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ryan costa
- Posts: 2486
- Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:31 pm
guild
teachers unions are more like guilds than unions. They keep raising the credentials necessary to be a teacher, in order to justify raising pay. Legislators get in on the action to appear pro-education or competitive. A masters degree should only be required for teaching undergraduate classes and professional development workshops. To some extent this also goes on in administration. Cleveland has a long list of superintendents with Ph.Ds. President Bush has an MBA.
The biggest problem with most schools is just some portion of the students. A lot of them are basically animals. There are administrative and professional training limiting how teachers can react to students. that's why we get news stories like cops being called to restrain six year olds.
The biggest growth industry in America seems to be being some kind of immigrant laborer. The problem with schools is that it is too hard to drop out or flunk out. Guidance counselors should be there to help kids who don't deserve to go to school work as well as illegal immigrants. This frees up school resources for kids who care. If there were still small factories and slaughterhouses and mills scattered all around, students would see drop outs doing the lower level work, and be more inspired to do better in school.
The biggest problem with most schools is just some portion of the students. A lot of them are basically animals. There are administrative and professional training limiting how teachers can react to students. that's why we get news stories like cops being called to restrain six year olds.
The biggest growth industry in America seems to be being some kind of immigrant laborer. The problem with schools is that it is too hard to drop out or flunk out. Guidance counselors should be there to help kids who don't deserve to go to school work as well as illegal immigrants. This frees up school resources for kids who care. If there were still small factories and slaughterhouses and mills scattered all around, students would see drop outs doing the lower level work, and be more inspired to do better in school.
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marklingm
- Posts: 2202
- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:13 pm
- Location: The 'Wood
Dee,Dee Martinez wrote:I am not sure this is an accurate statement.Jim O'Bryan wrote:
You left out the special needs children Lakewood takes in from Rocky River, Westlake, Fairview, and Bay that also brings our grades down, while allowing those cities to skate through with higher marks.
It is another farce brought to you by GWB.
.
Mr. Markling, are other districts "dumping" special needs children into Lakewood schools and are we being evaluated on their performance?
No other school districts are "dumping" any special needs children into the Lakewood City Schools.
Matt
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Jim O'Bryan
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Matthew John Markling wrote: Dee,
No other school districts are "dumping" any special needs children into the Lakewood City Schools.
Matt
Matt
Three years ago Dr. Estrop had mentioned that one of the reasons for the test scores being low was that Lakewood had students from Bay, Westlake, Rocky River that either had learning problems or disabilities.
1) was this true 3 years ago?
2) is this true now?
.
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
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marklingm
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- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:13 pm
- Location: The 'Wood
Jim,Jim O'Bryan wrote:Matthew John Markling wrote: Dee,
No other school districts are "dumping" any special needs children into the Lakewood City Schools.
Matt
Matt
Three years ago Dr. Estrop had mentioned that one of the reasons for the test scores being low was that Lakewood had students from Bay, Westlake, Rocky River that either had learning problems or disabilities.
1) was this true 3 years ago?
2) is this true now?
.
It was not true 3 years ago, and it is not true now.
Matt
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marklingm
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- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:13 pm
- Location: The 'Wood
Jim,
As I follow this important thread, I must affirmatively state that the quality of education being provided by LCS to all students has not gotten worse since NCLB ... it has gotten substantially better. Can improvements be made? Yes.
Just yesterday, the Board, Superintendent, Treasurer, and Cabinet spent almost 11 hours discussing the steps the LCS has taken and is taking to ensure that our faculty, staff, and administrators have the tools and data necessary to provide an excellent, accountable education to all students in the LCS.
Frankly, the LCS must be better prepared than other school districts because of our unique challenges … and I believe that we are prepared to meet those challenges head on without excuse and without reservation.
NCLB and the state report cards are just some measurements of the quality of education being provided by the LCS. Dr. Charles Greanoff wrote a wonderful article in the Lakewood Observer that essentially asks parents to measure the LCS by whether their children are receiving an excellent education. If the answer is yes, then trumpet that success. If the answer is no, then contact the LCS so we can address those individual issues head on. To read Dr. Greanoff’s article, click here.
This is, admittedly, a complex issue. There is much to discuss.
Matt
As I follow this important thread, I must affirmatively state that the quality of education being provided by LCS to all students has not gotten worse since NCLB ... it has gotten substantially better. Can improvements be made? Yes.
Just yesterday, the Board, Superintendent, Treasurer, and Cabinet spent almost 11 hours discussing the steps the LCS has taken and is taking to ensure that our faculty, staff, and administrators have the tools and data necessary to provide an excellent, accountable education to all students in the LCS.
