h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thank you Madonna, for taking on the task of teaching children what 'bourgeoise' means after the general California public educational system has given up.

This was acknowledged after my adorable baby sister used the word in a normal conversation over the phone.

"Wow! Where did you learn that?" (I am aware that Grey Davis has thoroughly destroyed any possibility of her picking this up in school, and I hadn't reached Moliere in my "cram stuff into my baby sister's mind whenever I happen to see or speak to her" series.)

"The Madonna song. It's cool."

Let us compare this to Grey Davis' plan to practically eliminate electives (Music, foriegn languages, art, practical science, AVID (a programme that helps underprivledged kids get into college), anything that promotes culture and beauty and freedom of expression, etc.) and concentrate on math and science because quote "It makes more money".

Have I bitched about this guy enough, yet?

Hey Fenchurch!

The more I hear about the American education system the more I want to weep. What the powers at be get away with over there in terms of your nation's education is downright criminal.

I've given up teaching in Australia because I thought that teachers got a hard time, but we have it dead easy. What sort of thinking is going on there?

There. My two bits worth.

Hope you're well.
Wowbagger

speaking as a mother of three and someone who is about to watch a grandchild enter school shortly, our nations school system is a joke!!
we pay out the wazzu in taxes to support the maintenance and building of our childrens schools yet there are more schools falling down around the childrens ears than there are standing...sure, some of the schools are in good shape (counties where the people have more control over them) and uppity areas (where they wouldn't dare upse the money bags). the uppity areas are full of the politicians, dr.'s, lawyers and so ons children...this means that these schools get first pick when it comes to their conditions and the skill of the teachers teaching there....the county schools only saving grace is the fact that billybob would sooner shoot you than talk to you about a problem so they tend to do what they can to keep him calm...the innercities, now this is where it gets good. you always here 'we must do something to better educate our countries poor so that they might have a chance to pull themselves up and become productive members of society'. this is a bunch of cock and bull if you ask me...these are only the words of politicians trying to get votes!! if it were truth and they really did want to do something about educating our countries poor then they would at least make sure the DAMN roof wasn't falling in (YES! i mean falling in...i can set up pictures of schools where children actually attempt to learn with large holes in the roof and ceiling, the walls have half rotted away and rats are rampant!!) how the heck do they expect these children to learn anything??!?!?!?! i haven't even touched on the fact that they expect to get highly qualified teachers on peanuts pay. yip, they think that for a salary just above the poverty level they should have teachers in their schools who are qualified, want to work and who are willing to mold the minds of our nations youth with nothing but their bare hands because lord knows they aren't going to supply them with the needed materials to do this!!...we as parents are expected to send everything with our children, including the toilet paper and kleenex! so where does all the money we pay out for our school systems go?? check out the politicians and their gold lined pockets! check out the pork spending for special pet projects in our politicians neighbourhoods, check out the friends of our politicians who they need favours from!! that is where it is going!! it sure as hell is not going towards our schools or our teachers!!
ok, sorry...ranted a bit rough there but damnit! i am tired of being in a country that is always the example when it comes to poor schools..the problem is everyone is RIGHT! we do have terrible schools, they all have every right to use us as an example. hell, i agree with them all! that is what upsets me! not that we are being used as an example but that they are right!! the terrible thing is that it is not going to change anytime soon because those in office in our country will not allow it. yes, sure, you say 'vote them out of office'...if only it were that easy .
Monsy

