re: Fox News' Idea of a Good Debate

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His education policies are out there too. He advocates a policy that isn't even legal in the state he represents (charters). And specifically making comments like taking the "best teachers" and putting them on the "Internet to teach more kids" is pretty damn looney. He's a huge advocate of pushing for home school, which would be a great idea if majority of parents were capable of educating their kids.

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I had no idea about that, goodness this guy is insane.

I mean, all candidates will have stuff you don't like, but he just keeps going further and further down Tranquility Lane.

I'm not backing him. I'm voting for Gary Johnson, unless Jim Webb gets the nomination from the Democrates, which is an extremely long shot.

Also, I don't live in buildings with the type of people who do PCP.

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I'm not backing him. I'm voting for Gary Johnson, unless Jim Webb gets the nomination from the Democrates, which is an extremely long shot.

Also, I don't live in buildings with the type of people who do PCP.

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Typical privilege speaking.

He really pushes for the elimination of the Department of Education which a decent amount of people support. But when you really get down to some of the other dirty details in his education "ideas", it's a little disturbing. If you thought we had a large unproductive group of people in society now, I can't imagine what it'd be like if a lot of those people were home schooled.

Having dealt with charters in other states run by private organizations, I'm incredibly leery of them. I've seen them shut down on a whim when the money runs out and some incredibly shady practices due to little to no regulation. And a private school voucher for a low-performing or ECE kid isn't exactly an answer when they likely won't be able to maintain the grades to remain in that private school (private schools here rely on the public school system to provide any special education services).

And frankly, until you address issues within the home as well as behavioral issues when they're in school, it's not going to matter much where you put some of these kids. Public schools could survive but we have to stop acting like a utopian society where everyone is college-ready/eligible and ignoring anyone else.

I guess I just feel like it could be done in public schools but it's going to take more radical changes than just getting rid of NCLB (even though that's definitely a start). It also goes beyond just education legislation.

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I think education can be done much better in public schools, but I beleive a mostly private system will do it better still.

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I'm going to prod you (I promise I'll only enjoy it a reasonable amount HJJ) for a bit. If I made you Queen of Public Schools tomorrow, with unlimited funding and power, what reforms would you put into place? We can get to the practical later, I think it's best to start with the ideal vision.

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If I'm rolling with unlimited power and funding:

- Scrap standardized testing. Teaching to the test, especially with the content we're currently teaching, isn't truly benefitting anyone. We've reached a point where we're eliminating the arts, life skills classes, etc because it isn't "on the test". We desperately need to get away from that. I could throw a hundred studies at you that show that a student who is taught not just english and math but also music and art is a far more well-rounded person coming out of school. I also see kids coming out of the system who can't do basic things like balance a checkbook or fill out a resume because they're not taught this in their own homes.

- Bring back non-college prep classes and trades, not just to a handful of schools in a district (like they do here in magnet programs). This country needs construction workers, electricians, and mechanics just as much as they do college graduates. We need to start giving these kids tools to succeed in life even if they're not going to step into a college classroom. I'm talking a lot of trade schools, with co-ops with local employers (for instance here we would likely co-op with Ford, UPS, Humana, and Louisville Metro government).

- A change in how we address behavior in schools. As it stands in my district, a kid can get away with a lot of shite (even bringing a firearm to school) before anything is seriously done to address the behavior. A handful of students with behavioral issues disrupt whole classrooms of kids. And parents who refuse to address the issue. No more pressuring administrators to keep suspension numbers "in check". If a student cannot behave in the classroom then he can either work from home or an alternative school site via eSchool or it's up to his parents to provide him an educational opportunity. This will come across as incredibly harsh, but it's gotten out of hand in schools.

- Better teacher pay and incentives. In a perfect world, we'd be throwing some decent money at graduates to bring in the best and the brightest into the profession. Especially for teachers who are stepping into a PLA (Persistently Low Achieving) school. The largest issue I see right now is there's no real incentive for experienced teachers to be in these schools in some areas who need the experienced teaching the most and they often end up with fresh out of college kids who have never been in a classroom before. Encourage teachers to go back and further their education through Masters and PhD programs that are actually financially feasible. To add to that, I'd like to see some better systems in place (specifically through co-oping with other experienced teachers) to acclimate new teachers to a classroom environment. While I've seen baptism by fire work in some cases, I much prefer to see folks eased into those positions. Teaching to me as a profession gets taken too lightly.

- Incentives for parents to be responsible parents. If you have children you are receiving financial assistance for from the government, I'd like to see a program that ties in parental participation in schools to receiving that assistance. In an unlimited funding situation, schools would be able to provide transportation (which seems to be the largest complaint) if need be as well. And the lack of education for a parent shouldn't be an excuse. I'd have no problem with school districts providing adult education courses for parents who dropped out themselves. Pursuing a GED would be cost free. And also in this unlimited funding situation, somewhere for those kids to go if the parents don't meet their end of the bargain which brings me to....

- An increase in funding for social services, especially school based ones. A large increase in mental health services for school children (ideally on site) and boarding schools in areas where students are dealing with large numbers of homelessness, drug use, and crime. While I've expressed my distaste for charters and vouchers, I do appreciate schools like the West End Boys School here in Louisville that have taken at-risk kids off the streets and put them in a situation where they can be successful members of society. If my money was going to private organizations like theirs who have built successful schools and sustained them in the past then I'd be ok with a more privatized school system.

- Revamping school food. And I say this knowing for some of the kids I work with, the breakfast and lunch they have with us is the only meals they have all day. It should be tasty as much as it is nutritious. I'd like to see more co-ops with regional farmers. And none of this cooking it at the central kitchen and heating it up at the school bullshite in larger districts. In our own district, I'd love to see opportunities for students from the local culinary school come in to work on this issue.

- I'd likely get rid of the Department of Education myself, but only if states can show they are capable of running education on their own. I'm not above federal intervention in some states who can't keep their schools open and safe. And if we're eliminating the DOE, I'm also not above large cuts to district "central offices" who often pocket that federal money before it even reaches the school.

And that's just a start. I could probably be here all day on this one.

It might be time for another education thread.

RG probably thinks Rand is a loon because he wouldn't have a job if Rand had his way with drug laws. I understand it. I dislike most people that want to change the tax code, however I also realize that it wont ever happen so i can put that on the back burner. I still wouldn't like someone coming after my job either so i see where RG is coming from.