Emanuel's 'New Deal': Another year of school for all

The unions will just LOVE this one...

WHATEVER, WHATEVER, WHATEVER.

MR. AT&T AND VERIZON WIRELESS IMMUNITY SPEAKS.

YADA YADA YADA, BUT YOU CAN JOIN BUSH'S AND DICK CHENEY 10 YEAR NO WMD, NO OIL RECONCILIATION, WAR AT THE AGE OF 17.

A KID CAN'T DRIVE A VEHICLE AFTER 12 MIDNIGHT AT 18 UNTIL 18 AND SIX (6) MONTHS, BUT CAN'T HAVE A BUD LIGHT UNTIL HE IS 21.

HOW ABOUT PAYING TEACHERS MORE MONIES INSTEAD OF SHORTER PAY AND LONGER HOURS AND SCHOOL DAYS IN A YEAR.

THAT MAKES SENSE! SORRY

WHAT ABOUT THE CAGED VOTES?

GET THAT.

WHAT ABOUT THE ANTHRAX - YES THE BIOLOGICAL HIT ON AMERICA. WHERE IS THE GOP AND DNC ON THAT.

ONE MORE YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL. HOW ABOUT ONE MORE YEAR OF NOTHING BUT SCIENSE AND MATH!

Roger, did you have your coffee this morning?

So let me see if I can follow this logic, the gov't fails miserably on 13 years of educatio, so now we should grant them a 14th?

Also, I thought the dems were going to be the fiscally responsible party?

13 instead of 14 years of k-12 (oops k-13) education. What about that quote from Einstein that pseudo liberals keep spouting - to the effect that repeating the same conduct in the expectation of a different result was the definition of insanity. Does this mean it’s okay to take the insane approach to education reform?

Why do European's do a better job of educating their children that we do? And why do they take fewer years to actually educate their children than we do in failing them? I thought pseudo-liberals were hip to emulating the Europeans on everything. Or is it just their socialism that draws all the admiration?
I have a better idea. Let's start by hiring or retaining only teachers who can teach, firing all non-performing teachers, improving the school environment so kids can actually learn something; and then start thinking about teaching them something they can actually use (and tell them how they can use it.) In other words, let’s do like the Europeans do, and design our school system to really prepare kids for the job market or higher education - as each case may merits – rather than just warehousing them until they are old enough to struggle in the job market. The European’s track record, in this regard, is not just proof that our education system can be fixed, but that we have been shamefully remiss in failing to fix it.

American Education = proof that throwing money at a problem won’t solve it.

John W.,
Why punish a teacher if some students don't go home and read, study, and do their homework?

Another brain dead idea from Mr. Emmanuel.

Simply stated, this is a non starter. Exactly who is going to pay for this extra year of school?

Half of John W's post makes sense: Do we really need K-12(13) for everyone? Trade schools are common in Europe and prepare people for jobs that actually produce something. The other half is the usual Republic party nonsense. Teachers in Europe are allowed to do their job instead of following some dumb federal statute which requires them to teach to a test.

We would be far better off providing tax incentives to businesses that actually produce things instead of offshoring jobs.

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Posted by: weinerdog43 | January 15, 2008 11:45 AM

Please show me where I said any change ought to be federally mandated. I didn’t. I think federal intervention into the school system has been a disaster.

I believe its time for NCLB to die, for the federal government to get out of the way, and to let the States clean house and reform their own school systems. I do, however, believe the States ought to abandon the century old system of merely using schools to either warehouse kids or select those who go on to college. They need to teach everyone something useful.

janet:

It's one thing for one kid, or a few kids, to fail for lack of discipline and motivation. That happens to the best of teachers. It's altogether another matter for scores of kids to consistently fail. There is a point at which it becomes obvious who is and who isn't doing a good job in the classroom, and it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

John W,
I don't see how you can attack teachers when you consider the worst teacher in Chicago transplanted to Glenbrook North could get the class to meet the required standards because they would be working with children from a different pedigree. There has to be a middle ground from the "soft bigotry of low expectations" and expecting too much from every and all teachers.

I don't think anyone is "attacking" teachers. I think John is correctly pointing out that majorities of whole classes failing, like many schools have today, by its very nature requires some of the blame to go to the teacher and the school and not just the students, many of whom aren't aware of how they're ruining their own futures.

Education for the annointed few has got to stop. Period.

Janet,

Why reward these kids that don't do their homework with another year of education that costs that taxpayer $10000+ per year per child?

Good comments; the problem is not with the teachers but the politics of the system, same as everywhere else.

Teachers must teach to the tests; must cater to the Principals and Administrators and keep everyone happy with the paperwork and the dotting of the i's.

Schools overemphasize discipline and conformity and are therefore getting little of either as the dropout rate increases. Policies increasingly encourage dropout rates indirectly as the at risk students are the ones most likely to be lowering standardized test scores.

Get rid of the students that don't do well and the test score averages rise like magic.

We keep kids in school for more years than the Europeans and they graduate with less useful and realistic information; most can't balance a checkbook, know nothing about investing and the economy; know nothing about their local tax system or their local politics, and most will NOT go to college because of the expense and are NOT taught a trade.

Our schooling system does NOT engage them with real life and real life expectations.

These get out of school and are competing with a growing illegal immigrant population that will work for less money off the books.

It's easier and more economically advantageous to deal drugs.

Because of outsourcing and foreign competition those that are able to invest the astronomical amount in a college education are finding a squeezed job market with most jobs at such a low salary that it will take them a lifetime to pay back their college loans, let alone a mortgage and support a family.

No wonder so many are disallusioned.

It is hardly the fault of the teachers.

Teachers can only teach what they are required to teach by law.