This is not about baseball --- it's about academics --- well maybe it's about society in general but it does impact our children. Reading today's newspaper and I see where our education system is failing. The "JCM" in the following article is one of the largest high school in our school system.

quote:

In 2004, JCM's graduation rate was 67.3 percent. JCM's graduation rate this year was 57.2 percent, according to the report card.

THAT MEANS BARELY HALF OF OUR STUDENTS ARE GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL AND THESE GRADUATES EXPECT THINGS TO GET BETTER???

My son graduated from public school in our town in 2002. However things have declined since 2002. Today I would not send a child of mine to a public high school in our system. Not sure what I would do but I would be forced to do something. Some will say this is the "haves" and the "have nots" with the "have nots" being left out. Others will try to make it a racial issue just because we are in the south. I don't see it as a racial issue because we are still under court ordered desegregation and bussing (after 40 years). These kids come from all over town. Black/white numbers about the same in the schools. The NAACP wants bussing to continue and fights to make it an issue. Our school board is made up of 9 members with a 5-4 black majority. The majority want bussing to continue also. I don't know what the problem is. I think it is more the "care" and "care not" parents with the "care not" parents destroying our schools. "Care not" parents raise "care not" kids. What's a parent to do?
Fungo

Just look at the filth kids are putting on their MySpace pages. I guarantee you'll find several kids you know.

Either the parents just flat out don't pay attention or they are absolute morons.

Either way, it seems like more and more of them are raising absolute morons.

Was fortunate enough to "buy" my son a "good education" at a private school. To me it was an investment in my kid's future I could not afford to pass on considering the state of the public schools in my area. However, I know alot of people who have really hit on hard times with the current economy and are working two jobs just to put food on the table. They have neither the time or money to put their little ones in athletics, gymnastics or whatever extra-curricular activities that keeps them off the streets. They do not love or care about their children any less, they just run out of hours in a day.

education starts in the home. I just reviewed our Ohio report cards and grad rates outside of urban areas are well above 95% in most cases.

I do not think you can "buy" an education---the student gets out of it what he puts into it,be it a private or public school

Is this the new thinking--you can "buy" what you think you need?

Public education is the nation's greatest resource and in most cased provides far, far better preparation for real life than a sheltered private school. I say this as a product of a highly regarded private school. As a result, all four of my children have attended public schools.

Granted, they have been extremely highly regarded public schools, but that is the key. Parents and communities have an impact on the quality of their public schools. They can contribute time, attidude and money. And in the end, families and communities usually get out of it what they put into it.

By the way, despite the angst and upheaval brought about by bussing -- which was implemented to guarantee integration and school equality -- it has done the job it was supposed to do. Thus the far more open-minded attitudes of young people in America in regard to race and thus the election of a black president. It is difficult to see it as anything but positive in the overal balance of things.

Now here's a topic that will get some blood percolating. I totally agree with jemaz, public schools are our greatest resource. We need the public school system to succeed.

There are so many different factors involved in measuring school success, and without seeing them all it's hard to get the big picture. Now I'm not saying I have the answers, but I have looked at this from the inside and out. I'm going to leave the parenting issues aside for others to dissect, as I have been known to get the red-a** when talking to my peers about this. Let me just say that I'm all in favor of boarding schools.

For starters, when you start looking at numbers like graduation rates, the formula used by this school district may not include factors such as transfers to private or out of district schools. I'm not saying there isn't a problem at JCM, but the numbers may not be telling the whole story. If there's a phenomenon such as white flight occurring then you're probably not going to a true picture of the success rate at any given school. What do the SAT scores say? The state HS competency scores? Or the other standardized test scores say about achievement in core curriculum subjects? Not always as bad as it looks. And how do you measure the quality of social preparedness that students are receiving?

Here's an interesting read that examines the recent historical perspective of American schools. As the author points out, we seem to go through cycles where panic sets in and TPTB decide that we must re-invent the school system.
The Myth of America's Failing Schools

I believe in the old adage that in order to learn kids have to feel safe. Racial tension doesn't help much with a kid's sense of security. I graduated from a HS in which mandatory bussing was enforced, and I can tell you that scenario can be problematic for sure. Kids with a forced bus ride to a distant school are more than likely to get off that bus with a chip on their shoulder, and the kids watching them depart the bus are leas than likely to be rolling out any red carpets. Not an ideal situation, but it can work. In the end you have to find a balance, while a diverse student population is a model for the real world, a kid should be able to go to the school in their community. Bottom line is that we all have our work cut out for us in learning how to ease racial tension. The world isn't going to get any whiter, browner, or blacker. It already is what it is, and our kids need to 'get that' sooner than later.

