Last week I got a Facebook notice that I'd been added to a group called "North Carolina BATs." A scan made it clear this was a teacher page, and it didn't take me long to guess the rest of the acronym.
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| BAT logo |
What gives this yet-amorphous group its energy, according to Naison, is teachers' anger over high-stakes testing, micromanagement of their classrooms and "the campaign of demonization directed against them." The name was intended to be "half-humorous and extremely provocative," Naison writes, though it's not a hit with all potential supporters. But the organizers are eager to seize the moment.
"We are Badass. We are legion. And we will force the nation to hear our voice!" the web site says. "In terms of what policies or organizing strategies will emerge from this group, only time will tell. But it is significant that there are clearly thousands of teachers in this country who are fed up with polite, respectful appeals to policy makers who hold them in contempt and are ready to fight fire with fire."
The North Carolina page displays links about state and national teacher issues, humorous videos and teacher-related merchandise. If there's an action agenda, it's not clear here, either. But don't be surprised to see some BAT members at today's Moral Monday protest in Charlotte. Now you know what the BAT signal means.
And to state what I hope is obvious: The fact that I've been added to the Facebook group doesn't mean I've joined the cause, any more than I'm allied with the folks across the spectrum that I follow on Twitter or have as Facebook friends. For me, it's another way to keep up with developments in the world of education -- and to help readers do the same.
Posts
72 comments:
Good luck pursuing learning and education.
I don't think making allies with the "Moral Monday" is good for the Badass image (or for the goals you claim), though.
Something a bit more closely aligned with your interests in actual education and learning, perhaps?
The "Moral Monday" crowd (with their roots firmly planted in PC BS)are part of the problem and are not your natural allies.
Anyway, just last night I was speaking with two former CMS parents who are sending their children to private schools this year (instead of some of the "better" CMS schools in the Ballantyne area) due to the testing obsession (esp. EOG's).
Good luck with being badass and all that, but if you check closely, I think you will see that the "Moral Monday" crowd are actually the same brainwashed Politically Corrected crowd who got you into this predicament.
I am a successful veteran teacher who is absolutely incensed - and for the reasons this group exists. However, because they carry the protests over into other political causes with which I cannot agree, I cannot rally with them. But - I assure that EVERY teacher in NC feels the same way about the core issues. And, I assure you it WILL affect their voting choices! This war on teachers has been a curious and sad thing to me. I don't quite understand it - we are your family, your neighbors, your brothers and sisters at church....why the mistreatment?
Vladimir Lenin called.....
He wants his poster back and threatens to sue for copyright infringement.
So BAT is composed of teachers who refuse to accept a guilt trip for "inequality and poverty" in society.
Hey, I'm all for that.
In fact, I stopped feeling much guilt over that decades ago after seeing first-hand how people squander all the "benefits" and "second chances" society has offered them.
However, I seriously doubt that BAT is as "badass" as all that.
I suspect they're still trying to stick it to "da man" instead of redirecting some of that guilt where it belongs.
Thus the need to align with the "Moral Monday" crowd of guilt spreaders.
The real problem is a lack of personal responsibility among certain parents and students which drags down the whole system.
Everyone ends up taking a hit for this in overzealous attempts to "correct" the problem through social engineering and dancing around the real problems of taking personal responsibility.
This has been going on for so long that it has displaced real "learning and education" as The Goal of our twisted education system.
I agree that "inequality and poverty" isn't a problem with teachers, but that's about as far as it goes if they are joining hands with the Moral Monday crowd.
Funny how our left wing media has conveniently turned all the problems with educational achievement and teacher pay into a GOP/Pat McCrory issue. Teachers ARE underpaid but it started long before McCrory took office... in January... or the GOP legislature could finally pass their agenda without a Bev Perdue veto.
Too bad 100 years of incompetent and corrupt Dem rule in N.C. and the 5 1/2 year Obama economy has left the state coffers empty but that is hardly the fault of Republicans. And CMS added 90 jobs but only 31 teachers? Do we really need some more administrators and bureaucrats? There is plenty of money as measured by per pupil expenditures....it is just being miss allocated.
