To Teach or Not to Teach

As the summer begins to wan, the start of school is starting to come into focus. Many are wondering if school is going to start and whether or not classrooms will be real or virtual. Based on what one reads and sees in the media it appears that for most locations, it will virtual. This raises the question of quality. How good will the instructions be without the backdrop of a brick and mortar schoolhouse? Does the learning environment suffer without the face to face instruction provided at school? When teaching from home, do teachers have the resources they need to fully engage their students?

I think a compromise can be reached. Have the teachers instruct from school, while the students stay at home. Outlined below are some ideas on why this should be done and ideas on how to make it work.

A Response

Patrice over at Rural Revolution has put together a great World Net Daily column about why young people should seriously consider getting a vocational education rather than going into debt for a college degree. Her points are very valid and I happen to fully agree with her. College isn’t for everyone and there are plenty of jobs out there that don’t require a college education and they pay well enough to support a family.

But there are some folks who don’t agree. In fact, there was a comment from “twosidedtruth” that caught my eye. I was going to respond to his/her comment but it got rather lengthy and decided to make it a blog post (The first in over a month).

2-Sided, three points that I'd like you to consider. First, if you look back at the history of the Great Depression you should note that when FDR put in place those high tax brackets on the rich an economy that was showing signs of recovery hit the skids once again. In 1937 the top rate was raised to 79% and the economy plunged as investments dried up in 1938. It took a war to bring about a recovery (although that was artificial as proven by the severe dip after the war).

Gingrich Surges

As the Republican primaries get closer to commencing, Newt Gingrich, whom I had written off this past summer, has seen a dramatic surge in the polls. I think his standing has as much to do with Herman Cain’s trials and tribulations as it does with the “anyone but Romney” feelings out there. I also happen to think that folks are discovering that Gingrich is actually a very smart man, who truly knows his stuff and would wipe the floor with Obama in any debate.

But Newt doesn’t come without some warts; many of them in fact. Most of us are aware of his serial marriages and some of the issues he had with ethics while serving as Speaker of the House during the Clinton Administration.  However, if you are willing to dig a little deeper, there might be a few other issues that might cause one to pause.

A friend of mine sent me a link to a blogger than she reads quite frequently and he really does have a problem with some of the stances that Gingrich has taken over the years.  In his post, the writer covers several topics that he feels make Gingrich not qualified to be the Republican nominee for President. (my take in italics)

- Campaigned for Nelson Rockefeller during the 1968 presidential elections. Anyone remotely familiar with the Rockefellers in general and Nelson in particular knows full well that no conservative could ever support such a candidate.

   A little bit before my time, but I during some research on the Rockefellers, they do seem to have a bit of an elitist attitude towards most people. In fact, the Rockefellers could be the poster children for everything bad ever said about the Republicans.

Obama Panders Yet Again

As I pointed out the other day, President Obama is making a bid to make Congress irrelevant. Not that there are not times when the congress-critters don’t deserve a little knot on the head every once in a while, but this blatant power grab by our socialist-democrat president is quite clear for all to see.

As most of you already know, he has decided that he doesn’t need Congress to revamp the student loan program, a program that he took over in 2010 when he signed into law a bill that removes private banks from the government backed student loan program. This bill flew under the radar a bit since it was passed shortly after the health care bill was passed. What might not be known is that as of right now, there is over $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. That is almost as much as the health care bill, yet it received scant attention. Prior to July 2010 the government was on the hook for about 20 percent of the balance by guaranteeing the loans. When this bill became law, that figure jumped to 80 percent (the rest are private loans).

Obama argued for the measure in 2009 as a cost-saving initiative, saying that the old system of privately issued, government secured loans reduced the amount of available money for needy student and also prevents the feds from making the system more efficient, (Source: Fox News)

SAT Score Dips, Again

SAT reading scores dip

SAT Reading scores for graduating high school seniors this year reached the lowest point in nearly four decades, reflecting a steady decline in the subject on the college admissions test, the College Board reported Wednesday.

