The Opinionated Bastard

Well you said you didn’t want people to just agree with you and be done with it. Here is my take, as a teacher, on No Child Left Behind. There really are students with learning disabilities, don’t you dare tell me that there aren’t. Are you a teacher or do you just have a parent who is a teacher? Are you a politician that helped write NCLB? Do you know how the whole program works? You didn’t mention the part about how the school districts are expected to improve a certain amount every year in order to get their funding. Schools that are already performing at very high standards just aren’t able to show that sort of improvement every year and that means that they stand the chance of losing their funding. Schools do not hold a monopoly. Parents can choose to send their students to a school other than the district that they live in. Charter schools and private schools do not always have to have teachers who are state certified. Students should be learning from teachers that actually know something. Teachers should be creative in the learning process. Not all states are as crazy as California and this is the standard you seem to be using to write this piece. California has state regulated textbooks, not all states do, mine doesn’t. I may like Bush and not like Kerry, but I am not going to say that what Bush did with this program was a good idea. I could go on all day if you would like, defending my position as a teacher who has to deal with this system. What system do you deal with, or do you hide behind the internet and spend your days posting your opinion instead of going out and making a difference.

Whew! I must have made you see red! Ok, lets see if I can cover your comments in order.

There really are students with learning disabilities, don’t you dare tell me that there aren’t.

Yes there are students with learning disabilities. However, I think there are more students diagnosed with learning disabilities then there are that actually have them. Too often, a “learning disability” can be used an excuse where it doesn’t apply.

As a teacher, I’m sure you’ve found instances where you could turn a student around with some extra attention. My mother would have been fine with Title XII in California if it meant additional classroom time for the student, but since it meant less, she didn’t see it working. She also saw it as a trap, if she let a kid get classified Title XII, they never got out.

Are you a teacher or do you just have a parent who is a teacher?

I just have a parent who was a teacher, but I had her review this before I posted and her comment was “Right on”. However, I enjoy hearing other opinions, especially someone working actively with the fallout.

You didn’t mention the part about how the school districts are expected to improve a certain amount every year in order to get their funding. Schools that are already performing at very high standards just aren’t able to show that sort of improvement every year and that means that they stand the chance of losing their funding.

I didn’t mention it true. However, I have a different understanding of this then you do. My understanding of NCLB is that only “failing” schools lose their funding, and this funding is “extra” from the federal government, so they’re losing ‘extra’ money. They also have a certain amount of time to show improvement. It may be true that requiring 100% of all students to be able to read and add is too high a goal, but perhaps its worth shooting for.

Schools do not hold a monopoly. Parents can choose to send their students to a school other than the district that they live in.

Not in my experience, and not nationwide. Where I live, the schools do have a monopoly unless you can afford private school.

Charter schools and private schools do not always have to have teachers who are state certified.

Depends on the state, but once you allow more parental choice, then parents can factor that in. I might choose a private school with 1 certified teacher plus 2 aides in a classroom of 30 over one that had just a single certified teacher.

In my home town, Charter schools are still run by the school district so they are subject to the same rules, but the students are held to a higher standard of behavior.

Not all states are as crazy as California and this is the standard you seem to be using to write this piece.

Yeah, CA has a really crazy state board of education, which the citizens have been trying to reform for years… What is your experience with the State Board of Education in your state?

California has state regulated textbooks, not all states do, mine doesn’t.

This might have actually been the decision of the school district, not the state, I’d have to check with my Mom to remember. Does it matter though? The point is that many states and school districts choose to dumb down their books rather then “smart up” the kids…

I may like Bush and not like Kerry, but I am not going to say that what Bush did with this program was a good idea.

Ok, what are your specific objections besides the above? I think we might have to agree to disagree on those.

I could go on all day if you would like, defending my position as a teacher who has to deal with this system.

Please do. I guess my position is I expect NCLB to need some tweaks, but I don’t trust Kerry to do them based on his stated position that we need to throw even more money at it.

What system do you deal with, or do you hide behind the internet and spend your days posting your opinion instead of going out and making a difference.

I live in Flagstaff, AZ, but I grew up in the CA school system. My email is on the home page, slightly disguised to avoid spam (replace -at- with @ and -dot- with .)

