National Report Card - What are we doing wrong in Black America? Seriously.

[Tre]

http://nationsreportcard.gov/math_2007/m0009.asp

The difference between Asian/White and then Hispanic/Native American/Black is staggering. 

By working with just one child, am I doing enough?  Probably not, unless I can teach her to become a teacher. 

Where's loudmouth Jesse now? 

[youandme]

This was the same for all demographics though. Actually this is bad news for everyone, it shows were dumbing down the country.

Talk to any teacher in a state funded school seeking categorical grants from the federal government they will tell you, the same thing.

Statistics don't lie, and this one is telling us we need to tighten up the education systems.

[Tre]

I'm from the rural South, so the majority of my perspective about public education comes from the experience of growing up in schools that were primarily Black/White, with very few 'others'.  At the time, I knew that there was a huge divide between upper-middle class Whites and everyone else. 

The difference seemed attributable to the fact that kids from poor or from Black households were less likely to have parents that were well-educated and as a result, there were two things you might observe:

1) The parents in those homes were less likely to stress the value of education (relative to the wealthy Whites)

2) The parents in those homes were less able to tell their kids why education was so important

This list is not all-inclusive, by any means. 

Another thing to note is that the kids/families in those homes often dealt with more stressors in their neighborhoods, making learning more difficult (and this includes the peer pressure to play rather than hit the books). 

I know that it takes a long time to bring about real changes, but we're talking about 25 years.  If we as a people (Black Americans) are making real progress in terms the number who are attending college and entering professional careers, then why aren't our kids learning?

---

I taught for a little while in DC and you wouldn't believe what I observed during my time there.  But when you hear a few of those stories, then the answer to the above question will be clear to a lot of people.  *sigh*

[militarymuscle69]

The dumbing of our society stems from lack of discipline and the "everyone is equal" bullshit. I teach 18-20 year olds 10 hours a day and these kids have been handed a "education". When they fail an assingment/test and I implement administrative action you would think I just cut off an arm. Schools have lightened homework loads, reduced grade requirements etc. It is a society problem that goes well beyond money and teachers. It starts with school administrators that set these low standards

[youandme]

The dumbing of our society stems from lack of discipline and the "everyone is equal" bullshit. I teach 18-20 year olds 10 hours a day

We cannot feel you pain, haha.

Teachers are not paid enough, Rob went on about this some time ago. If were going to invest in our future it should start with the teachers, not this "no child leAft behinde" crap.

[Hedgehog]

We cannot feel you pain, haha.

Teachers are not paid enough, Rob went on about this some time ago. If were going to invest in our future it should start with the teachers, not this "no child leAft behinde" crap.

This is true.

Here's the problem:

Everyone's agreeing that we need a better school. And better teachers.

But once you start talking about funding it, everyone cries foul.

Because it seems like nobody understands that to get the goodies, you need to pay.

You also need to make schools and learning much higher on the political agenda.

Right now, the military budget is 20+ percent of the total US budget.

Even higher if the cost for the war in Iraq is included.

If you spend less on the military, and more on the educational system, on raising the teachers salaries, perhaps you wouldn't have such a problem.



But the problem is that the military industrial lobby is very strong. They will campaign against every little attempt from any group of concerned citizens. Smash it right down.

So I don't see any changes in the future for the educational system in the USA.

Roosevelt created an economical revolution with his New Deal.

A New Deal for the Next Generation, why not?

[OzmO]

The dumbing of our society stems from lack of discipline and the "everyone is equal" bullshit. I teach 18-20 year olds 10 hours a day and these kids have been handed a "education". When they fail an assingment/test and I implement administrative action you would think I just cut off an arm. Schools have lightened homework loads, reduced grade requirements etc. It is a society problem that goes well beyond money and teachers. It starts with school administrators that set these low standards

I agree, but i think it really starts with the parents.

[Dos Equis]

This is true.

Here's the problem:

Everyone's agreeing that we need a better school. And better teachers.

But once you start talking about funding it, everyone cries foul.

Because it seems like nobody understands that to get the goodies, you need to pay.

You also need to make schools and learning much higher on the political agenda.

