Obama’s No-Brainer on Education

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  • Posted By: Nonime @ 07/12/2008 8:22:25 PM

    If Alter is in favor of using Europe as a model, does that mean he supports free healthcare, too? I???m guessing that he prefers that to be run like a business, and no doubt, a profitable one. College is also virtually free in Europe and if we???re tying education to the economy, there are too many differences to mention.

    The whole idea of accountability is sadly based on a single set of criteria: tests. This means that many excellent, and I mean excellent, teachers are not be getting the kudos they deserve because they prefer to educate rather than test-prep. Getting kids to perform well on tests and get into college is certainly preferable to a life in jail, but it does not prepare students to be creative, reflective, and empathetic thinkers. These are critical times. So much of what our economy depends upon is not sustainable. We don???t need more workers to fit into the existing system. We need creative and responsible citizens who can reshape it. Tests don???t reflect this kind of learning nor do they relate the state of mental health in youth, which is also critical for future success.

    NCLB may go down in history as an initiative that was as ill-informed and ineffective as the war in Iraq. It certainly looks that way to a lot of us. These NCLB fanaticists make it sound like they are the only ones in favor of reform. How ridiculous.

    • Posted By: time to own up @ 07/13/2008 12:44:48 PM

      Please stop with the empty terms like "excellent teachers" and "creative, reflective, and empathic" because the underlying assumption is that you know what is "excellent, creative, reflective, and empathic" Unless you are willing to put metrics and perimeters around those words than you allow for mediocrity and your credibility is lessened. This is quite simply the crux of the issue, no credibility because no accountability.

  • Posted By: marqu3 @ 07/13/2008 12:16:04 PM

    "To get there, Obama should hold a summit of all 50 governors and move them toward national standards and better recruitment, training and evaluation of teachers. He should advocate using Title I federal funding as a lever to encourage..." Oh, dear Lord, more beaurocracy? As the answer for beaurocracy? Why can't Jonathan read the educational tea leaves?? The answer is simple: parents. Any right a child has to an education is his parent's responsibility to satisfy - morally, economically, intellectually. If they don't do it, then some neighbor or local benefactor with a conscience will step in. Give this time. It will happen. But not if goverment stumbles across the landscape dropping cash like Johnny Appleseed. Hyperion to a satyr is this private morality to govenmental redistributive presumption. Mark Medinnus

  • Posted By: tkjer @ 07/12/2008 3:59:30 PM

    It's hard to know how to respond to Jonathan Alter's opinions based on absolute nonsense. I must assume his knowledge of public education is attributed to Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly. Has Alter ever spent more than a few seconds in a public school? He thinks the problems will be solved by union leaders and governors deciding what to do. This is the equivalent of congress, pharmaceuticals and insurance companies designing our health care systems. Alter's standard frightening statistics about our math rankings are simply there to titillate readers. He has no interest in providing context for this ranking, refusing to say if our math scores have gone down, gone up or stayed the same. Nor does he bother to speculate as to whether the curriculums teachers are being forced to teach in math share any part of the problem. American public education is so very different from the other industrialized nations it is impossible to draw useful comparisons, yet everyone wants to throw the numbers around as evidence of America's failure. What is failing is leadership to provide appropriate compensation, materials and working conditions. Roy Romer, who Alter quotes, can also be heard on NPR stating that teacher unions do far more good for teaching and that they are the answer not the problem to school improvement. I wish Alter would explore the possibility of merit pay for police, doctors, firefighters, and other public sector workers. I also wish he would look at the numbers of teachers who leave the profession because of poor pay, working conditions and the overwhelming obstacles that teachers are expected to overcome.

    • Posted By: rjschundlr @ 07/13/2008 11:21:59 AM

      In Jersey City and Newark and a number of other urban cities in NJ we pay over $20,000 per student, more then the cost of our best private schools ... the system is the problem and the unions make up the major part of the system and block most reforms. Also teachers and schools' performance can be measured. Testing can show which students, class, and school learn the most. If a student advances more than a year in testing the school is doing well, if the student advances less than a year each year the school is doing poorly. the Union protects poor teachers.

