Everything After - A 9.11 Youth Circle

Whats going on with Education Reform?? I'm watching the news and I hear about Bush's education bill that increases testing in schools as if we already don't have enough test. I'm just confused to the point and anger, why the government won't give schools more funds so they improve themselves. We need smaller classrooms, more resources in the class, better trained teachers who want to teach, newer textbooks, and better courses, not more testing. How can politicians across America debate education reform when the last time they went to school was like 40 years ago! Give me a break! Students and current teachers are the only people that should have say so on education reform. We're the ones who have to sit in old, dirty, roach infested classrooms and sit in 18th Century ancient desk that feel like rocks, while our politicians sit back with interns in nice reclining chairs and debate how to improve education for 10 years before they ever come to a decision. What is wrong with this country?? Will someone e-mail me when Washington D.C. finally figures out 2+2 equals 4 and not 5, and they have a suitable education policy in place, I may be dead by then, but I'll see you heaven so tell me there.

Josh

We don't need more testing...I'm tired of tests. LOL
Seriously speaking, there is definitely a cry for more qualified teachers. There are teachers at my school that don't even teach. They simply tell what pages to read and then problems or questions to do. And don't dare ask them a question because you're getting into their time and they catch an attitude. It's like they want to get the check for teaching without teaching anything.
I agree on the point that students and teachers of today should play a part in the education reform, also. Most of those folks on Capitol Hill are years removed from the classroom, they're out of touch.

I agree that we need to have education reforms. Drastically. Like Happier said in her post about racism, and how she wishes it could change, The only way to change prejudice and values is in how you are raised and what you are taught. That all starts at the school, when you are young.
If we teach the right things and stop being so Politically Correct all the time and just say what it is, then maybe some kids, most of them, would grow up knowing that the things their parents are telling them about how "that white person down the street thinks he's better than us" isn't really true.
It starts with education and self-esteem if we teach our nation's children to listen to everyone else the only choice they have is to believe everyone else. We need to encourage everyone to look inside themselves for the answers.

I think this pertains to all things passed in the government. most political affiliated people are fifty or sixty, they are not our age and there for do not know the issues about what goes on in a teens life today. it has changed form when they were teens. I think that there should be a group of teens that meet with the president every few months to discuss issues. the ones that matter to us. that should be for the people in there twenties and thirties too. there would be people from all over the country, with different backgrounds.

I agree that yes the desks aren't that comfy but at least we do get the chance to an education! there are people in other countries who would pay to have the "book" that you read and hate everyday, there are people who would pay to get to sit in a desk even if they are 30 years old, and also there are people who would die to have the intelligence that we have by the time we are 10. we all complain about things in school like the teachers and the books. well 1st I would like to say that you complain about your teachers what if you said just a plain "yes or no" you got in trouble well thats where I am coming from. I went to a small school when I was little till 5th grade we got in trouble if we didn't say yes ma'm and no ma'm or yes sir and no sir which i think is just a way to show respect but then when i got into middle school only the people from my school said it. it was revolting to me to see how disrespected our teachers were and still are. yes the goverment has been out of school awhile and i agree that there needs to be kids from all backgrounds and races to meet with congress once a month to discuss issues. but would it help? would they listen to us? do our own parents even listen to us half the time? they would sit back and say we'll take it into consideration but they prolly really never would we are teens and we do deserve a voice but just like the racial thing it'll take another war between the states until we get it. education isnt on the top of everybodies list and no we do not need anymore tests. AT ALL. but they cant see that they see the more tests we take maybe the better we will get at it but that isntit we gotta have the teachers to teach not just education but morals and values all the same. ~~~~~AMBER~~~~~

Hey Amber,

we always seem to find each other lol. Well I agree with you that other countries are in worst shape, because I also know about them. I'm apart of FTC(Free The Children) an organization that promotes improvement of education worldwide as well as the end to child exploitation But you also have to look at those countries that can't improve themselves. They have no money. But look at the US. Why not improve education here when you have the money. It's one thing when you're poor with no stable economy or government, but when you have the resources and capabilities of improving education YOU SHOULD!! It's like being a millionaire, but living in a garbage can. Why live there when you can buy a home. So my point is if you have the money to improve education in this country, THEN DO IT!! And the government needs to hear that message. I don't know the situation at your former middle schools, but saying yes ma'am and no sir is a natural thing where I live. That's more of a moral issue and I don't think it's that big of a problem. I also agree with you on having a national debate on education, like how Former President Clinton had on gun violence after the shooting at Columbine, and it helped. Youth voiced there opinions on improving gun laws, and new gun laws and restrictions are being passed in almost every state, so I would have to disagree with you on that point, because open dialogue and debate solves problems, now the Middle East is another discussion, nothing seems to help Israel and Palestine.

