No child left behind, Bush? Come to my school.

[MiniMandaRuth]

A levy needs to pass on our school district.

It's for four million dollars my district desperately needs.

If it doesn't pass?

No more sports.

No more music.

More crowding of the buses (Not enough gas to run all the buses, which leads to less buses running and less drivers).

Now Bush, I don't want to hear one more word out of your mouth saying that WE, AMERICAS CHILDREN, are given all the funding we need to do all the things we need to.

Sports teach teamwork and leadership, as well as often giving kids scholarship opportunities.

Music programs like band and choir are important. They, like sports, show kids like me that there is more than being an individual, for when you put talented people together, you get a beautiful sound. It has been shown that playing an instrument in band helps make you smarter and more likely to succeed.

Mr. Bush, come to my school.

You'll see.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. K & R

You rock, Mini!!

[MiniMandaRuth]

2. Thank you!

[uppityperson]

3. Ah, but you need to pass those WASLs

Hi mini, welcome back, good posting. I HATE the nochildleftbehindness that has taken away so much true education and replaced it with the need to pass-the-test.

[MiniMandaRuth]

5. Hey, speaking of, I have that tomorrow.

In the 8'th grade, no less. I hate it. (and I love taking tests)

[AirmensMom]

4. What are we doing to our children?

:banghead: Someone ought to leave Bush behind. :grr:

Good job, MMR. :yourock:

[MiniMandaRuth]

6. Thank you!

Heh... My dad says he'd like to drag Bush by the ears through the streets of Detroit... I'd like to drag him through our band room.

[AirmensMom]

11. One of my girls was in band.

The other one was in orchestra. And they both played sports off and on. I can't imagine kids having to go to school without those opportunities ... so they can pass some worthless test?

Choir and orchestra were my favorite subjects in high school.*sigh*

I hope you'll take lots of pics if there's any dragging done. :evilgrin:

[SeattleGirl]

7. Right on, MMR!

I graduated in 1973; my sister closest to me in age graduated in 1975. I was in choir and orchestra; she was in band (including the marching band). We were both very active in school sports: gymnastics, swimming, track and field, volleyball, softball, etc. Plus we both had lots of art-related classes. Oh, and Drama Club, complete with several plays during the year.

We often get into conversations about how different it is now, how teachers are taking money out of their own checking accounts to supply kids with even the basics they need. And how drama, the arts, and music are getting cut more and more from regular school curriculum. It just sickens and saddens us.

Of course, kids need to learn readin', writin', and 'rithetic. But without the more artistically-based subjects, and without sports, kids are only getting a one-dimensional education.

Yes, Mr. Bush. Go check out MMR's school, along with any number of others across this country that are also suffering.

Great post, MMR. Recommended!

[MiniMandaRuth]

10. Thanks...

See, it's adults like you that give me hope for the future.

[SeattleGirl]

16. And it's young people like you who give ME hope!

:yourock:

[AirmensMom]

19. I second that, SG!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

[northofdenali]

30. And I third it!!

We so badly need young people like you, MMR! :hug: What an eloquent, intelligent post - I have emailed it to several friends who are in the educational system.

SeattleGirl, I also remember my high school days - we had sports from basketball to curling to a rifle team, skiing teams (both cross country and downhill), gymnastics, you name it. Arts, drama, creative writing, a fantastic band and choir - I don't know how kids will make it without these outlets and opportunities.

[Ishoutandscream2]

38. Is there such a thing as "fourth it"?

What an outstanding young person you are!

[Ilsa]

8. We have to raise so much money for our schools here.

It is almost as if we are a private school.

Mr. Bush, come to my kids' school. I dare ya.

[MiniMandaRuth]

13. I hear ya.

It would SCARE some people to see the state that schools are in right now...

[SeattleGirl]

14. That's the "ownership" society for you

Bush goes around making all the problems, but regular Jane and Joe Citizen have to "own" the solutions by paying to clean up the messes! :grr:

[givemebackmycountry]

9. NO, NO, NO...you have it all wrong.

It's no BOMB left behind.
No one gives a shit about children.
What are you nuts?

But, BOMBS.
Now, who would want to leave one of those behind?

It is beyond sad what this thieving monkey has done to our children.
I'm not gonna make it another three years with this fool.
Sometimes, I wonder if I am going to last another three weeks, much less another three years.

[MiniMandaRuth]

15. All we can do is wait,

until history paints these crooks as the criminals they are...

[AspenRose]

12. NCLB: Minority children's scores left behind

States Omit Minorities' School Scores

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060418/ap_on_go_ot/no_child_loophole

"Toia Jones, a black teacher whose daughters attend school in a mostly white Chicago suburb, said the loophole is enabling states and schools to avoid taking concrete measures to eliminate an "achievement gap" between white and minority students.

"With this loophole, it's almost like giving someone a trick bag to get out of a hole," she said. "Now people, instead of figuring out how do we really solve it, some districts, in order to save face or in order to not be faced with the sanctions, they're doing what they can to manipulate the data."

Some students feel left behind, too.

"It's terrible," said Michael Oshinaya, a senior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in New York City who was among a group of black students whose scores weren't broken out as a racial category. "We're part of America. We make up America, too. We should be counted as part of America."

[MiniMandaRuth]

17. Yeah, if we were a black school... I don't even want to think

how bad we'd be... It's horrible...

