I am off the plantation tonight folks, and I am watching the end of the Lakers C' game, so this post is going to be very short. In fact, I am probably not going to post much at all, so please go ahead and jack this bad boy.
I do have a kind of informal poll question, though: I know there is no real comparison between the two, but in terms of leadership and the perception of getting things done, do you think that O has done a better job of handling the BP oil spill than the frat boy did with Katrina?
And, if you do comment, could you also give me one practical thing that you would do if you were "king of the world", to solve the education gap in this country?
Thanks!
Congrats to the Lakers and all of you basketball fans out on the leftcoast.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
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124 comments:
The ongoing fiasco of the government's response to this disaster goes way beyond mistakes made during Katrina. The feds have acted more as an impediment to action then a help. EPA regs have prevented the use of Dutch skimmers; other ships have been turned away not to violate the Jones act. Miles of containment booms sat in warehouses while the government refused to authorize their deployment. Actions the state of Louisiana have tried to implement (like sandbars) have been forbidden. Now Obama wants to hand $20 billion to a glorified ambulance chaser (Feinberg)to "disburse". I wonder what his cut will be.
What a cluster fuck.
education gap -
One thing I would do: equalize funding of public schools in every state. That is, property taxes should go into a general state pool and distributed to each school based on school population. This would help eliminate the disparity between Beverly Hills High and South Central high (for example).
The second thing I would do is develop a series of incentives for good teachers to stay in the profession and teach in lower achieving schools.
Third thing: increase funding for K-12 schools and for lower income food and health programs and limit funding for prisons.
Fourth: Make every single Republican who apologizes - publicly or privately to the oil industry - pay 10% of his or her net worth to Habitat for Humanity
To solve education, I would give school administrators the power to kick out anyone who wasn't trying to learn (instead of the "no child left behind" mentality). The teacher per student ratio would improve as well as the money per student ratio. The dropouts weren't going anywhere anyway and at least now they couldn't hold their gang bullshit over everyone elses' heads.
Black Magic Woman took the words out of my mouth. I'd put all the property tax money in a pool to be shared equally. That's the one thing no politician talks about.
Obama is doing a much better job than Bush. At least Obama didn't tell the CEO of BP what a great job he was doing like Bush did with "Brownie".
Darn Celtics. :-( I want to punch Kobe and that crybaby Derrick Fisher in the neck.
Black Magic, they actually did equalize funding for Public Schools in Arkansas via a Federal order, Lake Village would be the town that started the process, if you're interested. I personally don't think it will help, but whatever. In my experience, some communities produce good students and some don't regardless of funding.
As far as the Gulf goes, the handling of the spill appears worse to me at this point. Too bad Jindal isn't President.
szpork
Unfortunately, the Gulf disaster makes Katrina look small by comparison. So, Obama looks worse than Bush. And I don't believe BP will be held to follow through on its commitment to pay for the ONGOING disaster it has created.
Re: education. Teachers in public schools should be paid more than those in private schools because they have to work harder and deal with far more undisciplined kids. At the very least, they should be paid equally to the ones in private schools. That would help retain more skillful and qualified teachers in public schools.
Also, there should be a stringent testing system to weed out the incompetent teachers who are merely drawing a pay check and don't care about teaching or kids. The better the scores the better the pay for the teacher. Right now, there are a lot of incompetent teachers in public schools that are hurting our children.
There should be a law requiring parents to be involved with the education and schools of their children. Those who don't want to be bound by such a law shouldn't have children since education is a big part of child upbringing. Education is the child's ticket to a better future.
You can't legislate things like forcing parents to be involved in a child's schooling, so what we need is a change in our culture to where that's expected. More money is great, but is not the root cause. Indifferent parents is.
Val said...
"Black Magic Woman took the words out of my mouth. I'd put all the property tax money in a pool to be shared equally. That's the one thing no politician talks about."
Inner city schools in the poorest neighborhoods already get vastly more money per student in education funding. If equal funding is what you want, the worst performing schools would actually get less money.
Obviously, it's not a matter of money.
Two simple things that would improve public education for everyone would be to abolish the teacher's union and to give parents choice by letting them take their child's education allocation in the form of vouchers they could use to put their kids in the school of their choice. This would force the public schools to get rid of bad teachers, to cut bloated administrative staffs, and to get serious about educating or children.
Private school teachers do make less than public school teachers and culture makes good students, not laptops etc... Just for instance: Marianna, AR produces and exports excellent kids, Lake Village, AR produces unwed teenage mothers. Both communities are largely AA and in the Arkansas Delta Region which I love to visit. Going there soon for all night cat fishing.
szpork
Val said..."Darn Celtics. :-( I want to punch Kobe and that crybaby Derrick Fisher in the neck."
Val, tell me you're not that violent. You're destroying my image of you.
Congratulations to the Lakers. They were tested by a great Boston team, but still emerged victorious.
Nobody beats the Lakers! They are a great team in a city that loves them... where violence does not happen cause the city has no street pirates. Not like Philly, Oakland and Atlanta.
LA is also free from racism. I hope to live there someday and become a movie star.
Slappy why are you posting anonymously?
Val, I agree with you to a point. After all, we all knew Katrina was coming and it was a humdinger of a storm. Louisiana's governor at the time tried to get those levies fortified years ago, but she couldn't get the funding. Also, we have contingency plans in place for natural disasters, especially hurricanes, so the only thing that really needed to be done was rescue the people who were still there and bring supplies. Bush waited almost a week before going out there. In the case of BP, there were no adequate plans in place to deal with accidents and leaks that happened that deep in the ocean. It's kinda like building a car that can break the sound barrier, but not inventing safety belts and other things to accommodate a vehicle traveling at that speed. Yesterday even more oil execs admitted that they didn't have adequate contingency plans to deal with accidents in deep water drilling. Basically, there isn't much that the government can do technology wise, however Obama made the mistake of not holding BP to the fire immediately. He just tried to wait and see if BP could fix it. Big mistake!
So, to make a long story short, the BP disaster is worse because it's harder to solve. Bush's performance during Katrina was worse because we have the means to rescue people during natural disasters. I swear I need to move away from the Gulf Coast, but Houston is too awesome of a city!
P.S. Screw you Lakers!!! The refs cheated you to another ring.
Cocoa, one my co-workers was a FEMA person. Most of them are not full time, they're on call. Anyway, he was on the road to LA long before the hurricane hit. They do have to receive permission to perform there and that took a while since the LA Governor had her head up her ass. Similarly, the gulf can't receive aid from foreign countries until the Jones Act is waved.
szpork
Fund early childhood and early intervention programs. Make sure there is a well-stocked, professionally staffed library in every public school (and make sure the public libraries are well-funded and accessible by the community).
But mostly, give young children a good start in life by valuing and respecting the importance of good early education.
That's a damn shame Szpork. It reminds me of all the people from Texas who were all set to help with the BP clean up efforts, but were sent back. Madness!
SZ Pork has a point. And we all know parental involvement is key. I do believe that for public education the previous suggestions of putting all the tax dollars into a pot and then distributing them makes sense. That is only fair.
But the parents who are on welfare SHOULD be REQUIRED to put in hours volunteering at their students' schools. The reason why higher tax bracket areas do better in general is due to parental involvement.
As to increasing funding, I disagree with that. Efficient education takes very little cost to deliver. The old Jesuit schools in the segregated South produced graduates that were very prepared, my Grandpa Butch is a good example.
Increased funding never solved the fundamental problem of parental NON INVOLVEMENT. And the parents not being involved is either due to apathy OR economic pressures that require them to work through teacher conferences etc.
It isn't the funding; it is the application of the funding that makes all the difference in the world.
You don't have to buy proprietary software and spend an arm and a leg to get some edumakashun. With the internet, you can learn theoretical physics without ever stepping foot in a brick and morter establishment.
If anything, I think taxpayer money ought to go towards making sure everyone has adequate internet access and that will surely change the nature of how education is delivered.
For some reason, public schools haven't caught onto the University of Phoenix concept. Meanwhile working professionals are paying buckoo bucks for a UoPh degree and other schools could have made a killing, especially if they are preexisting brick and mortar establishments.
See an important link below:
1.MIT open physics courseware, including lectures, notes, homework assignments, some video, etc.
The fact is, there is not a massive amount the government could do about the spill. These are rare events, and the capability (such as it is) to deal with these issues lies with big oil - not with the government or the army.
The right were always going to use this as a stick to beat Obama with, the fact is they or batshit insane lunatics like Bobby Jindal wouldn't have faired any better.
In regards to solving the education gap, let Educators be in charge of Education. Everyone and their mama's are able to put their two cents into what happens with education regardless if they have any knowledge or pedagogy or even cognition. Case in point, only nine people out of fifteen on the Texas Board of Education are educators. The rest are business owners and even a dentist! How many people on the Texas Board of Dentistry are not dentists? Hell, you can't even be a manager of a McDonald's without having been an employee their first! Why should people who aren't educators be able to legislate education? It's ridiculous, yet it's done everyday. This just shows you how much respect teachers get in our country.