Special Ed is probably for another topic, but it has relevance here. I should note that around 15% of the general pop in the USA has some form of print related disability- dyslexia if you will. That issue alone has a huge impact on testing and retention rates. While private schools generally do a great job educating lesser challenged students, they don't usually provide the kind of support needed to teach kids with learning differences. That's why most special ed students have no place to transfer to, and publics end up dealing with a much higher population density of challenging students. It doesn't help the numbers look any better.

I currently work at a public high school with around 2200 students enrolled. The diversity of the student pop is rich, because the diversity in the community is rich. The quality of teachers is also pretty diverse. But one of the big problems is that people aren't exactly lining up for teaching jobs around here. Finding a way to make the teaching profession more attractive to new graduates is one of the many big challenges facing our country. BTW, you're going to find some real duds teaching at private schools too. I would encourage just about anyone who feels that they have a stake in our childrens' future to consider spending some time in the classroom. No it doesn't pay much, but the real rewards are huge.

.

quote:

Originally posted by spizzlepop:
No it doesn't pay much, but the real rewards are huge.

And the benefits are huge too spiz...at least up our way.

Our Principal/Superintendant, who has four assistants, at our rather modest sized high school (1500 enrollment) in suburban Chicago pulls down $260,000 each year just in salary. His assistants all make well over $100,000 as well. A Driver's Ed teacher in an adjacent district was making close to $160,000...and that was reported nearly six or seven years ago.

It isn't any different at the local schools at the lower level either.

It's getting increasingly tougher each year to sustain this...particularly given the continuing very sour economy.

Yet they constantly ask for more!

Woody,
Don't you get me started on admins
The average teacher's salary in New Mexico is < $40K. Starting salary is around $30K.
Please advise on future job posts for drivers ed in Cook County

Many of my college friends, now teachers in the Bloomington, IN school system, quietly reference a "conspiracy of ignorance" that disproportionately impacts adolescent men.

For black students, its often expressed in teenage social stigma attached to "trying to be white".

For low achieving white students (I'm told) its often fueled by a family stigma that sees academic success as a rejection your parents achievements/social status.

In France, an anti-education pandemic rages across Algerian/North African suburbs "banlieue", where 14-15-16+ boys flatly refuse to take instruction from women. (The alternative is to skip school, stay home, smoke dope and watch French MTV all day.)

How to fix any of this/that? Thats way above my pay grade.

Surely though, poverty and penal systems will continue to grow, unless these trends are reversed.

.

Concerning your cartoon spiz...I don't think our superintendent understands the concept of saving.

And he certainly would not put driver's ed students in a huge school bus...they might run into the Maserati that he drives!

In our area the public school system is excellent. You can hardly get into teachers college here. There are more kids turned away because you have to have great marks and there are so few positions open.
Our HSs are not as big as in the US. Most are less than 1000 students and I wouldn't hesitate to send a child to any of them. We have never had a race issue in opur schools except in Toronto where a lot of violence has developed over the last few years. Much of it is drug related and race oriented. This has led to some racial tension.
I have always believed that the state should provide 1 public school system and it should be the best it can be. A year or so ago a politician tried to introduce faith based funding for private schools and he ended up getting fried at the polls. I have always disagreed with private schools. There is a very good one here and I wouldn't dream of sending a kid there. I also believe that the real education takes place outside the classroom with the interaction of the student population.

quote:

How to fix any of this/that? Thats way above my pay grade.

That's partly my point HaverDad. I'm certainly not alone in fighting this, but I don't see the numbers on my side increasing much. Running away from the problem is the first thing many parents see as the solution, and it doesn't help much.
I have to believe the hopelessness that fuels these stigmata is correctable. Cultural tolerance and acceptance is one social objective that cannot be achieved soon enough. A public education system with common academic values is needed for that to happen. The epidemic in the banlieue sounds like religion driven dogma of the worst kind. Talk about cutting off the nose to spite the face! That's precisely the type of hurdle that must be overcome. Looking at this stuff in the rear view mirror is going to provide the most enjoyable view of it, but nothing much to linger on.

