School superintendent 'out of control'? (Washington: credit score, loan, houses)

[Syngar99]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

"Our nation was strong before public-funded schools."

Our founding fathers learned Greek, Latin, astronomy mathematics and grammar at the knees of learned men, not in government schools. Today those subjects are rarely taught if they are taught at all. However, there are some students who excel. They win the state spelling bees, geography bees and do very well in college. They have been home schooled. They know their rights and responsibilities as citizens. They know government's responsibilities and how it is supposed to work. They are home schooled. They are our young patriots.

My wife taught for 45 years. She taught geography, history, grammar and etiquette. She didn't use those words. She was a stealth teacher within the "system". Her students stood out from the rest of the student body. Her students appreciated what she did and in some cases she was the only adult who ever cared about that kid. On Mother's Day they stop in. Today we will attend the wedding of one of her former students. He is a college graduate now, marrying his eighth grade sweetheart. He insisted that we come to his wedding because he wants to thank my wife in public.

yes but the part you missed is that those learned men represented 5 percent of the population back then at best.

[Casper1212]

The good news is that a lot of kids change for the better as they grow older. For the second year in a row, the valdictorian at the school where I worked in Texas was a kid that was an aboslute terror when they were in middle school. And they're not alone. A lot of it is just kids being kids, and they outgrow it. But they outgrow it because parents and teachers make the effort to show them what behavior is acceptable and will create positive opportunities, and what won't. Such as obeying rules even when you don't understand what they're for.

[reloop]

Originally Posted by Casper1212

The good news is that a lot of kids change for the better as they grow older. For the second year in a row, the valdictorian at the school where I worked in Texas was a kid that was an aboslute terror when they were in middle school. And they're not alone. A lot of it is just kids being kids, and they outgrow it. But they outgrow it because parents and teachers make the effort to show them what behavior is acceptable and will create positive opportunities, and what won't. Such as obeying rules even when you don't understand what they're for.

That's very true!

When I was growing up I remember that I thought one of my best friend's sisters was the devil incarnate. She was single-handedly one of the meanest little snots I ever met, and she seemed to take such pleasure in saying the most rotten things to other kids (think Nelly on Little House on The Prairie).

She turned out to be one of the most pleasant people you could meet in adulthood. I'd say mainly because her mother would be certain to "insert foot" whenever she got wind of her shenanigans.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

We are back from the wedding. The rain stopped just long enough for the outdoor ceremony and as they said their vows an eagle soared overhead. My Indian friends would say that is good medicine.

[chaosX5]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

"Our nation was strong before public-funded schools."

Our founding fathers learned Greek, Latin, astronomy mathematics and grammar at the knees of learned men, not in government schools. Today those subjects are rarely taught if they are taught at all. However, there are some students who excel. They win the state spelling bees, geography bees and do very well in college. They have been home schooled. They know their rights and responsibilities as citizens. They know government's responsibilities and how it is supposed to work. They are home schooled. They are our young patriots.

My wife taught for 45 years. She taught geography, history, grammar and etiquette. She didn't use those words. She was a stealth teacher within the "system". Her students stood out from the rest of the student body. Her students appreciated what she did and in some cases she was the only adult who ever cared about that kid. On Mother's Day they stop in. Today we will attend the wedding of one of her former students. He is a college graduate now, marrying his eighth grade sweetheart. He insisted that we come to his wedding because he wants to thank my wife in public.

Hurray for homeschoolers! Thanks for taking notice of the efforts of many homeschooling families.

[chaosX5]

[quote=JC3;9380314]When I was in 8th grade, we had a teacher who walked around with a yardstick. Act up and a rap on the knuckles was a definite. The parents never had a problem with it cause if little Johnny or Mary went home and complained, the parents didn't pull out the constitution or sue, the kid probably deserved it. Try that today!