      • Posted By: tkjer @ 07/13/2008 11:44:53 AM

        If your 20K per student is accurate you need to investigate how much of the per student figure goes to the teacher. Most inner city systems are plagued by legally required expenses for special education students. When per student cost is figured they lump all money and divide by all students. Average students are probably getting 3K while many special education students are getting 50K. Schools have no choice in this and face very costly lawsuits. There is a legal cottage industry that files suits on behalf of special education students. There needs to be some reform on what schools are required to do to address special needs students. No Child Left Behind very stupidly tests and scores learning disabled students as average learners. This is another cause of really outrageous test score statistics. Outstanding, blue ribbon awarded schools look terrible because the house special education students for a district or region that causes their test scores be ridiculously low.

  • Posted By: teacher813 @ 07/13/2008 10:55:42 AM

    I think that focusing on unions and job security is missing the point how what we as a country can improve education. Education is not the same as a business. Children are not all the same.They don't learn in the same ways or at the same rate. Therefore it is difficult to figure out a system that would tell us which teachers are the "best.". Some children have test anxiety, some are good test takers. If we base accountability on test scores only, then we need to make sure that each teacher has the same class. That is nearly impossible.

    We need to focus on getting effective teachers with the tools to teach the standards each state has in place. In my state the union is providing researched based classes to the teachers. The union is not against reform but is for reforms that make sense and actually work. Remember each state has its own system and rules. It is very difficult to make a blanket statement about education in America.

  • Posted By: L. Wesley Boots @ 07/12/2008 11:07:03 PM

    Just below Mr. Alter's column (in the "Voices" column) is one by Anna Quindlen. I hope HE will READ that one, to learn why teachers are reluctant to accept all the blame he wants to heap for failing kids. Teachers do NOT need more "tough talk" to help kids succeed. They need LESS systemic interference!

  • Posted By: loriw @ 07/12/2008 10:59:03 PM

    25th out of 30...that's just plain shameful.
    I read some of the posts on these blogs and wonder if the person is just beginning to learn English as a second language or if they are just so poorly educated that they can't spell or write a correct sentence.

  • Posted By: HolyRoller @ 07/12/2008 9:42:00 PM

    Brand new website............. http://formerobamasupporters.com .........................................

    Very first video, is Hussein advocating sex ed, FOR KINDERGARTEN. The fool is a, uh, well ....FOOL.

    NOBAMA!!!

  • Posted By: Nonime @ 07/12/2008 8:22:49 PM

    If Alter is in favor of using Europe as a model, does that mean he supports free healthcare, too? I???m guessing that he prefers that to be run like a business, and no doubt, a profitable one. College is also virtually free in Europe and if we???re tying education to the economy, there are too many differences to mention.

    The whole idea of accountability is sadly based on a single set of criteria: tests. This means that many excellent, and I mean excellent, teachers are not be getting the kudos they deserve because they prefer to educate rather than test-prep. Getting kids to perform well on tests and get into college is certainly preferable to a life in jail, but it does not prepare students to be creative, reflective, and empathetic thinkers. These are critical times. So much of what our economy depends upon is not sustainable. We don???t need more workers to fit into the existing system. We need creative and responsible citizens who can reshape it. Tests don???t reflect this kind of learning nor do they relate the state of mental health in youth, which is also critical for future success.

    NCLB may go down in history as an initiative that was as ill-informed and ineffective as the war in Iraq. It certainly looks that way to a lot of us. These NCLB fanaticists make it sound like they are the only ones in favor of reform. How ridiculous.

  • Posted By: angry12 @ 07/12/2008 6:33:37 PM

    Unfortunately, Mr. Alter's comments are nothing new. It's the same old teachers' union bashing that is spewed every summer prior to a new school year. I doubt if Mr. Alter has ever met a public school teacher, yet he feels competent to evaluate them as people, professionals and union members. Perhaps he would be willing to give up his posh job at NEWSWEEK to work in a public school for a year. Teachers are just people trying to make it in this world like everyone else. They are not perfect, but they don't deserve the scorn of people like Mr. Alter who likely wouldn't last one day in a public school classroom.

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