Also, let the teachers actually TEACH instead of drilling kids to pass standardized tests. You don't really learn by drilling test taking skills. You don't learn how to make connections and inferences. Also, because of this emphasis on grooming the students to pass tests (so the schools can still get funding and stay open)colleges have complained about the horrible writing skills of entering freshmen. My dad also complained about the number of top engineering graduates who would come out of college with no practical knowledge, but boy could they do well on a test!
Also, there should be a no tolerance policy for children who are disciplinary problems. I've seen so many bad ass kids allowed to continue going to school because the parents threw a fit. Get real! They have no right to impede the learning of other children. One of my favorite quotes is:
If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job. ~Donald D. Quinn
magic bullett?
I dunno, FN.
1. I'd open up a series of boarding schools, so that children could be taken out of horrible situations.
2. A Harlem Children's Zone in every urban area in the country.
3. real vocational schools with entree into solid union positions.
4. every child in an urban school involved in playing a musical instrument, singing in a chorus, acting in a play, art, dance - a period everyday.
5. teaching urban youth, beginning in kindergarten, how to play chess.
6. a national urban science club -a place for the nerds/geeks to feel comfortable, while being supported in their exploration of science.
Rikyrah good to see you. Have a great rest of week. Your suggestions are wonderful as usual;)
[quote]do you think that O has done a better job of handling the BP oil spill than the frat boy did with Katrina?[/quote]
Filled Negro:
This is a PREPOSTEROUS question!!
The two disasters are fundamentally different.
What we CAN CONCLUDE is "WATER IS A POWERFUL MUTHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The ONLY thing that we can do is notate how PARTISANSHIP affords one side to attack the other side when they are in power - using the EXACT SAME "moving goal posts".
As I was talking with a person from NO yesterday I brought up the following irony.
Whereas when it comes to DEEP SEA DRILLING many people are making note of the CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES that occur when a problem happens and suggests that we need an ALTERNATIVE.
HOWEVER - despite the fact that NO is UNDER-DAMNED-SEA LEVEL and surrounded 3 sides by powerful bodies of water - the notion of NOT PUTTING HUMAN BEINGS AT RISK was seen as a scheme to "keep Black people from expressing their RIGHT TO RETURN (so the White Democrats could take over the city)". Some of you have been watching Palestinian / Israeli death matches far too long.
Filled Negro: Would YOU allow your loved one to live at Wainright Dr @ LC Simpson on the right of this picture?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:New_Orleans_Elevations.jpg
So to answer your question - We need to look at WHO GREENLIGHTED the return to these dangerous, low lying areas of NO?
[quote]One thing I would do: equalize funding of public schools in every state. That is, property taxes should go into a general state pool and distributed to each school based on school population. This would help eliminate the disparity between Beverly Hills High and South Central high (for example).[/quote]
I 100% REJECT THIS PLAN!!!!
Let's place some STRUCTURE to your argument and see the flawed outcomes that will result.
I start out with one basic question: WHY DID YOU TAKE OVER OUR SCHOOLS IN THE FIRST PLACE?
As a person who grew up where Filled Negro lives - there was a run on the school system to wrest POWER into the hands of the community. TO-DAMNED-DAY they WON but now they are still STRUGGLING, seeking out QUALITY EDUCATION.
In some of your pursuit of EDUCATION you focus on EVERYTHING BUT!!!!! Instead you want a PERMANENT CHASE!!! Your INTENTIONS satisfy your minds that you are doing "God's Work".
You make the claim that it is about the MONEY. Look at the KC Missouri school district to dispel this claim. After court ordered spending levels in order to bring forth the quality that you are in pursuit of - everything collapsed last year and they reversed course - shutting down many schools and living within their means.
I told you all before PROGRESSIVISM IS NOT ORGANIC!!!
You fail to see the "Feng shui" to the communities that you grab control over. A quality, properly funded education is the result of PROPER MANAGEMENT of a place. The presence of REVENUES to fund these things comes from this same effort.
Sadly the present slash and burn of STATE EDUCATIONAL BUDGETS during this down turn DOESN'T TEACH A LESSON TO SOME OF YOU. Not only are local school districts facing +$100 Million budget holes - the states have holes ranging from $300M to over $800M in California.
Do you see that the MORE YOU ABSTRACT YOUR GOVERNANCE from the LOCAL LEVEL - as you pursue a NATIONALIZED STRATEGY - the more you become SERFS? You NEED TO BE showing the masses that every little thing they do contributes to the STANDARD OF LIVING that is erected by the community.
Sadly the Progressive-Fundamentalist takes the REVERSE tact - IT SHOULD NOT MATTER WHAT THE INDIVIDUAL DOES - the CONTRACT that he has with the UNITED STATES - should provide for his needs. The biggest "No Fault Insurance" racket EVER.
Stop chasing SOCIAL JUSTICE on the outside. HANDLE YOUR BUSINESS on the INSIDE of the area where you have influence over.
About the oil spill, who's daddy and son ran oil companies and got rid of all the regulations? On PBS there's a show called "Need to Know",before the spill happed BP was about to get the largest amount of fines in history. The right even got rid of the Environmential Czar, Van Jones.I guess he can get his job back now.I think the President is doing a good job. If he had the cure for cancer Fox would say what took you so long ?
Now your question about education ? Teach foreign language classes early in school.Catholic Schools aren't better than Public Schools, they just taught the fundamentals at a earlier age where children are more receptive.What Public School teaches Latin to Second Graders?
Katrina was not the first hurricane, not even the second Cat 5 hurricane in which the Feds had to deal with. I remember Andrew. FEMA had been effective before and one had to ask why it wasn't during the aftermath of Katrina. Some of those questions were answered and hopefully rectified.
This the most catastrophic oil spill of this kind we had to deal with. This time there has not been procedures established in just how to handle the spill. I think everybody thought the Feds had the magic bullet in technology or that there had been some coordinated effort to look at how to save the coast, when offshore drilling began.
Now the talking points start from the right, The second guessing, the trashing of the EPA.
My question is, where have been all the effing experts all along. Oil drilling has been seen in the same way the warming of the Earth. No one ask the question why the EPA had certain restrictions, Its the EPA so they are automatically wrong.
Maybe if Jindal had been more intent on being Louisiana's governor than being the repubs Magic Negro and since he took office shortly after Katrina, he would have looked at the scenario of a huge oil spill in his emergency management plans and tried to work with the Feds before hand.
Another question I have, why doesn't BP have the technology the Dutch offered or LA, TX, MS, AL or FL for that matter? Emergencies and security isn't the sole responsibility of the Federal government, some of the responsibilities are the state and local governments too.
Last question, why is it not enough that President Obama took responsibility of this mess during his press conference? It would seem to me to end the comparisons at that point.
A few thoughts about education.
In schools systems with over a hundred year old infrastructures, money is an issue. Building news schools or replacing old parts, such as copper roofs and doing asbestos abatement is very expensive.
Need to negotiate differently with the teachers union on issues about performance.
Either you have an involved parent or not. It is not dependent upon their socio-economic status. It seems to be always implied the the urban poor are not involved. It has been my experience that this has not been the case, it is that the urban poor don't have the clout or can overcome the resistance of the teachers and principals.
Stunning.
[quote]About the oil spill, who's daddy and son ran oil companies [/quote]
Appears to me that they know WHAT YOU WANT and where in on satisfying YOUR consumer demands.
I guess if your logic stands to reason Jesse Jackson's son who owns a beer distributor should be guilty of all of the DUI accidents that occurred in Chicagoland over the past several years?
When ExxonMobil testify that they had so much fewer violations than did BP does it cause you to RE-think your line of reasoning regarding your generalization?
[quote]
and got rid of all the regulations? [/quote]
Really? Please list the regulations that were removed?
I wonder IF you will retain your line of reasoning WHEN AND IF our "drug law/REGULATIONS" are repealed and you are forced to "blame" those who repealed them?
[quote]
On PBS there's a show called "Need to Know",before the spill happed BP was about to get the largest amount of fines in history. [/quote]
BUT WAIT - you just said that all of the REGULATIONS were turned back. Why were they fined then?
[quote]
The right even got rid of the Environmential Czar, Van Jones[/quote]
HOW did "The Right" get rid of an OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL who did not have to go through Congressional approval? I guess the evil Right got rid of "Deseree Rogers" as well?
Van Jones will win my respect when he comes up with a new process to smelt industrial metals with sources of energy that are not so "dirty" (Steel, Aluminum, Lead). The rivers in Pittsburgh are clean today NOT because of the EPA but because so much of the EMPLOYMENT CENTERS that created prosperity but also POLLUTED are CLOSED.
I wonder IF when the calls to RETURN MANUFACTURING TO THE USA also triggers more POLLUTION if people like you will realize that there are ALWAYS economic trade-offs in life and "your side" can't always be right. Instead you choose to CHERRY PICK your indictments.
Congrats to the Lake-Show!!!
Having spent a year as a Chemistry teacher in an inner city school, and recently watched a TV special which highlighted the advantages of boarding schools for these kids, Imma have to go with boarding school as the one best thing that can be done to attempt to equalize the educational playing field.
