Obama to unveil education plan

It is very Unpatriotic that every morning Morning Joe opens up with how Team Obama is so Confused and so muddled, when in fact he has been very clear about getting America back on track in the many avenues which have been neglected for all of these years. This assumption is false when in fact Team Obama has been clear that they are doing Stress Tests on the banks to figure out how to proceed. Why that cannot be allowed to take place by some in the media, well we know the answer to that, Politics. And, actually is Unpatriotic to the American people to continue to falsely accuse Team Obama for actions that are not real and to pretend things are so confused when they have never been so clear. Daily they come out with their plans for the American people, plans which have long been ignored. And, please media, stop saying Main Street is confused, we are not. They are instituting policies for us now. When GOP brings up the era of "easy money" is over, we could ask, easy money for whom and to whom? Not us, not Main Street...

As of yesterday, robocalls are going out to ask people to sign up to restructure thier mortgages (that is not confusion but action on behalf of the American people.) It is too bad that when Republicans had their chance they did nothing for the people but use the word No, No, No, so it is no wonder they think Team Obama are doing to many things at once, being the party of no action that they were.

Let this Team have their chance to bring in real change. We need it, and stop being unpatriotic, please.

A teacher lands a job in a school where kids have stable families and parents who volunteer, fund-raise and donate to the school. Textbooks are new, technology is available, buildings are in great condition. Almost none of the children speak a native language other than English. None suffer from the effects of drug or alcohol use of their moms before they were born. Students are not transient--they stay in the same school district until graduation. None of the kids worry about their next meal, domestic violence or have to drop out of school to work to help support their family. Guess what? The teacher is highly successful!! Let's pay that teacher more money. Yet the same teacher in a school with kids in the opposite situation is...you guessed it... a failure! Cut that measly low-income school teacher's salary as punishment! Too often pay for performance schemes overlook the politically incorrect fact that students are not all the same and those who face challenges in their home life rarely catch up to those with advantaged home life. It is the teachers at the toughest schools, with the corresponding low test scores who deserve bonus pay. But it is easier to blame teachers than face reality.

If Obama had been more laid back and cautious in acting no anything the media and conservatives would have called him "lazy" and "out of touch." That he's actually using government to accomplish positive things isn't enough...

http://www.political-buzz.com/

I still believe one of the main keys to a better education rests with the parents. We have let the raising of our children rest on the shoulders of teachers instead of educating them. A teachers job is not to teach social skills. That needs to rest with the parents.

Angellight, you must drink your Morning Joe in moderation; only a limited amount (with a grain of salt) each day; especially with the constant presence of Pat Buchanan and all those CNBC characters. Who said MSNBC is liberal?? Hah.

Angellight - Morning Joe is so liberal, I can't believe you're calling them unpatriotic. What do you want them to do sit there in Obama T-shirts and just smile for 3 hours chanting "Yes we can"? MSNBC are the biggest suck ups to the Democrat party in the media.

Ah, yes, we need more teachers!

However, here in Naperville they just
laid off 80 teachers in district #203.

I went into teaching years ago and during the recession in the '70's I also
couldn't get a job especially as I had a master's degree which would have cost the district more money.

Perhaps what we need is a youth corp, where instead of paying for 2 years of college, high school students opt for a 2 year period of service and in return get 2 years of
paid college education at state
schools.

This may be well and good for those teachers who work in areas where parents feel education is important. But in low income areas, all it will do is make some teachers cheat on tests so that they may have a chance at the incentives. It's happening already withOUT the incentives. A better solution would be to reduce class sizes to about 15 kids per class. Today's child isn't like those of old. They have too many distractions and parents do not know how to parent, discipline, or are afraid to do so. Therefore, kids need more attention than ever before. So many students are coming to school with emotional problems until it isn't even funny. The people making decisions about how schools should be run need to teach for awhile (in an under-performing area) rather than looking at bogus test scores and visiting classes for ten minutes.

It's NOT an 'education" plan. It's an education SPENDING plan.

Easy to predict:
1) the spending will be real,
2) the taxes to pay for it will be real,
3) the test scores won't improve.

Any wagers????

I wonder if his plan will continue to allow these underserved children to keep attending school with his daughters?
.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123604286020215187.html
.
Will his plan allow for hundreds of thousands of like school children to attend similar schools. The public school system in this country is the number one thing holding minority children back.

It's NOT an 'education" plan. It's an education SPENDING plan.

