Michelle Rhee - America's future in her hands?

[usmarinemike]

The news-talk station I listen to in the morning frequently has quotes from the school chancellor, and I have noticed before this thread that she always has something pretty brilliant to say.

There needs to be a new sherriff in town so to speak on American education. My wife has become completely disenchanted with the school system as a teacher. It is so unbelievably broken that I don't know where to start. She's taken time off from teaching for my time here at TBS and she is having serious doubts about going back. As for the NEA, she wouldn't be allowed to join if she wanted to. I agree that the teachers unions and all of their battle axe wielding socialist supporters are a bigger threat to the wellbeing and even the sovereignty of America than Al Qaeda and islamofascism.

 

[Flash]

I agree that the teachers unions and all of their battle axe wielding socialist supporters are a bigger threat to the wellbeing and even the sovereignty of America than Al Qaeda and islamofascism.

Really?! Our sovereignty? How the heck do you figure that?

 

[usmarinemike]

OK, I should have been more clear! Sorry.

It's not like the teachers union(s) are going to march on Washington and depose the government. It's more of them determining and then defending the status quo in education, which right now we all agree is in a horrendous state of health. Our education system erodes and decays under our own noses because the defenders of that system are in such entrenched and fortified positions that we can't break through. In the near future the end product of our education system will not be able to compete with the end product of other (read eastern) education systems. This is dangerous in the Age of Information. 30, 60, 150 years up the road America loses much of its international prominence and is in chaos morally, politically, and economically. Therein lies the big threat. Just an ounce of prevention now with education reform that works is going to pay off more than anyone can realistically imagine. The defenders of the current system are who is standing in the way.

Perhaps I'm describing a worst case scenario and being melodramatic, but can you really think of anything that threatens America more over the next century than its intellectual well-being in an information based world?

Edit: See what I mean...http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145938

 

[Flash]

OK, I should have been more clear! Sorry.......It's more of them determining and then defending the status quo in education, which right now we all agree is in a horrendous state of health. Our education system erodes and decays under our own noses because the defenders of that system are in such entrenched and fortified positions that we can't break through. In the near future the end product of our education system will not be able to compete with the end product of other (read eastern) education systems.

Thank you for making it clear what you meant.

I still disagree with you though, on several points. We don't all agree that our education system is in a horrendous state, it is actually quite good in some cases. Since our education is locally based and controlled in most cases it depends largely on where you live. Where I live now the education system is considered quite good, I have cousins that just graduated from high school here and they well prepared for and are doing quite well at college. Where I graduated the school system sucked, and it is right across the river.

And I am not sure that the 'eastern' model of education is the way to go either. In many cases the 'eastern' model relies largely on rote memorization of facts and the ability to recite them. While that is good for some subjects, if that is the only way one learns it stifles innovation and 'free thinking'. It might sound cheesy but I would argue that the 'free thinking' part is one of this country's greatest assets when it comes to innovation and invention. Google and Facebook didn't originate, and probably couldn't, in either the rigid business models of the 'East' or the 'collective/socialist' business models of Europe. We can be messy sometimes but the end product is still as good as anywhere else, if not better.

Not only is it the rote memorization part that I have a problem with, it is the rigid pass/fail model that I think is critically flawed as well. If you fail to perform at any level, whether it be on a test or in a class, you often don't get a second chance. Many good people are discarded along the way, where here in this country we are all about second chances. If you based my future performance on how I did in high school I would not have gotten very far, I would probably still be Flash the Pool Lifeguard if that were the case.

 

[The Chief]

... If this starts to show positive results, you can bet bottom dollar that the NEA will do everything it can to discredit it and failing in that attacking the Mayor politically. .... .

Think you are correct. NEA will do what ever they can to discredit Rhee, especially if she is successful. At this stage is appear she is making a difference.

Someone mentioned Baltimore?

Baltimore City has the 12th highest spending per pupil among the largest 100 school districts in the nation, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Education. The city spends more per student than many, much larger districts such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston, and Chicago

Test scores in Baltimore City schools are among the lowest in the state. Statistics describing this sad state-of-affairs are legion: fewer than 45 percent of eighth graders in Baltimore City read at a proficient level and only 19 percent of eighth graders are proficient in math, according to the latest test results. The state’’s website (www.mdk12.org ) details many more of these regrettable figures. By a state audit last year found that $18 million in federal Title I funds were misspent by the Baltimore City Schools between 2001 and 2002..

How does Baltimore City School and the NEA react to this audit? By suing the State of Maryland.