That said, I requested and got a first generation minority college student in my lab for the summer, and lets just say that most days dealing with her is like dragging a 500 pound mule. This generation of kids who actually have the desire to attend college are looking for the easy way in life,they don't want to work hard, yet they EXPECT to be greatly rewarded for their "work".
Well I'm tired of playing "save a negro" to help them become a doctor/engineer/scientist, I've got my own future engineer to focus own in addition to getting my 40 something year old ass through med school!
So to those of you fighting the good fight for these kids, God bless you!
And Congrats to the Lakers! Yea-ah!!!
fn:
hobama has done DAR worse and has taken/is taking much longer...in the gulf and in every other arena!
ie:
hobama has completely ignored bleeding jobs other than lying about stats and staging photo opps!!!...shame!!!
to close the education gap i would make parenting licenses/classes and parental participation in classrooms mandatory!!!
i am just dejected that the celtics lost!!!....kobe getting mvp was the salt in the wound!!!
have a great weekend!
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b01347eea1780860b.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/video/6a0123ddb39306860b01347ef96205860b.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b01347efba180860b.html
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http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137a58d1d5b860d.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/video/6a0123ddb39306860b0137a4ad6b0d860c.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137a58801f7860d.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137e006983f860e.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b01347f04ffb3860b.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0123de3a2dd2860d.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/post/the-impending-doom-of-a-nation---our-horrid-schools.html
there is not another profession on earth that NEEDS a union more than teachers who are increasingly RUTHLESSLY abused by politicos/admin/parents/kids...
many schools are horrid
and need cash and janitors etc
but
the kids in the public palaces are failing too!!!
money is not the issue
students who are lazy and wild will be so in palaces or shacks
students who want to learn will excel in shacks in african villages
parents who teach their children to behave work and dream do not have to worry about them learning in any conditions
http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Inequalities-Children-Americas-Schools/dp/0060974990
http://www.amazon.com/Dumbest-Generation-Stupefies-Americans-Jeopardizes/dp/1585426393
http://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393072223
mamm:
amen
some are not worth saving
i quit my job ina depression so i could pick and choose whom to educate
i have been blessed
life is too hard and short to stress over amoral hopelessly genetically chemically doomed tragedies...
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/profile/
DAR = damn + far
hobama has done far worse!!!
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137e011377b860e.html
solo teachers are being forced to teach EVEN MORE students as unions are being axed daily...shame!!!
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137e0e7753d860f.html?_c=feed-atom
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0123f1c13a70860f.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/post/obama-betrays-black-students-in-dc.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0123de28ceb9860c.html
http://neatoday.org/2010/04/21/florida-teacher-issues-rallying-cry-for-respect-for-educators/
MAMM is bragging and lying again.
i don't want to talk about the spill, it's too depressing.
but if i'm made into the Goddess of Education tomorrow? hell, i have all sorts of ideas. starting with the basics: kids need to come from stable homes, their parents have to be involved in their educations, they need to have three or four healthy meals a day and plenty of sleep. we can ditch a lot of the tv sets, xboxs, and gaming/video cards too. exercise instead of sitting in front of a glowing box for 12 hours a day. we'll bring back arts, sports and other enriching extracurriculars. class sizes will be kept under 20 and Special Needs kids will all have their very own full time para. that right there will make up for 75% of the reasons why kids don't learn/aren't educated/test poorly.
i'd do away with the vast majority of testing. sorry, this is what i do for a living and i feel confident rejecting testing almost completely. standardized testing is a big reason why real education doesn't happen anymore, and that's on purpose. the (first, not what they have today) GI Bill scared the hell out of the powers that be. can't have all those well educated peons running around thinking they know how to make things better! so our schools were revamped the better to keep the little people down, and testing became a big part of how that is done.
there's no one model that's right for every student. lots of models have been proven to work, and fixing things like parental involvement rates and nutrition are huge social changes that can't be done without changing a great deal in our society. a lot depends on how much money i have to spend. even the King (or Queen, in my case) has to go thru some part of the government to get funds.
one of my pet issues is programs for the gifted. there are so few that are any good and so many kids who could be in them aren't. i'm sort of an education dork, and when i fantasize about these things, which is often, i have one favorite.
if i had say, a billion dollars, i'd scour the world's orphanages. i'd build a totally sci fi up to the minute campus complex somewhere in the middle of nowhere. it would be a residential school with dorms, and i'd take 100 of the world's smartest orphans in each grade, and educate them to be World Leaders. heh, i've typed enough so i won't bore you, but believe me, i've thought out the program and curriculum and everything.
Ignoring the fact that Bush made FEMA practically non-existent by putting it under the thumb of Homeland Security, Bush acted like Katrina never happened. Just like he ignored NYC after 9/11.
Obama has been on the oil gusher from pretty much day one. He's gathered the smartest minds to help solve the problem and he's holding BP responsible for their gross negligence. Other than that, there is not much more the goverment can do, except lead us away from oil dependency.
As someone pointed out earlier, hurricanes and the response to them are knowns. The oil gusher is pretty much a new thing, so there is a learning curve involved.
The main thing I fault Obama on is that he has known that MMS was riddled with corruption and should have made sure Salazar was replacing the old Bush cronies. That didn't happen.
BMW's idea is pretty much what Texas does (the Robin Hood plan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_plan). On theory it should work, but in practice it doesn't. I think it is because school funding is based on property tax.
Perhaps if there were a federal tax that was divided up that way, it would work better.
What exactly did Bush not do about Katrina? The city failed to enforce the evacuation order, the state failed to let in the national guard, and it took a week to get everybody out.
It was not Bush's job to get in a boat and personally save everyone in New Orleans, just as it's not Obama's job to dive to the bottom of the sea and plug the damn hole.
But we are now two months into this disaster, and the feds are still screwing everything up. Obama seems more intent on using the spill as a pretext to do what he wanted to do anyway - Cap and Trade, stop domestic oil production, shakedown oil companies - then actually fixing the immediate problem. How does putting a moratorium on drilling help the people of the Gulf?
"Inner city schools in the poorest neighborhoods already get vastly more money per student "
Prove it. This might be true in a handful of states, but I'm pretty sure it isn't true nationally.
Obama is not some super hero and there is no Strategic Oil Command that can be scrambled to attack the leak.
He's done what he could and done it well.
In contrast, the devastation of New Orleans was caused by the federal government through the incompetence of the Army Corps of Engineers and there is a federal relief agency--FEMA--which failed to respond.
There is no comparison.
I comment this link to your attention:
http://trueslant.com/jamellebouie/2010/06/17/the-green-lantern-theory-of-presidential-power-a-continuing-series/
Obama is president. He's not God.
Regarding the question about the schools, I'm not sure, but I think a lot of the solution lies outside the school house. My mother was a teacher in rural Virginia from about 1964, when she went back to work, till the early 80s.
She said that the biggest change during that time was not with the kids. It was with the parents. Parents went from asking, if a child was in trouble, "What can I do to help," to saying, "What are you (school) doing to my little darling."
And she posed this question: "How can you expect a kid who has never seen a magazine or book in the home to want to read in school?"
black magic woman said...
"Inner city schools in the poorest neighborhoods already get vastly more money per student "
Prove it. This might be true in a handful of states, but I'm pretty sure it isn't true nationally."
Can’t you Google?
The cost of educating a kid in Washington now DC rivals Harvard. Not only that, but there appears to an inverse relationship between spending and success.
"How can you expect a kid who has never seen a magazine or book in the home to want to read in school?"
Yes, I saw a study the other day that said students who have books in their homes were much, much less likely to drop out of school.
"Even a relatively small number of books can make a difference: A child whose family has 25 books will, on average, complete two more years of school than a child whose family is sadly book-less."
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Want-Smart-Kids-Heres-What/24200/
Unlike the oil spill, the Katrina disaster was anticipated for years. It has been part of the national infrastructure security review since 1980 - and was part of the post 911 Infrastructure Security Review done by Dick Clark - just before the Bushit fired him.
We knew the levies could break, were subject to terrorist attack. FEMA was part of that planning.
As such, the Bushit failure was much, much worse.
The US Government does not have the technology to shut down the oil spill. While there are submersibles which can work at those depths - none is set up to do the type of work. Manned submersibles are out of the question due to the dangers of the spewing oil, and rubble.
Supposedly, the "Blowout preventer" installed at the base of each well are supposed to prevent just what happened. The technology has worked in the past. Maybe they should have - but this isn't a predicted scenario.
There are a lot of lies and stupidity floating around about this from the right. The berms are a scientific disaster, won't work - and will cause significantly more environmental disaster than they prevent. A number of nations have shipped equipment to the US, which is actively being used, including Dutch skimmers, Norwegian vacuum and collection systems, and Mexico has donated miles of booms.
Unfortunately - there is no technology in existence which can clean up those underwater plumes.
So has Obama "failed"?
Hardly.
black magic woman,
Quite often when people look at the total expenditures, they don't look at the break down.
For example the county of Philadelphia has to provide transportation for certain school students. So parochial and private school students get bussed and it is paid for by the Philadelphia school district. There is no separation here between city and county public schools. It is just one school district.
