Off Topic · Government regulated education: (page 1)
Just wanted to know what people think of it, because I think it's f'ed up beyond all recognition.
Allanfan20 wrote:I'm sure people know about some of the acts like the No Child Left Behind Act. I'm also sure that people are aware that Bloomberg enforced a mandate to cut A LOT of New York City educators (As a result of students not reaching the goals of standardized testing), which effects the outskirts of NYC by a lot.Just wanted to know what people think of it, because I think it's f'ed up beyond all recognition.
well, new jersey is going through the same thing with this idiot christie in office. the no child left behind act was a joke and needed major provision changes to be effective which hasnt been done since it was passed. obama hasnt done anything yet and i am waiting for him to make changes like he said instead of just pumping the schools with money. however, with healthcare out of the way ( hopefully) he can focus on the economy and education a little bit more. i dont understand how cutting staff is the answer to a school not passing a standardized test which, though better, still culturally biased and not the only way to assess a child's progress. the teachers mostly are doing their best diffrientiating instruction to a classroom of about 20-25 kids all with special needs ( and with the cut of staff that will happen next year, those numbers will increase). it is a tough job dealing with students, parents, administrators and now our governor doesnt have our back? so he can further justify private school vouchers by saying the public schools are inept? these are ridiculous times.
jazz74 wrote:Allanfan20 wrote:I'm sure people know about some of the acts like the No Child Left Behind Act. I'm also sure that people are aware that Bloomberg enforced a mandate to cut A LOT of New York City educators (As a result of students not reaching the goals of standardized testing), which effects the outskirts of NYC by a lot.Just wanted to know what people think of it, because I think it's f'ed up beyond all recognition.
well, new jersey is going through the same thing with this idiot christie in office. the no child left behind act was a joke and needed major provision changes to be effective which hasnt been done since it was passed. obama hasnt done anything yet and i am waiting for him to make changes like he said instead of just pumping the schools with money. however, with healthcare out of the way ( hopefully) he can focus on the economy and education a little bit more. i dont understand how cutting staff is the answer to a school not passing a standardized test which, though better, still culturally biased and not the only way to assess a child's progress. the teachers mostly are doing their best diffrientiating instruction to a classroom of about 20-25 kids all with special needs ( and with the cut of staff that will happen next year, those numbers will increase). it is a tough job dealing with students, parents, administrators and now our governor doesnt have our back? so he can further justify private school vouchers by saying the public schools are inept? these are ridiculous times.
I think the cutting of staff is more of a Bloomberg thing, but it's happening elsewhere too. They are doing a lot of cuts on Long Island. My question is, will they be replacing the staff with new teachers? Or is this just a ploy, so they can save money on other things, like their pockets. Because the way Bloomberg is talking, he sounds like a very unknowledgable person, concerning education.
How is cutting funds and teachers helping the kids in lower socioeconomic areas? I guess you can thank Bush for this crap.
Allanfan20 wrote:jazz74 wrote:Allanfan20 wrote:I'm sure people know about some of the acts like the No Child Left Behind Act. I'm also sure that people are aware that Bloomberg enforced a mandate to cut A LOT of New York City educators (As a result of students not reaching the goals of standardized testing), which effects the outskirts of NYC by a lot.Just wanted to know what people think of it, because I think it's f'ed up beyond all recognition.
well, new jersey is going through the same thing with this idiot christie in office. the no child left behind act was a joke and needed major provision changes to be effective which hasnt been done since it was passed. obama hasnt done anything yet and i am waiting for him to make changes like he said instead of just pumping the schools with money. however, with healthcare out of the way ( hopefully) he can focus on the economy and education a little bit more. i dont understand how cutting staff is the answer to a school not passing a standardized test which, though better, still culturally biased and not the only way to assess a child's progress. the teachers mostly are doing their best diffrientiating instruction to a classroom of about 20-25 kids all with special needs ( and with the cut of staff that will happen next year, those numbers will increase). it is a tough job dealing with students, parents, administrators and now our governor doesnt have our back? so he can further justify private school vouchers by saying the public schools are inept? these are ridiculous times.
I think the cutting of staff is more of a Bloomberg thing, but it's happening elsewhere too. They are doing a lot of cuts on Long Island. My question is, will they be replacing the staff with new teachers? Or is this just a ploy, so they can save money on other things, like their pockets. Because the way Bloomberg is talking, he sounds like a very unknowledgable person, concerning education.
How is cutting funds and teachers helping the kids in lower socioeconomic areas? I guess you can thank Bush for this crap.
Bloomberg and Klein are classic technocrats, and have little respect for teaching as a profession. I am in my 23rd year as a NYC teacher, and have opted for early retirement in 2.5 years.
Unless you are at a school that kids have to test to get into, or a charter school that can pick and choose the students they want (and stack the decks in any comparison with public schools like mine which have to accept anyone who wants to be here), being a teacher is a thankless profession at this point.
The DOE throws teaching model after teaching model at us, with little assistance in terms of concrete curriculum materials. They allow students with no chance of graduating to stay in the system until they are 21. The most disruptive students, who in the past would be sent to another school after a major incident, can stay in our school incident after incident.
My school will have a "quality review" in May. We are one of the schools on the list for possible closure because our graduation rate was about .5% under 60%. We feel like we are in a state of siege, waiting for an invading army to attack us. Our principal, fearful of having the school broken up, has become a bit crazy, putting extreme pressure on our Assistant Principals (making some cry), who then put pressure on teachers. Bulletin boards with student work, even less than wonderful work, are a necessity, and teachers, like myself, who are in a room for a single period, are required to dress up the classroom with student work. Observations??- kids HAVE to be in groups, differentiated work must be present and noted in your lesson plan- and if your class has poor attendance, it gets noted in the observation, because you, the teacher, are of course responsible for whether or not kids are coming to school and getting to your class.
If you read the papers there are not broken homes which affect student achievement, or peer pressures which influence a good kid to hang out with a bad crew. There are no students coming into HS who should not be there because they can't read/write or cannot control their behavior. ANYTHING that is wrong is the responsibility of Principals, their assistants, and the teaching profession, with not a bit of blame being caste upon parents and peers.
Differentiation is the new mantra. Instead of creating homogeneous classes where we don't have to give different materials to different students, we have classes where we have to modify or find other materials based on reading levels or learning types, making it even more difficult for teachers to do their jobs, and as mentioned above, the city does nothing to help us in terms of curriculum guides or differentiated materials.
We are overwhelmed, and Obama, who I voted for and worked for, is of no help, since we consider his boy- Arnie Duncan, to be part of the problems we now face.
I may have to get another job after retirement from the DOE, but any job, however menial, will be a relief for me and add another 5 years to my life.