Easy to predict:
Posted by: They said "Dissent is Patriotic" | March 10, 2009 9:55 AM

Dissent would prefer the Bush way...where you get a catchy title (no child left behind) then underfund it. Making it a disaster as most everything the republicans touch. Keep complaing though, it will serve you well. Like 06 and 08!

vla, are you a product of a poor education? Joe Scarborough would throw up if he saw your comment; he is very conservative as are most of his guests.

Ryan was absolutely correct in his assessment of teachers in "good" schools and teachers in "poor" schools.

The teachers in the "poor" schools work harder, have students who have been denied an education by their irresponsible parents. And no matter how they fought to teach the child, those teachers will not receive the coveted extra pay.

Now, Libby, the "youth corp" you speak of will not be the answer ESPECIALLY when meetings are mandatory and a prescribed indoctrination of thought is part of the program.

The idea of "holding hands and singing kumbayah" will not work. It's not the 60's. You can't go back.

Watch out for Americorp.

The answer is allowing parents to pick what schools their children attend.

Parents aren't held back by unions that can't get rid of the bad teachers (and we all know, there are bad teachers)

Parents will not place their children in schools where behavior problems are ignored.

Parents won't place their children in schools that are not succeeding.

Parents can make the difference when given the opportunity to pick a school for their children to attend. And not having a school board dictate what school the district wants the children attend.

Parents can ferret out the best.

I still believe one of the main keys to a better education rests with the parents. We have let the raising of our children rest on the shoulders of teachers instead of educating them. A teachers job is not to teach social skills. That needs to rest with the parents.

Posted by: bill r. | March 10, 2009 8:22 AM

Yes- I agree- !
And to be fair and following your logic..., can you please tell your guy Obama, to give the parents a voucher so they can pick what school they would like their kids to attend?

And today, we fix Education, the near-perfect crime. The teacher is working with / against non-motivated students, apprentice drug dealers, amateur alcoholics, non-prime time myopic parents, high tech video games, cell phones that take pictures and stream video, a school administration generally needing to justify the latest schemes developed in Education World, schemes that are designed to make this education thing a totally pain-free experience.

The teacher is expected to prepare and execute lesson plans, teach to a captive group that may have a 5-6 academic year regression in subject matter curriculum, keep the criminal element in check, confer with parents, perform social work, practice amateur psychology, recognize medical situations, and the best part, the measurable part, get juveniles that last passed a standardized test in the 3rd grade to somehow pass a high school assessment / exit level math or science test.

In addition to spending more money on this long-running problem, which is as much a social problem now as it is educational, President Obama wants to make the school day longer and the school year longer, if we can believe the NY Times, today. I would surely quit right there. There is only so much anyone can do when the wheat and chaff has to be processed for so long in the same vat. The end-objective of education needs to be reconsidered and reformed. Math and science, at even the high school level, are not natural outcomes for everyone. Very little wine, Lots of Tannic Acid, and lots of $$$$, that’s the Throw-Down. This is a great country.

Bill R,
.
If as you state "one of the main keys to a better education rests with the parents", and I whole heartly agree with you; then why are we pouring even more federal money into this? Is more money into the educational system going to make better parents?

Ha Ha Ha....boy, do I have some opinions on schools!!

OK, first off, yes, teachers should have incentive pay, and should be able to be fired. It only stand to reason that not 100% of teachers can be good teachers. The same is true for carpenters, engineers, etc....sometimes they just make the wrong career decision. I think a mandated 2 year internship in a career choice BEFORE you go to college should be required.

Secondly, I'm not crazy about a school choice or a voucher system. That concept is saying that you are greedy and care only about your own spawn and not caring about the community. All schools should be good schools, period.

3rd: Schools do need to teach social skills, sorry Bill R. The reasoning is that if the kids are not learning it at home, where else are they going to learn it. There are at least 2 generations of kids now that are growing up that have not been taught social skills and living skills.

I am glad Obama is talking about a longer school day and I hope an 11 or 12 month calendar is talked about too. This not only makes better use of the facilities, but it also lessens childcare costs and such, plus improves education.

Finally, the ciriculum needs a BIG overhaul. Math can no longer be taught as a black magic box using shortcuts. English needs to completely eliminate fictional literature and focus on technical writing, operable words, clauses, and such that you would find in contracts. It disgusts me that a child can graduate from school and have spent 12 years of learning English and never have learned about written contracts. These stupid kids are now the ones signing cell phone contracts, credit card contracts, and mortgage contracts and I can believe that they do not fully understand what they are signing. The papers are written by VERY well educated authors that are trying to decive people that have no education in such matter. I have often made the equation that while 100% of our graduates study fictional literature, maybe only 1% are going to use this in their professional career, yet 0% study contracts, and we know that 100% will sign at least one in their life. We need to train our kids for real life.