Right now, the military budget is 20+ percent of the total US budget.

Even higher if the cost for the war in Iraq is included.

If you spend less on the military, and more on the educational system, on raising the teachers salaries, perhaps you wouldn't have such a problem.



But the problem is that the military industrial lobby is very strong. They will campaign against every little attempt from any group of concerned citizens. Smash it right down.

So I don't see any changes in the future for the educational system in the USA.

Roosevelt created an economical revolution with his New Deal.

A New Deal for the Next Generation, why not?

I don't think it's fair to say our federal defense budget has a significant impact on local education.  A large part of education funding comes from the states.  It is the single largest part of our state budget.  It's money management, not the amount of money, that is the problem. 

[youandme]

we can't incorporate anything like the New Deal right now, it would give the national government too much power, once again.

I don't think it's fair to say our federal defense budget has a significant impact on local education.  A large part of education funding comes from the states.  It is the single largest part of our state budget.  It's money management, not the amount of money, that is the problem. 

Very true. Go back and look at that website Tre put up, and you see the majority of states in Red are the ones with poor money management.

Then again those same states did a hellavu job last year cutting overhead by getting rid of the school's healthy lunch incentives  and taking away salad bars, and healthy nutrition. haha win some lose some.

[militarymuscle69]

We cannot feel you pain, haha.

Teachers are not paid enough, Rob went on about this some time ago. If were going to invest in our future it should start with the teachers, not this "no child leAft behinde" crap.

I'm not a "teacher" I am a instructor in the military. But even here it gets harder each year to instill discipline. They come in less and less disciplined by the day

[militarymuscle69]

I agree, but i think it really starts with the parents.

couldn't agree more..."what my kid got a D for not doing his homework? how is he supposed to pull that off plus watch Family Guy episodes each night. You pass him or I will sue"

[CQ]

The dumbing of our society stems from lack of discipline and the "everyone is equal" bullshit. I teach 18-20 year olds 10 hours a day and these kids have been handed a "education". When they fail an assingment/test and I implement administrative action you would think I just cut off an arm. Schools have lightened homework loads, reduced grade requirements etc. It is a society problem that goes well beyond money and teachers. It starts with school administrators that set these low standards

Agree. Prior in my tiny little island we used a combo of both UK GCSE tests and USA SAT's....

For some unknown reason our school system decided to change that, and replace it with some cheesy 'island tests' which are easier and off course matter piss all outside of this island of 50,000 people - and now have put our kids at a distinct disadvantage when applying to US/UK colleges.

That said, so much comes from the home as, to her dismay, I freely marched my stepchild to a private institution and paid independently to have her sit SAT's etc, as in the end education must be started and encouraged by the parents as you said...

[youandme]

the end education must be started and encouraged by the parents as you said...

It starts with the parents corret, but come on CQ, alot of parents out in the world today don't care, so we have to hold the school to it's best judgement in situations like these.

[Hedgehog]

we can't incorporate anything like the New Deal right now, it would give the national government too much power, once again. 

Why not a New Deal?

It certainly got USA out of a bad slump with some 25+ stock crashes, and numerous financial hardtimes back in the 20's and 30's.

It's basically what built the foundation that made USA the dominating economic force it is.

How did the government have too much power in the 30's and 40's?

[youandme]

Why not a New Deal?

It certainly got USA out of a bad slump with some 25+ stock crashes, and numerous financial hardtimes back in the 20's and 30's.

It's basically what built the foundation that made USA the dominating economic force it is.

How did the government have too much power in the 30's and 40's?

It did and did not.

It gave way for judicial overpowering, and offset the states sovereignty it shifted the power to the Federal government and changed enterprise as we know it, not so much a bad thing but considering it did not last for long.

The relief of creating jobs, yes, but it did not stretch far enough as you or I have read. It created a "brokering deal" in the end actually favoring the investors to the side, the rich were not taxed enough, the businesses that were "closed" were closed in spite of competition. The new homes that were to be built were built shabby it was no money to work with for many programs so the money was sent elsewhere and it would "get lost" in the paper work.

It was actually World War II that spun us out of the depression, the New Deal just helped to keep bellies full and spirits high.