Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Those teachers were afraid of losing funding to their schools due to lagging scores in a high risk population of kids. This loss of funding would put those kids at a greater disadvantage.
That judge is a good-ole-white-boy who probably has let his own cronies off. This is a case of trumped charges and excessive punishment.
Wrong. Test failures would have raised a red flag. And then there are iterations of school improvements which are watched over by the state and fed. If that still fails then the school is taken over. Students are allowed transfers to other schools which meet the academic guidelines and the local tax payers have to foot the bill for transportation and the other school gets the tax money for the students.
The students would have been better served had the school failed.
Wrong. Test failures would have raised a red flag. And then there are iterations of school improvements which are watched over by the state and fed. If that still fails then the school is taken over. Students are allowed transfers to other schools which meet the academic guidelines and the local tax payers have to foot the bill for transportation and the other school gets the tax money for the students.
The students would have been better served had the school failed.
High risk populations of students require more funding, not less. If the school gets closed down, where do these kids go? Should we bus them to schools in wealthy neighborhoods?
Quote:
The federal government plays an important role in funding local schools, and without federal funding many schools would cease to exist. The No Child Left Behind Act established the role of standardized tests in the way schools are funded.
Quote:
A school that consistently fails to meet adequate yearly progress standards may not be able to access some grants and other forms of funding.
High risk populations of students require more funding, not less. If the school gets closed down, where do these kids go? Should we bus them to schools in wealthy neighborhoods?
Like I just said..to neighboring schools and the local taxpayers have to foot the transportation bill.
All taxes follow the child and the school has so many years to get their act together.
This is how it works. Schools can and do get shut down and the kids bussed to the neighboring district.
Trailers were brought to the campus and additional teachers were hired.
AYP is still mandated and NCLB is not dead.
Adequate Yearly Progress - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The NCLB makes provisions for schools that do not demonstrate adequate yearly progress. Those that do not meet AYP for two years in a row are identified as "schools in need of improvement" and are subject to immediate interventions by the State Education Agency in their state. First steps include technical assistance and then, according to the Department of Education, "more serious corrective actions" occur if the school fails to make AYP.
My mom was a teacher, and it was before standardized testing. Back then, she worked her backside off. Every day, for hours after coming home from school, she would be downstairs at her desk, grading and coming up with a new lesson plan. Over the summer, she herself went "back to school" to learn more about how to be a great teacher. She was taught creative ways to reach kids, to teach different ways because kids learn in different ways.
And, she didn't just learn how to create lesson plans, she had intense psychological classes to teach her HOW to deal with kids who come from backgrounds that aren't so great, in order to help them thrive in school. She passed some of that information to me, when I became an adult, and I've remembered everything she shared...it's amazing what she learned.
Anyway, the point is, it was due to a teacher's hard work that got the results. It wasn't some insipid standardized test. Standardized tests do not always show the intelligence of a child. There is more to intelligence than what a standard test can pick up.
Being a teacher is not easy. People like to joke that they get three months off every year, and they get the same winter and spring vacations that the kids do.
We took one vacation every year, for about a week or two weeks, and then she was right back to work, whether school was in session or not. She did her job really well. This isn't a biased opinion either, because there's so much that she did very poorly, but teaching? She nailed it. She did extremely well.
We need to get rid of the standardized tests as some sort of proof that teachers are doing their job well. THAT is what is causing schools to fail. Our public schools are a joke, but the answer is not to cut their funding and spend more on private schools, the answer is to teach the teachers, as my mom was taught every summer for as many summer vacations as I can remember. It seems to me that it's no longer about the kids and their education, and every bit about money.
She would never have done what these teachers did, and even if I grew up with people who didn't break a single law in their entire life, (not even speeding), I do not agree that these teachers should be spending 20 years behind bars. I don't even agree with 7 years.
IF the teachers that were sentenced did in fact receive money by changing answers, or cheating in some other way, absolutely they should serve some time. I think a year in jail is appropriate, lose their job, never teach again, and pay serious fines. That alone would send the message. And can we PLEASE stop this nonsense of "No Child Left Behind"? It clearly is not working. We have kids graduating who don't know jack about history, science, math, how to spell a simple fricken word, (ie: it is NOT rEdiculous), or use proper grammar.
I clap with glee to see those teachers locked up. Nothing warms my heart more than to see corrupt teachers, fired and tossed into jail. I'm glad the judge had the courage to enforce the law and punish those teachers. Good job!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
