Public Education System

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@StrokedZ28

Any true educator will tell you that the best way to find out if a students understanding the material is through ‘authentic assessment’ which are things like portfolios, labs, and research projects.

this is truth.

[StrokedZ28]

@fairgentleman Z

So foreign students that have taken Dynamics, Statics, Calc 3 by the age of 17 can’t be compared with US students that squeak by on non regents Math III, and algebra based H.S. physics?

I can’t really speak on how other states do it but here in NY you can’t sqeak by with out a regents diploma, it manditory.

Also our math program in the state has been completely revamped. The math I took in 12th grade 6 years ago is now being taught in 8th grade. Some of my students were useing graphing calculators this year.

Also many countries have students take tests to find out what school they will go to later in thier childhood. Only the smartest would tbe in the schools that take the tests that get compared to all students here in the US.

Its really unfair to compare our systems with other countries.

[Zer0DazE]

@JoesTypeS

And how do you expect people to fork over 8-10k/yr per kid? Do those children just not get an education? How do you make private schooling affordable to everyone without passing the bill to richer parents, essentially taxing them and thus eliminating the reason to switch to a private education system to begin with.

they are paying it now as a school tax.

[JoesTypeS]

@Zer0DazE

they are paying it now as a school tax.

yes, I’m aware of this. If you want to convert to private education, you would be eliminating school taxes…get it? Ok, now go read my post.

[fairgentleman_Z]

@StrokedZ28

I can’t really speak on how other states do it but here in NY you can’t sqeak by with out a regents diploma, it manditory.

I heard they were going to change it to regents required by all students. When I took regents it was “optional”. That is a first step, but still Math III isn’t all that impressive/ challenging.

@StrokedZ28

Also our math program in the state has been completely revamped. The math I took in 12th grade 6 years ago is now being taught in 8th grade. Some of my students were useing graphing calculators this year.

I took Math I in 8th grade.

@StrokedZ28

Its really unfair to compare our systems with other countries.

I think it is unfair to not challenge our children to compete in a global market.

[Dr.Stevil]

@Zer0DazE

they are paying it now as a school tax.

werd… even those without children

[StrokedZ28]

@fairgentleman Z

I heard they were going to change it to regents required by all students. When I took regents it was “optional”. That is a first step, but still Math III isn’t all that impressive/ challenging.

I took Math I in 8th grade.

I think it is unfair to not challenge our children to compete in a global market.

Regents is not optional.

When I took math in 12 grade it was considered Math IV

That is the math starting to be taught in 8th grade now.

I am fine with challenging my kids but testing does not challenge it does not make them learn and it does not tell us if a student is comprehending the material. We only have them because of the tests students overseas take.

Our country still produces on average more college graduates that came from the public education system percentage wise than any other country.

[Zer0DazE]

@JoesTypeS

yes, I’m aware of this. If you want to convert to private education, you would be eliminating school taxes…get it? Ok, now go read my post.

with more people the cost will go down.

just like anything else.

[StrokedZ28]

@SC_Steve

werd… even those without children

That is the price you have to pay to help the next generation.

[MikeRi24]

as one of the more recent products of our Public Education System (i graduated High Schoolalmost exatcly a year ago) id say the following:

1. up the standards a little bit: its obvious that theres people who care and people who don’t. thats gonna be the case no matter what. by upping the standards, you’re not gonna make the people who care, care any more, or the people who dont care, calre less. The people who do care will continue to bust thier asses and still succeed but on a higher level. The people that want to suceed will still seek the same help and tutoring that they previously did. hell, it might evne make the kids who were kind of on the boarderline between getting extra help and not, make them go for tutouring and end up doing better.

2. make private schools more affordable to get in. I’ve always noticeds that kids that kids going to private schools seem to turn out a little better groomed for life as well as being a tad bit smarter because they dont have to deal with state standardized shit. There are a lot of kids (and parents who would love to send thier kids there) that can;t go to these schools because of monetary issues. I do realize that this is gonna sound EXTREMELY redundant, but these schools should be made a little more affordable to go to. I say thats redundant because priovate school (im assuming) are mostly private fundded, and by cutting down the cost of going there, thier funding gets cut donw and the education decreases. and obviously the state isnt gonna help them out because priovate schools dont go by state standards that much. by getting kids who do care into a whol school of kids who care, you weed out the kids who dont care and create less distractions and speed bumps in the educational process.

now, if i could go back and do high school over again, i probably would ahve tried harder to go to a private school (like St. Joes). I went to Amherst High School, and don;t get me wrong, i loved the school, could put up with MOST of the people, and generally had a great time in high school. BUT, i look at a coupple of my friend who are graduates of private schools, and it jsut seems to me like they are groomed a lot better for life and overall are more professional and well behaved than a lot of people coming out of public school. its deffinately a whole different crowd (the public school and private school gradutaes) and i think that overall, the private school is better set up for life in the real professional world. like i said, if i could do it over again, i think i would have tried harder to go to a pirvate school. especially if they were co-ed j/k

[JoesTypeS]

@Zer0DazE

with more people the cost will go down.

just like anything else.

No.

