Do Long Islanders Push Their Kids Too Hard?

[azzurrony]

NYCAnalyst,

I agree with everything John Stossel had in his report. I knew most of that, but some of it was eye opening even for me. That should be required viewing for all parents with children in public schools.

However, that program was focused on the corruption within the administration and teachers unions of public schools. They stray from competition because their power will be threatened. Classic special interest. It's disgusting that so many $$$ are wasted in our public schools and the results are pathetic.

This, however, is very different from crazy students or parents slitting their wrists if they get a B on an exam. The system we should strive for is school choice, vouchers, and competition with some life balance as well.

[NYCAnalyst]

Think about school choice!

Then all of the truely driven students will attend the top schools!

Could you imagine a high school filled with Type-A, stress filled, gotta get a 100 on this exam or else, Long Islanders? Then the stress trickles down to grammar school, since you have to get a 100 on everything to get into this high school! And then down to nursery school! Since you have to ace everything to get into this grammar school. Then what happens? If schools aren't zoned anymore, then there will be much less disparity in terms of property values in LI.

Oh wait! This is already happening in NYC...if you think Long Islanders push their kids too hard, travel to the upper east side...

(http://www.thestreet.com/story/10594...ool-spots.html)
(http://nymag.com/nymetro/urban/educa...eatures/15141/)


Well now that is capitalism in action. I hope Bloomberg breaks up the NYC Teachers Union, now that would be great!

[hotkarl]

My problem is that I am so smart, I cannot function properly in society because
I think everyone is an idiot. Nothing makes sense to me. I find fault in everything and everyone I come in contact with. So smart that I could not rationalize anything being taught in school and a feeling of superiority to all of my teachers, they were all uneducated and inferior intellectually, which ultimately lead me to drop out of high school. This has caused me to have an overwhelming case of ADD and OCD combined, leading to a devastating and debilitating condition of "social retardation".

[LilTownBlues]

I think there are many poor parents out there today. I think there are too many parents trying to live vicariously through their kids today as well. To illustrate, how many times have you seen someone come on this site alone with something like -

"Jericho or Cold Spring Harbor Schools?
Looking at houses in both districts , which school is better? I hear Jericho has higher test scores although I also heard a kid got beat up in the HS one day. My child is now 2 years old so we'll have to start him in school soon, please help me decide"

You know you've seen this, would you want that for a parent? Talk about pressure. You can bet if the kid gets a bad report from pre-school that the teacher will hear about it. They might even have to move because of it, certainly little "Johnny" could never be anything but a brilliant angel.

On the other hand, I've seen the kids put a tremendous amount of pressure on themselves. Very competitive in the High Schools today, lot's of kids fighting for position so they can add it to their college applications. I believe some of it is inspired by their teachers and counselors, who I think enjoy it when their students can get into the top universities. I'm sure it doesn't hurt their performance evaluations either

[NYCAnalyst]

Are the LI teachers in a union? If so, performance doesn't matter.

[LilTownBlues]

Originally Posted by NYCAnalyst

Are the LI teachers in a union? If so, performance doesn't matter.

Most of them -
"NYSUT.org ." NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org

And if they weren't are you suggesting that teachers are strictly money motivated and have no interest in seeing their students achieve?

[hotkarl]

Originally Posted by LilTownBlues

Most of them -
"NYSUT.org ." NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org

And if they weren't are you suggesting that teachers are strictly money motivated and have no interest in seeing their students achieve?

[NYCAnalyst]

Originally Posted by LilTownBlues

Most of them -
"NYSUT.org ." NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org

And if they weren't are you suggesting that teachers are strictly money motivated and have no interest in seeing their students achieve?

The video speaks for itself. Interest does not equate to performance. There needs to be skin in the game.

[MikeyKid]

I read it on the internet, it has to be true!

[azzurrony]

It's ironic to me that socialist countries in Europe allow competition between schools. They allow school choice and vouchers. Yet, the bastion of competition here in the US is nothing more than a slave to administrators and teacher's unions.

Long Island is mostly unionized and its students generally do very well. However, that is not because of the teachers...it's because the parents tend to be more stable than the city environment and they are generally more active in their lives.

Where school vouchers and choice would have a real impact would be in more urban settings. There, the fat lazy teachers would eventually be eaten alive. Either sink or swim. The really poorly run schools would die out and charter schools would have to pop up to replace them.

The US education system could be phenominal if we could break this administrator/union monopoly we have in the public schools. Randi Weingarten is a loathsome creature.