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Politics teachers

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Teachers

It’s simply amazing what happens when people get elected to statewide office. They seem to become experts on everything. Today’s Exhibit A is education, specifically in Idaho and New Hampshire, where the legislatures have passed legislation that not only threatens the role of teachers in their classrooms, but also undermines their expertise and reduces them to penitents at the altar of official incompetence.

I’ve been thinking about Idaho for most of the week. Not just because I used their yummy potatoes to make latkes for Chanukah (this should be Idaho’s official dish), but because of a law passed last year that mandates the use of technology in public school classrooms and requires students to take two online classes in order to graduate high school. What’s wrong with that, you say? Plenty, because it was passed with no teacher input and is based on faulty educational premises.

Why would any state pass rigorous teacher certification requirements and observe educators for a number of years to make sure they’re competent, only to ignore them when making key decisions about how to implement a costly program of technological innovation? That’s what happened in Idaho. Teachers had almost no input into the law, and even though the Governor said this was not a first step in reducing the number of teachers in classrooms, that sentiment was contradicted by the online course requirement.

It’s not a leap of imagination to believe that if the online component proves successful, either academically or economically, then the course requirement would be increased. Further, part of the funding for this program would be taken from teacher and administrative salaries, which is usually the first step towards the self-fulfilling prophecy that says since we need computers and they cost money, we need to reduce staff because we’re paying too much in salaries.

The even larger concern is the legislature’s, and governor’s, ignorant attitude towards the classroom teachers. From the article:

Idaho is going beyond what other states have done in decreeing what hardware students and teachers should use and how they should use it. But such requirements are increasingly common at the district level, where most decisions about buying technology for schools are made. 

Teachers are resisting, saying that they prefer to employ technology as it suits their own teaching methods and styles. Some feel they are judged on how much they make use of technology, regardless of whether it improves learning. Some teachers in the Los Angeles public schools, for example, complain that the form that supervisors use to evaluate teachers has a check box on whether they use technology, suggesting that they must use it for its own sake. 

The most effective scenario for any change in the curriculum is to have teachers at the table engaged in the process they will be asked to implement. Educators are the experts in child development, learning theories and styles, and how best to guide their particular classes (which change every year) so that every child has the opportunity to learn at their optimal level. When politicians get involved, you get attitudes like this:

For his part, Governor Otter said that putting technology into students’ hands was the only way to prepare them for the work force. Giving them easy access to a wealth of facts and resources online allows them to develop critical thinking skills, he said, which is what employers want the most. 

When asked about the quantity of unreliable information on the Internet, he said this also worked in favor of better learning. “There may be a lot of misinformation,” he said, “but that information, whether right or wrong, will generate critical thinking for them as they find the truth.” 

First, technology is not “the only way” to prepare students for the work force. Teachers know that technology can be a valuable tool in the classroom, but there are many other skills that students need to learn. Tell me how a computer teaches a student interpersonal skills. Tell me how technology actually teaches a student correct spelling, grammar and usage (and no, a red or green underline doesn’t count). Tell me how a computer teaches someone how to negotiate for their salary. Tell me how technology alone teaches critical thinking skills. Tell me how technology teaches organizational skills. Tell me how technology teaches a student which websites contain legitimate information and which do not.

The truth is that teachers teach these skills. They can use technology as their activity or resource to support and facilitate the lesson’s educational objective, but the technology is not the end itself. So when the governor says that technology is the only way and that computers themselves can teach critical thinking, he’s wrong. And that’s exactly the problem with the Idaho initiative. I applaud its goals. Classrooms should have technology available to all students because not all homes are equipped, but education decisions must include teachers. Even the students in Idaho’s schools get what the state’s leaders miss:

Last year at Post Falls High School, 600 students — about half of the school — staged a lunchtime walkout to protest the new rules. Some carried signs that read: “We need teachers, not computers.” 

Having a new laptop “is not my favorite idea,” said Sam Hunts, a sophomore in Ms. Rosenbaum’s English class who has a blond mohawk. “I’d rather learn from a teacher.” 

New Hampshire’s new law has nothing to do with technology. I wish it did, because it’s even more frightening and potentially damaging to teachers and public schools. This Nashua Telegraph article tells the story, and here is a summary:

Public schools can now be forced to come up with an alternative to any lesson or assignment that a parent finds objectionable.

On Wednesday, the Legislature overturned a veto from Gov. John Lynch on a bill, HB 542, that will require school districts create a policy “allowing an exception to specific course material based on a parent’s or legal guardian’s determination that the material is objectionable.” 

The legislation does not attempt to define “objectionable,” giving parents complete discretion.