No one blames teachers for the "failure of our society to erase poverty and inequality." We blame it on failed left wing policies like the War on Poverty that has increased poverty 5 fold while spending 15 Trillion dollars doing it.
And those "assessments, tests and evaluations imposed by those who have contempt for real teaching and learning"? Would those be people like Bill and Melinda Gates who believe things like testing, evaluating and merit pay are essential to improving learning? Or liberal icon Ted Kennedy who worked with and prodded George Bush to pass "No Child Left Behind"?
Mark Naison and Patricia Sanstead seem like typical useful idiots of the left. Keep spending more money and growing government to do the same failed things. And keep creating artificial bogeymen by blaming the wrong people. My real concern is that any teachers who are so misinformed, naive and susceptible to standard left wing propaganda to fall for this nonsense are also the ones teaching our kids.Good name for the organization however because these people really are BATTY.
Probably represents 100% of the teachers from Southpoint and East Gaston who were forced to leave their schools to occupy Cramer in the last gasp of the McGlohon dynasty.
As a parent I'm wondering who's blaming the teachers for the moral decay of our society? That's a joke, right? Teachers are not social engineers but are just part of the "sytem". The problem is that we have become so politically correct we no longer see the forest through the trees. Parents, just do your job and let the teachers do theirs.
8:26 Like! And you would be correct in your comments.
I too am a parent that took my kids out of CMS last year due to the emphasis on PC policies, overcrowding in the Ballantyne area, and testing obsession. Our highly rated elementary school was pushing the use of Ipads and Iphones, and testing. I made my "Moral" stand and am so happy we made the move. My kids are so happy too.
Many from the Moral Majority crowd participated in the creation of the "blame the teacher" movement. They needed an explanation for why some students were not progressing. They rejected lack of personal responsibility as a cause,ran through a myriad of other excuses, and finally settled on blaming the teachers at high poverty schools. Academics, administrations, politicians, and media quickly jumped on the bandwagon. Now that the blame the teacher craze has gone way overboard some have switched sides. Suddenly they are the teachers biggest supporters. Hypocrisy at its best!
Peggy C.- That is great that you took your kids out of CMS and they are happy. Would it make you more happy if your state leaders gave you a voucher for doing that. Say half of what CMS says their cost is to educate your kids ($8,200/$4,100). They have started this voucher program this year , BUT only for a minority family. Possibly the state leaders will open their eyes to who the actual tax payers are funding the programs of the state and expand the program to all citizens. Most likely they are afraid of losing too many students in a market such as ours. Keith W. Hurley
It's great to see teachers fighting back against misguided "reform" policies, instead of simply throwing up their hands and leaving for better-paid professions. The future of our public schools – and thus our state – will depend on this kind of dedication.
Another adult worried out of their mind about facebook. How about leave that mess alone and you won't have to write articles like this, or worry about who is calling you names! Get off the internet and have a real life for the love of God.
Funny how things have come full circle in the blame game.
Before the 1950's black failure and poverty was blamed on LACK of access to "white" schools with the "white" teachers and students.
Now (if you can actually BELIEVE the CMS task forces), the blame for black failure in schools is being placed on HAVING white teachers and white students in the schools.
(Especially for the poor black males who just can't seem to behave themselves with white female teachers and who seem to "need" strong black male role models which are oddly lacking in the home...)
So, when does the blame whitey game end?
That's really what this whole game (NCLB, blame the teacher, etc., etc.) is all about, isn't it?
Teachers need to divert their attention to the real problem and this is pro sports racketeering in America. If they really want to bitch and whine about pay and how the same hypocritical media makes celebrities out of these bums all paid for by the masses all over America who spread trillions in overall costs for tv ads and higher costs for products they advertise to the 300 million legal citizens of America who pick up the bill.
You dont even have to own a tv to pay the bill these days. You just have to eat breath and be living.
Take a look at the nationally rigged unionized outrageously over paid (understatement) tattooed pierced dreded spoiled rotten pampered NFL (and NBA) extortionists punks liars swindlers crooks criminals etc in the QC (all over) making 20-30 million each a year each to play 16 games on Sunday at 3 hrs in duration are swindling the masses with the tv cable contracts that cause food, gas, clothing, child care, baby milk, baby food, diapers, insurance, etc etc to go constantly through the roof along with cable bills that go up 2 times annually.
