John Edwards on NCLB: You don't make a hog fatter by weighing it

[jsamuel]

Run time: 08:48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a66eI2DmZ_E   Posted on YouTube: September 21, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: September 21, 2007 By DU Member: jsamuel Views on DU: 1973

 
HA! He covers Education, Health Care, and Iraq with Ed Shultz.

Major Education Policy Speech in Des Moines

Contribute: https://johnedwards.com/action/contribute/10days1million/

[ryanmuegge]

1. Shit like that is the reason why no math and science majors want to teach.

Not to mention the shitty pay.

Teachers are subject to constant attack and micro-management from people that want to privatize the public school system.

Plus, they make people jump through all kinds of really stupid, bureaucratic hoops to get licensed. This is not just student teaching and taking a content area test. Every election year, teachers are subject to punitive legislation meant to make politicians at the local, federal, and/or state level look "tough on education."

Shame on the Democrats that voted for this Republican load of shit.

[ultraist]

4. Edwards' plan includes raising teachers' pay

You are right, pay is too low and NCLB needs a major overhaul!

[calteacherguy]

8. Well, raising teacher pay would be good, but pay is controlled mostly at the state and local level.

I'm not sure how much federal policy could influence something like teacher pay, because of the funding structure.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

2. Now that is a good line! :)

:7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7

[rwheeler31]

3. He makes more sense than most out there.

[waiting for hope]

5. Off to the GP with thee....

Thanks!

Here's another source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/21/131421/574

K&R!!

[iamjoy]

6. To Expand Upon That...

and you don't help an underweight hog by reudcing its food.

[RBInMaine]

7. Edwards is Great!! NCLB is the Wrong aproach!

Edwards is great and CAN WIN by enlarging the electoral map, whereas Hillary and Obama are VERY risky and polarizing in the general election. Democrats MUST nominate the best candidate for the general election and the one who will help Dems EVERYWHERE in the country, up and down the ticket. That is the standard! Edwards can do that! Hillary and Obama pose great risks for the rest of the ticket (as much as I also like both of them, with all respect).
(Again, I LIKE virtually all the D candidates and they'd all be ten times better than the fool in the White House now, BUT Edwards is absolutely the most electable in the general election AND he has exactly the right populist message that will resonate well with middle America! VOTE FOR EDWARDS IN THE PRIMARIES AND CAUCUSES!!)

On education, as a teacher I can tell you that NCLB must be dramatically overhauled or chucked altogether. First, it is redundant because states already have their own state standards. Next, it sets up additional layers of bureaucracy that are driving teachers and school administrators up walls. You can never, ever MAKE every single child meet those standards. That is just not reality and will never, ever happen. How do we get quality education? 1) Streamline bureaucracy so teachers can devote the overwhelming majority of their time to learning their content and perfecting research-proven instructional and classroom management practices(rather than doing mountains of bureaucratic paperwork and CONSTANTLY assessing kids on standardized tests). Yes, each state should have a STREAMLINED set of content and performance standards across subject areas, but effective schools are those that have effective teachers well-versed in their subjects and well-trained and and experienced in class management and sound instructional strategies and practices. We have lost the focus of what good education and good teaching is among all the bureucratic hoops. 2) Streamline the buraucracy so administrators can focus on effective school discipline and management practices, providing quality curricular and extra curricular programming, and providing sound professional review and development opportunities for educators. Without an orderly and focused overall school environment that seriously places a focus on proper behavior and high expectations, nothing else will work in the school.
3) Reduce class sizes, increase teacher pay, and provide pay incentives for good teacher performance. This means the right kind of investments and creating funding formulas that ensure greater funding equity throughout the states and state regions. - You don't create a better meal just by heaping more and more food on the plate. Likewise, you don't create a better education system by heaping more and more hoops and hurdles and standardized tests and near-impossible standards, in some cases, to meet...High performance will occur if the focus is placed on CLASSROOM TEACHING PRACTICES and SCHOOLWIDE and CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT! Other countries realize this. We spend mountains of time sending our educators to conferences on how to administer and analyze standardized tests. Other countries constantly spend their time learning their subject areas and how to improve classroom teaching and classroom management practices. Then the high test scores come naturally. We put people on the moon. We know how to educate. So let's focus on EDUCATING!

[calteacherguy]

9. Agree that NCLB as it is now is bad for education;disagree that Edwards is most electable choice. nt

[LWolf]

10. That's a line coined before NCLB even became law.

Back when the standards and accountability movement was instituting high-stakes testing at the state level. GWB was in Texas. Pete Wilson was in CA.

We've known this about high-stakes testing since BEFORE GWB ever made it to Washington.

