I think it's about time that the people who actually believe in America and want it to PROGRESS start taking the title "PROGRESSIVE". Doubling the deficit and causing everyone to pay more for healthcare is not "PROGRESS".Making our country so weak that we have to hitch rides to the space station from the Russians and have the North Koreans setting up to launch rockets at us is not PROGRESS.Destroying our social culture and defining freedom as licentiousness is not PROGRESS.
This country has had about all the "PROGRESS" it can take from these counter culture anti-patriots. It's time that the TRUE PROGRESSIVES take the reigns and start working to return this country to its' former years of wealth and strength and glory.The anti-patriots that call themselves "PROGRESSIVES" have turned a once strong American character into one that is lazy and more than willing to jump into victim status in many cases. I was at a hastily called school meeting here in Helena, because our school district has been so busy following the anti-patriot Washington bureaucrats that they haven't taken care of our buildings,and there were people there more concerned about whether their children would continue to RECEIVE BREAKFAST than if the buildings were falling down!! I can tell you clearly it wasn't because they didn't have food- it was because they didn't want to make breakfast!! They can just dress the kid and send them off- the TEACHER HAS TO DO THE JOB OF PARENTING- BEGGING THE KID TO FINISH BREAKFAST AND CLEAN UP IN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME- INSTEAD OF TEACHING!! I can just see the teacher begging the slow ones to please finish ( Do you remember the times when your kids were slow to eat and it was time to go to school?), now the parent doesn't have to have the hassle of this- just let the teacher do it. And you can bet if the teacher tries to hurry it along so he/she can teach, the child will go home and complain to their parents and the teacher will hear about it!! This is misplaced dependency that is not good for anyone. This is misplaced dependency that is eroding American character and eroding academic achievement by taking away the time students should be LEARNING and teachers should be TEACHING.This is definitely not PROGRESS!!
The anti-patriots have been very clever in developing constituencies and pitting Americans one against another. In Helena our schools are at the breaking point and yet the anti-patriots will get their candidates who caused all this, elected every time. The people voting for them rarely know the true state of the schools, and even if they do know, they will still vote for their anti-patriot friends.Did you ever think a president could get reelected in the middle of a scandal when the economy was bad? It seems as if Obama could have been slaughtering people and he still would have gotten elected.
Here in Helena our school district is under "intensive assistance" from the Office of Public Instruction.We, in other words,will lose are accreditation if we don't shape up, because we have been non-compliant for so long. We are hiring social workers instead of credentialed school counselors. Even when we are under threat of losing accreditation, our superintendent, directed by the elected school board, will hire Success program counselors that do not meet the standards. We don't have the money in the budget to make new hires and yet we are hiring new hires that won't get us out of accreditation trouble!!The list goes on- building maintenance that is not done- maintenance bond money being spent ($250,000) to hire a firm to set up town halls to prepare the public for a new building program that the Helena School District had NO OPERATIONAL MONEY FOR,arbitrary hiring policy that tells a qualified applicant he can't apply for the job, hundreds of high school students walking out of class,seven out of eleven elementary schools and both middle schools unable to meet Adequate Yearly Progress in academics,having to close a school abruptly before normal school end of day time because it was so unstable it was dangerous,school buildings being used for federal programs like Head Start so that the children moved out of their school had to be misplaced to the middle school in some cases (all 5th graders and a 4th-5th Montessori). STILL- the anti-patriots will stand their ground.
Everyone can see that what the anti-patriots are doing in our country, in our cities and in our schools, is not creating progress. It is time for everyone to recognize what progress REALLY is and vote for candidates that REALLY believe in America and will get the job done to do due diligence in budgeting and every other common sense thing that will rebuild America.Vote for the true PROGRESSIVES, and have the counter culture types that don't believe in a strong America, call themselves what they really are- anti-patriots.