On occasion a particular school will get a Federal grant, which usually is used as a supplement not as an addition. I don't think people understand the overhead that it takes to run a school. Electric, heat, water and maintenance can be very expensive in certain areas. The cost of heating oil and natural gas is much higher in Philly than the surrounding suburbs. Even those, just across the city line.
People don't like to talk money, because they don't understand it or they think they have to pay more for those people. Interesting when some people move to the suburbs their property taxes increase as much as four fold and there are not the complaints. In most cases property taxes are what are use to fund their school systems. Sometimes you get what you pay for.
To the people who say that there is already equal funding of schools.
Please explain then why so many inner city schools are broken down, don't have computer labs, have outdated libraries, etc.
Where does the money go?
anon 11:22,
DC is never a good example, because whatever you see on paper, you can be sure that much of it is in someone's pocket.
Often the largest problems involving inner city schools don't involve funding. Kids lose their books; they hardly ever come from two parent families; their neighborhood and home situation is often incredibly bad. How are teachers supposed to cope with those issues? They can't. Especially in the middle schools and high schools where kids show up that can't read or don't know their colors. The issue goes way beyond funding.
What up, Val? How about those Celtics?
to all those aware of hoorid parenting:
thanks!!!
i wish so many teachers could read these comments today...
they are healing!
all humanity/civility/ intelligence/education begins at home!
our students are doomed PRIMARILY by their toxic parents and lack of ANY fundamental educational & behavioral skills...and so are the rest of us beyong teachers by GLOBAL extension!!!
ie kids kill and fight even teachers because they have no coping skills
if i was prez, i would be as obsessed with reforming parents as hobama is with coddling bp ceos and bankers etc...
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137a4b05d71860c.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137e006983f860e.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137a4bc55e2860c.html
Ha! You are so wrong for that, Roderick.
just as whites who fear a black/latino planet,
teachers whisper daily about how the WORST parents are having the MOST children...
most het and gay couples are choosing to be childless/have 1 or 2 kids whom they actually parent and nurture...
the WORST parents are turbo breeders who are FILLING UP our public schools and spaces...
that is genocide of public ed via DNA!...and it is also global genocide by sheer math!
if i had a child, i would live in fear of having an angel devoured by a wolf...like laci peterson
or kemba smith
sometimes the only solace a parent has against a toxic parent is:
"your child will torture me for 9 mos..but YOU are stuck with that child YOU created for a lifetime"
http://www.childlessbychoiceproject.com/Childless_by_choice_book.html
http://webspace.webring.com/people/rm/monicasass/KEMBA-SMITH.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Brother-Reasons-Peterson-Guilty/dp/0060838574/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276878194&sr=8-16
i meant:
sometimes the only solace a TEACHER has against a toxic parent is...
please pray for all teachers each day
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137e0e7753d860f.html?_c=feed-atom
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/100-atlanta-school-employees-552164.html
Those danged Asians and their emphasis on education...why can't they dream about a basketball scholarship...where you don't even have to know how to read.
Parents are the key.
Mold
[quote]For example the county of Philadelphia has to provide transportation for certain school students. So parochial and private school students get bussed and it is paid for by the Philadelphia school district. There is no separation here between city and county public schools. It is just one school district.[/quote]
Hathor:
With the PARENTS of these Parochial school students PAYING TAXES, NOT consuming any of the physical plant from the "Government Operated Schools" - why is it problematic for you that they make use of "Government Operated School Buses" as a means of delivering them to the front door of the educational institution from which they receive educational services from?
Don't quote me but I detect a spirit by which you wish to "punish" these parents who dared to exit the school house.
[quote]To the people who say that there is already equal funding of schools.
Please explain then why so many inner city schools are broken down, don't have computer labs, have outdated libraries, etc.
Where does the money go?[/quote]
I think the better question is - WHY IS IT that when the powers that are now in control of these vital institutions ascended into POWER per their "Power Aggregation" strategies displayed over the years - they did not fully consider the totality of variables that needed to be addressed for them to deliver upon the 'Quality Education' that they had struggled to obtain?
Was there some element of:
* Local Economic Production
* Stabilizing/Maximixing Property Tax Digests
* Control over Expenses
* Maintenance Of The Physical Plant - including asking for BUY IN by the resident students that they treat the school building as their HOME. In as much as they would not trash their own room out of spite - don't do the same of this public property.
Do you see the basic irony of some people's philosophy regarding education? In order for individual human resources to be maximum contributors to their community, providing the PROFESSIONAL SERVICES that it needs to maintain a high STANDARD OF LIVING some people inclined to constantly go OUTSIDE of the community that they have most control over as they try to get others to honor the "National Social Contract" that they have in common - sending money EQUALLY under the auspices of one day allowing these people to be "freed" from their present bind of incompetency.
WHEN is it that you ever plan to DIRECTLY engage "the least of these", selling THEM on the power that they have as a player in their own salvation and helping them to manage themselves toward this end?
What up Brother Field?
Katrina vs BP spill- The Katrina catastrophe had available fixes. It appears that the disaster could have been avoided if the levees had been reinforced or at least built to withstand a max strength category 5 Hurricane.
The government didn't require it.
With more foresight and will many more people could have been evacuated.
When it was obvious that people were suffering and dying and starving and stranded. The government simply failed to respond though the problem was exposed for all to see.
The people affected by the storm were treated disrespectfully by their own government.
The government has still not repaired the area and made whole those property owners that lost everything and nor have they acknowledged that the renters should be allowed to return.
Private enterprise used the disaster to profiteer.
Bottom line the gov't and local government botched Katrina at every turn.
CF,
The example has nothing to do with whose paying taxes, but to show that all monies in the Philadelphia school system is not put in public schools. I thought that was pretty clear. There are probably more examples. You can't take a school budget and divide it among the number of students and get an accurate picture of cost per student. The way the city school system was structured before it changed over to the so called private system. It was divided up into several districts, the overhead per district depended upon the the school facilities and the salaries of the district administrator, so each district funding per student could vary.
This is why if you are not looking at the details, you cannot compare the amount of money spent per student.
Katrina vs BP
BP spill was not necessarily foreseeable as Katrina was, but it appears that everything was not in place that could have prevented it.
The lack of a contingency plan is the worst part of this disaster. I can't imagine any of us being given a contract to dig a deep hole in the deep, pull stuff out and not tell people what we're going to do if this does not work.
But these corportations are a god unto themselves. Its hard to believe that they don't have a plan B and that in essence they weren't required to.
And what's amazing about that, is that they wear suits, go to the best schools and are paraded as an example of the best of humanity, yet at bottom they are really no better than your average thug. Because neither one of them cares about anything other than acquiring money and they don't care who they victimize.
The difference between the thugs and BP is that BP looks resprectable (at least according to most folks).
Field in my view who cares who handled one worse than the other.
Some of the problems were already set in place by a system that places the making of profits over and above the safety of people.
And in the case of Katrina that was compounded by the system which places rich and white people above the poor and black people.
However if there was a difference, Bush did actually have more tangible things that he could have done.
In Obama's case the deep sea drilling without a safety net was already set in place. Maybe he could have looked into it, but that wasn't part of his agenda.
Obama's fault was that he was too relaxed about the whole thing and relied too much on BP. But what could he have done beside convene as many scientists as possible and brainstorm.
At bottom it is this system of government that let us down again.
How is it possible that only the private oil enterprises like BP had experts who could at least begin to look into the problem?
How did gov't leave that all in BP's hands?
My ideal would be a world without schools. People can learn without being trapped in a building where their needs are often ignored. That's what I realized as a I got older. I learned more going to the library and reading or looking up topics on the Internet then I did spending 8 hours a day for many years of my life sitting in a desk and listening to my teacher go on and on. My ideal would be to replace schools with a non-hierarchial model of learning. I guess it would somewhat resemble this:
http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A80640
But I'm dealing with the here and now, not the future.
First, if I could I would end No Child Left Behind. It is a failure and has done nothing to improve education in this country.
I would ensure that arts programs would not be cut so that students can have an outlet between learning the 3 Rs. Instead of spending millions on stadiums, that money should be allocated towards science classrooms and art programs.
Nutrition plays a great role in education. Some adults believe that simply removing the vending machines full of soft drinks, cookies, cakes, and chips will automatically make students eat healthier. What they fail to recognize is that oftentimes
students get food from the vending machine because its the first meal they've had. They may not be able to get breakfast at home for various reasons. When they get to lunch, they can either eat a sticky bun with a Coke, Doritios with a Sprite, or a lousy pizza with moldy can vegetables and milk a few days past expiration. So long as the quality of school lunches stay abysmal, students will keep going towards snacks that are at least edible. Instead of contracting with food providers like SYSCO and Sodexho, I think space should be allocated for a community garden. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be grown there and be used to prepare healthy and fresh meals. The students can use the garden to learn about biology and agriculture. Even in urban areas, the garden can utilize vertical farming to lower maintenance costs and accommodate the limited space schools in the city often have.
The education question'
I like Rikyah and Black Magic's ideas. What up Rikyrah?
Rikyrah said:
"1. I'd open up a series of boarding schools, so that children could be taken out of horrible situations.
