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[regicide]

If you listen to Barack Obama's speach on education and still vote for McCain, you deserve the results of that administration.


Bush 2 voters - - read my lips.

Barack Obama discussed his plans to change education in America, in Dayton, OH on September 9, 2008

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AGcr1UZpBfA

[Kuros]

Thanks for the link, Regicide.

I was pretty impressed.

[bucheon bum]

If he wins, just hopes he follows through with his ideas.

[Ya-ta Boy]

It is a good enough speech but not as good as it should have been.

I liked the idea of developing tech schools where students graduate with 2 tech licenses. That is a practical solution for the average and below average student.

I liked the idea of more college-level classes in the high schools--as long as there is support to develop those programs and not just a mandate to do it. (I saw a lot of the latter in my 20 years in the public school system.)

I liked the idea of a computer at every desk.

There was a bit of stuff at the end about holding parents accountable for turning off the TV etc, but not near enough. The advantage that India and China and South Korea have is that parents sacrifice for their kids' education. Parents here spend 1/3 of their income on education. That's sacrifice. Moms get a job just to pay hakwon fees. That's sacrifice. American parents moan and wail for tax cuts.

The focus of our schools is much more on socialization than it is academic education. Obama did mention staying in school longer. It isn't about how long you spend in school, it's what you do while you are there. Don't work harder, work smarter.

I'd like to have heard something about reducing the number of preparations each teacher has. That's where creativity occurs and that takes time. The trouble is, a teacher has papers to grade from 125 students PLUS preparing the next day's lessons.

So it was a good speech. It's moving in the right direction.

PS: I'm not a supporter of the Dep't. of Education. I have always believed education is a state matter, not a federal one.

[ytuque]

My father is a retired public HS principal, and we have talked about many of the problems in education over the years. I think he would agree that Obama left out some key points.

1. Public education is primarily the domain of the local and state governments. The federal gov't has forced many mandates onto the schools often without adequate funding. There needs to be a commitment that the unfunded mandates will cease.

2. It is virtually impossible to fire an unqualified teacher. The teachers' unions are too powerful. Will a democrat take on the NEA? Perhaps, Obama will be different, but the democrats typically support the NEA. My old man would just assign them to teach the required fluff classes like Health, where they would do the least damage. After a few years, they would voluntarily transfer to another school.

3. How do you hire qualified teachers in math & science? My old man would say you have to pay them more than other teachers because their skills are more highly compensated in the job market. School districts need to be allowed to pay the physics teacher more than the PE teacher. Again, the NEA would definitely fight this.

4. Need to get rid of problem students. My father's school had known gang members in class. Known to the school, the police, and the other students. Yet, they are still there and have to do something serious before they are dealt with. Many black and hispanic kids and to a lesser degree whites & asians need to be sent to a reform school. The kids with physical and emotional problems cannot be dealt with if they pose a serious disruption in the classroom.

5. The quality of textbooks is decreasing. I have seen middle school math books with references to multi-culturalism. The new books are dumbed down.

6. The courts are too involved in the schools' business. Principal wants to throw a disruptive kid or one caught spray painting grafitti on the school grounds, or endless list, there will be lawyers and the courts involved. It is hard to even ban a kid from the school's extra-curricular activities without the lawyers getting into the act. Like a kid has a god-given right to attend basketball games and school dances.



Not a bad speech for a politician, but he avoided some serious issues.

[VanIslander]

- started and ended strong with effective personal anecdotes
- scored big time with "we can do all this at the cost of a couple of days in Iraq"
- more preschool funding, college-level participation and technology for grade schools as attainable specifics
- didn't hear him talk about his famous incentives for student volunteerism to earn gov't grants for university
- a major theme of science and math as the key to a global economy being led by India and China and the need to reclaim American dominance through education in engineering and innovation

[Gopher]

[khyber]

[ytuque]

[ytuque]

[Gopher]

They want to ensure that everyone has reason to feel good about themselves, socio-culturally, including by race, class, and gender. And people such as Gary Nash want to teach history in a way that people such as Lynn Cheney will fight them to the death over. They concern themselves with how they think students should learn to feel about "America." Thus history, math, or what-have-you educational goals and activities occur as lower-level priorities. Still priorities, just lower-level ones. That is just the way that it is.

And we can forget everything these candidates say on the matter. They will promise whatever it takes to motivate people to enable them to win the Oval Office. Can the fed govt truly reach out and touch state and local education in the United States? The last truly successful reach I know of was D. Eisenhower's "National Defense Education Act" (which needed a Soviet threat) and his and his successors' intervention to promote and enforce integration following Brown vs. Board of Education (which needed a Soviet threat). (Where are Soviet threats when we need them anymore?)

[The Bobster]

[OneWayTraffic]

I think any illustrations in a math textbook not related to math are a waste of space that could be better used educating students.

Degree in math here.

[regicide]

[The Bobster]