Friday 29 March 2013
Monday 25 March 2013
COMMON CORE LIES
The Common Core advocates- mostly people who see they can make a buck off of it- have said a lot of ridiculous things, but one thing in particular really makes me want to throw a hissy fit!! Saying it doesn't cost money is a new one (can you even believe they'd try that one!!), saying it's local control is too ridiculous for comment, calling me insane because I don't agree with them is just par for the course- but saying that this program will make clear what we are teaching children is too much ,and then the topper, CHILDREN DON'T NEED TO LEARN FACTS!!
You know, it's certainly not the first time I've heard this one- but every time I hear it, it just makes my blood boil.The Hippies have been deriding knowing facts for a very long time. They like free school, challenge authority type stuff- counter culture. They sneer at children learning facts!But hold on a minute- how do you ever know anything if you don't know any facts!! Isn't it just an amazing coincidence that not learning facts is in Common Core? Yes, it's higher level thinking all the way.Just what we need for the 21st century, a bunch of dummies who can be led by the nose because they don't know anything!! That's one way to get what you want- just dumb down the crowd and they'll go along with whatever you say!! God Bless America- what a future for us.
I remember when Al Gore came out with his movie "Inconvenient Truth"- my,my, all the glaciers were melting- we must have global warming!! But now wait a minute- the glaciers have always melted in the spring- that's what happens in the spring- ice melts!! Now, if you didn't know that the glaciers melt every year in Alaska you might just believe this propaganda.
Schooling is for the most part building a foundation of knowledge. THAT MEANS LEARNING FACTS FOLKS!! I remember in the early nineties when the federal government, under Bill Clinton, made their first attempt to completely control education (they lied about it then too- they were "state standards"!!). The program was called Goals 2000. Our assistant superintendent was giving us all this garbage that kids didn't need to learn math facts- they should learn mental math!! I remember trying to explain to him that if you don't know math facts you can't think about or discuss math at all. You couldn't even figure out how much cupcakes would cost for a party, and if you had enough money, while you were driving. You couldn't talk to someone at a cocktail party about fencing the perimeter of your yard or how much grass you might need for the area. You just wouldn't know math.
I remember a story from my college days. The United States had sent tractors to Africa. They showed the local farmers how to drive the machines and they were very happy, but when the Americans came back ten years later the tractors were left in the fields rusting. Apparently, when they ran out of gas these people thought they were broken!! They didn't have the FACTS. They didn't know that combustion engines run on gas. This is lack of education- you can sit and higher level think all you want, but if you don't know the facts, you don't know ANYTHING!!
You can not read for information if you don't have any. You can't understand an article on physics if you don't know ANYTHING
about physics. In fact, if you didn't learn a whole lot of facts, you couldn't read at all. It makes my blood boil to think that these Common Core advocates are calling dumbing down education rigor!! And as for "making what children need to learn clear" don't make me throw up- every parent and person out there knows that children learn letter sounds and blending them into words first and then larger words and reading paragraphs and numbers and counting and number facts and telling time and counting money and every other darn thing down to American Government as seniors in high school. A message to the Common Core bozos- American education knows very well what they are teaching- we don't need clarification from Common Core bureaucrats!!
I just hope the American parents don't walk slowly and silently to this slaughter. Common Core advocates are ADMITTING
THAT THEY WANT TO TAKE INFORMATION OUT OF THE CURRICULUM!!!
Group testing, which lets smarter children do answers for children who may not be as capable, is not better test scores- it's a manipulation.Our kids need a fountain of information today- more than they ever did before, in this day of technology.They need to learn to read early and well. They need to learn to work on THEIR OWN. They need a work ethic and discipline that will send them to the heights of information! What the Common Core liars are doing to America is a tragedy- please don't let them!!!
You know, it's certainly not the first time I've heard this one- but every time I hear it, it just makes my blood boil.The Hippies have been deriding knowing facts for a very long time. They like free school, challenge authority type stuff- counter culture. They sneer at children learning facts!But hold on a minute- how do you ever know anything if you don't know any facts!! Isn't it just an amazing coincidence that not learning facts is in Common Core? Yes, it's higher level thinking all the way.Just what we need for the 21st century, a bunch of dummies who can be led by the nose because they don't know anything!! That's one way to get what you want- just dumb down the crowd and they'll go along with whatever you say!! God Bless America- what a future for us.