2. A Harlem Children's Zone in every urban area in the country.
3. real vocational schools with entree into solid union positions.
4. every child in an urban school involved in playing a musical instrument, singing in a chorus, acting in a play, art, dance - a period everyday.
5. teaching urban youth, beginning in kindergarten, how to play chess.
6. a national urban science club -a place for the nerds/geeks to feel comfortable, while being supported in their exploration of science."
Black magic I like your fourth point about having those Republican apologists for the oil disaster ante up 10 percent of their salary.
Another thing. I don't compare how Obama's administration is handing the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to how Bush's administration handled Katrina. One was an ecological disaster which was preventable. The other was a natural disaster. We can predict when hurricanes hit, but who can stop one from happening? I don't believe in HAARP. These are two different situations.
Hathor it is odd that the PUBLIC school system is paying for busing privately schooled children. That takes money away from the public system. How did this co-mingling of funds happen in the first place?
It also goes to show that our system of public education is badly damaged in our country. I've seen stats that show that a LOT of money is spent on these kids but it all seems to magically evaporate. If I had all that money spent on me, I'da gone through medical school already!
There are places in the world where all the teacher has is a black board and some chalk. To this day. YET those children manage to learn. There are places that are so poor that they can only afford the services of a local teacher once every other week. Yet those children manage to learn.
It is because the children and their parents value education. We've become complacent as a society when it comes to education.
As a kid in East Oakland, there were a few parents that WERE involved with their child's academic careers. However, the vast majority of parents did not go to the PTA meetings. When I briefly attended a mostly white priavate school on the other side of town,more than fifty percent of the parents were up in the classroom! These parents were actively involved in their kids' education.
I've worked with very low income, immigrant families and wealthy families and I notice that statistically, low income families do show less parental involvement at schools. Economic pressures are a factor, but so is a lack of understanding of the importance of school.
Many of the Mexican immigrants in my town believe that 'work' is MORE important than long term education. So some of them drop out of school and so long as they are turning profit, they are not looked down upon or chided.
There is a certain practical application to that way of thinking, since schools don't prepare folks for jobs anymore. However, that type of dichotomy should not exist.
The kids should not have so much economic pressure on them that they have to do that.
As far as inner city Black children with whom I've worked, sometimes the disconnect between the parents and children is vast. Very very sad and I don't get it. This wasn't how I was raised, but nowadays since we don't have our asses to the flame as much I think we've gotten complacent. I cut my teeth in East Oakland as a young adult tutoring for my old church's programme.
In the very recent past, the only Black NCLB student's I've tutored in my town have NOT ever been able to finish the program. Why? Familial LACK of emphasis on education and extreme communal pathology.
This is one of the few places that walking down the street if you see another Black person, they are more likely to turn their heads away from you or mean mug you.
Totally different feel than Atlanta, Oakland or Detroit where we still say HI to one another.
this is how school budgeting is done where i live, and it's one of the largest school districts in the country.
"How does the school system decide how much to give to any individual school?
Most school-based expenses are budgeted centrally for the entire school system. It is necessary to allocate these resources to each school. This is done according to mathematical formulas, most of which are based on student enrollment or the square footage of school buildings. These formulas guarantee that each school gets a fair share of available resources. The allocation formulas are part of the budget set by the Board of Education and published as the “Budgeted Staffing Guidelines” in the Operating Budget and the Program Budget. The resulting allocations are summarized and published in Schools at a Glance.
The allocation formula sets how many staff each school receives each year, generally based on projected student enrollment. As enrollment increases or decreases from year to year, schools may receive greater or fewer staff. If enrollment changes after allocations are completed, schools may receive changes in staffing based on decisions made by the community superintendents. Other staffing adjustments may relate to special programs offered at a school or other particular or unusual circumstances. Some staff, such as building service workers, are allocated according to a formula based on square footage, related to the amount of space that must be maintained. Other resources, such as textbooks and media materials, are allocated according to student enrollment. These formulas also are published in the budget."
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/faq.shtm#10
And the posters who mentioned that we should get away from testing as a measure of success in academia are spot on. We ought to teach kids how to think and this means give them tools to think critically AND apply what they've learned.
Music is key. I thank the other posters for mentioning that.
i'd like to see the policy examples of school systems giving less money to poorer schools as someone said happens in CA, eg.
notanon:
wow!
i really love your ideas
they are very much like independent study PhD curricula etc
i was a great teacher because i treated my students like adult corp trainees...scaled down to their levels...
but
this still goes back to the poison of toxic parenting
most kids today have 0 discipline/work ethics/interests beyond playstation/vid games etc
they do not even have the basic skills to begin indy study...like reading and writing at grade levels
tragic!
Not Anon I didn't see your comment above. We are in a new century now and I agree that we need to change our paradigms on how education is delivered.
A couple of years ago I was enrolled in a biology of aids course at sfsu. I live about one hundred miles away and the course was a hybrid half online half in class thing. The first day of class, my Mother in law was on her deathbed.
I left my teacher a voice mail and the secretary a note telling him not to drop me from the course and that I was serious about being enrolled.
I made it to class three times (twice + day of final) the entire semester due to circumstances beyond my control and attendance was worth ten percent of the grade. HOWEVER, all of the exams, the one term paper and all of the quizzes were done via an online system. Every night after my son went to sleep, I'd study and do the computer exercises over and over and over again until I got 100% on them. I managed to ace the quizzes, midterms AND the final (which was taken at school) and although I only made it to class twice during the semester, my grades were so high that I got an A.
This story elucidates your point quite nicely; that you don't have to be in a brick and mortar establishment to learn! Perhaps labwork to learn certain processes should be hands on, but most of the stuff we learn about can be delivered online.
The busier our society gets and the more that internet is part of our existence, it only makes sense to expand our paradigm of delivering education.
I just don't understand why so many public schools haven't done this. For kids with disciplinary issues, this type of process might be optimal under specific circumstances.
Not everyone has the ability to self teach but online courses can teach a person if done right.
Also Field remember that education is a form of indoctrination. Of course the only time that is acknowledged is when some other system besides the one in place in the US is doing it. But all systems seek to indoctrinate.
The difference in the US is that indoctrination is even more important than real critical thinking skills which are the mark of real educated person.
But to the question at hand I think that it is a matter of will. It would help if we got more parents involved. But I personally know of several suburban kids whose families didn't have books in their homes and who never attended a PTA or even a parent teacher conference yet they excelled in school.
That taught me that if the school is willing to do whatever it takes it can get it done.
For example use the resources the schools get to hire teachers and specialist for the problem kids. They seem to do this in many suburban schools. The problem kids are seperated and there are aides and specialists to help them.
- Its also important as anon pointed out to note that all kids don't learn the same so its really important that music and the arts and anything that may stimulate a kids desire to learn is made available.
- AB is right getting rid of unions which are really needed to allow teachers to keep from being run over by administration and just about anybody else is not the solution.
- schools for profit are not the answer as well. We are well aware of the pitfalls of leaving people to the mercy of the profit motive.
- school choice sounds like a good idea, but what happens to the poorer public schools when everyone who can or has access, chooses to leave.
- also Field it does help when kids feel like they have something to get educated for. It can't be ignored that we live in a racist and classist society. Some kids don't really feel that its worth the effort, especially children who are constantly ostracized by their peers and sometimes parents and teachers.
- since you can't argue with success it wouldn't hurt to see what the Cubans are doing right. Even their most rabid enemies admit that they are educating their folks. I think their success has something to do with the equalization of opportunity.
Just my opinion
indy study requires real reading and research in real books...
sadly many kids become physically visibly ill and depressed when they have to read
http://www.amazon.com/Distracted-Erosion-Attention-Coming-Dark/dp/1591026237
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137a4aab401860c.html
http://school.familyeducation.com/reading/teaching-methods/38617.html
correction I when I said anon I meant not anon. BTW not anon I feel you those are great ideas. And definitely ditto on the NO Child Left Behind, which is actually dumbing down children.
AB you are all over this you have made some really good points.
I think at bottom public education depends on the public and the government will to educate ALL of our children. Until that happens we will continue pasting our ideas on threads like this and hoping for the best.
[quote]The example has nothing to do with whose paying taxes, but to show that all monies in the Philadelphia school system is not put in public schools. I thought that was pretty clear.[/quote]
I struggle to understand some of you - more frequently than what is healthy.
Within the City of Philadelphia there is a certain among of money that is transacted in general terms.
The "presiding legal authorities" decide HOW MUCH OF THIS MONEY they are to divert to the government from private sources in:
* Sales Taxes
* Income Taxes
* Property Taxes
* Fees
* Fines
From this grand total this same body chooses how much of these funds will go into the operation of "Government Operated Schools".
Some other portion of this money goes into TRANSPORTATION - school buses being a segment.
HOW IS IT that every dollar spent upon school buses to send Catholic School children to schools is MONEY TAKEN AWAY FROM Government Operated Schools - again noting that these parents pay taxes as well?
IF all Catholic Schools shut down in the city and the parents chose to move out of the city limits as a result - there would be a resulting LOSS IN REVENUES from this exodus.