…

Nationally, the reading scores for the Class of 2011, including public- and private-school students, was 497, down three points from the previous year and 33 points from 1972, the earliest year for which comparisons are possible. The average math score was 514, down one point from last year but up five from 1972. (Source: Washington Post)

We continue to throw billions of dollars at educating our children and the rate of spending is only increasing yet we see a decline in the reading scores and only small increase in math. At what point to the progressives, who control our education, realize that all that money and all their curriculum is a complete failure? But maybe I have already answered my question. As long as the public at large remains stupid (in their minds), they population becomes easy to control and manipulate.

I’m not claiming a conspiracy, but when you consider how much money has been poured into education and test score digress there is something that needs to be looked at.

Comment Response

While clicking through my local newspapers this morning, I came across this linked article. In it the writer makes his case for how the federal budget crisis we are currently under had its roots in the spending practices of the previous administration, while barely casting any blame on the current administration. As I read through his column, I began to formulate a response that I was going to post in the comments section. However, the more I wrote, the longer the response. So I decided rather than post it where my readers might not be able to find it, I will put my response here.

Enjoy

OK, decent article that has obviously been researched. But Talton, as a journalist you should that numbers and figures are journalism 102 (101 being who, what, when, where, and why (or how)). The statistics did make the point that spending is out of control, and the wars didn’t help matters.

They have been fought on credit (Iraq and Afghanistan). Instead, President George W. Bush pushed through tax cuts, heavily weighted toward the rich, that added another $1.8 trillion in red ink – and this was before their extension under President Obama last year.

You kind of forget to mention that the tax cuts that favored the rich also coincided with a nice long run of economic prosperity after the recession brought on by the 9/11 attacks. Gross domestic product had an average rate of just under 4% (this includes 2009 which really screwed up the curve). Our unemployment rate hovered near 5%. In terms of strict numbers, it is quite possible the tax cuts did cost the US Treasury $1.7 trillion dollars.

But why don’t we look at this from another direction. Each state in the Union collects taxes for the state coffers. Some states collects taxes through sales taxes, other through income taxes, while others still collect taxes using a combination of both. While this might be comparing Red Delicious Apples to Granny Smith Apples, I think it is worth exploring. During the recent economic downturn the state of Washington has come up close to $7 billion dollars short in tax revenue because of unemployment and people pinching their pennies. ($5.5B actual, $1.5B projected). At 6.7 million people, The Evergreen State has just over 2% of the US population. If we were to project out this $7 billion and 2%, we can come up with a possible state level revenue shortfall of somewhere near $330 billion. Keep in mind this is only state level revenue generation, which is typically lower than the federal government (except for maybe California and we’ve seen how well they’ve done with all that tax revenue).

Are College Students Really This Dumb?

Utter proof that the money spent for a college education is wasted on these individuals. Several of these individuals actually said this isn’t their debt.  Well, whose debt is it?

At 4:28 is an absolute confirmation that college students are being brain washed. This student says we are the least taxed of all “the developed nations”. Hey knucklehead, when your professor says we are the least taxed nation, you might want to do a little research. Google or Yahoo “most taxed nation”. You’ll quickly see your statement is false. I won’t call you a liar because you probably actually believe it.  Just because the “prof” wears a tweed jacket with elbow patches and smokes a pipe (filled with who knows what), doesn’t make him the fount of all knowledge.  Do your own research.

Education, Time to Take It Back

In previous posts (here and here) I mentioned that it is time to take back our schools. It is because of events like this one here that we really need to get the politics out of our schools and go back to teaching our kids how to read, write, and add. Our progressive school curriculum has turned what was once one of the best school systems in the world into a shell of its former self. Instead of giving our children the solid foundation they need to become computer programmers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and even teachers, we teach them mindless drivel about their self-esteem and how the planet is going to end and that high achievers are really bad people. It is time we stopped allowing schools to teach morals, usurping the family. And it is time we met our on obligations as parents to be there for our children.

Currently, our nation ranks second is per pupil spending, yet test scores on three main subject areas (Math, Reading, Science) we rank in the middle to the bottom of the top 30. We are not getting a return on our investment. When education money goes towards things like sex education or “how to be greener” or that being a business leader is not a good thing, then we, as parents, need to look again at what we are allowing school districts to do with our children.