I remember when Al Gore came out with his movie "Inconvenient Truth"- my,my, all the glaciers were melting- we must have global warming!! But now wait a minute- the glaciers have always melted in the spring- that's what happens in the spring- ice melts!! Now, if you didn't know that the glaciers melt every year in Alaska you might just believe this propaganda.
Schooling is for the most part building a foundation of knowledge. THAT MEANS LEARNING FACTS FOLKS!! I remember in the early nineties when the federal government, under Bill Clinton, made their first attempt to completely control education (they lied about it then too- they were "state standards"!!). The program was called Goals 2000. Our assistant superintendent was giving us all this garbage that kids didn't need to learn math facts- they should learn mental math!! I remember trying to explain to him that if you don't know math facts you can't think about or discuss math at all. You couldn't even figure out how much cupcakes would cost for a party, and if you had enough money, while you were driving. You couldn't talk to someone at a cocktail party about fencing the perimeter of your yard or how much grass you might need for the area. You just wouldn't know math.
I remember a story from my college days. The United States had sent tractors to Africa. They showed the local farmers how to drive the machines and they were very happy, but when the Americans came back ten years later the tractors were left in the fields rusting. Apparently, when they ran out of gas these people thought they were broken!! They didn't have the FACTS. They didn't know that combustion engines run on gas. This is lack of education- you can sit and higher level think all you want, but if you don't know the facts, you don't know ANYTHING!!
You can not read for information if you don't have any. You can't understand an article on physics if you don't know ANYTHING
about physics. In fact, if you didn't learn a whole lot of facts, you couldn't read at all. It makes my blood boil to think that these Common Core advocates are calling dumbing down education rigor!! And as for "making what children need to learn clear" don't make me throw up- every parent and person out there knows that children learn letter sounds and blending them into words first and then larger words and reading paragraphs and numbers and counting and number facts and telling time and counting money and every other darn thing down to American Government as seniors in high school. A message to the Common Core bozos- American education knows very well what they are teaching- we don't need clarification from Common Core bureaucrats!!
I just hope the American parents don't walk slowly and silently to this slaughter. Common Core advocates are ADMITTING
THAT THEY WANT TO TAKE INFORMATION OUT OF THE CURRICULUM!!!
Group testing, which lets smarter children do answers for children who may not be as capable, is not better test scores- it's a manipulation.Our kids need a fountain of information today- more than they ever did before, in this day of technology.They need to learn to read early and well. They need to learn to work on THEIR OWN. They need a work ethic and discipline that will send them to the heights of information! What the Common Core liars are doing to America is a tragedy- please don't let them!!!
Monday 18 March 2013
PROGRESS OR DECADENCE?
The liberals like to call themselves "progressives" these days, but what have they really created, progress or decadence?
Is the policy that allows girls that are pregnant, and showing, to go to school and parade around proudly unmarried, in front of the other CHILDREN,progress? I don't think it's progress, I think it's a decadent society that has no control over sexual mores. Our children are growing up in the sexually liberated world of these so called "progressives". We used to have sexual restraint and modesty in our society. Television shows couldn't even show bathrooms, now they have sex toy and viagra commercials.CHILDREN in high school are not ashamed of having sex and getting pregnant, no wonder CHILDREN having sex has become the norm.If this is progress I say no thanks to these "progressives".
At the recent school board meeting here in Helena we got a demonstration of drug dogs which will be put in our schools next year- of course they discussed that even the little ELEMENTARY CHILDREN will have to leave their studies to see an assembly about DRUG DOGS!! Gee- I wonder why the kids aren't learning anything? But back to the drug dogs, this is in addition to the cameras and the "resource officers" on campus (Theses are POLICE on campus). We never want to use the actual words- that's one thing "progressives" are very good at- raising your TAXES is "revenue" and government SPENDING is "investment". So this is where the "progressives" have brought us- dogs, police, and cameras at school. THIS IS PROGRESS?