Yet this media outlet (and all others) continue to pump these useless steroid abuser "pro" bums 24/7/365 showing incredible ignorance and have the audacity to promote the poor and lower paid.
This is unadulterated hypocrisy to the ultimate max to say the least.
Meanwhile teachers pay espec for younger teachers has been stuck at 30k for 5 years including those who have taught 10 yrs or less.
BTW these NFL players only play 16 games annually at 3 hrs each on Sundays for 4 quarters each or 1 hour only.
Broken down furthur is the offense and defense that splits the time 50%. Also the actual play time of live action is 7 minutes between ref whistle.
i.e. the Carolina panther qb makes 30 million for 16 games total endorsements and salary or 1.87 million her game.
Since the time is split 50% he will play 3.5 minutes or 210 seconds per game.
This comes out to 534,285.72 per minute or 89,047.61 per second of actual live action.
If teachers or really want to get mad then complain about Carolina panther players making over 89,000 dollars per second or 1.87 million per game.
And don't forget these poor things only play 4 months a year and off 8 months. This is laughable.
Also not a single NFL NFL or MLB player have served their country in the military yet reap the rewards of being safe and free at others lives and injuries.
Only Pat Tillman of the AZ Cardinals in 2004 was killed in Afghan after sacrificing his career to serve his nation.
In past decades over the span of time pro athletes making 1/20th of today's narcissistic hogs served by a rate of 50-75%. In WW1 and WW2 pro athletes had a 75% ratio of joining and fighting.
This furthermore makes the case that pro sports should be OULAWED as plague on America helping damage its economy and a disease on education and teachers who continue to see Obama raise their income taxes and pay more for everything to pro sports that are nothing but a haven for dumb criminals.
Obama has overspent 7 trillion in 4.5 yrs and not a penny to teacher pay. Where he spent it all is anybody's guess. Its gone.
America truly has its priorities out of whack. Meanwhile Obama says nothing and encourages the racket of pro sports as a fan that gets worse ever year including college with NCAA scams.
It's time the teachers put their money (not much of it) where their mouth is.
It's also appalling how top heavy the CMS administration is. If Heath wants to make a big hit with his teachers and the community, he would cut his staff and other non-teaching positions by 25%.
Anon 9:40am
Just think how much school money is wasted trying to get "scholarships" for the "student-scholars" who eventually end up in the NFL/NBA.
Not to mention all the money for "da coach" and staff, equipment and facilities this requires.
That's a racket, too.
No one is out there protesting against those use of school funds, though.
Not to jump on the sports wagon here but it is amazing how much power some of the high school coaches have at their respective schools. Scary stuff, shouldn't be permitted by administration but it is.
All of you, especially teachers, take note. 8:26 hit the nail on the head. You are just being used by the "urban" crowd and the libs.
And while the NC Legislature is not showing you the love you think, they see the bigger picture that so much has been PC'd into public schools, there is little chance of "saving" public education now.
Keith, the state voucher/scholarship program is based on income, not race. And I'm pretty sure there are white families who fall below the cutoff for eligibility.
It is sad to see that there are some that seem to be presenting themselves as "teachers" that appear to be no better informed than the "low information" voters in our state.
Just a note on poverty rates. While 8:26 (perhaps channeling Bill O'Reilly) claims that "the War on Poverty has increased poverty five-fold," the US poverty rate remains below the rates of the early 1960s, despite the large jump during the recent recession. One can draw one's own conclusions about the rest of the statements in that post.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jul/29/bill-oreilly/bill-oreilly-says-poverty-hasnt-budged-1965-despit/
Ann, The state is marketing the program as "vouchers for minority income producing families". Now if that means race or income based its not clear. When they use the word "minority" in that fashion its poor judgement. I just hope its a leading indicator that all families especially the tax paying ones will be offered vouchers in the coming years for education. It could save the state and county money. It also would ease classroom over crowding at CMS schools. It would also create competition for quality of education which I certainly support. Keith W. Hurley
Increasing poverty (the numbers of people in poverty) by five fold is actually possible while reducing the poverty rate a few percent.
it is a math word problem. Think about it.