Chicago Schools Oversteps

I have a question for the Chicago Public School District. Just who the heck do you think you are? Who are you to tell students and parents they can no longer bring sack lunches to school because you think they aren’t healthy enough? When will you idiots remember who pay your salary? We don’t do you bidding, you do ours. I guess this more than just “a question”.

In the idiotic move of the week (day?), the Chicago Public Schools has banned students from bringing most home packed lunches.  At one school, Claremont Academy Elementary, the school officials confiscate any snacks loaded with sugar or salt. I’ll repeat my question; who the heck do these people think they are? This is elitism at it most notorious. These people think because they have some fancy education centered diploma they are smarter than the parents and it their duty to do what is “for their own good”. Man, how I hate that statement.

Being Prepared

I know that several of my readers know about Patrice and her blog Rural Revolution since she has sent some traffic my way a couple of times (Thanks Patrice!!!!). But for those who have not visited her web site, I suggest you do so today.  A quick background: She and her family are what could be called preppers, folks who have simplified their lives and prepare for TEOTWAWKI. Some might call them weird, but I don’t.  Throughout the years that I have read her blog, she has laid out a very good case about being prepared. She is not one to go running through the village shouting “The end is near”, but has laid out points that have convinced me that being prepared isn’t weird, but a smart thing to do.

Today she has written a long post about what one should do be to be prepared.  She references heavily from an article posted on Survival Blog. Both her post and the one at Survival Blog are very interesting reads and a good primer if you are considering moving you and your family towards a more simple life.

Weekend Links

LOCAL:

1. King County (Seattle) has seen a slight uptick in the unemployment rate from Feb to Mar. As goes King County, so goes the rest of the state.  Since our region was probably hit last in the “Great Recession” we’ll also probably be last to feel the slow economic recovery. Overall, the unemployment rate has improved slightly over the past year.

2. The Washington State Legislature has tried in vain for several years to raise taxes on us but have failed miserably every time as residents have defeated legislation efforts with initiative. But I think Olympia has finally found a way to raise some tax revenue that won’t upset the residents too much. They are going after the Canadians.

3. While this news is terribly surprising to me, the man arrested for attempting to bomb the MLK Day parade in Spokane earlier this year has ad links to a white supremacist group. Kevin William Harpham, a former Fort Lewis soldier, has been arrested by authorities in Spokane and has been linked to the Neo-Nazi group, the National Alliance.

A Dumb Generation?

A very good column by Patrice Lewis (Rural Revolution) about the Dumbest Generation over at World Net Daily.  In it she makes points that the plug in generation of today is becoming something less than literate.

In her column she compares today’s students and their efforts to get information and write a paper on an assigned subject matter. Here she quotes from the book The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein:

The trouble, apparently, is while kids are frighteningly savvy when it comes to all electronic media, those skills do not translate into actual knowledge. They do not retain material they study. “When the fifth-grade teachers assign a topic, the kids proceed like this: go to Google, type in keywords, download three relevant sites, cut and paste passages into a new document, add transitions of their own, print it up, and turn it in. The model is information retrieval, not knowledge formation, and the material passes from Web to homework paper with lodging in the minds of the students.”

Here is how she describes her efforts when writing a paper “back in the day”:

Obama IS the Education President

In a matter related to budget cuts, President Obama is a little ticked off that as part of the overall budget reduction efforts, education is a target (among many targets) of the slashers.

“We cannot cut back on the very investments that will help our economy grow and our nation to compete,” Mr. Obama said (after touring Massachusetts’ TechBoston Academy with Belinda Gates).  “There is nothing responsible about cutting back in our investment in these young people.”

On the surface, Obama’s statement has some validity. Education is very important for both our domestic economy and how we compete in the world economy. We need to produce smarter, better students and graduates if we what to remain at the top of the heap. But what are we getting from our investment in education. Right now we are about middle of the pack. According to a report on at CSBNews.com: