madame_zora said:
That's not really fair, they should be doing what they did when I was in school- teaching kids what they needed to learn with regards to the basic subjects, and getting them interested in things that suit their talents to prepare them for work or further education. They should be encouraging curiousity with the world, as well as the thinking process. I am positively aghast that so much changed in two short decades that the entire purpose and function of schooling no longer exists. I know this is not impossible, because it already happened with me.
Keeping in mind that basic subjects can be learned outside the school, and vocational or professional skills could be taught in apprenticeships, I think your statement, which I highlighted above, is the biggest part of it. Yes, high school classes should impart some knowledge, but their purpose really should be
learning how to learn. Another important aspect of school is something like an apprenticeship in
living in society. I don't agree with rules for the sake of rules, but having some guidelines is important - both for maintaining order, but more importantly, to teach the concept that there will always be rules.
I really don't think it's too much to ask in a state where we have a fucking lottery to supposedly support the school system that the politicians get their fucking greedy paws out of it so we don't have to rely on people voting to increase their property taxes to support the schools systems. What happens with the levies is that people who don't have school aged children just won't vote for them. And really, why should they? We're all well aware of the theft of the school money, so why would we throw good money after bad, knowing those tickets we scratch off aren't doing their jobs anyway? What would make us believe the tax levies aren't going straight into someone's pockets, like Taft and Noe?
Alright, now you may preach to the choir. It is the same in every single state that has a state lottery. In order to get the idea of "gambling" past the fundies, they claim "all revenues beyond basic administration will go to the schools." None that I know of have seen it yet. Teacher pay in every single state of the union is just absolutely pathetic. Teachers, across the board, have the lowest pay-to-training ratio in the country. No other profession that requires that level of education, and that level of licensing, and that level of continuing education, and that much paperwork and documentation, and such long work hours, pays so little. It infuriates me that money earmarked for education goes elsewhere, the schools remain underfunded, and the criminals/politicians get off scott-free. It infuriates me that a small rural school district will hire 7 coaches, 4 full-time coaching assistants, 2 part-time coaching assistants; while they have one half-time music teacher (to teach general music, vocal music, and instrumental music), one full-time art teacher, three english teachers, two science (chemistry, biology, physics, general science) teachers, two history teachers, one business/typing teacher, one vocational teacher, and two math teachers. What kind of priorities is that? The athletics department has a gym that puts Gold's to shame and each team gets new uniforms every year, but the physics teacher has to show a video for some of the lab experiments because they don't have the equipment?
What needs to happen is accountability from an independant review board for the money, and the school's performance. Underperforming schools should be brought up to standards, lest they lose their funding. Academics need to be prioritised over fucking sports- my daughter's school actually cut a zoology course the same year the vice principle bought a big screen tv so they could watch playbacks of the football games in style. Fucking obnoxious!
Every school district in a "lottery state" should be receiving the funds promised. Forget an independent review board, every lottery needs to be audited by an independent accounting firm, and every politician who has misappropriated funds needs to do prison time. Hard time. Schools that do not perform up to standards doesn't necessarily need to lose funding, but an action plan must be developed, and if performance does not improve, then those responsible for implementation of the action plan should be replaced. Teachers need to be relieved of the burden of policing so that they can teach. Parents and students both need to be held accountable for the students' performance and behavior.
The thing is, most of the residents here know how much money has been stolen and how badly the education system is suffering for it. We're just not willing to throw good money after bad to a bunch of liars and thieves. We also know how unlikely it is that ANY of the money will be returned, or anyone actually prosecuted, this shit's been going on too long. My daughter actually had some text books that were written in the 70s! Someone needs to strangle the fucking republicans here, but the sheeple just can't quite connect the dots as to who the theives really are, despite the overwhelming evidence- just like everything else in this goddamned country right now.
Of course the residents know how much money is being embezzled. But they keep re-electing the same crooks. Here's another of my wonderful "novel ideas": hold the politicians accountable for school improvement. Any politician who claims "we just don't have the money for the schools" better have a good explanation, right? Reorganize the local school boards so that they are made up of classroom teachers, not the local bankers, politicians, and farmers. Have them rotate on the school board for a fixed term, then back to the trenches.