Spot on Keith, I think Ann missed the "minority" in the program description. I've heard and read of the program as you have described it. My kids would be out in a split second if I received this voucher. Well, they will probably be out by the time they hit middle school even without aa voucher...
Of course, after you parse the wording, you have to run the numbers. It would be mathematically possible to increase the number of people in poverty by five-fold while reducing the poverty rate a few percent, but that isn't anywhere near what actually happened in this country between 1960 and the present.
Pam the point is, a lot of money has been spent on this demographic with nearly nothing to show for it.
I have no problem with programs to "safety net" our elderly, veterans and children with severe mental and physical handicaps. However, that is not what we have. We simply have vote buying.
No, Anonymous 1:46, the actual numbers and facts do matter.
Anon 1:21 pm.
While you are correct in theory, when you plug in the actual numbers (or even approximations you don't get those kinds of differences).
The population varied from 180 million to around 310 million since 1960, not quite double.
The "poverty rate" which started out well above 20% before 1960 has hovered between 10-15% back and forth since the late 1960's.
So, the initial drop was great, but since the early 1970's the poverty rate has mostly been bouncing around the range of 10-15%.
At least according to the National Poverty Center (UMichigan, Ford Center)...
http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/
However, if you look at the actual numbers, the actual NUMBER of people in poverty hasn't changed as much as the PERCENTAGE.
You can tell this by comparing 20% of 180 million to 12.5% (or so) of 310 million.
They are both roughly the same at 35 million or so.
Anyway, folks can check those numbers to see.
The poverty rate was declining prior to 1964, from 22.4% in 1959 to 19% in 1964.
The poverty rate has remained pretty constant around since the 70's, but the number of people "in poverty" has skyrocketed.
The poverty rate in 1967 was 14.2% with about 26 million people in poverty.
in 2011, the poverty rate was 15% with 46.2 million people in poverty.
The average poverty rate since 1964 has been 13.2%.
So the fact is, we have spent trillions on the war on poverty with little change.
Of course let's not forget the Personal Repsponsibility Act that shows the poverty rate dropping between 1996 and 2000, reaching 11.3 percent in 2000 and going back up to 15% in 2010, the second highest since 1965.
Also, if you look back at the NPC numbers, it is mostly blacks and Hispanics who are poor.
So, you could easily argue that programs aimed at "the poor" are, indeed, aimed primarily at blacks and Hispanics.
Not that there aren't poor Asians and whites, but they aren't the majority of the poor.
But I think that's fairly obvious, isn't it?
After all, everyone knows that FRL has become an unofficial proxy for the same thing in education.
Keith and RollTide, I don't know who or what you're quoting from but it's wrong. I checked with PEFNC (pro-voucher) and CMS lawyer Jonathan Sink (not so much). Both say there's nothing about minority status; eligibility is all about income.
Wiley,
Yes, I think you've got it.
The rates are lower while the numbers are higher.
I don't think my website had the 2011 data, but today both the rates and numbers are off their all-time lows back in the 1980's or so (again, the line is wiggly).
I will also add that the information the Observer posted about poverty, bears out my assault on fraud in the NSLP.
NONE of the poverty numbers the Observer posted comes close to the 54% of CMS students getting FRL.
This is based on US Census Data.
Census reports that for 2011, there were 168,478 children in Mecklenburg County between 5 and 17, with 36,759 in poverty.
36,759 is 22%, which is what the Observer reported.
Since 54% of CMS students get FRL, that number is 76,140 based on 141,000 students.
That's a 39,381 difference.
Wiley,
The FRL calculations are different from the poverty calculations. Many families not officially in poverty are eligible for FRL.
Ann, Your paper described it as a "minority Voucher" when they were comparing the tax changes and benefits/costs a few weeks ago. The state also has been qouted in several new stories as a minority voucher based program. My ISSUE with the program is IT SHOULD BE FOR ALL FAMILIES not just a FEW. I also will be supporting the updated versions that give familes who already send their kids to private schools a tax credit or voucher going forward. These tax paying citizens deserve this for saving the state/county thousands annually. I sure hope the folks in Raleigh wake up and see the benefits of a system such as this. It will certainly help reduce over crowding of our schools. Why with Project LIFT and a Voucher based offering CMS could get back to letting the teachers teach a manageable number of students in a class. (imagine that) Keith W. Hurley
Wiley,
The FRL availability is based on an income level ABOVE the actual Federal poverty level for families.