The powers that be would have to:
* Increase the high taxes in Philly EVEN HIGHER
* Cut services
* Or reach outside of the city borders for external assistance to help them pay their way
What is so hard about some of you seeing that as you attempt to play "HARD BALL" with someone who you ultimately are DEPENDENT UPON - you ultimately SCREW YOURSELVES?
I don't get how on the one hand some of you claim to VALUE EDUCATION as the "great enabler for all" yet when pushed we see that you value education......as long as it is education provided by the "government operated school monopoly".
Some people call for "smaller class sizes" so that the kids can learn YET when this class size target is met by an exodus of children to a neighboring charter school or vouchers - YOU PROTEST!!
Clearly you don't support "Smaller Class Sizes by any means necessary". You ONLY support "Smaller Class sizes - while every student remains ensnared inside of the government operated school system".
There comes a point that you need to CHOOSE what you are actually fighting for.
You just might slip up and GET IT yet still remain unhappy because you see that what you were really fighting for was not what was necessary to deliver upon what you need but instead what you LIKED (what was POPULAR).
PBS 2009 - "The Principal's Story"
Chicago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZkTl3nO464
Please watch all of the clips.
I assure you that they:
* Had massive problems BEFORE NCLB
* Had massive problems DURING NCLB
* Will continue having problems after NCLB is taken outside and lynched
Are you sure that NCLB is the problem or merely a 'whipping boy'?
MR,
As I mentioned, Philadelphia is one of the cities that is both a city and county. The city government runs all the county functions with the exception of Sheriff, although the Sheriff doesn't have the same responsibilities as in other counties.
When the state does give the city money for their mandates, it usually gets budgeted in as the operating expenses of the city, even the school district. If one looks at the city budget, one would have to look at the breakdown of the state and Fed grants to see how much funding is coming from the local tax payer. Sometime it can be very misleading and politicians make it especially so. When you look at the surround counties, they get as larger proportion of their budget form the state and the Feds than Philadelphia. It doesn't seem so, since Philly's numbers are so large. It gives the impression that this urban center is getting more than its fair share, and is often said, why do we need all this money. For a lot of social problems other counties encourage folk to move to Philly.
I am not saying that the only problem is money, but it is an important one. There are thousands of Black youth who graduate every year and the local economy is not prepared for them. Nor are a lot of graduates prepared for or can afford more education. If we really haven't figured how to save the current grads, how do we propose to save the dropouts.
I think we like to think that parents have a lot of influence with regard to whether a child fails in school, but I think of the first generation of Black children out of slavery, which had illiterate parents, no books in the home and parents who probably worked from sunup to sun down. Also the immigrant children in the overcrowded tenements who parents didn't speak English or were illiterate, how did they become educated.
I think that if education was an expectation of the school, children would become educated.
CF,
I have no idea what you are talking about or if all of your last comment is directed to me.
I wasn't trying to make commentary, but stating how one might make a calculation, but you have ridden a train to St. Elmo.
"I think that if education was an expectation of the school, children would become educated."Hathor
Thanks for explaining about the funding. That is complicated. As to the above quote, I agree with you; people that tend to do well come from places where education is VALUED.
There are stories of homeless kids getting degrees and they were able to do it with familial support. Just the support to be able to do your homework in some quiet is something that people take for granted.
I once tutored a child who lived in a three bedroom home with two families. People were always everywhere and he had no privacy and no quiet to ever do his school work. Tutoring him at the family table in the living room was like trying to teach someone at a rock concert.
So valuing education is really important on the part of the parents and folks in the environment.
mell thanks!
ditto!
this is my fav topic of all...
of all my diverse careers, teaching smart parented children is the one i love the most
and i see GENERATIONS of babies cursed by their parents in every way/genetically/socially/chemically/emotionally/behavorially/amorally/imhumanely/sexually...
endless abuses by the most fertile among us who should not even be allowed to take home a stray puppy but turbo breed humans at will!
wait until 2028...the young children of those parents who are an avg of 22will be 18 then...& may dear god help us all
even those of us who do not teach them...ie the children of other who will have to live with them...
http://www.amazon.com/Condemnation-Little-B-Elaine-Brown/dp/080700975X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276890759&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Death-Great-American-School-System/dp/0465014917
http://www.amazon.com/Dumbing-Down-Curriculum-Compulsory-Schooling/dp/0865714487/ref=pd_sim_b_2
mell:
see some heroic kids here...who had great parents/surrogate parents...either are mandatory for excellence always...
bill withers recently spoke about how he cannot imagine his own life without his elder granny...and how he pities so many children today because their 35 yr old granny is on crack/at the club etc
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0137a4bc55e2860c.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/video/6a0123ddb39306860b0123ddcc44c6860b.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/link/6a0123ddb39306860b0123f1c5355f860f.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/video/6a0123ddb39306860b0123f1a7c6e3860f.html
http://aliciabanks.vox.com/library/book/6a0123ddb39306860b0137e0eb1f8d860f.html
i find it very hard to believe that county or city buses are busing children to private schools. where is the evidence for that claim? and how do you know that the private schools aren't paying for the buses?
to the anon who said teach language earlier, it IS. it is offered in elementary public schools. also, i wonder how two families crowded into three bedrooms have money for a private tutor. i certainly don't. so they had the money for a tutor but the house was too noisy to do it well? guess they can't win for losing!
some tutors meet in public places like a starbucks. not reasonable to assume that every home has a quiet place. regardless of income.
AB hey those are some enlightening links you did your homework, thanks.
Hathor ditto sister, ditto. You are right it comes down to will of those who choose to educate these children, bad parents or no, all kids have the potential to learn.
Hathor said:
"I am not saying that the only problem is money, but it is an important one. There are thousands of Black youth who graduate every year and the local economy is not prepared for them. Nor are a lot of graduates prepared for or can afford more education. If we really haven't figured how to save the current grads, how do we propose to save the dropouts.
I think we like to think that parents have a lot of influence with regard to whether a child fails in school, but I think of the first generation of Black children out of slavery, which had illiterate parents, no books in the home and parents who probably worked from sunup to sun down. Also the immigrant children in the overcrowded tenements who parents didn't speak English or were illiterate, how did they become educated.
I think that if education was an expectation of the school, children would become educated"
maria:
many school districts have local millage funds as part of their county/municipal education budgets alloted expressly for tutors...especially after the windfall tax bilkings of nclb budgets...
ie
certified licensed teachers in some POOR counties can make up to $16.00 per hour by tutoring after school...and millions do so...
i have a sliding scale fee...and some babies i have taught and bonded with i am blessed to be able to teach for free...
i will never have a baby of my own...these are my own cildren who have grown in my heart rather than under it...
in special cases...ie medical adhd/odd etc...some children can get discounts at pvt for profit tutoring cos...ie "sylvan learning centers" etc
what is really tragic is that there is always a surplus because too few kids even care to be tutored or parents care to hassle to transport them or have them miss free busses and forsake beer/cigs/perms... to pay 4 extra gas to come get them etc
maria:
ps:
yet another tragedy =
many teachers who need the money just simply cannot endure an extra moment after hrs with the children who torture them all day...
tons of teachers are stressed/dpressed/and taking prozac etc just to make it thru each day...
and now that national class sizes will triple due to teacher firings...the misery and stress will also increase
mell thanks!
one of the main perks of private schools...second only to ignoring all the bs of nclb...is SMALL CLASSES!
education/nclb = genocide by design
public school classes are getting LARGER and more insane and impossible to control each day....i resigned in 2004...just in the nick of time thank god!!
http://www.nea.org/home/13120.htm
http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/2395198,chicago-public-schools-class-size-061510.article
http://www.classsizematters.org/
http://www.rrstar.com/belvidere/x1336916703/Belvidere-school-cuts-mean-class-size-will-rise
http://www.diablomag.com/Diablo-Magazine/March-2010/Class-Size-Crisis/
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1630513/Atlanta/Cobb.School.Cuts.Will.Lead.to.Class.Size.Increases
oops
i meant 2008
just before the economy and nclb went berserk!
maria,
I know because I was one of those parents who took advantage of the bus service. I later paid to have my child taken to school, because the driver of that route was incompetent.
AB--where i live tutors charge $60 an hour and up! those who do it for $16 are saints!
the schools here try to offer "free" student tutors but the kids are just thrown into it, don't keep appointments and often aren't teaching a subject they know.
wow!
are those public school tutors or pvt tutors like me?
u must be in a wealthy state!
i tutor in il and ar...both states are poor!
....my max for even my elite children is $30.00 per hr at app 5-10 hrs per week for each child...
i usually adopt up to 5 full time children per yr and i do very well...
others i spot tutor for ACTAAP tests/benchmarks etc
i am blessed....
i posted where i live and the funding matrix for our schools. montgomery county, MD.
these are one-hour sessions. private tutors (often former public school teachers!) for public school students. my kids have never gone to private school so i can't comment on what tutors might charge private students.
yes maria
the FREE school tutors here make 16.00 per hr paid by the school districts...but they often are fired for LACK of interested parties...all of said parties are usually parents of failing students who NEED it too!!!
it is a national waste of skilled talent and mental potential...shame!!!!
those same parents will RUSH their kids 7 days a week to sports/cheerleading/talent show rehearsals etc...and be early
well md has some major cash...kudos!
hathor:
ditto
i never said uneducated parent = bad parent
i said a parent who does not prepare their children to be educated = bad parents
ie
some of my best adults students are the first ones in their family to attend college etc
Horrid parenting is America’s most grave crisis and best kept secret. Teachers are being ruthlessly scapegoated for literally everything that is so very wrong in American schools. Toxic parents sabotage education. Toxic students are the undereducated leaders of tomorrow. Someday, every person in America will suffer, directly or indirectly, from the parents and children who exclusively torture teachers today.