There is a wonderful website for Illinois which lists all of the salaries for the public school administrators and teachers in Illinois. The numbers listed below are the '06-'07 salaries for each administrator and teacher in our public high school district with less that 1500 students enrolled...just the salaries are listed, the benefits are not included. They are all well compensated with the lowest salary for a full time teacher at $54,000!


Here's that list...

$257,474
$126,937
$125,716
$122,000
$119,096
$117,536
$116,652
$116,431
$116,373
$115,585
$113,707
$113,315
$111,963
$111,153
$111,084
$110,500
$110,500
$108,959
$108,698
$107,553
$106,635
$105,915
$105,245
$104,783
$104,633
$103,474
$101,450
$100,435
$100,872
$98,699
$97,100
$95,825
$95,702
$95,275
$95,176
$94,845
$94,286
$91,604
$91,565
$91,484
$90,771
$88,110
$87,992
$87,855
$87,132
$87,057
$86,840
$86,217
$84,766
$84,483
$84,480
$83,082
$83,018
$82,889
$82,150
$79,354
$79,200
$77,925
$77,308
$77,144
$76,642
$76,512
$75,180
$72,413
$70,906
$70,553
$70,237
$69,891
$69,730
$68,443
$67,955
$66,458
$66,312
$66,208
$65,878
$65,860
$65,415
$65,354
$63,778
$63,540
$63,216
$62,659
$62,287
$62,210
$62,171
$61,498
$61,430
$61,131
$60,211
$59,595
$59,588
$58,094
$57,317
$56,517
$56,332
$55,292
$54,970
$54,969



The school is nationally ranked in Newsweek, but according to the school's report card,it has failed. We have a problem with out-of-district students coming in (reportedly close to 100) at an annual educational cost of $13,000 per student. There are a large number of students living in Section 8 housing who are causing problems requiring police action.

Parents try to positively get involved, but the principal/superintendent (remember...$257,474) turns a blind eye. The school board goes along with the principal---even to the point of allowing the principal to remain in his position after getting caught having an affair with one of the newly tenured/appointed chair of the student services department at the end of the '08 school year.

Morale is low among the teachers (in part due to the handling of the affair--lies and all) and now they have to deal with the new societal problems affecting the school. Unfortunately, we will be involved as parents for 5 more years, but even as a tax-payer, it is frustrating to see a once excellent school spiral downward ....

meanwhile, back in France...on the other side of the ball.

Teenage banlieue girls, have widely seized academic opportunities that were unavailable to their first-generation, immigrant mothers.

It seems the same gender patterns exist in inner city american schools.

quote:

banlieue

Banlieue

Ban"li*eue`\, n. [F., fr. LL. bannum leucae, banleuca; bannum jurisdiction + leuca league.] The territory without the walls, but within the legal limits, of a town or city. --Brande & C.

For those that need to know what type of teeage girls................

Our education systen is sufferring because it was taken over by 'academics'. Academics are usually degreed individuals with many theories but no practical experience.

Somewhere along the line it was decided that all students are college material. Vocational schools were shut down and our nation lost thousands of tradesworkers who may have benefitted.

Political correctness and the shortsightedness of the courts have also damaged education.

Co-ed high schools have been mandated by the courts. Can you imagine the raging hormones, peer pressure and the presence of the opposite gender all interferring with the thought processes of many teens.

The failure is not only at the high school level as we have seen. Failure to teach children to read proficiently at grade level is an absurd notion that we have come to accept as reasonable.

There have always been problem students and there have always been schools for such students. Counselors and teachers should be making the determination who belongs in these schools instead of the courts.

The 90's saw such innane practices as social promotion and fuzzy math, not to mention 'group testing'.

If the courts adminster the law instead of making law, our lives all around would benefit.

Socially, the "banlieue" are expansive high rise public housing "projects" that ring at least 75% of central Paris, starting 8-10 miles out.

Worst case scenario is Cabrini Green.....but in French.

Among the greatest issues the French state must manage are very large (illegal) polygamist families living in close, public housing quarters.

While we are on the topic of public schools, what do you all think about schools with budget problems cutting back such programs as the "gifted students" program? We have a neighbor with such a child, and I must say they ran down to the board to speak their mind when district was looking to cut back program. Now it seems to me that there are already ways to educate these students without taking scarce resources away from the general population. After all you are gifted, then move up a grade. And once in HS there are AP classes to take. It seems to me to boil down to the rich getting richer. When was the last time you heard about a gifted kid being a ********er?

.

********er?

Asterisker?