There is a multiplier of 1.85 for Reduced and 1.3 for Free, meaning that many people ABOVE the official federal poverty level are allowed FRL.
So if the official level of poverty for the family is $30K, then someone making up to $39K could get Free and someone up to $55.5K could get a Reduced lunch.
Why should a grown man or woman give a happy ______ what someone posts on fakebook?! Hasn't that gotten enough of the teachers in hot water already by playing around on there?
Keith (Anon 2:34pm.)
Maybe whites and Asians could file a "disparate impact" lawsuit against the voucher laws since they are not being treated equally.
You know the "other" side would do this at the drop of a hat.
After all, this is "disproportional" treatment, isn't it?
Smash , Your correct a lawsuit should be forwarded over that new program.
Wiley/Pam, The way I see it FRL just got expanded to breakfast with federal dollars for all kids mine included.
My kids will not be allowed in the cafeteria prior to school as I wont raise them with a handout. I dont want them to grow up that way. I know some folks need it and cannot help , ut participate so I am not bashing the "few". I do think its a few rather than a all program.
I will just pay my share with federal taxes and move on for now until the next bird brain decision is made in DC.
I see Dinner and Snacks on the horizon just not sure which side of government will pay for it.Keith W. Hurley
Pam,
We've been down this road before. Census data is used in the calculations for FRL and poverty.
Poverty thresholds are used for calculating all official poverty population statistics — for instance, figures on the number of Americans in poverty each year. They are updated each year by the Census Bureau.
For an example of how the Census Bureau applies the thresholds to a family’s income to determine its poverty status, see “How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty” on the Census Bureau’s web site.
I'm not buying nearly 40,000 students are at 185% of the poverty level.
From the US Census:
Between 1994 and 2004, the ratio of school-age children receiving free or reduced-price lunch increased from 28.6 to 32.2 percent, using state-level data from the FNS (FNS, 2006a). For the same time period, the estimated poverty rate for related children
ages 5 to 17 decreased from 19.8 to 16.2 percent, using data from the CPS ASEC.
While the Income and Eligibility Verification system (SSA, 2006) applies to other entitlement programs such as Medicaid and the Food Stamp Program, it does not apply to enrollees in FRPL. Federal rules do not require documentation of monthly household income or of ongoing benefits at the time of FRPL application, and only a small percentage – from 1.5 to 3.0 percent – of FRPL applications must be verified (FNS, 2006b). Students can continue to receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year even if monthly household income increases above the eligibility threshold after
application.
A further challenge to FRPL enrollment is that schools often have a financial incentive to enroll and certify as many students into the FRPL program as
possible (DOE, 2005). States and school districts frequently utilize the number of students receiving free and reduced-price meals to apportion Title I
grants and many types of state and local funding.
Off to Moral Monday! Have a great evening everyone.
Wiley,
Plenty of studies out there show fraud in the FRL program, so that's no big surprise.
At least not to me (or you, either).
It's all you say it is (and maybe even worse...) since we may not even being measuring poverty very well today when compared to the past.
Today we have all those additional freebies (WIC, SNAP, Child Tax Credit, subsidized housing, etc., etc.) which are not included in the calculations of "income" for the poverty levels.
This means that someone who is officially in "poverty" based on income may be living quite well compared to someone living in "poverty" 50 years ago.
The poverty calculations have not been adjusted to take the new freebies into account.
Wiley,
The best revenge for me personally is to pay less in taxes.
I figure that's the least I can do to remedy the situation.
Because at the rate we're going so few seem interested in cutting off the demand.
So nip it on the supply side.
(At least on a personal basis if not for the entire country.)
I now consider it my civic duty to pay the least in taxes that I possibly can.
And I'm getting better at it each year.
If you aren't up on your tax laws, then a good tax class might help.
Shamash, many found they simply had to "evacuate" from Detroit to pay less to the "machine". The "machine" still could go get you as long as you owned property. Many just walked away from those houses or "arranged" some to happen to them to make them uninhabitable.
