On Dec 26, 11:42*pm, The tragedy of balding men with long hair
<goofin...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Dec 26, 5:31*pm, Stan de SD <StanD...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Dec 26, 5:15*pm, EconomicDemocracy Coop <econdemocr...@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
>
> > > * a heavy reliance on fill-in-the-bubble standardized tests to
> > > evaluate students and schools, generally in place of more authentic
> > > forms of assessment;
>
> > Such as???
>
> > > * the imposition of prescriptive, top-down teaching standards and
> > > curriculum mandates;
>
> > As opposed to what?
>
> > > * a disproportionate emphasis on rote learning—memorizing facts and
> > > practicing skills—particularly for poor kids;
>
> > Funny how millions of poor kids learned to read and write that way 100
> > years ago. And the "poor" of today would appear ridiculously spoiled
> > and well-off compared to genuine poor people back then...
>
> > > * a corporate sensibility and an economic rationale for schooling, the
> > > point being to prepare children to “compete” as future employees;
>
> > You would prefer that they be prepared to be lifelong wards of the
> > State instead?
>
> > > * charter schools, many of which are run by for-profit companies.
>
> > Yep, "private" and "for-profit" are bad words to liberals - so is
> > "choice", unless of course it's used to refer to abortion or two guys
> > marrying each other... :O|
>
> Rote memorization is a lazy way to teach children. *It doesn't promote
> understanding. *I surpassed my classmates in mathematics because I
> understood the basic concepts of mathematics while they foundered with
> their rote learning.

In some cases (especially languages) rote memorization is a necessity.
I'm not saying it should be applied in all cases, but the fact of the
matter is that for a couple of centuries it worked well enough to
teach even kids from the most "underpriveleged" backgrounds basic
building blocks such as spelling, multiplication tables, and basic
rules of English grammar - in fact, the children of the past who
learned under such methods had a higher rate of literacy and better
competency in basic math than the vast majority of high-school
graduates today. It's also necessary at times for learning foreign
languages, and in fact it's the way that Chinese and Japanese (whose
descendents living in the US have far better math and literacy skills
than our own kids). Try learning written Japanese from an
"understanding" point of view vs. memorizing hiragana and katakana
from tables. "Understanding" advanced concepts only works when you
have a basic foundation to work on...

> Privatization is just another way of cutting taxes to the rich. *

Which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.


> The
> rich think that they shouldn't support the system that has made them
> rich.

No, the rich are usually that way because they are astute and
industrious enough to realize what works, and what doesn't. Our
current public education system is broken, and NOT because of any
shortage of funds. It's broken because teachers unions are more
worried about lining their own pockets and pushing a left-wing social
agenda than ensuring that kids are educated.

> *They believe in taking but not giving.

The rich in this country already give far more than thay take. If you
don't believe it, move your ass to Zimbabwe and see what it's like not
having "rich" people to exploit you.

>
> Education shouldn't be a for-profit enterprise.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

<never@millions.com> wrote in message
news:jv3dl4dilh1bvvb675c6de3m199kf5j02f@4ax.com...
> Unions protect incompetent teachers, incompentent teahers destroy the
> morlae of good teacher and infect the students. While it may the
> lesser of many other problems, it is one indicator that school boards
> and adminstrators are powerless to deliver the goods.
>
> Jusy an opinion

"...teahers destroy the morlae..."

YEP!