So essentially, any parent can’t walk into any public school and demand an alternative curriculum by objecting to any lesson plan they want. As opposed to Idaho, Governor John Lynch vetoed this bill but was overridden by the Republican majority. The effect is the same, though. Teachers will now have to look over their shoulders at every turn and will need to craft alternate lessons, indeed an alternate course, if one parent objects. This not only undermines educational professionals in New Hampshire, but also subjects the schools to even more political mischief in the form of pandering to particular groups and stirring up dissent over familiar targets like sexual references, defense of non-western religions and vocabulary that others find objectionable. All you need to do is read the comments under the article to see what kind of damage awaits New Hampshire’s educational community (Pete Perkins, you are my hero). Yes, parents will need to pay if there’s a cost involved, but replacing a book or video for one child would have minor economic repercussions.

But there’s also the matter of the new national test score craze.What happens when a parent opts their child out of enough lessons and the child doesn’t perform well on the tests? Who’s responsible? Is it the teacher’s job to develop an alternative state test to measure what that students has learned in their curriculum? Will the parent be responsible for the parts of the test that the student never learned (already know the answer here). How can a teacher prepare all students when there are so many potential changes due to parent objections? Who’s thought this one through (already know the answer)?

As a resident of New Jersey, I am used to having politicians with no teaching backgrounds expound on their damaging ideas. Governor Christie is a fan of using test scores to evaluate teachers, but he ignores the research that says how difficult it is to design an accurate evaluation model or the economic and curricular impact of testing every student in every subject every year. He’s also excluded public school teachers from a panel that studied reform ideas that, surprise, concluded that Christie’s ideas were more beneficial.

A recent New York Times article used the Value Added Model to reinforce the idea that good teachers have an impact on their students that reaches far beyond the classroom. What makes a good teacher according to the research? Why, one that raises student test scores. I call this Reinforced Illogical Garbage, or RIG. And right now, the system is RIGged against informed, rational, collaborative educational policies that tap into the enormous knowledge base of teachers, who actually know best how to educate children.

Join the debate at facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives

Categories
Iowa Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics Republican Rick Santorum

Republican Debate – To Romney’s Delight, The Losers Attacked Each Other

With the Iowa primaries over and Mitt Romney crowned the winner by an apparent technicality, the expectation was that his fellow competitors would use whatever avenue they had available to show why they are more deserving of the Republican nomination. That perfect avenue presented itself last night in yet another Republican debate, but the other five Iowa primary losers on stage were more satisfied with fighting each other, instead of distinguishing themselves from Willard.

The former Massachusetts governor was subject to the first attack of the night but that early fire was quickly overshadowed by testy exchanges between Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich.

It’s been more than three weeks since the Republican presidential candidates have been on stage together. The last time they gathered,

Gingrich led in the polls and Michele Bachmann was still in the race.

It was a different scenario at Saturday night’s debate, sponsored by ABC News and Yahoo News.

Romney, who virtually tied Santorum in the Iowa caucuses and holds a double-digit lead in the New Hampshire polls, was expected to be a target.

He wasn’t.

There was one early attack.

Meanwhile, Romney stood idle by with a smile on his face.

How dumb was this strategy to attack each other instead of the leader? After the debate, one of ABC’s political analysis observed that Ron Paul was on the attack – going after Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich – but did not lay one finger on the leader Mitt Willard Romney. This insight led to the conclusion that Paul was like a puppet on a string. “I’m sure if you rip open Paul’s shirt,” he said, “you’ll see one of Mitt’s sons at the control.”

If you are trying to win your party’s nomination, but are too scared to use a debate to point out Romney’s non-existent record, then you have no business running for the most powerful office in the nation.

Categories
Politics weekly address

President’s Weekly Address – Bring The Jobs Back Home

In his weekly address, President Obama had a message for the business committee – bring the jobs back home.

Categories
Tid Bits

The Woman And Her Hot Air Balloon

This was too good to pass up. I had to share it with you guys. It originally appeared at the crooks and liars website, posted by a commenter.

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

“She rolled her eyes and said, “You must be an Obama Democrat.”

“I am,” replied the man. “How did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me.”

The man smiled and responded, “You must be a Republican.”

“I am,” replied the balloonist. “How did you know?”

“Well,” said the man, “you don’t know where you are or where you are going. You’ve risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You’re in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it’s my fault.”

Categories
Barack Obama Featured Republican

Fox News Calls President A “Vigilante” For Making Recess Appointment

If you listen to the fake news people at the fake news network called Fox News, you will believe that recess appointments started when President Obama became president. The fake news channel has been busy over the last few days criticizing the President for appointing Richard Cordray as head of the new Consumer Protection Agency. What got the fake news people upset is not only the recess appointment, but the way the President did the appointment.