I'm not completely upset at the educational system here, actually. How can you be fully upset at something that produced me? (there is an interesting reason for that, however, concerning mainly the attempt to force mixture of all socioeconomic backgrounds in school, which I think is a good idea if only it weren't so artificial...). We have to remember that the United States is one of the only countries in the world to attepmt to send ALL STUDENTS through high school. The higher grades of high school are considered what the level A's would be in other school (if the classes are advanced), and the system typically ends when the child is 18, not 16 as is usual in the Western world or sometimes not even present unless the child shows exceptional skill, such as in many Eastern countries. Of course when a country tries to send such a vast collection of VERY different and ranged individuals through what is theoretically to be the same system, the system will set low standard. Slow students pull the system down, advanced students get bogged down by this (i.e. GENRE STUDIES and the abolition of arts and music) and thus the entire system. We also have to consider economics - MANY of the students in inner city schools, for example, NEED to help their parents out with work, caring for children, etc. and may not have the time or support for a good learning environment. Of COURSE the standardised tests the nation insists on administering will reflect this. What we need is to give children who are old enough to make desicions (I think 16, you?) the chance to choose WHEN to go to school, and make it easier for them to reenroll when they are under better conditions. Currently, at least in California, when someone drops out of school they must get a GED, reenrollment is fairly difficult. We also need to develop tests based on a POINT SYSTEM, rather than a competition. "Improvement" in the California system is defined as moving up on the SAT-9 scale - that is, a standardised test. What Davis and his predecessors have conveniently ignored is that if ALL schools improve, or all schools DETERIORATE (What is HAPPENING), this will NOT be reflected in such a test. The best will score a one hundred, whether is is because their students are the only ones who have reached as high as Seuss on the reading list, or Faulkner. This does NOT help ANYTHING.
As for inner city and 'poor' schools, California also has an interesting take on this: "Give smart kids a reason to go to poor schools and get the scores up". NOT educate those who need it, mind you, just balance out the average with imported talent. That's my odd story - I attended an inner - city (downtown, in fact) high school which offered the IB Programme for free, it is usually considered a private school programme. This prompted rich, white kids from rich, white neighbourhoods to attend the school (a few poor white kids like me managed to slip in ). The average reading grade level of 75% the school - the students which fit original demographic - is still grade 3. It only shows up on Davis' table as level 11 because of the 25% of rich, white, supportend IB students whose intellegences are nurtured to all points and pull the scores up SIGNIFICANTLY. It's as if there were two seperate schools sharing a campus. Davis's BRILLIANT plan to 'reward' schools which 'improve' has worked in this respect - the school has recieved a monetary 'reward' for campus improvement - but it hardly means attempting to educate those considered the 'typical demographic'. They'll just keep bussing in grades.

*sigh* That's enough for tonight. But I haven't even STARTED with the AVID stats, yet....

There's always voting with your feet. When we were looking to buy a house, the chief criteria was the school system. As it turned out my daughter attends school in the same school system in which I work.

Our system is based on geography, the lower half of a county. We have trailer courts and rich doctors kids who go to school side-by-side. They all get the same education, but they don't all succeed because of the background from which some of the kids are coming.

I was watching some kindergartners the other day - and some of them didn't know how to open a book! Seriously!!

But she was talking to another kid about what was going to be on ER that night (a show that is on past *my* bedtime).

I don't understand what is going on in some of those homes. Schools can't be expected to strive to help kids for eight hours a day for 180 days and not do anything but fail when there is no support at home.

We've been talking with some people about having books donated to our local food banks so when a poor family comes in for food, they can take a children's book home for the kids. At least, that way, we'll get books into the home and maybe encourage someone to read it.

It's a big problem and Monsy's right - it's all the political crap that gets in the way of making things better. Teachers and school administrators want to help, parents want to help, but it's really tough.

Our school district receives the same money from the state as does a really wealthy neighbouring school district. So our kids and poor inner city kids can't get ahead because the wealthy get help they don't need at our expense. And that's because the wealthy folks donate to the politicians in Washington and at the state capitol and they hold the power in the governmental process.

Jimi - Are the students as mixed in classes? I've found that even in schools which do a good job of demographically mixing classes, by the time the kids are older they've been divided into the classes full of kids with economically stable - which usually means mother at home, nurturing enviornment - families in 'advanced' classes, and the othes in 'normal' or 'remedial' classes. I know it probably isn't as common when the children are elementary age, though... You have to remember - if the family is economically struggling, and if it's anything like I've seen, the parents don't have time to care for their children. Here it's very typical to see a family of four or five kids being cared for by their thirteen year old oldest sister, or their nonchalant aunt. Children in these families begin work at fifteen or sixteen years old - sometimes full time. This period is very important in school - the time which decides whether the child will recieve a diploma at all - and they're having trouble keeping a house, nevermind finishing homework.

I just spoke to one of the people running for the Board of Education up here (this is in Escondido, not San Diego where the board members must run for their lives from people like me) after running into him while takin' my sister to a street fair. After asking him what he plans on doing about immersion, norm - based (rather than point - based) testing, what he thought of Bersin's blueprint, where he expects students in the 50th percentile to be at grade seven, (his opponent believes 'they should be able to read at 3rd grade' - that's age EIGHT - and not start - even be exposed to - ANY significant literature before 9th grade - I remember reading a kids version of Hamlet, Macbeth, and A Comedy of Errors in the 5th grade) the results of the experimental cross-immersion language programmes they've started down in San Diego, and how he interpreted Davis' suggested 'changes', what sciences he believes should be taught when, and after he paused many times with an inquisitive look on his face (Cross-immersion? Literature? What do you mean, which kind of science?), he said "You should run for the board. We need young people." I wish I had the time or money!