Start all over! That is my opinion. Throw away NCLB and start over. Did they really give this serious thought to begin with? Sometimes schools may classify students as learning disabled when they are not, but that is not what you originally said. Your mother is clearly also an elementary teacher and I am a high school teacher. Students with learning disablilites and other special education classifications are being mainstreamed more and more. These students usually have some sort of academic support class though, and this is designed to help them with their other classwork and work on improving their abilities.
I do not believe that schools are dumbing down their textbooks instead of encouraging their students to get smarter. Do not generalize because it is not the truth of all districts. Be sure that you know what level this is at and what subjects it is occuring in. That would interest me. Teachers also have the option to bring in their own suplimental material. As teachers and as parents we should never be dependent upon the schools to provide us with all the possible material we could need. This is where funding starts to become very important. Schools do need more funding if they are expected to keep up with technology and the changing environment of the world. More money is going into technology programs so that students can function more completely in college and in the workplace. Also, in other classrooms providing extra text materials and videos and hands-on activities all cost money. After school programs and sports all cost money. Schools need a realistic shot at getting extra funding. Right now for some districts it is not realistic. For many of the failing districts in this area there is no real help for them to improve. They are failing for a reason. Many fail because more and more students are sent to other districts, thus lowering the funding that they already have and limiting their resources even more. Some of them are failing because of gang activity and the disinterest of the students. Again it comes down to making the resources they have to as interesting as possible and stretch that money. This is not always possible. Many teachers will not teach in those districts because some are seen as unsafe, some are seen as not providing a decent salary, and so on. What is it you do with your life again, I don’t believe you answered me before, and I feel that it could really affect the way you see things.

Start all over! That is my opinion. Throw away NCLB and start over. Did they really give this serious thought to begin with?

Yes, however, there were political decisions as well that forced some compromises. They also did the testing and phonics part in Texas and went from 75% of 3rd graders able to read to 98% being able to read.

So you don’t even like that parents get reports about how their local schools rate?

Sometimes schools may classify students as learning disabled when they are not, but that is not what you originally said. Your mother is clearly also an elementary teacher and I am a high school teacher. Students with learning disablilites and other special education classifications are being mainstreamed more and more. These students usually have some sort of academic support class though, and this is designed to help them with their other classwork and work on improving their abilities.

Ok, if a kid is just “behind” can they ever escape the extra classes or is it a trap? When my mom was teaching, the knee jerk reaction was to classify any student more then 2 years behind grade level as “learning disabled” and leave them there for life. Do you have kids in your classroom who are smart enough, but behind where they should be? My mom saw lots of those. By devoting special time to those kids, my mom was able to bring every single one of them up to grade level.

So realize that this is the foundation you’re trying to build on in high school. Think about all the smart but behind kids you have, and imagine if they had been effectively taught in elementary school. That’s what I see NCLB as trying to achieve.

It could be that it goes too far, but I think that parents are pretty frustrated with the whole issue in the bad school districts, and this is a blunt object to deal with it. Blunt objects are bad, but you might be surprised at the frustration out there among parents.

I do not believe that schools are dumbing down their textbooks instead of encouraging their students to get smarter. Do not generalize because it is not the truth of all districts.

That’s true. California is a really horrendous example because they spent years throwing money at the problem instead of thinking about it.

Be sure that you know what level this is at and what subjects it is occuring in. That would interest me.

I don’t remember, its been years, but it seemed like all of them. (My mom would have me help load the books…) They would have all been at the elementary level though. 2-4th were my mom’s favorite grades.

Teachers also have the option to bring in their own suplimental material. As teachers and as parents we should never be dependent upon the schools to provide us with all the possible material we could need. This is where funding starts to become very important.

When my mom started teaching, teachers were allowed a budget of $250 to spend in the classroom. 20 years later, it was still $250. My mom probably spent about 5% of her salary on her classroom. So funding is important, but I believe in funding teachers over programs.

Schools do need more funding if they are expected to keep up with technology and the changing environment of the world. More money is going into technology programs so that students can function more completely in college and in the workplace. Also, in other classrooms providing extra text materials and videos and hands-on activities all cost money. After school programs and sports all cost money.

I agree, I always liked my mom’s test. “Does this give me more materials in the classroom? If not, it’s not any good.”. Many programs in California would fail that test.

Schools need a realistic shot at getting extra funding. Right now for some districts it is not realistic. For many of the failing districts in this area there is no real help for them to improve. They are failing for a reason. Many fail because more and more students are sent to other districts, thus lowering the funding that they already have and limiting their resources even more. Some of them are failing because of gang activity and the disinterest of the students. Again it comes down to making the resources they have to as interesting as possible and stretch that money. This is not always possible. Many teachers will not teach in those districts because some are seen as unsafe, some are seen as not providing a decent salary, and so on.

I agree with that 100%. However, its been true for years, but the parents didn’t have any ammunition. Now with NCLB they can have the clout to say “our schools are failing, fix it!”. That may be a good thing. As for as gang activity goes, at the Figeroa school in LA they dealt with it by expelling the students who weren’t there to learn.

What is it you do with your life again, I don’t believe you answered me before, and I feel that it could really affect the way you see things.

Oh, I didn’t realize you wanted to know that. I’m a software engineer who does energy healing in his spare time at his local martial arts studio, who spends too much time writing about politics because he got frustrated with the media dumbing down of complex issues.

BTW, what state do you teach in?

