[OldFriend]

Parents failed for not demanding excellence from their schools.

[headsonpikes]

I believe that the Educrats are underestimated, and seen as incompetent.

Apart from their obvious financial interest in the current system, perhaps their ambitions and the social goals they strive for have nothing to do with whether kids become literate and numerate.

It seems to me, on the face of it, that the Educrats are winning.

[Tarl]

Plenty of finger pointing possible but blame is much easier than solutions...Bill Bennett had it right when he recommended there was no longer any use for a Dept Of Education. Let states attack the problem however they see fit with Federal funds kicked in to those states who show real progress. Attack the NEA, no small feat, since they are the nation's LARGEST organized lobbying organization.

The President has it right with accountability being the foundation of an educational reform program. Eliminate the union barriers that effectively keep out those who want to teach. Administrators outnumber teachers...ridiculous, restore sanity to our educational system.

[abclily]

Parents need to sue the teachers' unions that ruined their schools.

[stevem]

To conceal the public school's abysmal failure to teach reading, education theorists who call themselves "social constructionists" are "departing from traditional notions of reading and writing" and trying to "redefine what it means to be literate." They are spreading the ridiculous notion that literacy does not mean reading the printed text, but is "inherently social" and flows from students developing "ways of thinking from such socially based experiences."

This would be laughable if not so utterly tragic in consequences.

[Amelia]

The public school establishment is digging in its heels against the Bush Administration program called Reading First, which offers $5 billion over six years to state and local school districts to help every child read by the end of the third grade.

I disagree with the administration here.

Every child should be able to read before being promoted out of first grade, barring dyslexia or other disability.

[Lizavetta]

Every day I'm gladder and gladder (I know it's incorrect English but today I don't care) that we homeschool and can bypass all this garbage. The sense of freedom and peace that comes when you are completely divorced from government schools is indescribable.

[ladylib]

It's not going to get any better. Face it, it really can't be fixed. No Child Left Behind is a joke because the federal government lets states make it a joke. Schools are already seeing how they can manipulate test scores to make administrators look good using Enron accounting. Figures don't lie but liars figure.

Did you know that there are 52 persistently dangerous schools in the United States? There are probably 52 persistently dangerous schools in NYC alone if school officials were honest and didn't screw around with the public.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0309280514sep28,1,4100847.story?coll=chi-news-hed

[aShepard]

My Sunday Providence Journal had an article that indicated that out current Cabinet member Education Secty (Who??) that joined the admin sfter cleaning up the Houston school system and increased the graduation rate statistics to ,like 98%, was really creating a fraud reporting system, and that further analysis indicated that this school district really had a drop out rate of something on the order of 35%.

Tomorrow, I'll try to find the article on-line, and post for all. ??Any others with data??

[TheBattman]

Actually, it really depends:

I had a student for the last several years in my band program - until he just decided that playing video games was his top priority. His Junior year he barlely kep his grade point to the minimum to participate. He mother was contacted many times and she too tried what she could (single mom- away from the home a lot of hours with two jobs to support herself and her two sons). His senior year (last school year) was even worse. He got a part-time job at the local grocery store. So - his day consisted of oversleeping (missing one to 3 periods regularly), getting to school and sitting through class, gripe about the eligibility requirments, get out of school, go to work, get off work, play video games (unless it was a day he didn't work, in which case he played video games right after school until he fell asleep).

Only passed two classes (three if you count band, but he didn't get credit for that because he missed too many days by oversleeping), thus he didn't graduate. His mother even paid for a correspondance course to help him graduate on time - he didn't even do the first assignement.

He was not going to return to try to finish his credits to graduate, but my understanding is that his mother threatened to kick him out of the house if he didn't.

The child was encouraged and pushed by nearly evey faculty member at the school, including me. His mother did what she thought she could. So who's fault was it?

[Amelia]

Thought you might be interested in this thread.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

They are spreading the ridiculous notion that literacy does not mean reading the printed text, but is "inherently social" and flows from students developing "ways of thinking from such socially based experiences."

According to these academics quoted on the Electronic Classroom website, "meaning from text is not `out there' to be acquired but is something that is constructed by individuals through their interactions with each other and the world." So, students can "construct" their own understanding of the text by interacting with their (probably semi- literate) peers.

The role of reading teachers is supposedly "not to impart universal truths about text but to foster an environment where learners come to construct understanding through interaction."

I reely don't see what's the problim here. This makes perfeck sence.

[Spirited]

Schlafly bump..

[IrishRainy]

Teaching reading is not rocket science. Parents who care about their children's education should teach their own children to read using a good phonics system, which is what I did with my six children.

I take issue with this paragraph in the article. I learned to read by memorizing the words. I have an excellent memory and have to visualize the words in order to spell them correctly.

All three of my kids learned to read early -- my youngest was reading 6th grade books in kindergarten! -- and I taught them by reading aloud to them. They learned to read by sight, and even today they rarely come across a word they can't pronounce.

IMO, phonics is NOT the only way to learn to read.

[gulfcoast6]

The education system in the USA is a failure and it is all because the teachers are not held accountable, politicians look more to the 'teachers union' for them casting votes for them instead of teaching our children. It is a a tragic situation and it is not going to get any better.

[SevenDaysInMay]

Any American child who can't read by the age of 7 is lazy or blind, or culturally corrupted beyond average Americans' comprehension. Parents are culpable for their lazy children, bastards or not.

Hundreds of millions of 3rd world children practice reading by moon light, street light, or fire light.

Is reading and writing too white?

Would these illiterate kids learn the Koran? In or out of prison?

They deserve their future and the doom if they learn to prey upon productive Americans.