How are they doing with academics? Well,the Wall Street Journal reports that the 2008 report "Still At Risk" by Frederick Hess found that 25% of 17 year olds surveyed nationwide could not identify Adolf Hitler!!! More than 25% believed Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World after 1750!!! Forty percent could not place World War I as occurring between 1900 and 1950!!! Nearly 40% did not know what the Renaissance was!!! Is this "progress" or DECADENCE?
WHAT ARE WE DOING TO OUR SOCIETY WITH THESE SO CALLED "progressives" in charge? I hear the vagrants are suing the city of New York for the right to hang out on the streets and do what they want.Is this "progress"? The president has told us that we are "not a super power" anymore- the world has changed. REALLY? IS THIS LEADERSHIP FOR STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS? What kind of a world will we live in if the "progressives" have their way and America is no longer a beacon for freedom in the world?
The next time you vote think about a world where there is fiscal discipline and common sense. A world where there are morals and restraint and children can get decent leadership and a REAL EDUCATION.Vote for your country and its' children. Vote for a future that will make us strong and safe. The liberals have NOT LED US TO PROGRESS, they have led us to DECADENCE. AND DON'T GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT- THE REPUBLICANS DID THAT. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WAS CREATED FOR THAT PURPOSE. LINCOLN LED THE CIVIL WAR- HE WAS THE FIRST REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT. THE REPUBLICANS PASSED THE 14th AMENDMENT IN SPITE OF DEMOCRAT OPPOSITION.
Is the policy that allows girls that are pregnant, and showing, to go to school and parade around proudly unmarried, in front of the other CHILDREN,progress? I don't think it's progress, I think it's a decadent society that has no control over sexual mores. Our children are growing up in the sexually liberated world of these so called "progressives". We used to have sexual restraint and modesty in our society. Television shows couldn't even show bathrooms, now they have sex toy and viagra commercials.CHILDREN in high school are not ashamed of having sex and getting pregnant, no wonder CHILDREN having sex has become the norm.If this is progress I say no thanks to these "progressives".
At the recent school board meeting here in Helena we got a demonstration of drug dogs which will be put in our schools next year- of course they discussed that even the little ELEMENTARY CHILDREN will have to leave their studies to see an assembly about DRUG DOGS!! Gee- I wonder why the kids aren't learning anything? But back to the drug dogs, this is in addition to the cameras and the "resource officers" on campus (Theses are POLICE on campus). We never want to use the actual words- that's one thing "progressives" are very good at- raising your TAXES is "revenue" and government SPENDING is "investment". So this is where the "progressives" have brought us- dogs, police, and cameras at school. THIS IS PROGRESS?
How are they doing with academics? Well,the Wall Street Journal reports that the 2008 report "Still At Risk" by Frederick Hess found that 25% of 17 year olds surveyed nationwide could not identify Adolf Hitler!!! More than 25% believed Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World after 1750!!! Forty percent could not place World War I as occurring between 1900 and 1950!!! Nearly 40% did not know what the Renaissance was!!! Is this "progress" or DECADENCE?
WHAT ARE WE DOING TO OUR SOCIETY WITH THESE SO CALLED "progressives" in charge? I hear the vagrants are suing the city of New York for the right to hang out on the streets and do what they want.Is this "progress"? The president has told us that we are "not a super power" anymore- the world has changed. REALLY? IS THIS LEADERSHIP FOR STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS? What kind of a world will we live in if the "progressives" have their way and America is no longer a beacon for freedom in the world?
The next time you vote think about a world where there is fiscal discipline and common sense. A world where there are morals and restraint and children can get decent leadership and a REAL EDUCATION.Vote for your country and its' children. Vote for a future that will make us strong and safe. The liberals have NOT LED US TO PROGRESS, they have led us to DECADENCE. AND DON'T GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT- THE REPUBLICANS DID THAT. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WAS CREATED FOR THAT PURPOSE. LINCOLN LED THE CIVIL WAR- HE WAS THE FIRST REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT. THE REPUBLICANS PASSED THE 14th AMENDMENT IN SPITE OF DEMOCRAT OPPOSITION.