You see, Republicans are on vacation. However, before they went on vacation, they did something to make sure that the President’s hands were tied. They wanted to make sure that nothing got accomplished in their absence, for it is in the absence or recess of this particular congress that the President is able to get his appointments through.

So what did Republicans do?

They employed an old trick to make it seem as though Congress was still in session. They had someone show up every day in the Congressional building and pretend that congressional business was being done. This person or persons would begin a session, discuss nothing, then close the session in order to continue their vacation for the rest of the day.

President Obama used this time to install Mr. Cordray as the head of the Consumer Protection Agency and this recess appointment was called a “vigilante” act by the “Fair and Falanced” brainiacs at Fox News.

Categories
democrats Domestic Policies Unemployment

Unemployment Rate Falls To 8.5%

More news for the United States economy, as the national unemployment rate falls to 8.5%. Although the pace of job growth may not be as fast as many would like, any improvement is always a welcome sign that things are headed in a positive direction.

The New York Times: The United States added a robust 200,000 new jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday, in a sign that the long-awaited economic recovery has finally built up a head of steam.

The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent in December, from a revised 8.7 percent in November, the government said. The Labor Department revised the number of new jobs added in November to 100,000, from 120,000.

The employment report built on a flurry of heartening economic news in December, when consumer confidence rose, manufacturing came in strong and small businesses showed signs of life. It was the sixth consecutive month that the economy added at least 100,000 jobs – not enough to restore employment to pre-recession levels, but enough, perhaps, to cheer President Obama as he enters an election year.

The upward trend restored some of the ground lost this spring and summer, when global events like the earthquake in Japan and domestic ones like the debt ceiling debate slowed the American recovery to a crawl and raised fears of a second recession. Then, even signs of modest growth were dismissed as too anemic. Now, they are drawing tentative praise.

Categories
Iowa Iowa caucuses Mitt Romney Politics Republican Rick Santorum

Did Mitt Romney Get 20 Extra Iowa Votes He Didn’t Earn?

One of the actual vote counters in Iowa’s Republican primary election last Tuesday has come forward, arguing that Mitt Romney got an extra 20 votes he wasn’t supposed to get.

Edward True, 28, of Moulton, said he helped count the votes and jotted the results down on a piece of paper to post to his Facebook page. He said when he checked to make sure the Republican Party of Iowa got the count right, he said he was shocked to find they hadn’t.

“When Mitt Romney won Iowa by eight votes and I’ve got a 20-vote discrepancy here, that right there says Rick Santorum won Iowa,” True said. “Not Mitt Romney.”

True said at his 53-person caucus at the Garrett Memorial Library, Romney received two votes. According to the Iowa Republican Party’s website, True’s precinct cast 22 votes for Romney.

“This is huge,” True said. “It essentially changes who won.”

Romney was called the winner of the Iowa primary by 8 votes. If Mr. True is correct, it means that Rick Santorum won by 12 votes.

And the circus continues!

Categories
Barack Obama Democratic democrats Domestic Policies Nancy Pelosi Republican Unemployment

Democrats On The Attack – Asks Republicans Where Are The Jobs?

News on The Hill – In their first public address of 2012, House Democratic leaders ripped into Republicans Thursday for ignoring President Obama’s jobs package amid a lingering unemployment crisis.

Behind Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the lawmakers accused GOP leaders of neglecting their duties and remaining on vacation as the jobless rate tickles down to 9 percent.

“The American people need jobs, and we’re not on the job,” said Pelosi, flanked by more than two dozen other Democrats in the Capitol. “Where are they [Republicans]? I don’t know. Where should they be? Right here in this Capitol getting to work.”

The Democrats used the one-year anniversary of the Republicans’ takeover of the House to question why GOP leaders have resisted new education, infrastructure and public works funding – all part of Obama’s plan to create jobs.

“One year in office and no significant jobs bill,” Pelosi charged.

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Newt Gingrich Politics

No More Mr. Niceguy. Gingrich Attacks Willard

Mitt Willard Romney and his secret PACS have used every dirty trick in the book to go after his fellow Republican Presidential challengers. His challengers, on the other hand, have mostly concentrated on attacking each other rather than going after Willard.

Oh, how times have changed. Yesterday, Newt Gingrich suggested teaming up with Rick Santorum to defeat Willard, saying, “I don’t think Romney can get much above 25 percent.”

“You take [Rick] Perry, [Michele] Bachmann, Santorum, Gingrich, you get a sense of what a small percentage Romney really represents,” Gingrich said, including himself in the “conservative” field in contrast to Romney and Ron Paul. Paul, according to Gingrich, is “a different kind of person and I don’t know how you would characterize his votes.”