Private schools are expensive b/c they keep class sizes small, hire the best teachers, have the best technology, etc… etc… If there were no public schools there would just be more private schools or larger ones. In order for the level of education to stay the same, the costs would actually increase since most private schools get SOME money from the government. You can’t go from 12 kids in a class to 24 and expect the quality to stay the same.

So in fact, getting rid of public funding of education will increase the costs of private schools.

So please explain to me how a single mother of 2 school aged children is going to send them to school @ 8-10K per kid making 20K/yr pre-tax. That is leaving her between 4k and 0 after tuition fees, or a maximum of $10/day to survive.

So how do the poor afford an education? Would you say that since their parents didn’t make enough money those children are not entitled to an education? Wouldn’t that go against the general welfare of the country?

And the only way those children will be able to go to a private schools is by pushing the cost to the parents of wealthier children. This really, is just taxing them.

Public schooling is 100% essential to the growth and success of this country. Our education system needs an overhaul, no doubt, but we need to have a public education system. We need to have high federal standards, we need to employ only the best teachers and we need to make sure they are giving their students the education they deserve (the best possible education) year in and year out. Teachers should be tested YEARLY. I think we should do away with the teachers unions, because teachers shouldn’t need unions, we should take care of our teachers better. Teachers should be making 6 figures. Becoming a teacher should be HARD, as hard as becoming a lawyer or a doctor. And it should be free or close to it, after all there is no greater contribution to the wellbeing of our country than educating the future generation. Our public school system should be so good there shouldn’t be a need for private schools.

[JayS]

@Joe

Suburban areas approve their budgets with large tax bases and higher percentages, and their kids prosper. Urban schools where they can’t afford it suffer. Ideally school taxes would be a standard percentage across the state, but then the suburbs would basically be subsidizing the inner city in just one more way.

I bet you didn’t know that Williamsville (#1 WNY school for the last 2-3 years) actually spends less per child for education than Buffalo (dead last WNY school for a bunch of years). I can’t find the actual numbers now, but it was released when Business First released this year’s school rankings. Further proof that guess what, it’s not just a money issue. I don’t care if you spend a million dollars per kid, if the parents aren’t teaching them the importance of an education the kids are going to fail.

What would I change?

1. Drop requirements for the schools for kids who’s parents refuse to get involved. Without the parent’s help “investing in the future” of a child is just a bad investment. Better to spend the money on the kids you can help than keep pouring it down the drain with kids who because of their parents are a lost cause.

2. Get tough on teacher’s unions. Buffalo spends more per child than the #1 ranked school in WNY. Where is this money going? The Buffalo Teacher’s Union is one of the strongest unions in the area, and if you listen to Phil Rumore (union president) for more than 5 minutes you’ll instantly know that he stopped caring about education a long time ago.

[Zer0DazE]

thats funny, because private school teachers complain about how they make less, and have no resources (im not related to, or friends with, or dating a teacher or anything)

i think it might also help with over population. if you cant afford to have them, then you dont… if not, then it will help to keep the middle class alive and well.

glass is half full from where i am sitting

[JoesTypeS]

@JayS

I don’t care if you spend a million dollars per kid, if the parents aren’t teaching them the importance of an education the kids are going to fail.

This is a good point, but I think you can reduce the effect of bad parents by having better teachers. If you didn’t have a teacher that changed the way you look at life (for the better) you didn’t have good enough teachers.

@Zer0DazE

thats funny, because private school teachers complain about how they make less, and have no resources (im not related to, or friends with, or dating a teacher or anything)

They may be paid less, however they are the best teachers. They do it because they love to teach, at least in my experience. Religious schools might not have a lot of resources, the private schools (non-religious) I went to certainly had the best tech, etc…

[StrokedZ28]

@JoesTypeS

hire the best teachers,

Private schools do not hire the best teachers. Ask any school teacher. No one wants to work for them, they pay around 20k a year. Thats rediculous.

[Dr.Stevil]

@StrokedZ28

That is the price you have to pay to help the next generation.

I know was just stating the obvious lol

[Zer0DazE]

@StrokedZ28

Private schools do not hire the best teachers. Ask any school teacher. No one wants to work for them, they pay around 20k a year. Thats rediculous.

private schools will let go good teacher, and even bad ones, before they get their tenure. this way they dont have to pay them.

[StrokedZ28]

@SC_Steve

I know was just stating the obvious lol

Oh…sorry. I’m so used to couples without kids bitching about it.

My bad.

[JoesTypeS]

@StrokedZ28

Private schools do not hire the best teachers. Ask any school teacher. No one wants to work for them, they pay around 20k a year. Thats rediculous.

The best teachers I’ve ever had were at Elmwood Franklin and Park School of Buffalo. The worst were @ St. Gregory the Great. Canisius also had some very good teachers. South (public school) had ok teachers. But in my experience the better teachers were at the private schools. Maybe the private schools I went to paid more…

[StrokedZ28]

@Zer0DazE

private schools will let go good teacher, and even bad ones, before they get their tenure. this way they dont have to pay them.

Tenure? There is no tenure in private schools. And thier pay is about 15k less starting than the average public school.