Such is the plight of Detroit now. Other eraders of this blog send you their regards from Ft. Mill. harrisburg, or Waxhaw. While these places still have their property tax, school overcrowding issues, etc., they have nipped the urban influence quite effectively. Versus Charlotte and Mecklenburg that seem to advertise for all to come here from whereever in the country as you note the increasing population of "addicts"/government dependents.
Anon 4:08,
I'm a bit of a "straddler" in that regard.
While we live just South of the Border, we still have investment property in Charlotte, so pay property taxes (but ARE assisted by renters, thankfully).
However, our renters send their kids to private schools and a lot of the people we know nearby (in Ballantyne)are starting to do the same, to our surprise...
These are kids who would normally be in elementary schools that feed into Ardrey Kell, so it's a bit of a surprise that this seems to be less desirable than when we original bought into the area a few years back knowing that they had "good schools".
Oh well, no one can predict the future.
All we can do is hedge our bets.
Totally OT of the blog, but you know this CMS rally on Thursday that Morrison said was "voluntary"? We were asked today who was going and about 25 out of 150 people raised their hands. He then told us that we had to go because he didn't want to be the school that looked bad. I heard from 3 other teachers in other CMS schools told the same thing. Something you might want to look into.
Oops.. that was our principal that told us we had to go.
Poor little Heath would not like it if nobody showed up to the party. What would all those sponsors think if the party was not a success? How would it affect their future tax payer funded CMS contracts for services? Oh well good try Heath maybe in the spring another shot? A end of school year maradi gras type deal with live music. Call the chamber and line up the next batch of sponsors.
Or go to Raleigh and play tough and get your teachers paid. Keith W. Hurley
5:38 You are correct. We know several families in the south charlotte area who no longer send their kids to Ardrey Kell and other local schools due to overcrowding, school start times and dissatisfaction with CMS school policies and lack of enforcement and consistency of those policies.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/08/19/4247941/police-teen-threatened-officer.html
This says a lot about society and what teachers deal with every day. Education begins at home, and when this is what you have at home, this is what you get.
Photo of moral monday has moveon.org sign. That tells me all I need to know.
union county schools big push..... to arm kids with skills for the 21st century (a computer for every kid above 3rd grade to use)
cms big push..... to feed every kid for free whether low income background or not.....in other words to continue building democratic voter base
Anon 9:56pm
Odd to me that so few of the educrats seem to notice this (or care about it).
I wonder how large the trend is.
Was there a task force on this topic?
I guess it's the "wrong" demographic for them to get too concerned.
Because they aren't "poor" enough for the "Moral Monday" and they don't generate enough FRL-based matching funds.
And they still pay taxes even if they leave, leaving more for those Children Left Behind.
Besides, if more of the top performing kids leave CMS, then that "gap" looks just THAT MUCH BETTER!
And that's a "good" thing...
I thought it was just a few of our friends, but it seems to us that those who really care enough about their children's education to discuss it with others are leaving CMS.
I guess we all know who that leaves behind...
It's time for a tax-payer revolt.
File "disparate impact" lawsuits until you get vouchers if you leave CMS to go private.
Gosh, you mean Moral Monday is a partisan group?
Who would have known...
I wonder which way the BAT is leaning?
7:32 CMS is requesting that all the students bring in their own technology (I-Pads and I-Phones) to school so they don't have to provide them for the students. The students are having a hayday playing, texting, snapchatting and instagraming at our CMS schools. Yes, they are able to work around the firewalls and precautions put in place by CMS.
7:32 Laptops at school aren't all what they're cracked up to be.
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/08/15/laptop-losers-tech-actually-hindering-kids-grades-in-classrooms/?intcmp=features
When I hear about technology in the classroom it reminds me of the early 1970's experiment with tape recorders (actually Dictaphone (R) tape loop dictation machines).
This was an attempt to put "real world" technology (of secretaries!) in the schools and was supposedly the wave of the future.
(Yeah, because when you want to know what the future will be like, ask an educrat...)
It was a joke.
Nothing kills your ability to concentrate like 30 students talking into microphones at the same time.