Today's teachers are damned if they do, damned if they don't. Parents are the ones who should be accepting the responsability of making sure their kids learn. The teacher is there to teach...not be a parent. If certain rules or guidelines are set down, it is up to the parents to support the teachers and schools and not be so quick to say my poor child was yelled at or disciplined for something that is foolish. Makes you wonder why the kids think they can get away with anything? If this super went overboard, it was maybe because she wanted to have a dignified graduation and one that kids who worked hard could be proud of. Maybe in her way she was trying to install some pride in the accomplishment, not treat it as some joke. Then there are always the few clowns who think they will just do whatever they please and the parents encourage it.[end quote]







I agree JC3,
Teachers have a very tough job to be sure..............They try to do the right thing and then the parents come after them. The Super probably was just trying to add some dignity to the occasion. Better luck next year!

[maine4.us]

"Our nation was strong before public schools." I would sort of debate that statement a bit! I guess the term public school needs to be defined, or the definition refined a bit. Public schools have existed in the US since our countries inception. By public, I mean that the people whose children attended the school supported the school. Maybe it wasn't by taxation in some cases, but towns supported their schools. If you use the term public education to mean any school funded by a tax it's a different story.

In fact most of our founding fathers (historians basically agree on the list), had excellent educations, some in country schools, some in boarding schools, but many had degrees from universities. Granted the universities were private, and tuition based, but the founding fathers were not a bunch of farmers. They had degrees from Harvard, William and Mary and Princeton. Only George Washington and Benjamin Franklin did not attend college. Both Franklin and Washington did attend "public" schools up to the equivalent of junior high school, in Washington's case a boarding school.

Thomas Jefferson was a proponent of tax based schools funded for the public good. He stated that if only the wealthy were educated, only the wealthy would understand their obligation to society. He proposed government and corporate college tuition to be paid for grammar school students who had shown great promise.

So people who use the term "government schools" in a venomous tone, should thank the gentlemen who is credited with being the "Greatest American President" for that term. He knew that the level of education that was being given at home or in country schools was not uniform. He wanted to put all children on a level playing field. He wanted to give them of equal opportunity of getting an education. No one can guarantee the level of education that students can individually attain.

Are all schools good today, of course not. We do need some guidelines to keep the playing field level. What we do not need is more unfunded mandates. What we need in education is less intervention under the guise that everyone can attain the same level of education.

The founding fathers knew it Most people today know it. I think most people's gripes with government schools is not with the school itself, but with the mandates that the schools must implement, no matter how idiotic those mandates are. Mandates always mean taxe$.

Our nation is strong because of public education.

[maine4.us]

Dear Mods, this is slightly off topic. I need to be "fair and balanced."

I need to clear up the views of Thomas Jefferson in my last post on education. On education he was a true leader. His personal views are not conventional wisdom in today's society. He owned slaves, because everyone owned slaves. He did not think that education was for women or slaves. It was for white males. He believed that the mentality needed by a wife or a slave was a very limited one. That they should not fill their heads with the ideas of "men." The purpose of both women and slaves was to be subordinate to their respective husbands and owners. The purpose of a wife was to fulfill her husbands wishes. She didn't need opinions. The purpose of a slave was to work, not much mental capacity was needed to tend the fields and animals. He was a gentlemen farmer. That means he never got his hands dirty. If work needed to be done, you had a slave. If passion needed to be fulfilled, you had a wife. He was a product of the ages of Romance and Reason.

If you want to get his real feelings read the Declaration of Independence..... the phrase "all MEN are created equal" did not necessarily apply to women, and certainly to slaves as they were not even considered by many to be human. The whole phrase was included to prevent the creation of a King in America. You must remember at that time in the United States women could not own property, could not vote, and could not hold public office. Some historians believe this phrase in the Declaration of Independence incited the women's suffrage movement. Jefferson would certainly not fit into today's world. In fact many of America's founding fathers hold ideas we believe to be repugnant today.

[Newdaawn]

Maine4 us - It really is too bad that the Declaration of Independence was worded "all men" - when it could have been "all humans"

[Northern Maine Land Man]

In 1776 we did not regard ourselves as just another species, coequal with slugs as the environmental industry does today. Many of us still don't.