And now this – an ad from the Gingrich campaign, calling Romney “timid.”

Its on folks! Romney has awakened the sleeping dog that is Newt Gingrich. Question now is, just how bad will his bite be?

Categories
Politics

Pro-Life…Mine.

 

In a televised interview with Cybercast News Service about year ago, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum challenged President  Obama over the concept of personhood in regards to the abortion issue, which the conservative candidate feels is not even a debatable issue being that he  favors a constitutional (read:government sanctioned) ban on abortion and implied that President Barack Obama should be pro-life also. Why?

Because he’s black.

“The question is — and this is what Barack Obama didn’t want to answer — is that human life a person under the Constitution? And Barack Obama says ‘no’ ”,  Santorum said in a televised interview. “Well if that person — human life is not a person — then I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say, ‘we’re going to decide who are people and who are not people.”

What is frightening fact that Rick Santorum is practically tied for first place in the republican presidential contest after the Iowa caucus. In the interview, he actually attempts to bring up an intellectual and philosophical stance that compares the claim that a fetus should be called a person

to that of a black person’s right to be declared as such. As if a black person’s  rights as a human being should be – or should have ever been for that matter – questionable in this country.

And if I were to stick with his playing of the race card, then can it be said that a white person would be more likely to be pro-choice because there has never been an issue about his humanity in this country?

Yeah–sounds stupid, doesn’t it?

As a so called Christian-neoconservative whose general stance on most of the important issues of the day are anti-science, anti-revelation, anti-philosophical,  anti-progressive, etc., it would be a waste of time to get into any type of  constructive debate with the likes of a Mr. Santorum. I will, however, like to assure him and others who think like him, that they have as much right in determining what a women does with her uterus as they do determining what a man does with his penis.

 

And for your viewing pleasure: Check out Rachel Maddow’s  “vetting” of the  ‘Almighty Santorum’ on her show this  evening. Once Rachel’s findings make their way into the hands of his opponents, I think the “family values guy ” of the GOP will go the way of Trump, Sarah, Michele, Perry, Herman, and Newt. Mitt Romney will relieve the final endorsement and we can finally get this show on the road. Bring it on, indeed!

 

Categories
Barack Obama Politics Republican Senate United States washington

President Overrides Republican Obstructionism – The Richard Cordray Appointment

President Obama today did what Republicans in Congress refused to do simply because of their political ideology. He bypassed the broken system in Washington and installed Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Protection Agency.

“When Congress refuses to act, and as a result, hurts our economy and puts our people at risk, then I have an obligation as President to do what I can without them,” the President stated  as he addressed his supporters in Shaker Heights, Ohio. “I’ve got an obligation to act on behalf of the American people. And I’m not going to stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people that we were elected to serve.”

Congressional Republicans’ refusal to even schedule hearings on Mr. Cordray’s appointment falls in line with their obvious hypocrisy as the Consumer Protection Agency is all about protecting consumers and that is something Republicans will not do. The President said it best today, “The only reason Republicans in the Senate have blocked Richard is because they don’t agree with the law that set up a consumer watchdog in the first place.”

Categories
Iowa Politics presidential Republican White House

The Crazy Bachmann Antics Are Now Suspended… Until Further Notice

If last night was any indication, we already knew Michele Bachmann was gonna quit. In her concession speech – after pulling in only 5% of the primary votes in Iowa – Bachmann, the senator from Minnesota who was actively pursuing the presidency, told her handful of supporters that she “was not a politician.”

“I am a very real person,” Bachmann said, “I am not a politician, nor do I ever hoped or aspire to be a politician.”

Okaaaaaaay.

Bachmann then went on to tell her audience that her campaign will continue, and that her hopes were to win the New Hampshire primaries next Tuesday.

But something happened after the microphones were turned off; after the camera crew packed up and left, wondering how they got stuck with the assignment of covering a loosing politician; after her supporters went home disappointed at squandering their precious votes. That ‘something’ was that  Bachmann checked her campaign purse and realized that all her campaign donations were spent. And the reality of the situation was a hard smack  to the face.

So, the camera crews gathered one last time, the microphone turned back on and today, sometime after 11am, Michele Bachmann stepped up to the podium;

“Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice and so I have decided to stand aside…I will continue fighting to defeat the president’s agenda of socialism.”

We are saddened by Michele Bachmann’s departure from the Republican presidential race. She was crazy and her antics will be sorely missed.

For instance, like the time she reported that the swine flu epidemic in the 1970’s was caused by a Democratic president, Jimmy Carter, being in the White House, when in fact, a Republican named Gerald Ford was President.

And although there are still plenty of loonies running for the Republican nomination, Bachmann was truly one of the best.

Bye-bye Michele!

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