How many high income public schools have been labeled "failures"?

[Karmadillo]

http://www.zcommunications.org/the-fight-to-save-public-education-by-shamus-cooke

The Fight to Save Public Education
By Shamus Cooke

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Bush's plan further undermined public education: schools were labeled as "failures" and teachers were targeted as "incompetent." Obama's plan knocks down the pins set up by Bush; Race to the Top rewards states for shutting down public schools and opening up charter schools, many of which are private, and by firing teachers en masse. Both these steps are considered "progress" by anti-public education advocates (arch-conservative Newt Gingrich is on a national tour to promote the plan).

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Oddly, the national discussion over why students are testing poorly has been ridiculously crude, if not outright dumb. Both politicians and the media have focused the blame exclusively on teachers. No attention is given to the fact that so-called failing schools have been bled dry of funding. It is impossible for a teacher to succeed when there is not enough money to buy books for all the students or when classes are overcrowded, especially in schools that have students with special needs.

Poverty, and the countless social ills born from it, are the obvious reasons why students perform poorly (high income schools are never labeled as "failures"). By ignoring this glaring fact, politicians reveal themselves to have ulterior motives. And just like the "war on terror" benefited profit-hungry oil and weapons companies, the war on education has a host of corporations clamoring for an increase in hostilities.

To make clear that the war on education is just beginning, Obama revealed that Race to the Top is only in its first stage: the schools that don't win - by failing to close enough schools or firing enough teachers - will have more chances in the future. Obama's Education Secretary explains: " We want to come back round after round…We'd love to see this four, five, six years out - just keep growing it." (New York Times, (March 5, 2010). Of course, the more Race to the Top grows, the more that public education shrinks.

more...

[tonysam]

1. It's yet another extension of the class war. n/t

[mediaman007]

2. Disgusting!

People with theories casting judgement on teachers who have committed their lives to the education of America's youth. It hurt when Clinton stood up for NAFTA, but this is worse. Give me my vote back!

[quaker bill]

3. Why is it

that having "failing" schools anywhere has become acceptable. The whole concept of "competition" is based on the notion that some schools will fail and others succeed. It seems to me that they have forgotten that our children are actually in these schools, all of them including the experimental failures.

[mediaman007]

5. Their "failing schools" are defined by statistics that would baffle and

embarrass statisticians. Rather than tracking the growth of individual students, they grade the mass. Then expect every following group to exceed the performance of the group preceding it. Eventually, all schools with fail!

With all of the research into how children's brains develop, we are using medieval tools to evaluate the schools. All students grow at their own rate. I guess we should expect every white male to be six feet tall and have a 40" vertical leap. We would have just as much success!

[vadawg]

6. no i think a good sign of failure is when you have whole classes that cant read or write by the time

they graduate, regardless of the reasons i would say thats a failure, wouldnt you.

[mediaman007]

12. That can be dealt with without the charades called "No Child Left Behind" and

"Race to the Top."

The teachers' union doesn't protect bad teachers. It protects an orderly procedure for termination. Poor administrators, who fail to gather data, are a great cause for the retention of bad teachers. Its obvious when an entire staff is fired that there is a need for tenure. The fact that our president doesn't get the idea of "due process" is just disgusting.

I can't believe that our country is in such a downward spiral.

[vadawg]

13. but what do you suggest happen to a school were everyone is failing

we see it every day, people who leave school without the ability to even write their name and the reading ability of a brick, should teachers be protected if they are failing in what is the whole point of their job, i agree that there should be procedures but disagree with tenure, if someone cant do the job then they shouldnt be in the job anymore. Mayby the answer is to localise the education systems, what might work in one place might not work in other places, give parents more options to do what works for their kids whether thats use vouchers to get more specialised education, at the end of the day the most important thing is the kids, then the parents then the system..

[mediaman007]

18. Are you suggesting that the parents of students who haven't learned anything

into their high school years should have control of their children's education? You're suggesting that an entire system has failed every student. I just can't buy that. Students who do not learn anything have to make a conscious choice not to learn. Humans are born with a need to learn. You would have to show me a place where a school system presents so little instruction that children cannot learn.

Now if you are suggesting that disruptive students need to be put into an alternative learning system, I will support that idea. However, I still think that placing all teachers in jeopardy is too much of a price to pay for our education system.

[vadawg]

21. not all teachers, but just like other jobs if you dont get results then you get canned

but yes parents should be able to make desicions on their kids education, you are going to get some parents who dont care but those who do should be able to make the calls. You would also have to have a cultural shift in many areas where the kids dont think its a good idea to learn, but at the end of the day if they dont want to learn then you seperate them out, why punish the kids who actually want to learn...