Monday 11 March 2013
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
Have any of you been watching that program on the History Channel called "The Bible"? We were watching it last night- an excellent show- and as I sat down to write I thought of David and Goliath. I feel like David with that sling shot- here I am- just little me- flinging that rock at GLOBAL GOVERNANCE!! You don't have to wonder if GLOBAL GOVERNANCE will be corrupt and self serving- it already is.You don't have to make excuses that GLOBAL GOVERNANCE will be benign, because it is already striving for dictatorial control. People have been trying to control the world since the beginning of time and this is just a new group called the United Nations.The United Nations is a bunch of very corrupt bureaucrats mostly from very corrupt small countries with dictatorships around the world.If you think they're interested in preserving the constitution of the United States- I will tell you they DEFINITELY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN FREEDOM. What do they want? They want what all dictators want- POWER AND MONEY!!These people from third world countries are making a FORTUNE working for the United Nations- what a deal!! They have immunities and private cars and expense accounts to travel around and go to "conferences"- in most cases at exotic vacation spots. They are drunk with all this privilege- and drunk on power. I used to see those signs that said "GET US OUT OF THE UNITED NATIONS" and I thought the people putting those signs up were a little nuts- but hello- I get it now. Let's talk about how the United Nations has put its' graspy greedy hand of totalitarianism into our schools.
I was saddened, but not really shocked, to learn that BILL GATES, THROUGH HIS COMPANY MICROSOFT, SIGNED A CONTRACT WITH THE UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION IN 2004 TO CREATE A GLOBAL EDUCATION SYSTEM!!!! To date Bill Gates has paid $173 million dollars to create and promote COMMON CORE. How did we get to the place where two bit dictatorships are directing education in America?Why would Bill Gates jump on this bandwagon? I have the answer to both but let's start with how we got here.
I had the privilege to talk to some really smart and wonderful Montana legislators the other night.They told me how it all came down.The people pushing Common Core (Bill Gates) invited them to conferences on "school choice". School choice has been a goal of the conservatives for a long time so why wouldn't they go to these conferences? After going to several conferences and encouraging others to go to the conferences (The Family Foundation even got in on this), the Common Core bureaucrats lowered the boom on what Common Core REALLY was all about at a conference last summer. The conservatives sat quietly, stunned and uncomfortable.Common Core is a master stroke of deceit.The State School Boards across the country had already been manipulated into voting for mandates for Common Core.In Montana, and probably in other states, THE STATE SCHOOL BOARD ACTED IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW.The State School Board is not allowed to make mandates that will cost money when the legislature is not in session.They also are REQUIRED to hold public meetings. Did you get invited to public meetings? Did you see any postings of public meetings on Common Core? I'm sure you didn't because there weren't any. All the meetings that were held were professional meetings ( I have the log).Suddenly bureaucrats from the Office of Public Instruction are standing up at the legislature and saying that "46 states" have accepted Common Core- REALLY? These states legislatures DID NOT vote for Common Core- their Governors did not sign a bill for Common Core- NO-unelected State School Board BUREAUCRATS did a power grab and MANDATED Common Core.Communists have always been liars, cheats and manipulators and they are good at it. Here we are- and by the way- we haven't seen any of these Common Core advocates testifying FOR SCHOOL CHOICE- that was all a come on.As for Bill Gates- I can tell you about him in a sentence- he thinks he's going to get in on all those billions going to Common Core implementation and testing- it's all on computers folks.
Common Core is a huge experiment and takes away freedom from our schools. It is not a good curriculum and was developed by Washington bureaucrats. GET US OUT OF COMMON CORE AND GET US OUT OF THE UNITED NATIONS!!Global Governance is dictatorship- don't let anyone tell you that there is something new under the sun- there isn't.
I was saddened, but not really shocked, to learn that BILL GATES, THROUGH HIS COMPANY MICROSOFT, SIGNED A CONTRACT WITH THE UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION IN 2004 TO CREATE A GLOBAL EDUCATION SYSTEM!!!! To date Bill Gates has paid $173 million dollars to create and promote COMMON CORE. How did we get to the place where two bit dictatorships are directing education in America?Why would Bill Gates jump on this bandwagon? I have the answer to both but let's start with how we got here.