Yet still, NCLB is a bi-partisan mess, and Democrats have supported it all along. Now that it's up for renewal, some are trotting out the same criticisms we were already hearing, the same flaws we already knew about before they signed it into law THE FIRST FUCKING TIME.

Richardson says he wouldn't renew it, but he's not in Congress.

Edwards won't be in Congress to vote against it, and he doesn't say he would. His education plan criticizes NCLB, as all of the candidates are doing at this point, but he doesn't advocate getting rid of high stakes testing. He wants "better tests," "more flexible," etc., but he's not advocating throwing bad policy out altogether. Just "fixing" it.

I don't want people tweaking harmful policy to make it less harmful. I want it out, replaced by policy founded on sound principles.

[zazzle]

11. As long as there is testing, there will be prayer in schools

LWolf - Seems you're doing a lot of nitpicking!

[LWolf]

13. I've been fighting

the fucking standards and accountability movement, and high-stakes testing, since the 1990s. I've watched public education, and my students, and my profession, suffer under it for almost 2 decades.

Why the FUCK is a statement like this coming from Edwards admirable, or laudable? It sure as hell didn't carry any weight when EDUCATORS started using it more than a decade ago.

I'm really glad to know that most of the candidates, with the exception of Dodd, have something bad to say about NCLB; they have obviously taken note of public dissatisfaction.

Not in time to prevent the damage done, of course, but better late than never, right?

Except that the current political rhetoric doesn't actually get rid of the damaging pieces. The current philosophy the movement and the testing is founded on is faulty, and trying to fix the cracks in the walls, when the foundation is bad, is a cosmetic fix designed to calm the masses, not fix the problem.

I don't give a flying fuck, frankly, if you think that is "nit-picking." I have to deal with this shit every damned day, and have been doing so for way too many years. The public has been silent; passive. It's been fine with the general public, and with politicians, to destroy public education. It's been fine to sigh, bitch, and moan about the state of "the schools," but who the fuck has bothered to make getting rid of destructive policies a priority? I'm sick and tired of being the public scapegoat for the public blame game and politicians' corruption. I'm sick of rhetoric, sick of propaganda, and sick of patronizing promises to "fix" a destructive policy so that it looks prettier.

I appreciate hearing the candidates acknowledge that NCLB is bad; I don't accept the weak suggestions for plastering over the cracks and moving on.

On NCLB, Richardson is right. Biden is right. Kucinich is right. If HRC, Obama, and Edwards publicly promise to end the high-stakes testing requirements, I'll applaud them, too.

NCLB is under discussion NOW. Unless it is tabled, which is unlikely imo, it will come up for a vote in Congress before any primary vote is cast.

That makes campaign propaganda about public ed pretty safe, unless you will actually be voting to allow it to continue, or not.

I'd like to see all the candidates speak out against the renewal of NCLB as long as it includes high-stakes testing. THAT would be meaningful.

[Mozcram]

15. Wow

Thanks for the illuminating info and for the beautiful van Gogh...

[LWolf]

17. You're welcome,

and welcome to DU!

[ryanmuegge]

16. It really is warfare against teachers, and it did not just begin with NCLB.

Let teachers teach.

You and I actually have to deal with this shit every day. People that get upset with you for criticizing their favorite politician about his or her position outcome-based education probably do not have their jobs threatened by these policies on a daily basis. We do.

[LWolf]

18. That's right, we do.

We fight the battles every day, and we face the threats every day.

I've worked with many great teachers, and a few not-so-great teachers, over the 25 years I've been in public education.

I've yet to meet a single teacher, ever, who did not want his or her students to learn and to succeed.

I've met plenty of people whose politics leaned towards using schools as a political tool to achieve political goals that hurt both students and U.S. society as a whole.

I don't want to be a political plaything for politicians with other agendas. I want support for the already good job I'm doing.

I don't want to be a scapegoat for the political and cultural failings of the U.S.. Any system of accountability that holds me accountable for someone else's choices is bullshit. Any system of accountability that doesn't start with being accountable for the environment children develop in before they ever reach the doors of a public school can't be accurate, and should be outlawed.

I'm not going to keep silence on those points.

[The Count]

12. Agree, but didn't he vote for the damn thing?

[Mozcram]

14. Edwards impresses me SO much

Every time I hear him speak, he comes across like someone who knows what he is talking about, and who has a clear set of principles and priorities. He seems absolutely competent, and his a clear mission, one that is in line with my own values. I am surprised that he stands where he does in the polls. There are reasons why Hillary and Obama are so popular, but he balances charisma with competence and consistent values that I think are what this country needs to get on track again.

He is right, in this talk on education, on point after point, and speaks without a trace of posturing or guile.

As you can tell, I really like him. He needs to be president, or short of that, to be in a very high position in political leadership.