[mediaman007]

23. In your world its so easy: "separate them out"

Those are the ones that aren't supposed to be left behind! The other kids are probably passing the tests.

[vadawg]

25. but the problem is that do you have the kids who are passing the tests penalised

due to the fact that their education suffers due to the ones as you put it, or do you look at trying to get everyone regardless to excel to their limits, it seems that without some sort of seperation then you will always have some students who are not getting the very best they could.

[mediaman007]

28. You are correct. But at this time, the misbehaving students, the

delayed learners, the English as a second language students and the indifferent are all counted against a school. In Minnesota, a school can have 98% of the students pass the evaluations, yet be labeled as a failing school if a subgroup of students (special education, students of color, etc.) does not reach the goal.

In my school, the principal told the teachers to teach only reading and math so we could pass the state test. So the 90% of passing students were removed from science, social studies and art, for the benefit of the few students who didn't pass the test. This is what competition does to education.

By the way, when every student learns and graduates from college, what high paying jobs are waiting for them? We are trying to perfect education for education's sake. Today's college graduates can't find work. Maybe if there were some high-paying jobs available, the students would care more.

[bemildred]

20. The fish rots from the head.

There are bad schools, but it is not the teachers that cause that, it is management that is responsible. Responsibility and authority go together.

[vadawg]

22. so you are telling me that no teachers have any responsibility

you talk to any student or any parent or anybody who ever attended school and they will tell you there are good teachers and there are bad teachers, this idea that the teachers or the parents and students for that matter bear no responsibility is one of the problems. There is blame at every level.

[bemildred]

24. No, I said authority and blame go together.

The more authority, the more blame. Peons come below administrators and politicians and the other big-shots that have fucked things up. It is not teachers that fucked up the public schools in this country, and it is shuck and jive to say that. That does not mean all teachers are flawless, but it does mean they are not the boss.

[vadawg]

26. okay so give the reins to the local level and let the parents be the bosses

your going to get a certain number of parents who dont care but the ones who do will ensure that it works, at the end of the day all that matters is the kids getting the best education that they can get, and if the system isntt working then we need to look at changing it..

[bemildred]

27. I'm OK with that.

It makes it easier to hold those in authority responsible for the job they do. I just don't hold with blaming teachers unless the schools are well-run to begin with, and they are run very badly these days, most of them. Here in California when the schools started to go to hell was around the time all the money and control moved to Sacramento and Washington, DC. You are not going to fix that by firing any number of teachers.

[quaker bill]

7. I do get it

I have put two kids through public schools. I actually moved to get into the district of a good one. I agree that a good portion of the evaluation is bogus, but we all know that some schools are far more successful than others. I realize that there is only so much that can be done, but I think what is being done is far less than what could be. This is a problem that you can indeed throw money at and reasonably expect greater levels of success, particularly when current funding is considered.

[alarimer]

33. Schools are not businesses

They should not be run like business, they should in no way be expected to "compete". Compete for what? Money? Fuck that shit.
This whole idea is bullshit and incredibly destructive to any government entity. Government is supposed to do things no one else can do. One of those is run schools. Fuck business; fuck competition.
You know what, business SUCKS. Free enterprise SUCKS.

[Greyhound]

39. Because every gud muriken knows that competition (especially violent competition) is always the best

and usually the only, solution to any and every problem, er, I mean challenge.

AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!

Edited to add http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7881448&mesg_id=7882629">evidence from this very thread.

[Orlandodem]

4. Arne and Obama won't be there in 5 or 6 if they keep it up. This teacher will make sure of that.

asdf

[Catshrink]

9. I'm with you.

[harkadog]

8. What do you mean by "high income"?

Per pupil spending?

[madrchsod]

10. several wealthy suburban districts in illinois have opted out.

since they receive no federal funds they are not required to submit to any federal or state program thus they can`t be labeled failures.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

11. How does a school make high income?

[rucky]

46. Percentage of students on free and reduced lunch.

if you measure that against performance, you can see if there's a correlation.

[Odin2005]

14. I find the "competition" part disturbing.

It's part of the whole social-atomistic right-wing neo-liberal view of society.

[vadawg]

15. thing is that life is competition, our students should be competing with each other and themselves

in order to better themselves, seems the problem is that we are happy to use the lowest common denominator when it comes to education istead of trying to get students to reach as far as they can, we need to encourage the people who can achieve to go as far as possible and realise that there are some people who just dont have the ability and use a different methodology and goals for them.. Not everybody is the same when it comes to the ability to learn..

[Odin2005]

16. That's just your upbrining in a Capitalist society talking

life in competition AND cooperation, and competition has no place in education.