I had the privilege to talk to some really smart and wonderful Montana legislators the other night.They told me how it all came down.The people pushing Common Core (Bill Gates) invited them to conferences on "school choice". School choice has been a goal of the conservatives for a long time so why wouldn't they go to these conferences? After going to several conferences and encouraging others to go to the conferences (The Family Foundation even got in on this), the Common Core bureaucrats lowered the boom on what Common Core REALLY was all about at a conference last summer. The conservatives sat quietly, stunned and uncomfortable.Common Core is a master stroke of deceit.The State School Boards across the country had already been manipulated into voting for mandates for Common Core.In Montana, and probably in other states, THE STATE SCHOOL BOARD ACTED IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW.The State School Board is not allowed to make mandates that will cost money when the legislature is not in session.They also are REQUIRED to hold public meetings. Did you get invited to public meetings? Did you see any postings of public meetings on Common Core? I'm sure you didn't because there weren't any. All the meetings that were held were professional meetings ( I have the log).Suddenly bureaucrats from the Office of Public Instruction are standing up at the legislature and saying that "46 states" have accepted Common Core- REALLY? These states legislatures DID NOT vote for Common Core- their Governors did not sign a bill for Common Core- NO-unelected State School Board BUREAUCRATS did a power grab and MANDATED Common Core.Communists have always been liars, cheats and manipulators and they are good at it. Here we are- and by the way- we haven't seen any of these Common Core advocates testifying FOR SCHOOL CHOICE- that was all a come on.As for Bill Gates- I can tell you about him in a sentence- he thinks he's going to get in on all those billions going to Common Core implementation and testing- it's all on computers folks.
Common Core is a huge experiment and takes away freedom from our schools. It is not a good curriculum and was developed by Washington bureaucrats. GET US OUT OF COMMON CORE AND GET US OUT OF THE UNITED NATIONS!!Global Governance is dictatorship- don't let anyone tell you that there is something new under the sun- there isn't.
Sunday 3 March 2013
WHAT DOES AN "A" GRADE MEAN?
You know, an "A" grade used to mean more than it does today. If you got an "A" you had a superior amount of knowledge. An "A" was hard to achieve.Our honor roll used to be a few really top notch kids- now the honor roll takes half the page in the newspaper. So what does an "A" mean?
If your child gets "A's" does that mean he/she is going to a very good school or has a wonderful teacher or is getting a wonderful education? In a word, NO it does not. Are grades possibly being used to manipulate the public- propagandize them that they have good schools? It's very possible that grades ARE being used as part of the massive public relations effort that is attached to school reform.BUT THE TEACHER CAN GIVE ANYONE AN "A" IF HE/SHE WANTS TO. I KNOW teachers are under a lot of pressure not to give "D's" and "F's"- even in college (my daughter teaches at a college)!!These days bad grades are seen as the teachers fault- and teachers are under pressure to pass everyone and to hand out good grades like candy- it keeps the parents happy. But as I said before, good grades definitely do not mean that any of your students are learning much or that you have a good school.
I was at a school board meeting here in Helena the other day, at our CR Anderson middle school. Here in Helena we have what I call "dog and pony" shows where the principal of each school is required to get up and put on a show for the school board once a year, not necessarily to tell the truth, just to pretend that all these programs that come in on the grants are successful. These "dog and pony" shows take a lot of the teachers' and principal's time that COULD be used for kids, and are basically a feel good show for school board members "see, school reform is working and what a good job we are doing!!". HA HA. Sorry to all those people that like to say "don't be negative"- but let's just be truthful- our schools are in trouble and Common Core is set to completely destroy the traditional education that built this nation.That's saying more than it looks like- when you lose a system you may never regain it. And you have to look at what is replacing it- Common Core that tears out traditional literature teaching and instead of teaching children what is RIGHT and good has them struggle with open ended questions in a zoo like atmosphere- training them to question everything and put it right with leftist ideas that have never been good OR right,but back to the board meeting.One of the teachers mentioned what we have come to know as "grade inflation". Yes, they are preparing MIDDLE SCHOOL students for the ACT college entrance exam that you normally take as a junior in high school. She said they are doing this because these tests take on more importance now as colleges don't pay so much attention to grades- in other words- the grades are pretty meaningless.
