Question 3: What would you do if your student sprained an ankle? a) Put a Band-Aid on it, b) Ice it or c) Rinse it with water.

What about d) Get a medical professional to make that diagnosis.

Am I the only one who doesn't want teachers making medical decisions?

I well remember Jesse Jackson, surrounded by some cadre of 'educators', saying, "Don't correct these black children's language because you'd be taking away their identity".

That was in the 60's, about the same time as when the Dept. of Edumacation came into being.

It's been downhill ever since.

Can someone please enlighten me as to how the commerce clause allows the Fed to dictate all aspects of education?

Maybe a better question would be why the hell are we allowing government to totally screw up education in this country just like they screw up everything else they touch?

BTW-

A teacher's union in New York sure has padded their benefits to the tune of $6,000,000.00 for... here it comes... get ready for it... elective cosmetic surgery!

This was spent last year after having to lay off a few teachers of course...

I'm just wondering if that would have included this scenario:

"Welcome back to school children, I'm Ms. Johnson. Some of you may remember me as Mr. Johnson but I elected to have some surgery done....."

The educational system, like most government backed programs, is a total societal disaster. People need to independently study history, the true facts of freedom and develop a moral system based on Biblical wisdom and faith to counter those who champion the liberal mindset. In the 1960's the liberal's cry was to defy the government and overthrow the old ways. Today, with a liberal system in place, maybe we should do the same. If we do not, this nation is on the dungpile.

Few things to notice, and some of it is from the State of the Union (if that) address from last night -

1 - I totally agree with removing the Dept of Education. This is doing nothing but dumbing down our children.

2 - In Texas, we have a state standardized test. It is my understanding that a teachers entire time teaching is devoted to making sure the children can pass it. School Boards have fired Principals whose schools have failed this test! I have heard about this test and how they are teaching our children for taking it, and I am lost. I know that if I sat the test, I would fail. Makes me wonder if those who created it have taken it...I am sure they would fix the scores so they would pass to make it look better, but that is called cheating.

3 - @Cap - In the local school district that my 5 yr old daughter will be attending this fall, the schools have nurses just as they did in my time. Strange thing though, all they are allowed to do is take a temperature, provide a place for a child to lie down, and lastly - and ice pack. I remember when I was in school that the nurse had asprin and would give it out to those who needed it. Now, those nurses are required to have verbal authority from the parent before doing anything of the sort...that is after the parent takes time out of their day to go and get a medication, drive it to the school, and be there when it is given to the child. Then the parent gets to wait about 30 mins and is told to take the child home.

4 - @mmccrindle BTW - This is probably the best reason that I have ever heard for why teachers should not be in a union. Please let me know where you got this information. I personally have no problem with the idea of a union of workers. The idea worked great during the Medievil periods when they were called Guilds and one apprenticed to work in that field. If unions worked in that capacity, this country would be a far more productive place.

5 - Final line on Dept of Education - Put a greater movement to the idea of Vocational Education and/or trade schools. I am one who have never finished college (total of 6 hours to my name. Saddly, I am now as smart as most of those with degrees in the field of work I am in.) I agree that College is a good thing...for some people. Not everyone is an academic. Also true is the fact that not everyone is a mechanic, carpenter, plumber, steel fabricator, machinist, etc. People need to seriously start getting the real options of what you can do for not just a job, but a very personally rewarding carrer. The college push that has been made is now why you have lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers, etc. who are now having to graduate at a Graduate student level (MBA, MS, PHD, etc.) and still not being able to get a place in that job market. The saturation of the academic push is being made known and literally felt. I know that the OWS crowd come across as a bunch of freeloaders, but I personally wonder how many of them are a product of the education system that now cannot get a job due to that same systems market saturation. I would venture a guess of at least 25%. Probably more like 50% when you look at the movements in Europe and other socialist countries...maybe.

