How do you think American education rates....

with the rest of the world?

Re: How do you think American education rates....

You watched 20/20 last night didn't you? It was pretty sad to see how Americans rated with the Belgians, I honestly think a lot has to do with the parents too though, kids should not act that way in a classroom.... they learn those things at home

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Yeah I watched 20/20 last night and it painted such a grim picture

Re: How do you think American education rates....

My DH and I are ready to move overseas

Re: How do you think American education rates....

I think that he had a good point about the Union Free schools, if a teacher is incompetent then they should be fired, they shouldn't be protected, it seems that there are many teachers that are teaching that don't want to and shouldn't be there (I know I had a few in school!)... as in any other business, if you aren't an asset, you're fired... seems simple to me.

Re: How do you think American education rates....

I'm just curious... what did the show say?

And about unions... I teach in Va, where Unions are illegal in public schools. And if a school doesn't make AYP i think it's 3 years in a row, it just closes down.

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Here's the link to the show

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Link to 'Stupid in America'
eta - sorry we did the same thing

Message edited 1/14/2006 8:30:00 AM.

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Half my cousins live in Ireland and they are all fluent in a minimum of three languages.

Re: How do you think American education rates....

What was really disturbing was the clip about a teacher in New York (I think) that was sending sexual emails to his student and had admitted to it and they had a hard time firing him because of the crazy red tape that goes along with the Teachers Union. He should have been fired immediately

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Posted by JennChris

You watched 20/20 last night didn't you? It was pretty sad to see how Americans rated with the Belgians

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Posted by dandr10199

Posted by JennChris

You watched 20/20 last night didn't you? It was pretty sad to see how Americans rated with the Belgians

I saw it last night too. I liked how Belgium attaches the government money to the kid, not the school system. This way if the teachers are bad the parents can pull the kids out of the school and the school can shut down...just like any other corporate business. I think that is where the US is missing it. The teachers in Belgium said that they always have to be innovative because there is always the threat of the kid leaving the school and if the kid leaves, the money goes with the kid. Plus, I was flabbergasted at how difficult it was for that teacher to be fired (because he had tenure) who was writing those sexual emails to a student and that happened in NYC!!!! I have many friends who are teachers and we clash on the tenure issue all the time. IMO the teacher's union is a monopoly and the parents should have more choice/say in their child's education. Colleges are that way, why not have public schools be like that? OK rant over.

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Posted by JennChris

What was really disturbing was the clip about a teacher in New York (I think) that was sending sexual emails to his student and had admitted to it and they had a hard time firing him because of the crazy red tape that goes along with the Teachers Union. He should have been fired immediately

Re: How do you think American education rates....

as a person who went to school in two different countries let me tell you this: when I came to the US and went to high school, I didnt learn anything new except English and American History, math and world history, biology, geography whatever other subject I studied those things previously in Poland... I think kids in other countries have a more difficult curriculum...

Re: How do you think American education rates....

America as a whole...not that great (meaning HS level)
But i do feel that we have the Best Universities there is to offer
ESPECIALLY graduate programs

Message edited 1/14/2006 9:33:54 AM.

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Based on my curriculum and the way my job/school is run american education is constantly going downhill. It is embarrassing how many of my students are clueless!

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Re: How do you think American education rates....

I just wanted to add on to my post and mrsprofessors post. I have noticed that my students are alliterate in the fact that they can read questions on a test but they can not comprehend what the questions are asking them. In American education the teacher is at fault never the students or the laws that the teacher has to abide by (NCLB). I would say 75% (yes that high) of my student population does not have the basics down!

As for unions I also believe that if a teacher is not doing their best they should be removed. I see many Tenured teachers just sitting back for the ride because they are safe. I am untenured and working my butt off everyday of my life. Yet I can be fired with out any explanation. I am in a union free district but its not because we have something called a teachers alliance which is the same thing!! Its all just a cover up.

Message edited 1/14/2006 10:02:33 AM.

Re: How do you think American education rates....

i'm a HS teacher, so I'm glad I tuned into the show. I thought the most disturbing part of it was the 18 year old that was reading at a 2nd grade level and the SC schools were doing nothing about it. Schools here tend to push kids through the grades and don't deal with any problems the kids might be having. As for how we compare to other countries, it definitely seems that other countries have a better curriculum (students expected to learn many languages, etc.) At the same time, I feel it's hard to compare America to a lot of countries. For a lot of countries still today, not EVERY single child is entitled to an education, so a lot of the results are skewed.

Re: How do you think American education rates....

I did not see last night's 20/20, but I think the government has scr*wed the education system in America. That's my personal belief. And although I will always make much less money than a public school teacher, I CHOOSE to work in the private school system because we are able to teach how we see fit. Our children are leaps and bounds ahead of where public school children are, and I will continue to work in a private school and send my children to private school for these reasons. I know not everyone will agree with me on this, but that's fine. This is just what I believe.

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Re: How do you think American education rates....

Re: How do you think American education rates....

As an untenured teacher, I am also working my a$$ of but have this great fear that I will be let go of. Yet teachers with tenure often do very little to improve themselves in the profession and it saddens me. The union has a positive and a negative side to it. Teaching is a profession that is touchy. You can work your butt off, but if a parent doesn't like you or a student lies about you, you can easily get into trouble with a board of ed. Hence, the protection via the union. This is everywhere. And good teachers deserve that protection. But the bad teachers get it as well. They need to fix how they deal with the bad teachers and improve how they protect the new teachers.

But again, in NYC, the Dept of Ed. is all about money and greed. Nothing that they offer to teachers makes any sense at all. Our curriculums require pages and pages of copies to be made. We have pretty much one work book. So teachers are supplied with master copies that need to be photocopied. But there may be one working copier for 70 teachers in a school. The DOE fuggs us over big time. We have no say in the curriculum. So kids are learning how to be inventive iwth spelling, but don't know what a noun is. As an individual teacher, I'm working my a$$ off to make my students awesome! My kids will leave the classroom prepared for learning.

The education system in the US needs a lot of work. But the blame can't be solely on teachers. Parents need to step up. Parents need to do some work too. They need to encourage their kids to read. They need to visit a book store once in awhile. They need to speak up and realize that while the Board of Education in any town is a monopoly, the parents have a lot more power than they realize!

Re: How do you think American education rates....

I just don't think that I could get myself involved in the politics of teaching in a public school. Personally, I do not believe in tenure. I am someone who works my azz off, and I think that is the way it SHOULD be. I do think that the problem is one that lies on the shoulders of many different people, not just teachers or parents or the board of ed or the government. There are problems with all of those things, however, working in a private school, those issues are compounded to our one building. Our average class size is 12 students, and parents are extremely involved and work very closely with the teachers. It is far from a perfect system, but we are constantly re-evaluating it and changing things to better what we do. My head just spins thinking about public education these days.