I was really disappointed and yes, shocked, to learn that the middle school that my children attended, this very same CR Anderson, has 35% of its students NOT PROFICIENT in math!!Twenty-nine percent are NOT PROFICIENT in english!!They have lots of "A" students but more than one third of their student body aren't even average- proficient- in english and math. The principal was trying to make all this look good- he even put in a new category "almost proficient", so things wouldn't look as bad as they really were- kind of like when you were a kid and you didn't say you were eight- you were ALMOST nine! How do you put a good face on that your school hasn't met AYP (adequate yearly progress) in math in SIX YEARS and hasn't made adequate yearly progress in english for FOUR YEARS? You talk gibberish about a lot of programs and the board goes away happy ( one program they talked about - if you really listened- services 18 students and they spend most of their time "silent reading"!!). It must have worked because a few days later a board member was extolling that CR Anderson had made so much progress!!
The sad thing is that as they talked about this school that is failing- they talked about the program where the 8th graders leave school once a month to go to the elementary schools and take those kids out of class for the "Buddy program" where they go bowling and things like that. NOT ONE BOARD MEMBER QUESTIONED THE EFFICACY OF TAKING KIDS OUT OF CLASS WHEN WE ARE OBVIOUSLY STRUGGLING WITH ACADEMICS!!!NOT ONE BOARD MEMBER QUESTIONED WHAT THE BUDDY PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHES. THESE PROGRAMS GO ON YEAR AFTER YEAR AND THERE IS NO TRACKING OF PROGRESS. I don't even know what they THINK they are accomplishing with the Buddy program.
The superintendent here in Helena wants to spend an additional $800,000.00 on another program, Star Math. They had Star Math when I taught seven years ago. I mentioned that we had only one computer and how do you do a computer based math program with only one computer? He said they were "working on that". Hunh? You're investing $800,000.00 in software and getting the computers later?? I then mentioned that we had FOUR math programs to teach, all with different teaching philosophies- higher level thinking (TURK), hands on (Math A Way Of Thinking) drill and practice (STAR) and the book which incorporated all three.Maybe we should have one program so we could have consistency and focus that required accountability and would give the teacher a chance to teach one program well? They passed me by like the onlooker at the speed way ( though our assistant superintendent did say he agreed with me). I mentioned all the out of seat time- kids can't do academics because they're always eating breakfast or exercising or doing Dare or the Buddy program or the MBI program or the Artist in Residency program or gardening or community service- to name a few.I suggested corralling all these programs and trying to stream line kids time so that they have more time on academics- they passed me by like the Bullet train. It seems clear to me that a common sense approach to reaching academic excellence is not in the cards here. It's about programs and money.
SO- IF YOUR KIDS ARE GETTING "A's" don't assume they're learning a lot. They may be doing better than some of the other students- but how bad are the other students doing? What is really being taught? What does your child know and understand? Good Luck- if it were me I guess I'd be doing a lot of home schooling.
If your child gets "A's" does that mean he/she is going to a very good school or has a wonderful teacher or is getting a wonderful education? In a word, NO it does not. Are grades possibly being used to manipulate the public- propagandize them that they have good schools? It's very possible that grades ARE being used as part of the massive public relations effort that is attached to school reform.BUT THE TEACHER CAN GIVE ANYONE AN "A" IF HE/SHE WANTS TO. I KNOW teachers are under a lot of pressure not to give "D's" and "F's"- even in college (my daughter teaches at a college)!!These days bad grades are seen as the teachers fault- and teachers are under pressure to pass everyone and to hand out good grades like candy- it keeps the parents happy. But as I said before, good grades definitely do not mean that any of your students are learning much or that you have a good school.