See ya,

Josh

We need to remember something here... Money isn't always the answer. We need to put something in place that will make sure the money is not being used extravagently. Currently my state, Utah, has one of the lowest education funding in the whole U.S... Even though we have the low funding our test scores are among the top in the nation. If the little money that is provided is put to good use, things will be ok. If more money is put in with an effective policy, education will greatly improve.

...punch and pie

I agree with you Locke, money isn't always everything but it sure runs this society. Money in America can buy you almost anything except salvation. And it's really a shame that it can, but it's true. The money that is given to schools needs to be used effectively and I think students, teachers, and parents alike should have the say so on what and where the money is going to be used for. A lot of the times some schools get more money then others, because of the enrollment of students. The bigger your school is the more funds and resources you get from the government as well as from companies and local donors.

Dear Amber,

America has been helping other countries for centuries now and I think it's about time the government looks at its own people to analyze the situations we're having now. Our economy is shaky, we're in debt, our health care and education systems are in serious need of help, homeless rates are still climbing, and so many more issues. The US is the biggest financial help to every third world nation including Iraq. The US is part of a United Nations project that gives Iraq rice and other foods in exchange for oil to feed the Iraqi people. When the US is helping Iraq, we're obviously a little over stretched. They're are so many problems in America from Teenage Drinking to rising Suicide and Aid rates that are in the dark, because the government has ignored them. Now I don't know if it's because they're to busy helping out our pal Iraq or if the government is just neglecting its responsibilities to tax payers. My parents don't pay taxes so President Bush can sit on his butt and put together model airplanes out of paper. When my parents pay taxes they expect me to be getting a full education, they expect the government to protect its people, and they expect the government to make sure when the retire they won't be living on the streets with they're kids because the government went bankrupt. I'm not saying we shouldn't help poor nations, because I'm all for helping the disadvantage, but I think we need to fix the problems here before we go elsewhere.

See ya,

Josh

Dear Locke,

Here's Bush's teacher intiative which is pretty good, but his intiative to improve schools overall is not very good. He seems to place more emphasis on teachers and test then schools and students.

-Providing State Grants to Recruit and Train Teachers: A $2.85 billion flexible grant program, funded in FY2002, will provide states with resources to recruit and train teachers and principals. This represents an increase of 35 percent over FY2001 levels, and the President�s FY2003 budget sustains this level of funding.
-Recruiting High-Quality Individuals to Become Teachers: President Bush proposes record level support for programs that provide innovative ways to recruit new teachers into the teaching profession, including the Troops to Teachers program, Transition to Teaching Program, and Teach for America.
-Expanding Programs to Train Teachers in Specific Subject Areas: President Bush proposes to strengthen programs to help train teachers in specific areas of need, including early childhood education, reading instruction, bilingual education, special education, math and science, history, and technology.
-Implementing the Teacher Protection Act: This new law ensures that teachers, principals, and other school professionals can undertake reasonable actions to maintain order and discipline in the classroom without fear of litigation.
-Creating a New Teacher Tax Deduction: The President�s FY2003 budget calls for a new teacher tax deduction to help teachers defray out-of-pocket classroom expenses of up to $400. The cost of this initiative is $16 million in FY2004 and $577 million over the first five years.
-Providing Expanded Student Loan Forgiveness for Teachers: President Bush�s plan will expand student loan forgiveness up to $17,500 for math, science and special education teachers who commit to teach in high-need schools for five years. The total cost of this initiative is $45 million in FY2003 and $112 million over five years.

P.S.: I'll try to find his other intitives.