Even the semi-literates did worse, and that was the one group it was supposed to benefit the most since their "verbal" skills were considered masked by the fact that they couldn't write well.
Of course, today those skills we were learning might prepare kids for the "job of the future" working in a CALL CENTER.
Anyone wishing to do their own "independent" research on technology in the classroom needs to read all the wondrous benefits expected from the
Dictaphone Electronic Classroom
back in the 1960's.
(Google that and you'll see.)
While my school didn't try this until the early 1970's (we were slow to adopt...) this actually has a history.
Of failure, of course.
But reading some of those old articles sounds a lot like the "promise" of computers in the classroom today.
Especially for "individualized instruction"
Here's a link to an article from 1960 newspaper which could be written today about laptops and iPads...
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19600801&id=_PwrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=y8YEAAAAIBAJ&pg=851,3271816
Shamash, good stuff! Also read this today on the subject of how technology in not the panacea educators (CMS in this case) say it is. It is a crutch many times for both students and teachers. Nothing like a new generation of Americans who are incapable of entertaining themselves, or having an independent thought without a technology device in their hands.
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/08/15/laptop-losers-tech-actually-hindering-kids-grades-in-classrooms/?intcmp=features
Just saw someone beat me to the punch on the Laptop article!
High school Students with "bad" attitudes starting early next Monday morning.
Pearly,
Yes, this stuff gets comical at times if it wasn't so serious.
Just about every new technology from the phonograph to movies to TV, Dictaphones, computers, etc., etc. has been touted for its "educational" value.
Remember that even Thomas Edison thought the phonograph would be used primarily for educational purposes.
Yet, somehow, humans ALWAYS manage to take these wonderful devices and use them primarily for entertainment.
They choose Elvis over Einstein every time.
Funny how that works.
And funny how certain people always fool themselves into thinking otherwise.
I'm sure people 50 years from now will get just as big a laugh out of educrats love-fest with iPads as we do with the Dictaphone Electronic Classroom with all its "promise".
And, trust me, the Dictaphone was supposed to cure A LOT of the social ills in our schools as well.
Everything from low performance, behavior problems and dropouts could be alleviated IF ONLY schools would adopt the Dictaphone.
(And they even published those glowing studies in "education" journals back in the 1960's, too, so it was "official", not just in the newspapers...)
Hooray for Moral Mondays.
There is a concerted effort to wreck our public school systems for the financial benefit of a certain few. In NY we just had the results of yet another new testing regime. Interestingly they gave the test first, and then set the standards after. Surprise, surprise, bad scores which nicely justifies the "reform" package they want to peddle. Our local schools, top ranked nationally, only had a 65% passage rate, the county average was in the 30's and the city was single digit. See, all the schools are failing! Look what I have to sell you......
Reid Cunningham, Yale University 1988
Pittsford, NY
- Alicia Cunningham Durand
Charlotte, NC
Be careful Alicia.
You can be replaced with a copy of Dance Dance Revolution and an Xbox.
With a Dictaphone Dictabelt and webcam, of course, for "personalized" remote instruction.
Thanks for the publicity! We're growing again today. My name's Priscilla Sanstead, not Patricia. Common mistake, though, no problem!
Sorry, Priscilla. I thought I had cut-and-pasted, but apparently not. I've corrected it, belatedly.
On a Saturday night and that's trouble,
Oh, yes we got lots and lots a' trouble.
I'm thinkin' of the kids in the knickerbockers,
Shirt-tail young ones, peekin' in the pool
Hall window after school, look, folks!
Right here in River City.
Trouble with a capital "T"
And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool!
-Alicia Durand
Sorry Shamash,
Previous post meant just for you! And I know you're intelligent enough to get it.
Alicia
Wow, such vitriol against educators and education! You guys come out in full force to bash teachers and schools, but remain silent against Wall Street and the banking industry. You know, the guys who caused the economic collapse that 99 percent of us have been suffering through the last 5 years. And now, you support balancing the budget off the backs of those who's paycheck has dwindled each year since said collapse. Unbelievable. Free advice for you...turn off Fox News, breathe through your nose, and pick your knuckles up off the ground.
Says the moveon.org zombie.
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