Michigan, I am from Michigan. I am proud, very proud, of the fact that our state has one of the best educational systems in the country. This does not mean though that I do not know about the problems in the other states. This also does not mean that we like NCLB here either. Only two of the five basics of NCLB are actually directed specifically at elementary education, one of which actually still says K-12 education. I don’t actually think that I know any teacher that is particularly in favor on NCLB. I do realize that the basis of education comes in the elementary years. I also know that many elementary schools are going to a different approach, with more team teaching for the students. In the past it was always a selfcontained environment, but it isn’t that way now. Many teachers teach a few specific subjects and then switch with another teacher who will do the other subjects. This gives the students a better chance at a fair education. To often in the past teachers did not use a variety of methods to reach their students. Now teacher education in many colleges focuse on the different learning styles. Learning styles are important because in a class of thirty children you are going to have students who learn in as many as seven different ways. Of course each child also learns a little differently amoung these seven styles. In order for us to be able to show that our students are learning we must adapt to their needs. Elementary teachers need to address this in particular because they are the basis of the education that students recieve. Gangs are not just in schools. Go ahead expel the students who are in the gangs, of course then those students aren’t getting an education and are just becoming more of a problem. What about the gang members who are not in school? Just because they aren’t in school doesn’t mean they don’t have an affect on the learning environment or on the progress that some students make. Yes the ability to see what level your student is at is nice for the parents. Although not all parents care and actually say anything about it. Again in many of these failing districts there just isn’t much they can do without the funding, particularly with a bad reputation. NCLB takes affect next year. One big problem that I see with this program is that it wants teachers to teach only in their major. What this is going to do is force schools to hire teachers on a part time basis for the few classes they may need in an area. It is better if a teacher can teach in all of their areas because this allows the school to save money. Seriously it also says that we think your education is valid. Right now it says that only part of your education is valid and because you didn’t spend as many hours studying all the areas you won’t be a good teacher. That is a load of crap. It is also hurting new teachers when we are out looking for jobs. I feel that I am qualified in all my areas and will be a great teacher in all the areas, but I can’t even have that chance right now because of schools trying to follow NCLB. Oh, and by the way, I think that politics have their place, I am a social studies/history/english teacher, but ranting doesn’t really do that much good. Are you out there doing something? Are you working on a campaign? What do you do outside of this website to express your opinions when it comes to politics? Do you go around spouting only the bad about other candidates or do you see both sides of the coin? In the beginning of this government politics and elections were about the issues, not about who did what wrong when and who served where when, or did they dodge the draft, so on and so on.

I’m glad Michigan has a good school system. Perhaps NCLB is trying to export some of the things you’ve done that have worked well to other states. :-)

Yeah, my mom was team teaching years ago in elementary school. She also thought that you always had to combine the visual with the verbal to reach all the students.

I think elementary school and high school education are very different beasts, with different approaches needed.

My understanding of NCLB though is that it doesn’t mandate a particular educational approach as much as it advocates only using approaches proven to actually be useful. As an engineer, that just makes logical sense to me. You try something, see if it works, and if it does, you stick with it, otherwise you try something else. There were a lot of failed school districts who got away from the basics: teacher+student, but didn’t correct as their test scores slipped.

I try to see both sides. If you look at my navigation, I’ve started trying to separate the positive and negative postings by candidate so you can read just the positive or just the negative.

Between you and my wife, yeah, I signed up as a volunteer on the Bush campaign.

I’m sick of Vietnam too.

We seem to be winding down. I think we’ll have to agree to disagree. I really like the “theory”, “test”, “verify”, “tweak” cycle built into NCLB, but NCLB is friggin’ huge, and I think the parts that probably need tweaking/fixing aren’t the parts that are being talked about. It seems to me that the pieces that politicians want to remove are the things that give parents recourse if their schools are bad, and those are the parts that I think have to remain.

I am sick of Vietnam too, but probably for different reasons. I have been trying to help my boyfriend understand what happened during the Vietnam era and I feel as though, even though, I am a student of history he respects the opinions of those on the Blogs for Bush site more than what I have to say. Visual and verbal are very important for learning, but I would think that at an elementary level there are other important areas as well, such as kinesetic. This one I find to be important still at the secondary level. Students need to be able to get up and move around and be creative. Test scores are not the only way to evaluate student progress and I hate that it is the primary way that people evaluate students. More and more there are state mandated tests, partly because of NCLB, and they are not a fair evaluation of our students. Some kids just can’t take tests. There are certain tests that are easier than other for certain kids. I know that I hated when I had a professor that expected us to memorize thirty sentences about Psychology in Education. Yet right, I never did accomplish that. I can’t take tests like that. We need to realize that a child that is engaged in the learning process is actually learning to the best of their ability. I am glad that you realize getting invloved is a good outlet for your frustrations and a way to promote your candidate. I did notice that you have things in different sections, although the NCLB post is the only thing that I have read. I only even saw it because my boyfriend sent it to me. We get in frequent “discussions” about education. I believe I know more because I work in the field, he believes he knows just as much because he went to school and he breathes. He, like you, has an engineering degree.