See ya,

Josh

JOSH FIRST OFF I KNOW WE HAVE HELPED ALL THE OTHERS BEFORE OURSELVES TO THE POINT THAT IT IS AWFUL AND ALL AND I KNOW WE SHOULDNT TRY TO PLEASE THEM ANYMORE BUT WE ARE AMERICANS! WE ARE THE FIGURE OF FREEDOM AND TO UPHOLD THAT FIGURE WE NEED TO HELP OTHERS WHAT AMERICANS DO TO EACH OTHER IN THE STREETS EVERYDAY IS AWFUL AND REVOLTING. BUT THE DRINKING THAT COULD BE STOPED I MEAN HELLO STOP PRODUCTION (AND YES I KNOW ABOUT HOW TO MAKE IT SO DONT JUMP ON ME SAYING THEY WOULD JUST BREW UP SOME MOON SHINE) BUT AT LEAST IT WOULD BE AT A LOWER RATE. SUICIDE WELL FIRST GET TEENAGERS OFF SOME OF THE MEDICATIONS THEY ARE ON (INCLUDING ACCUTANE- FOR ACNE) WHICH SAY IN THE MIDDLE OF A CRAP LOAD OF SIDE EFFECTS SUICIDE! THINK HARD HOW HARD IS IT TO SEE SOME SIMPLE SOLUTIONS TO HARD COMPLEX PROBLEMS? AND O YEAH LET ME HELP YOU LET ME NAME SOME MORE ISSUES FACING US THAT NEED TO BE DELT WITH WANT TO HEAR THEM? WELL TEENAGE HOMICIDE, DIVORCE, TEENAGE PREGNANCY, WEED, CRACK, CRANK, ACID, SPEED, VEHICULAR HOMICIDE, WRONGFUL DEATH, THE ELDERLY DIEING IN NURSING HOMES, AND GANG RILVERIES. NEED MORE? WELL HERE ARE SOME JUST IN CASE RAPE, AND THE RAPERS THAT GO UNPUNISHED, AND WRONGFUL DISTRIBUTATION OF PORNOGRAPHIC MATERIAL. WANT MORE I CAN GO ON. IF YOU DO TELL ME! I KNOW THERE ARE COMPLEX PROBLEMS HERE THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED BEFORE WE HELP THEM. THATS WHY I DIDNT SAY WE NEEDED TO GIVE EVERY DIME WE HAD TO THEM! I UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU ARE COMING FROM CAUSE I AM COMING FROM THERE TO!~~~~~AMBER~~~~~

Hey everyone...
  I think that Bush is off on his education reform. I agree with who ever said that hte money needs to be spent better. At my school our gym is as big as the acedemic wing and they spent like 3/4 of the money spent on sports. It is nice for athletes to have a good facilaty but most people will not go from HS sports to college. There are many highschools but only a fraction of htat number is colleges and they only take top athletes.
  And when Bush said that we need more testing and not to complain about it is bull. His standerdized tests wont help. We have standardized tests now mandating gov aide and it doesnt help. In Michigan we have the MEAP test and schools who score higher get mroe money and some schools cheat on the tests to get money and their students still do not learn. And the schools with low scores need hte money! I have at least one test a week most of hte time two. I have taken the ACT once and the PSAT twice. I will take the ACT again in April and I am getting so frustrated by all the tests I do not have time to learn the material. We dont have calculus at my school even and we JUST GOT precalc.
  America has the money and should be spending money on education. It will help make more productive people and that is a valuable resource we need.
  Education is a good thought but I think they need to go to a school and see what is going on first.

Thank you Brasslass,

Their eeds to be some sort of money management in the education system, because enough is not being done to improve our schools and Bush needs to realize that and allocate more money to improve the overall structure of schools and not just MORE TEST!! I think everyone would agree that smaller classrooms offers mouch more success then more testing to improve education.

Dear AMBIO,

I never said we should completely stop helping other countries, I said that the US needs to pay more attention to its own people for awhile, because a lot places in America are just as worst as places in other countries. Thanks for naming all those problems facing America and its youth, you sure saved me a heck of a lot of typing.

See ya,

Josh

Thanks Josh, that waz very interesting. The content in the link you gave me waz full of a lot of fluff to sort through. It makes Mr. Bush sound like a god or something.

I do like the initiative that Bush has to get new teachers trained. However, I don't see a whole lot of garaunteed training for current teachers. What good does it do to get highly trained teachers mixed in with poorly trained ones?

You're right in saying that he focuses on grades 3-8. He should be focusing a lot more on 9-12. That's the grades that students learn a lot of trades and higher education stuff to help them in their future.

Once again, thanks for the interesting read.

...punch and pie

Dear Locke,

No problem I feel the same way. There are so many teachers now in our school systems that are very untrained and unprepared to teach, and they need just as much help as the new teachers coming in. I always meet with my Principal and Superintendent and I tell them that all the time, that high schools need to offer more classes aimed at specific careers, such as a law class, digital animation, sports marketing, etc... Courses that will prepare students for the real world and college and that's what we need in future schools. I truly believe that high schools right now are becoming obsolete and the only way the government sees the way out of it is by testing students which is much cheaper then redesigning schools. Until they see the facts education will continue to degrade to the point where students may drop out and record rates. We need much better education reform and we need it now.

See ya,

Josh