School districts, layoffs and other things of interest....

[chickened]

Are you a mind reader? the great Kreskin? what I think may surprise you. You may be surprised who is a Christian and who is not. Religous people do not Christians make my dear.
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you seem to think that non Christian equals no morals. there are many religions that teach far greater compassion than some branches of Christianity. also there are some atheists and secular humanists that are far kinder than some devout hellfire Christians, and vice versa.

religion does not equal morality. personal responsibility, integrity, and a person's own actions equals morality. (that and morality is largely relative. what we think is moral is considered horrible in another culture)

 

[chickened]

Maybe this is the problem, I heard some accounting figures on the Federal budget today cannot remember all of them but 63% of the federal budget is spent on entitlement programs. I am sure it is reported somewhere on the web that can be viewed. Education was way low on the list.

 

[chickened]

I am sure those and other factors would be taken into consideration when crafting the program. Where is your faith in big Government now? You seem to want to blame someone else, so how would you rate or grade teacher performance? I agree by the way about Parent involvement but that is not always why kids fail. Teaching is a gift and not all posses it.
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[mom'sfolly]

Here are some good graphics on the budget. It shows where the money is spent, where it comes from and historical data. What I find particularly interesting is the historical data on deficit spending and where the revenues come from and how the revenues streams have changed.

There are lots of sites with lovely pie charts. Perhaps checking numbers before throwing them out makes sense. Yes, federal education spending is low. So is spending on the debt, research and other things.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/budget-2010/

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1258

 

[WriterofWords]

ETA: Shockingly enough this includes attacking teacher, educators, etc. I think it needs to be enforced more, because more and more threads are all about attacking teachers, it's only fair to enforce it for us too.
3. No Flaming (verbally attacking people or groups of people - e.g. a profession, an organization, a company.)
4. No Trolling (posting to provoke others, luring them to flame or rant). Trolling is sometimes done involuntarily, so please be considerate when posting.



I haven't had faith in Big Government in so long I can't remember. Teachers are required to be Highly Qualified under NCLB or they can't teach, but just like mechanics, or doctors, or any other profession, when the time comes around for you to be observed and rated you put on your best show. I just finished my dossier to move up to the next level required by the NM Pub. Ed. Dept. It was a lot of work to prove I know what I am doing and am capable of meeting the needs of the diverse population of students we have. The dossier includes my work, student's work, lesson plans, diversification plans, etc. Contrary to popular belief not just anyone can become licensed to teach. You have to be willing to go to school, do your student teaching, prove you can handle yourself in the classroom, etc.
When I say parent accountability I want parents to be held accountable for their children coming to school prepared, on time, and ready to work. I expect parents to work with their kids, to help with homework, to call me if they need help (They have all my numbers and emails and know where I live too), to be prepared to come sit in the classroom and babysit their kids when they will not do their work, when they are disruptive, when they want to cause trouble. I want the parents to know that if their kids do not do their work or will not behave, that they will be held responsible and be required to attend school with their child. Yes, it's disruptive, you have a job! So do I and that is to teach, not babysit, not entertain, and not raise your child. I also do not want you in my face because your child got in a fight and got hurt because he finally picked on someone bigger than him. With 200 kids on the playground no, I can't follow your child around to keep his/her mouth shut and protect them. I want students to know that if they do not behave, do not do their work, that there will consequences at home like there used to be when I was there age and the parents knew it was their job to straighten up their kids not the schools.
No, parent involvement is not the only reason kids fail, and knowing I will get even more flack for saying this, it is the main reason. I can't force a child to learn that knows they don't have to and their parents don't care or will blame me rather than them.


You don't like the fact that I won't accept the blame for all these problems? Oh well, I'm not going to accept the blame. When I make a mistake I admit it, if I mess up on an assignment, I admit it. So yes, I am placing most of the blame where I feel it belongs, on parent/student accountability, because show me where the State threatens to take away YOUR check if you don't make your child do their work in school and behave. Show me where the State will take away your food stamps and monetary support if your kids are problems in the classroom and are failing through no fault of the teacher. Teachers have their faults just like you do, none of you perfect, and most of you are not in the classroom and never have been other than to complain that your child isn't doing well and it's not your fault, it's the teachers.

Not all, but a lot of people on here have suddenly decided to attack teachers again and seem surprised that I am standing up for my profession. I'm going to stand up and make my voice heard just as often as teachers get attacked and blanket statements are made about us. I've gotten such wonderful and supportive PMs from so many of the great people on here who realize that not all teachers can be included in those many, many, statements. There are a lot of darn good teachers on this site, and we don't appreciate being attacked and belittled constantly and then being expected to sit and take it. I'm not taking it anymore.


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[AquaEyes]

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2007.png

It was always my understanding that the bulk of the money used for schools is generated from local taxes and not federal taxes. Does someone know the accurate percentage? I don't.

 

[chickened]

Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. That every man may receive at least, a moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own and other countries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions, appears to be an object of vital importance, even on this account alone, to say nothing of the advantages and satisfaction to be derived from all being able to read the scriptures and other works, both of a religious and moral nature, for themselves. For my part, I desire to see the time when education, and by its means, morality, sobriety, enterprise and industry, shall become much more general than at present, and should be gratified to have it in my power to contribute something to the advancement of any measure which might have a tendency to accelerate the happy period.
--March 9, 1832

Any guesses who wrote this?

 

[WriterofWords]

Abraham Lincoln 1832

 

[chickened]

[regarding the framers of the Declaration of Independence]: These communities, by their representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the whole world of men: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This was their majestic interpretation of the economy of the Universe. This was their lofty, and wise, and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His creatures. [Applause.] Yes, gentlemen, to all His creatures, to the whole great family of man. In their enlightened belief, nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows. They grasped not only the whole race of man then living, but they reached forward and seized upon the farthest posterity. They erected a beacon to guide their children and their children's children, and the countless myriads who should inhabit the earth in other ages. Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began -- so that truth, and justice, and mercy, and all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land; so that no man would hereafter dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on which the temple of liberty was being built.

Any guesses? Abe Lincoln 1858

 

[Laurajean]

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