I take it by what you've said Ms Fenchurch is that, if you took the time to be on the board, you wouldn't be earning money.
That's a shame because I'd like to see you on that board and see how those with the previously mentioned time and money would react to your comments.

That's part of it - you also need time and money to get on the board, as it's an election. Education, on the other hand, isn't necessary - the superintendent has a degree in Government, not anything concerning education.

I'm done now. I am.

Actually, part of the problem is that the kids come in with different abilities in kindergarten. And the kids that are behind, fall further and further back witle kids who were raised in a 'good' environment pull away.

I've read to my eldest daughter every night since she was old enough to sit still and listen. She's more than a year ahead developmentally of her chronological age. Other kids in her kindergarten class don't know how to open a book.

How can the education system serve such opposites in the same environment?

That's where the problem lies. We as a nation need to educate parents on the importance of reading. There's no magic formula - simply reading. If they can't read to their child, it should be part of public assistance to get books and/or tutors into those homes. Producing generations of kids who can't read on level only harms the nation in the long term - investing in some way to help those who will struggle right from the start (even before they get to school) might be an answer.

Of course, it's an answer that costs money that nobody wants to spend. And the poor and struggling classes don't vote because they don't feel like they're part of the system. So the politicians don't feel any need to pay attention to them.

It's a really complex issue - what we need is another national disaster like the Great Depression coupled with a president who uses his dictatorial powers to impose what is needed on society. Sort of like what FDR did with Social Security, WPA, ect.

Many school buildings are in disrepair, but it's because we haven't invested in them since the 1950s. Look at America - we haven't done much of anything to the nation's infrastructure since the immediate post-war era of the 1950s.

At some point, big money is going to need to be spent or the whole country is going to crumble down around us.

And don't get me started about the state of our national park system. Charging people to see a French and Indian War fort? That's part of my national heritage - the government doesn't have any right to make me pay for that!!

Grrrr.

OK, I'll shut up again.

Amens and how right you are's all round .....the school systems in the united states need lots of work (i spoke my piece on that and will be kind and not repeat it ). the point was brought up that parents MUST do their part as well. yes, i agree...i think that if it were not for me doing my part then my children would be as far behind as everyone else in this country who attends our schools. due to parental participation with my children i have a son who at age 12 was tapped for national honours (a fantastic achievement for his age i might add). a daughter who appears to not even need to open the book to absorb the knowledge contained within it (we are always doing things with them that cause them to learn without their realizing they are actually learning)...i can also say that our newest daughter (16 years old) is proof that environment means a lot (as in the people she was associating with...parents, friends, other family memebers). before joining our family she was a straight F student who did not even attend an entire year of school. one grading period with us and she has been a straight A student ever since (almost 2 years now) and was even awarded the highest algebra award for her class this past school year. so yes, there MUST be parental participation in order to make it work. the schools are not doing their part (they can't be expected to with what they are given to work with) and until the government does more in the way of giving our school system what they need to succeed then it is up to us as parents to teach our children what they are not learning in school.
national parks....don't even get me started on having to pay large sums of money to go enjoy grass, trees, rock formations, waterfalls and so on only to find that you must first remove all the garbage that has been left there by the last uncaring individuals who were there. i do not agree with having to pay to visit my heritage but if i must pay for it (to cover costs of cleaning and keeping the area up to par because of idiots who think everywhere is their trash can) then i expect it to be in tip top shape. and another thing...what about those individuals who cannot afford to pay the large sums of money to visit these national parks and such?? does this mean that they are not good enough to partake in their history?? does this mean that because they are not of a certain social class financially that they do not deserve to visit these places?? this is the other problem with charging to view our national sights. not everyone can afford to spend the per person charges to visit these sights. because of this they are missing out on their past. sad, quite sad
oops, i think my soap box just started bowing from the pressure
Monsy

No, you haven't actually, but if you'd like to take a rest for a bit, I'd be more than willing to take over for a spell...

Music and Art and Philosophy and foreign languages and other cultural expansion courses and AVID (which we don't have here but are sorely in need of it) aren't oppositional to Math and Science (or the three R's) but complement them. IMNSHO they (or at least some of them and a few others) should rather become mandatory than extinct. If you want to trim start with Sports (which often serves as an unfair turning point where a D or F becomes a C). But then.. those things make more money. *Sigh*

'Nonnie