Frankly, the LCS must be better prepared than other school districts because of our unique challenges … and I believe that we are prepared to meet those challenges head on without excuse and without reservation.
NCLB and the state report cards are just some measurements of the quality of education being provided by the LCS. Dr. Charles Greanoff wrote a wonderful article in the Lakewood Observer that essentially asks parents to measure the LCS by whether their children are receiving an excellent education. If the answer is yes, then trumpet that success. If the answer is no, then contact the LCS so we can address those individual issues head on. To read Dr. Greanoff’s article, click here.
This is, admittedly, a complex issue. There is much to discuss.
Matt
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Jim O'Bryan
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- Contact:
oh, really.Matthew John Markling wrote:Jim,Jim O'Bryan wrote:Matthew John Markling wrote: Dee,
No other school districts are "dumping" any special needs children into the Lakewood City Schools.
Matt
Matt
Three years ago Dr. Estrop had mentioned that one of the reasons for the test scores being low was that Lakewood had students from Bay, Westlake, Rocky River that either had learning problems or disabilities.
1) was this true 3 years ago?
2) is this true now?
.
It was not true 3 years ago, and it is not true now.
Matt
.
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
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Danielle Masters
- Posts: 1139
- Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 12:39 am
- Location: Lakewood, OH
Matt,Matthew John Markling wrote: Dr. Charles Greanoff wrote a wonderful article in the Lakewood Observer that essentially asks parents to measure the LCS by whether their children are receiving an excellent education. If the answer is yes, then trumpet that success.
I agree with this completely. I see what my children are learning. I see the joy they have about going to school. I see how wonderful their teachers are and all of that tells me they are getting a very good education. And I also get the testing results from the state that say my children are all scoring above proficient so that is just more proof that the schools are teaching them appropriately.
Jim,
From my understanding if students come to Lakewood to be school from other districts for special ed or some of the other programs those students test results actually count for the district they came from and the money to educate those students also comes from that district. I could be wrong, but that is how I understood it.
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William Fraunfelder III
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- Contact:
Will,
A community has a responsibility to interact with the staff and faculty of its' school system. Whether you express an interest in the schools by attending board meetings, meeting with administrators, or conferencing with teachers, this is how the staff of the system gauges community/parental involvement/concern about the learning environment they're responsible for. It's my experience with Lakewood teachers that they care about their students and their professional impact on them exponentially more than you are willing to give them credit for. However, one way to increase accountability might be adding a residency requirement in the union contract. That may curb the "lack" of concern shown students that you feel is so evident by requiring community involvement and "sharing your pain," while adding a bit to the city coffers as well.
It's disingenuous to state there is little teacher concern for students in Lakewood; as a former student and parent of former students, you would be better served to stay involved, rather than serve-up the old "back in the day" examples. No way the GI Bill compares to the needs of little kids. Part of the problem with your example is what has led to the institution of the NCLB act to begin with: the BS in education. I understand the need for classroom theory and practicum, but a whole degree for it? If you want teach English, you should get a BA in English, while minoring in education. Read the NCLB itself, teacher certification requires advanced degrees in the subject area of instruction, but says nothing of specializing at the bachelor's level.
Finally, computers?! Really? 32 kindergarteners, some trying not to wet themselves, some in the first large-scale, everyday social environment they've ever been in and you want to plug-in some automated supervision/MacPaint and call it education? When does this model kick-in? 3rd grade? 8th grade? Interaction with your teacher helps kids learn; that's one of home-schooling's secrets. It's easy to succeed when you have all of the teacher's attention. It's harder when it's divided between 30 kids. It's even harder when someone, entirely disconnected from the process, argues that Lakewood should throw the baby out with the bath-water, disregard 120 years of the educational process simply because the average parent cares a whole lot less about, not the quality of education their children receive, but whether or not their children are educated individuals at the end of the process.
A community has a responsibility to interact with the staff and faculty of its' school system. Whether you express an interest in the schools by attending board meetings, meeting with administrators, or conferencing with teachers, this is how the staff of the system gauges community/parental involvement/concern about the learning environment they're responsible for. It's my experience with Lakewood teachers that they care about their students and their professional impact on them exponentially more than you are willing to give them credit for. However, one way to increase accountability might be adding a residency requirement in the union contract. That may curb the "lack" of concern shown students that you feel is so evident by requiring community involvement and "sharing your pain," while adding a bit to the city coffers as well.