[XemaSab]

18. I'm opposed to bonds and levys

I think it's crap that we have to borrow money from YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN to pay for basics.

That's how the state of California got so far in the hole: refuse to fund stuff like highways and schools out of the general fund, and just borrow money for it. Money which has to be paid back.

Your rant is right on target. It's garbage that we can always pay to build another bomb, but hiring another teacher is something we never have the money for. :eyes:

[MiniMandaRuth]

20. Yeah. I love all my teachers...

Even my PE teacher that makes us run sprints... But, they are good people... and they are underpaid. They pour their heart and souls into trying to make our lives better... And what do they get? Nothing.

[Ksec]

21. It sounds exactly like the local schools around here

One school, in neighboring East Liverpool Ohio, just laid off half the teachers because of budget problems. I forget the exact number but it was about half of the teachers in this town of maybe 14 thousand or so. I dont know how theyre operating. My kids schools dont run AC in hot weather and half the programs have been shut down. WTF is happening to this country?

[MiniMandaRuth]

22. Hey, we don't have heat anymore...

In washington winter. Pretty cold up her in the sticks....

this country is dying... and it will be dead soon, if these men aren't stopped.

[Ksec]

28. Meanwhile

bush wants to cut more taxes to his rich contributors and all his freinds he grew up with.

And they just cant figure out why the poll numbers are where they are. They just cant figure out why? Clueless, selfish, SOBs

[MiniMandaRuth]

23. Kick.

The whole world needs to see this.

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. When slogans live too long and bite you in the ass.

Why has no one made a big deal about these stupid Republican slogans that mean just the opposite of what they're suppose to do?

EVERYBODY knows that "No Child Left Behind" is a bunch of hooey. Pick that hooey up and rub it in their faces.

[MiniMandaRuth]

26. Yeah... Like photos of the victims of war,

we can use our schools as a way to show the world how horrible this admin. has been...

[silverojo]

25. Too bad Bush's school wasn't left behind

Then they would've had to cancel the boy-cheerleader program and his sissy a** would have had to do a real sport.

[MiniMandaRuth]

27. ....

:lol: Oh, he's already got his eddumakation, so he doesn't care...

[jmowreader]

29. You ARE given all the funding you need...

to do all the things you need to.

Or, I should say, to do all the things Bush needs you to do.

Bush wants to get rid of the public schools and turn education over to churches. To do it, he needs you to fail the NCLB high-stakes tests. No, he needs you to BOMB the NCLB tests.

He doesn't need you learning teamwork and leadership. He doesn't need you to make beautiful sounds. He needs you to fail tests in spectacular fashion.

If Bush came to your school, he'd see failing students and cold classrooms. If he came to a school in my area, he'd see failing roof systems. And he cares deeply--that they're not failing fast enough to suit him.

MMR, I have a much better idea than having Bush come to your school. Let's have him go to Crawford Elementary School. Permanently. He can sit there and read storybooks to children every day.

Which would cause less damage than letting him screw around with the public schools.

[MiniMandaRuth]

34. That's about it....

You hit the nail on the head there....

[DarkTirade]

31. Heh. You should see what Jeb did with the schools down here in FL.

He based state funding on school performance... that was measured by standardized tests of course. So of course, the poor areas did poorly on the test and therefore started recieveing LESS funding for their schools.

[MiniMandaRuth]

35. That's horrible...

:angry:

[DarkTirade]

44. I don't know about the whole state, but I know in my school

they discovered that they weren't getting any extra money for the gifted program... so by the time I got to 11th grade, they'd just dropped it. I had a choice between Honors (which was the EXACT SAME class as the regular one... they just put the little H next to your transcript to look good for potential colleges. They wouldn't actually make the class any more advanced.) and AP. For someone like me who doesn't do well with the busywork of AP, and needs the mental challenge of a gifted class to stay focused on my work, I got screwed over.

[tavalon]

32. burp

ignore

[tavalon]

33. Critical error in your thinking

You appear to be assuming he cares. He doesn't. Never has. Laura maybe cared a little when the valium high wasn't fucking with her thought process.

[MiniMandaRuth]

36. Ah, well, we'll march up to the white house and make him care.

[TheFarseer]

37. I've never understood how cutting music saves much money

The kids bring their own instruments and don't need anything for vocal. All you need is a teacher and a piano. You could do without uniforms if you had to of just wear the same color clothes or something. Maybe not bus to as many competitions or away games. It's hard to imagine high school without sports. Do they do pay-to-play? Maybe they could do a little of that to help. If the kids don't have the money they can always do a fundraiser as long as the fee is reasonable. I'm sorry it's come to this at your school. It's a real tragedy what's going on in our schools.

[MiniMandaRuth]

40. At our school, some kids don't have enough money to afford insturments...

We need sheet music, which costs a lot.

We do pay-to-play, which helps out a lot... It's just getting to be too much...

[sipnsail]

39. No Child Left a Dime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! eom

[MiniMandaRuth]

41. Pretty much.

I think Bush would pay more attention if he knew that the public schools, in the whole big picture, help him more than hurt him.

Doctors, lawyers, bankers... they all get started in school.

[roody]

42. We need those kids to join the military.

Don't be giving them the capacity to think for themselves or to support themselves as adults.

[MiniMandaRuth]

43. That's what Bush thinks...

Man, you can see into his BRAIN!