'" Marilyn Burns' text "About Teaching Mathematics" reads, "There is no place for requiring students to practice tedious calculations that are more efficiently and accurately done by using calculators." ' Being a Professional Engineer with a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Civil Engineering I know a little bit about mathematics, chemistry and physics. I have seen errors made with calculators because of the wrong number pressed or the decimal point in the wrong place. I received my Bachelor's, Degree in the 60's when a slide rule was used to perform calculations. With a slide rule you had to run the calculation in your head in order to know where to place the decimal point. This way you knew if the slide rule results made sense or was in fact correct. With a calculator you could be off an order of magnitude (that is 10 times for those who went to govmint skools) or more. BTW, I have two slide rules in the desk draw for when the batteries in the calculator go dead.

I was thinking about teaching high school algebra, trigonometry, calculus or physics when I retired. No good as I did not have education courses. It made difference that as part of my professional career I taught plant operators, and other engineers. I probably have more knowledge of math and physics than 99% of the high school teachers. Plus my knowledge is practical and real world.

oops, that should be, It made "no" difference that as part of my professional career I taught plant operators, and other engineers.

@ Bill from Texas -

There was an article in the WSJ about how Buffalo is becoming a dead city. Billions have been spent in trying to revitalize but the train tracks all lead to empty stores. (Gee, do you think it might be the highest taxes in the country???)

Yup- you got it - a Buffalo school union got that district to fork over 6 million bucks for elective cosmetic surgery. They must have the best looking teachers in the country.

I was just supposing about the sex change thing, but I'd bet that's the first thing that the far left would think about.

Bill from Texas-

I think the biggest clue -for me- was the term 'elective cosmetic surgery'.

That screams an adadictome proceedure or a dictalectome operation, both being elective cosmetic surgeries because the equipement really doesn't work now, does it?

Howard, if you're really interested in teaching, as you say, you should check if your state offers alternative "fast-track" certification methods. For core subjects, of which math is one, states will often issue probationary certification, which allows you to teach until you finish a modest level of teaching courses (maybe as few as six classes). You then get a certain number of years to finish said courses, usually requiring you to only take one per semester.

After some thirty years and close to a trillion dollars to this department what do we have to show for it...flat test scores that haven't improved a whit, even after they've been dumbed down and "culturalized".

For the record, my Praxis test (for art certification) was actually quite difficult, and I finished my undergrad art degree with a 3.97 gpa (Truman State University in Missouri), my MBA with a 4.0 (a very tough degree), and all my masters level education classes with a 4.0 (though ed classes don't really demonstrate intelligence, since they're so ridiculously easy). The problem with the art test was that it asked tons of art history questions, when most art teachers will never really teach much art history. Hardly any of the test dealt with methods of art creation or instruction.

The education of educators is, frankly a joke, and so is the evaluation of them. Every class tells future teachers over and over that (a) direct instruction is dead and (b) you have to be creative in delivering content and making it relevant. Of course the professors use direct instruction to teach us this. Of course, the classes seldom have tests, to see if students grasped the material, so there's no real measure of how well future teachers grasped the information before they get graded. Students can literally just recycle papers and lesson plans they wrote for other classes.

In most instances, parents get what they ask for from the educational establishment. You want an environment in which everyone succeeds? We got it for you. One in which everything is "politically correct?" Sure. One in which no child - however unready or unable to attend to instruction - is accommodated in the "mainstream?" Got it! Oh, yes - and you want free, super-healthy (and uneaten) lunches, too. We serve them (and breakfast). Why would a good teacher stay in this morass? (But, a few do!)

I'll say this again-

A high school grad of the sixties had more marketable skills than most college grads of today.

That's when it was up to the states.

The Dept. of Education would be a joke if it didn't cost so much.

iandelor - I first inquired about teaching about 20 years ago. After learning about the bovine manure courses I would have to take, even teaching on a volunteer basis, I told them what the could do with the education courses. Instead I coached the Rifle Team for two high schools. All I required was my Firearms Instructor and Range Safety Officer Certification.

The education establishment has clearly done far more harm than good. As a college professor, I have to deal with these education buffoons regularly. The slum clearing can not come soon enough for me...