Toxic parenting is universal in America. It knows no boundaries of race or class. Reality television proves that rich white parents are often even more toxic than poor black ones. Toxic parenting entails: Parents who begin abusing children chemically in their wombs, with recreational drugs and toxic diets; Parents who poison wombs that leave permanent damage inside children’s brains and nervous systems; Parents who do nothing to give lonely fatherless boys mandatory male role models; Parents who routinely physically and verbally assault teachers, but never spank or reprimand their children; Parents who buy children breasts and noses, rather than teach them to become surgeons; Parents who buy students expensive designer clothes, but never show them how to obtain free library cards; Parents who abuse drugs and dress like whores and thugs, as they actively encourage their children to become consummate mini clones; Parents who never attend a teacher conference, but never miss a field trip or party; Parents who are always on time at hair salons or nightclubs, but never bring children to school on time; Parents who harass or ignore teachers as they coddle or neglect children; Parents who brazenly place schools'/teachers' phone numbers on "call block", so that they are not bothered when their children bother others during school hours; Parents who hijack schools as babysitters, even on days when classes are not in session; Parents who brazenly enroll their children in first grade classes, fully aware that these children have never attended Pre-Kindergarten/Kindergarten; Parents who never read any books, and never read to their children; Parents who never teach children any moral intelligence, because they are amoral themselves; Parents who never teach children to sit still, behave, listen, and concentrate; Parents who hate children and dare to demand that teachers and other surrogates fully parent their own children; Parents who never teach children to do their homework; Parents who are intellectually incapable of helping children, or seeking tools/tutors to help children, with their homework; Parents who have no concept of proper child nutrition or sleep patterns; Parents who neither do or assign any chores; Parents who are irresponsible and incapable of teaching children to be responsible
Students who never behave will never learn. Students who are never taught to revere education at home will never excel in schools. Students who torture teachers will never encourage superior educators to remain in classrooms.
Academic ability is more important than ever before in our global economy. Children must now compete with global intellectuals. Retirement is a fiscal fantasy in an increasingly technological world, where students must learn many skills for perpetual job changes. Today, an inability to learn is suicidal.
hathor:
ditto
children of slaves then
and
children of abject poor africans in poor villages are STILL the best children in the world
people got angry at oprah when she told the hard truth:
she opened her school in africa because too many american kids are slackers
We have lost far too much for far too many generations. These losses remind me of a classic poem by Alice Walker entitled Women. It praises uneducated rebel ancestors who defiantly revered the education of their progeny. We must save ourselves now as we did then:
Excerpts from Come on People: On the Path from Victims to Victors by Bill Cosby and Dr. Alvin Poussaint:
"We remember the injustice of how slavers brought our people to America, but we have forgotten the brilliance of our response - how we sneaked around late at night and taught ourselves to read, taught ourselves secret signals to resist, taught ourselves pride and will and love. We have to draw on that history of persistence."
"Women"
by Alice Walker
They were women then
My mama's generation
Husky of voice
Stout of Step
With fists as well as
Hands
How they battered down
Doors
And ironed
Starched white
Shirts
How they led
Armies
Headragged Generals
Across mined
Fields
Booby-trapped
Ditches
To discover books
Desks
A place for us
How they knew what we
Must Know
Without knowing a page
Of it
Themselves.
hathor:
young toxic parents make NO effort to teach their children any basic human skill osd of dancing/sagging/play station/etc
millions of children are 7 and know how to dance like pros and know every rap song lyric on the radio
but
they cannot read/count/id primary colors or even pen their first names!
these are the parents i indict...
the smartest people i know are self taught and many never graduated 6th grade/attended college etc...but they learned
ie
this baby is adorable...but does he have any books?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-H9IXO4wUE
he is a star
but will be be literate too?
http://article.wn.com/view/2010/06/18/Brazilian_baby_dances_the_samba/
these 7 yr olds can usually also take an x-box apart..put it back together...and master every game on it...
but they cannot hold a pencil or pen the alphabet
we ALL do best what we do most often
and what we see others do
that is why asians are excelling in academia
and americans are excelling at american idol/so u think u can dance etc
tragic!
ps maria:
i am anti-religious
free turoring for great poor parents = my tithes
Bush did more to try to help black kids against the "soft bigotry of low expectations" than Obama ever will. If Obama had proposed No Child Left Behind, all the democrats would be saying what a great success it's been. Yes, there are better approaches, but they are all unreachable until the teacher's union stranglehold is broken.
"Education is the great enabler and equalizer".
One will have little trouble prompting people to agree with this statement.
The cavernous difference is how one chooses to digest this statement into their DNA.
For many of you this is your call to PURSUE "EQUAL EDUCATION". In your mind your community's education will be MADE EQUAL after some central authority which has the power to REDIRECT plenty to where there is famine steps in and does as you have been struggling for.
FOR OTHERS - they look at the children in their community nests and do a better job in actually implementing what the post-Katrina t-shirts that were selling at the urban mall hath said: "WE ALL WE GOT!!!".
With this as their constraining guidance they choose to perform HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, clearing a shelter among the weeds of failure. They stake their claim in ONE SCHOOL, vowing to control as many of the variables that impact the learning INSIDE THE DAMNED CLASS ROOM after the teacher closest the door and BEGINS HER INSTRUCTION.
This "one school at a time" model can then be REPLICATED amongst other settlements.
This is how two schools can sit in walking distance from another, both drawing upon the same student base yet produce such fantastic differences in outcome.
FOR SOME OF YOU - there is a basic lake of OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT SKILLS. You are PERMANENT ACTIVISTS, always seeking outward to have your demands satisfied.
Anonymous said...
MAMM is bragging and lying again.
9:57 AM
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Perfect timing LaIdiot, I found out today that my thesis defense was a success, and I'm now a Georgetown University Alumnae!!!
FYI the more you hate, the more success I achieve, so please by all means keep up the good work, 'wit yo' sorry black bitch ass, LOL!!!
Maria, to answer your question I tutored private clients and nclb clients. NCLB clients are usually low income or come from mixed income title one schools.
The kid to whom I referred had too much mess going on in his family and could not be relied upon to meet me at the library consistently. I tried that.
So I had to go to his home. You are being disingenuous and talking about things you don't know about when you say that I shouldn't assume that kids have a quiet place to study.
For private clients THIS IS A REQUIREMENT. For NCLB clients, it becomes a mere suggestion. For parents who are paying for my services privately, they are obligated to follow the protocol and I'm obligated to try my hardest to work with their kids. NCLB clients usually have a lot more foundational 'cracks' than privately tutored clients. And this damned sure IS related to income. If a rich parent is apathetic or too busy to teach the kid, the kid gets a private tutor or a slew of them to get his work done. The same scenario doesn't apply for low income people, and lower to mid income people who don't go to a title one school are screwed because they often cannot afford private tutoring and don't qualify for NCLB.
MMM congrats on your recent graduation. There's no need to call LAA a Black Bitch ass though. Now that you have your degree, you've gotta act more dignified than that lol!
[quote]
Perfect timing LaIdiot, I found out today that my thesis defense was a success, and I'm now a Georgetown University Alumnae!!!
FYI the more you hate, the more success I achieve, so please by all means keep up the good work, 'wit yo' sorry black bitch ass, LOL!!![/quote]
MAMM:
Congratulations on your achievement.
HOWEVER you should not retain your contrarian source of motivation.
One day Maria won't be in ear shot of you and then you will find yourself needing to motivate yourself from a more organic source.
MMM, "Perfect timing LaIdiot, I found out today that my thesis defense was a success, and I'm now a Georgetown University Alumnae!!!"
Congratulations!!! How do you know it was LA and not Maria?
#125
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Just as I thought; you all are some smart people. :)
Point is, we all are thinking aout this problem, and we are trying to find practical solutions to a real problem.
MAMM:
Congratulations on your achievement.
HOWEVER you should not retain your contrarian source of motivation.
One day Maria won't be in ear shot of you and then you will find yourself needing to motivate yourself from a more organic source.
8:41 PM
WTF CF!
i have a life. i haven't been on this blog for hours. i don't post anonymously and i have no reason to say anything negative to MMM.
congrats, MMM, and onward and upward!
do you think that O has done a better job of handling the BP oil spill than the frat boy did with Katrina?
yes.
[quote]WTF CF!
i have a life. i haven't been on this blog for hours. i don't post anonymously and i have no reason to say anything negative to MMM.[/quote]
I AM SORRY MARIA!!!
I mean to say LA Audio. Not you.
thank you. and i don't think you should be going along with naming LAudio as the anon either. JMHO!