I was at a school board meeting here in Helena the other day, at our CR Anderson middle school. Here in Helena we have what I call "dog and pony" shows where the principal of each school is required to get up and put on a show for the school board once a year, not necessarily to tell the truth, just to pretend that all these programs that come in on the grants are successful. These "dog and pony" shows take a lot of the teachers' and principal's time that COULD be used for kids, and are basically a feel good show for school board members "see, school reform is working and what a good job we are doing!!". HA HA. Sorry to all those people that like to say "don't be negative"- but let's just be truthful- our schools are in trouble and Common Core is set to completely destroy the traditional education that built this nation.That's saying more than it looks like- when you lose a system you may never regain it. And you have to look at what is replacing it- Common Core that tears out traditional literature teaching and instead of teaching children what is RIGHT and good has them struggle with open ended questions in a zoo like atmosphere- training them to question everything and put it right with leftist ideas that have never been good OR right,but back to the board meeting.One of the teachers mentioned what we have come to know as "grade inflation". Yes, they are preparing MIDDLE SCHOOL students for the ACT college entrance exam that you normally take as a junior in high school. She said they are doing this because these tests take on more importance now as colleges don't pay so much attention to grades- in other words- the grades are pretty meaningless.
I was really disappointed and yes, shocked, to learn that the middle school that my children attended, this very same CR Anderson, has 35% of its students NOT PROFICIENT in math!!Twenty-nine percent are NOT PROFICIENT in english!!They have lots of "A" students but more than one third of their student body aren't even average- proficient- in english and math. The principal was trying to make all this look good- he even put in a new category "almost proficient", so things wouldn't look as bad as they really were- kind of like when you were a kid and you didn't say you were eight- you were ALMOST nine! How do you put a good face on that your school hasn't met AYP (adequate yearly progress) in math in SIX YEARS and hasn't made adequate yearly progress in english for FOUR YEARS? You talk gibberish about a lot of programs and the board goes away happy ( one program they talked about - if you really listened- services 18 students and they spend most of their time "silent reading"!!). It must have worked because a few days later a board member was extolling that CR Anderson had made so much progress!!
The sad thing is that as they talked about this school that is failing- they talked about the program where the 8th graders leave school once a month to go to the elementary schools and take those kids out of class for the "Buddy program" where they go bowling and things like that. NOT ONE BOARD MEMBER QUESTIONED THE EFFICACY OF TAKING KIDS OUT OF CLASS WHEN WE ARE OBVIOUSLY STRUGGLING WITH ACADEMICS!!!NOT ONE BOARD MEMBER QUESTIONED WHAT THE BUDDY PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHES. THESE PROGRAMS GO ON YEAR AFTER YEAR AND THERE IS NO TRACKING OF PROGRESS. I don't even know what they THINK they are accomplishing with the Buddy program.
The superintendent here in Helena wants to spend an additional $800,000.00 on another program, Star Math. They had Star Math when I taught seven years ago. I mentioned that we had only one computer and how do you do a computer based math program with only one computer? He said they were "working on that". Hunh? You're investing $800,000.00 in software and getting the computers later?? I then mentioned that we had FOUR math programs to teach, all with different teaching philosophies- higher level thinking (TURK), hands on (Math A Way Of Thinking) drill and practice (STAR) and the book which incorporated all three.Maybe we should have one program so we could have consistency and focus that required accountability and would give the teacher a chance to teach one program well? They passed me by like the onlooker at the speed way ( though our assistant superintendent did say he agreed with me). I mentioned all the out of seat time- kids can't do academics because they're always eating breakfast or exercising or doing Dare or the Buddy program or the MBI program or the Artist in Residency program or gardening or community service- to name a few.I suggested corralling all these programs and trying to stream line kids time so that they have more time on academics- they passed me by like the Bullet train. It seems clear to me that a common sense approach to reaching academic excellence is not in the cards here. It's about programs and money.
SO- IF YOUR KIDS ARE GETTING "A's" don't assume they're learning a lot. They may be doing better than some of the other students- but how bad are the other students doing? What is really being taught? What does your child know and understand? Good Luck- if it were me I guess I'd be doing a lot of home schooling.
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