It's disingenuous to state there is little teacher concern for students in Lakewood; as a former student and parent of former students, you would be better served to stay involved, rather than serve-up the old "back in the day" examples. No way the GI Bill compares to the needs of little kids. Part of the problem with your example is what has led to the institution of the NCLB act to begin with: the BS in education. I understand the need for classroom theory and practicum, but a whole degree for it? If you want teach English, you should get a BA in English, while minoring in education. Read the NCLB itself, teacher certification requires advanced degrees in the subject area of instruction, but says nothing of specializing at the bachelor's level.
Finally, computers?! Really? 32 kindergarteners, some trying not to wet themselves, some in the first large-scale, everyday social environment they've ever been in and you want to plug-in some automated supervision/MacPaint and call it education? When does this model kick-in? 3rd grade? 8th grade? Interaction with your teacher helps kids learn; that's one of home-schooling's secrets. It's easy to succeed when you have all of the teacher's attention. It's harder when it's divided between 30 kids. It's even harder when someone, entirely disconnected from the process, argues that Lakewood should throw the baby out with the bath-water, disregard 120 years of the educational process simply because the average parent cares a whole lot less about, not the quality of education their children receive, but whether or not their children are educated individuals at the end of the process.
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Dee Martinez
- Posts: 141
- Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 6:47 am
I dont recall Dr Estrop ever making such a statement. This would seem erroneous on the face of it. The superintendent knows who is attending school in the district.Jim O'Bryan wrote:
Three years ago Dr. Estrop had mentioned that one of the reasons for the test scores being low was that Lakewood had students from Bay, Westlake, Rocky River that either had learning problems or disabilities.
1) was this true 3 years ago?
2) is this true now?
.
Lakewood schools are in every sense two-tiered just as the ctiy is. There is a very middle-class suburban tier of children who are donig well and there is another tier of children from disadvantaged homes, recent immigrants, as well as an average-sized compliment of children with disabilities.
The first group is doing well according to NCLB standards and the second group is just narrowly missing the mark. I agree with both Dr Greanoff and Dr Estrop in that you cant force figures into a computer and come with an answer for something as subjective as 'are my kids going to good schools/'
Thank you Mr Markling for your input.
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Bill Call
- Posts: 3319
- Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:10 pm
g
There is no such thing as a good school district. There are only students who are easy to teach and students who are hard to teach.Dee Martinez wrote:The first group is doing well according to NCLB standards and the second group is just narrowly missing the mark. I agree with both Dr Greanoff and Dr Estrop in that you cant force figures into a computer and come with an answer for something as subjective as 'are my kids going to good schools/
If you transfered every student from the "bad" district to the "good" district" and every child from the "good" district to the "bad" district the "bad" district would become the "good" district and the "good" district would be become the "bad" district.
If you transfered every teacher from the good district to the bad district the bad district would still be a bad district. If you transfered every teacher from the bad district to the good district the good district would still be a good district.
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Jim O'Bryan
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- Location: Lakewood
- Contact:
DeeDee Martinez wrote:I dont recall Dr Estrop ever making such a statement. This would seem erroneous on the face of it. The superintendent knows who is attending school in the district.Jim O'Bryan wrote:
Three years ago Dr. Estrop had mentioned that one of the reasons for the test scores being low was that Lakewood had students from Bay, Westlake, Rocky River that either had learning problems or disabilities.
1) was this true 3 years ago?
2) is this true now?
.
Thank you Mr Markling for your input.
I am sure you are right, why would Dr. Estrop ever say that to me. I am sure my notes are wrong.
Mr. Markling, thank you for shedding light on the whole thing. We are truly lucky to have you on the school board.
.
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
-
Danielle Masters
- Posts: 1139
- Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 12:39 am
- Location: Lakewood, OH
Hey Bill, I have a student that is hard to teach. I try and work with him as much as I can but without a good district like Lakewood I don't think he would do as well as he has. They look at his needs from his disability and figure out a plan to best educate him. That is something good districts do, good districts are full of teachers who go above and beyond to educate their students and Lakewood is one of those districts. My children have been in three other districts and Lakewood has by far been the best district. I think you under estimate the importance of good teachers, with out good teachers our students wouldn't learn as much as they do. And I can tell you from first hand experience that some of the "bad" kids flourish with teachers that put 200% into our schools. I know that even though I do a good job working with my children that without the excellent teachers they have all had they would not learn nearly as much as they do. I really think you need to spend sometime in the schools. They could always use additional help. It is rewarding to read with a child and have them tell you that their parents never read with them. It's rewarding to see them improve their ability through the year. It's rewarding to see the joy on their faces when you go into the classroom to see them. And those same kids get the same joy from having teachers that teach them with love and patience, a bad teacher most likely wouldn't get that same response nor would they bring out the best in their students.