And like I said earlier this week...homeschooling=educational inbreeding.

OK, I'm jumping off the stump now.

3rd: Schools do need to teach social skills, sorry Bill R.
Posted by: Xcellentform | March 10, 2009 10:05 PM

That's ok X...I don't mind opposing views. However, then let's keep in mind that we then are not just "teaching" kids, we are now asking teachers to do much more....almost raising them. Also teaching 20 or more kids social skills as well as curricula seems quite daunting in 61/2 hours a day. If we want this, let's keep in mind how much we are asking of teachers and what compensation they are receiving.

Thank you for standing up for the teachers like myself who teach in low income schools. How am I supposed to "teach" these children all they need to know when they have excessive absences, lice infestations, come to school sick and fall asleep most of the day, are hungry, dirty, and attention starved....and these are just the Kindergarteners!!!! Our school day is 7 1/2 hours long and I am there at least an additional hour a day sometimes longer and then take work home too trying to educate all my students. They come in ranging from knowing absolutely nothing to knowing the majority of what they need to know to pass Kindergarten. I have to work out lesson plans for three groups of kids...below level to get them on level, average to help keep them growing, and above average to keep them challenged because they already know what they other two groups are learning. I create three levels of homework, specific to each group. I plan guided reading small group lessons for anywhere from 5 - 8 groups of kids to meet them where they are at and help them achieve. I deal with parents who dump their kids off at school at the beginning of the year, sign a report card every six weeks and then act surprised to find out their child is not making progress in school and it is already March. When is some of the responsibility going to fall back on the parents to help the child that THEY gave birth to, to become all that they can be? Why is the pervasive attitude that it is all the teachers responsibility to help them excel in their education? There is only so much I can accomplish in a day and even with extended days and additional days, this does not take these kids baggage away and make it easier for them to learn, it is just the opportunity for them to miss more days of school and fall farther behind their classmates. So then will it fall to my children's teachers to raise them since I will be busy raising other people's children? In the end it will end up driving away more teachers, and good, quality teachers not just the ones who need to leave the profession and I do agree that they are out there and they need to go, but if you drive away the good ones too the class sizes will go up and then it won't matter how long the day or the school year they still will not learn anymore than they did before. Anyone who makes decisions about how the education system is run should teach in my classroom for a month and then reevaluate how quick they are to judge what is considered progress.

WOW!! SoTxTchr hit the nail on the head! How, Mr. President are these teachers going to be successful? What are we going to do when many of the teachers from low performing school will be let go for these low scores and performing classrooms? Sure, there will always be teachers to replace them, but everyone knows that teacher and staff consistancy is key in a child's success. I am not 100% sure how to solve the problem. What I can tell you (as a teacher) is that I just want to be able to teach, to do what I feel CALLED to do and to try my best to make a difference in these children's lives. BUT, this will never happen when I am forced daily to focus on "test taking stratagies" and the like. I feel I am blessed to have experienced both sides of education. I have taught in private schools as well as public schools. One of the BIGGEST difference I have seen is that teachers and children in private schools do not focus on ANY type of "test taking skills". These teachers are encourage and often demanded to teach the whole child. To complete experiments and projects. To leave the textbooks and worksheets behind and to create meaningful lessons that are hands-on and teach the students so much more. And, YES there where disadvantaged students in those schools as well. Students who also come from "low income families". The difference is....those parents CARED and were SUPPORTIVE and tried their best to do better for their child. Guess what..........IT WORKED!!!! Maybe we need to stop blaming the teachers, the economy and every other "problem" out there and start putting most of the blame on where it belongs............the parents.

The last two teachers make a good point about absentee parents. What would expect from a society that pretty much tells poor people, have the kids and we'll take care of their needs. The unintended consequences of the welfare state.

The feelings and frustrations that are present in the last three postings seem to reflect the EXACT same feeling as my mother. She is a middleschool teacher in a treacherous part of Boston. She, along with many of her colleagues, feel that they are expected to raise these "disadvantaged" children. I get completely disgusted when I compare how my mother raised me to how these careless & ignorant parents "raise" their children. However, the worst part of the situation is the obvious lack of accountability that these parents have, in regards to their children.