M. Rigmaiden said...
MMM congrats on your recent graduation. There's no need to call LAA a Black Bitch ass though. Now that you have your degree, you've gotta act more dignified than that lol!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Looks like I'm not the only one who is CERTAIN that La Idiot posts anon negative shit directed at me, LOL!! Cold BUSTED, ROTFLMAO!!!!
As for dignified, tell you what I observed being a student at one of the most prestigious Universities in the US. Folks with "boo-coo" dollars do and say some foul $hit, but the one thing I never once dealt with was racism, at least not from my classmates or 99.9% of my professors. Turns out that people with REAL money really aren't that concerned with our Black asses, LOL!!!
And thanks for the congrats guys!! Your next, Maria!
Constructive Feedback said...
One day Maria won't be in ear shot of you and then you will find yourself needing to motivate yourself from a more organic source.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You gotta be kidding me, right? I no more use a triflin, manless, idiot as my personal motivation than the doo in my cats' litter box.
I simply pointed out the irony of being called a liar about my employment/academic achievements at the very moment I finished my degree!
So for my new avatar, I think I'll borrow the cap, gown, and hood from the person that let me take a pic in front of that microscope in their lab, for more lying purposes, ROTFLMBAO!!!
MMM, what was your thesis topic on? You say a thesis defense then med school? So you were able to attend med school before you finished your degree? How many degrees do you have? Just curious. No, I have no reason to get into a bullshit flame war with you. But in all seriousness if what you say is true, good for you.
MMM
You are right, I think many folks aren't concerned about our black asses, nearly as much as FN likes to think. I too have through a prestigious (congrats btw) university and work with mainly white upper class folks and no, racism is not an issue.
Personally, I miss that ass shot avatar you once had ;)
Forget the Lakers and the oil spill. Heard enough about both already.
Education? Well, consider that the basis for America's current educational system is based on Prussian/German methodology, which works well for creating regimented groups that'd do well in areas like, say....the military. Everything about the current way of education is highly regimented -- the periods are regimented, the movement from class to class is regimented, the curiculum is regimented and nowadays highly tilted towards passing standardized tests. The whole classroom environment cultivates the belief that school is a "prison". How so? Take a look at most classrooms today -- windowless white walls with sparse decoration. The psychological effect that this has on a kid is immeasurable.
Right now, I'm digging NotAnon's non-hierarchial learning method. "Teaching" anything by throwing a book at them and telling them "You will learn this by XXX time or you will FAIL" isn't exactly the best way to teach a child anything. Of course we have our stubborn hardheads, but most times a slightly gentler approach will work better than a "RIGHT NOW" method.
Another way I'd "fix" education: sex-segregated classrooms and more male teachers. I've noticed that in some urban schools, students are more likely to try to "run over" a female teacher rather than do the same to a male teacher -- most men aren't gonna stand for most of that crap.
I've also noticed that most school budgets are allocated heavily towards.....administration. Some jobs done by two or three people can be done by one. Yeah, more jobs lost, but at least it's better than having to let go teachers in the classroom.
The final fix isn't something that can be done by a teacher, principal, superintended or even me. It's up to the parents on this one. BE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN YOUR KIDS' EDUCATION.
As far as inner city Black children with whom I've worked, sometimes the disconnect between the parents and children is vast. Very very sad and I don't get it. This wasn't how I was raised, but nowadays since we don't have our asses to the flame as much I think we've gotten complacent
Most times, the Shaniquas of the world don't want to be bothered with their kids, if they aren't just plain tired from having to work one or two jobs to keep everybody fed. They see them as either a nuisance or an impediment from getting themselves another "good" man. The lack of attention means the kids run wild and learn nothing but what happens to be on TV or in the street. When they get of age, most of them join gangs or just clique up in order to get some sort of family structure. A lot of the graduate into the street pirates that CF goes on and on about.
You are right, I think many folks aren't concerned about our black asses, nearly as much as FN likes to think. I too have through a prestigious (congrats btw) university and work with mainly white upper class folks and no, racism is not an issue.
Surprised? Most people are no more concerned about Blacks than they are about the tools hanging on their wall. There hasn't been a lot of genuine interest in Blacks -- most times, we get attention from people willing to use us as tools for advancing their own agendas.
I've dealt with many upper class whites and there has been little to no hint of racism. Prejudice, yes -- but racism is in pretty short supply. With enough money, you can afford to NOT be preoccupied with what certain groups do, because chances are there will be little to no effect on you as far as you and your fellow collegues are concerned.
M. Rigmaiden said...
MMM, what was your thesis topic on? You say a thesis defense then med school? So you were able to attend med school before you finished your degree? How many degrees do you have? Just curious. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You know MR, IF YOU WEREN'T SO HELL BENT ON CATCHING ME IN A LIE AND ACTUALLY TRIED TO READ WHAT I WRITE, perhaps my posts wouldn't be so confusing to you, and ONLY to you.
I told you previously, you are the absolute LAST person here I'm trying to either impress or prove anything to so please, continue to think whatever you like while feigning sincerity.
Anonymous said...
Personally, I miss that ass shot avatar you once had ;)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
ROTFLMBAO!!!!!!
Maria, "i have a life. i haven't been on this blog for hours. i don't post anonymously and i have no reason to say anything negative to MMM."
You are full of it. You have had a lot of spats with MMM. And now you feign good-will? Bullshit.
Anonymous said...
You are full of it. You have had a lot of spats with MMM. And now you feign good-will? Bullshit.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
LaIdiot, why don't YOU get a life and a vocabulary of your own.
FYI, it wasn't hard at all to find out that YOU post anon shit at folks on a regular basis. STUPID!!
Anonymous said...
Maria, "i have a life. i haven't been on this blog for hours. i don't post anonymously and i have no reason to say anything negative to MMM."
You are full of it. You have had a lot of spats with MMM. And now you feign good-will? Bullshit.
2:05 AM
i don't believe this is Laudio. i don't know who it is or why they are posting, but i do not have any beefs with you, MMM.
could you also give me one practical thing that you would do if you were "king of the world", to solve the education gap in this country?
I would focus on educating new parents on the importance of reading, comprehension and critical thinking when it comes to exposing their child to the world.
Also provide major education on how the US education system works from the perspective of private, charter and public schools.
Too many parents are delusional about how hard they have to fight to produce citizens that engage intelligently with the world.
We need to do this from birth not when a child is hits kindergarten or 4th grade. From day one.
And government can't pay for this. It benefits society to have a permanent class of clueless people who don't know how the system works.
Re: Obama --
he should have flown to the Gulf the first day of the spill, had meetings with BPs team, taken photos and
announce that he would have status updates from BP, Stephen Chu and Ken Salazar.
Then once the spill looked like it would even hit the Gulf, do the press conference.
I feel for Axelrod, Jarrett and Emanuel and others who value process, logic and reality -- the patient gathering of the facts makes sense, but since so many citizens work at a reptilian level in thought and deed, these visuals would have satiated them.
It's like the White House wants to govern to everyone's better natures while pretending the reptile brain will magically go away.
I hope they are able to absorb the reality that the reptile brain is here to stay and must be engaged.
MMM your strong reaction shows that you are not in the right frame of mind. I was asking you a question, not trying to catch you in a lie. But perhaps your guilty feelings due to your own dishonesty are haunting you. All I did was congratulate you and ask you a question. I had no idea that med schools allowed people to matriculate without first having their degrees. But since you said that you taught in inner city schools at one point, apparently you have more than one degree. Curiosity does not mean that I'm trying to catch you in a lie nor does it mean that I ask such that I wish to be impressed.
Let me be clear; I don't care about YOU personally. I care about INFORMATION. It's a shame you take everything so personally but such is your want.
Get off my ass. All i was doing was complimenting you. You're a real asswipe and cannot even take comgratulations. Fuck you.
macklyons
"Most people are no more concerned about Blacks than they are about the tools hanging on their wall. There hasn't been a lot of genuine interest in Blacks -- most times, we get attention from people willing to use us as tools for advancing their own agendas."
HELLO!
And while the boilerplate response to the "black agenda" is usually directed at Jesse, Al, or the NAACP who are REACTIVE, the REAL "black agenda", which is in reality NEGROPHOBIA.
It's perpetuated by rightwingers both black and white who make their money and gain their noteriety by incessently promoting the notion that black folks are this permanently troublesome and deliterious outgroup instead of one of the founding units of this country and the center of American culture.
We black folk have to start taking ownership in America.
This is our country as much as anyone elses.
Our blood and sweat is in the fuckin soil.
My number one suggestion? Small schools. No more than 400 students, tops--200 would be better.
I work in such a school, and discipline problems are very low, because everyone knows everyone else, and positive peer pressure does go a long way.
Also, we work very hard to build positive, respectful relationships between students, between students and teachers, and between teachers. The small school size makes this possible.
Other than that, pretty much everything black magic woman and cocoa_goddess said.
Easy answer to how to fix all the problems.
Require all politicians to live the life of their poorest constituent.
Once the rich ruling class see the lives of their children ruined by failing government schools I'm confident the problem will be promptly fixed.
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