[vadawg]

19. no thats my upbringing in the real world, people compete

do you really believe that education should be about getting everyone to the same standard, or should we help those who excel reach for the stars, should we reward those teachers who can get their students to reach the highest levels, yes education should be about getting students to compete, they should always be looking to better themselves. Seems one of the big problems in the system is that people are happy just to attain mediocracy...

[Hannah Bell]

43. high goals & high standards aren't synonymous with competition.

[vadawg]

44. if you have goals then you are by definition competing with yourself

at the very least and probuably competing with others to acheive those goals...

[Hannah Bell]

45. if i decide to study french, i'm "competing with myself & others?"

if i decide to go on a diet, start lifting weights, learn how to build a crystal radio set, i'm "competing"?

only by torturing the language.

the only areas where you have a case for "competition" are areas that have purposely been set up to be competitions.

[The Midway Rebel]

30. Life is competition only if you are an animal.

I believe that human beings are in the evolutionary process of rising above our animal instincts of viewing everything as a competition. We, as a species, grow, learn and have risen to our current state of dominion over the planet through cooperation and community; not competition.

The competition view of education is exactly what the fuck is wrong in many classrooms both rich and poor.

You try fostering competition in a class room full of eighth grade boys and see how far that shit gets you after a few weeks.

Also, you are exactly correct when you state that not everybody is the same in their capacity to learn. This is exactly why making everyone conform to a national standardized test is a stupid idea.

[vadawg]

32. if you dont think as humans that we need to compete whether against ourselves or others

then you must live in a different world, just look around everyone competes against each other, and yes we are animals at our core...

[The Midway Rebel]

34. What you see is what you get.

I do live in a different world.

Competition can be healthy and certainly is a part of the human experience. As an amateur musician, I certainly love a good "head cuttin'" contest. I compete with myself when out riding my bicycle by pushing myself further and harder than I did the las time I rode. But I should not have to compete for my food, shelter, clothing and education. I do not believe we exist solely for the purpose of competing with one another.

Personal question if I may? Aren't you in the human containment industry?

[vadawg]

36. no idea what the hell that is, but see you do compete even if its just against yourself

but i can promise you if you were hungry then you would compete for food, if thirsty for water, its this competative nature that pushes us to better ourselves whether its in music, sports or just life. Imagine if you where just happy with your abiliies as they are now, you would never learn anything new or push yourself to get better...

[The Midway Rebel]

37. Polite euphemism for being one of the "screws".

Sorry, for some reason I thought you were the late night DUer who was a prison guard. If you were, I was going to suggest that instead of viewing the behaviors that you witness at your job as the ultimate purpose of human existence (i.e. competition), rather view those behaviors as the negative result of human competition. Paradigm shift, I know, but I think you should try it.

When I get hungry, I cook myself dinner. The only competition is between my rescue dogs as they beg for scraps. They have an excuse. They are animals.

I never said I did not compete. I said it is not the purpose of my existence and I suggset that viewing life as a giant competiton is likely unhealthy on both a personal and societal level. It is just too gotdamn stressful and life is too gotdamn short.

[vadawg]

38. no im a deputy not a prison guard.. now your answer tells me a lot

about you, if you were really hungry then you would do whatever you had to to eat, thats the animal part of you whether you like it or not, and there is nothing wrong with competing with yourself or others as its what makes you strive to be better whether you realise it or not. I am not sure if you think that tellig our kids that its okay to not try and be mediocre is the right thig to do, but that what it came across as to me...

[The Midway Rebel]

40. I tell kids that it is OK not to behave like an animal.

In fact, I expect them to behave like polite respectful human beings.

Respectfully speaking, it keeps them away unwanted encounters from people like you.

:hi:

[vadawg]

41. and yet they will still compete as they are hard wired to do

hell im glad if they stay away from me, i deal with enough idiots without having more sent my way.....

[The Midway Rebel]

42. You are welcome! n/t

[bemildred]

17. Well, that was the object of the exercise, to make public schools "failures".

That was the whole setup behind NCLB, eh? So you know sooner or later they were going to do it.

[RainDog]

29. NO ONE wants to look at the real problem: poverty

that's the real problem that so many others stem from.

if people admitted they are throwing away so many children's lives because of their own greed, they wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

the answer to poverty is jobs.

even if the jobs are created to lift people out of poverty.

[The Midway Rebel]

31. +1

http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2009/12/09/americas-best-high-schools-gold-medal-list.html

I'd like to see the tax base of these districts compared to the first 100 to make all the teachers "reapply" for the their jobs.

[Zoeisright]

35. Repukes always claim you "can't solve a problem by throwing money at it"

until they do solve a problem by throwing money at it. They're hypocritical and stupid.