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From what I've been told, they still haven't broken even on the first tram, 40+ years later. That's not corroborated by any evidence I've been able to find, though. Certainly wasn't a grand slam from an economic perspective.
I'd support a road tunnel connecting Sandia Park with Montgomery, Academy, or Paseo long before another tram.
From an economic perspective, Albuquerqueans collectively spend upwards of 450 million dollars every year on driving. It's one of people's main expenses next to housing, and often a primary cause of financial hardship.
40+ years later, the tram is still doing its thing, without significantly depreciating in value from each trip. And it certainly hasn't hurt the tourism industry. I'm sure it also kills less wildlife and pollutes less, and is a lot faster and more fun than driving to the top of the mountain, so I'd say while it may or may not be a grand slam economically, it certainly is in a quality of life perspective.
That being said, another top wish for Abq is a comprehensive attack on DWIs. There are multiple fronts to the issue and only one seems to be addressed - the idea that it's wrong and 'don't do it or else...' type of attitude. It works for some people, but alcohol is notorious for impairing judgement and good decision making skills to begin with.
Mix that with with a faulty transit structure which makes people feel stranded without their personal automobile and what do you get? The parking lots at bars aren't always empty and I'd be willing to bet less than half of those cars are being driven by designated drivers.
Last edited by abqpsychlist; 01-20-2012 at 12:30 AM..
doesn't better schools equal more parent involvement in their kids education? teachers/schools can only do so much.
I was thinking more along the lines of teachers who aren't convicted of burglary or DWI. Teachers who aren't caught taking pictures up little girls' skirts. Teachers who aren't handcuffing students with a disability to a chair. Not really sure how parents are responsible for that kind of teacher behavior? Source: all of the above stories have either been in the news or have been experienced by parents who I know personally.
One of my personal favorite experiences was when a teacher who was working on an octopus project looked at me and said (exact quote) "I really have no idea how many legs an octopus has." That level of inadequacy is unacceptable. Parents should be involved, but should not be expected to compensate for such steep shortcomings.
The solution in my opinion is twofold. First, APS is too big and should be divided into 3 or 4 smaller districts. Second, teachers should be held accountable. The good, effective teachers need to be rewarded with higher pay and other forms of recognition.
Last edited by marmom; 01-20-2012 at 08:12 AM..
Reason: Added an anecdote
I was thinking more along the lines of teachers who aren't convicted of...
Doesn't sound like you have any experience running a large organization. Painting the 99% of teachers with the sins of a tiny minority of degenerates and maladroits is a disservice to the teachers who do a good job in very difficult circumstances (including devoting a disproportionate amount of their time to instructing degenerates and maladroits who hopefully won't become teachers themselves someday).
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One of my personal favorite experiences was when a teacher who was working on an octopus project looked at me and said (exact quote) "I really have no idea how many legs an octopus has." That level of inadequacy is unacceptable. Parents should be involved, but should not be expected to compensate for such steep shortcomings.
I bet they didn't know the capital of Costa Rica or how to spell "onomatopoeia" either. Most of my contemporaries in 3rd grade and I considered ourselves smarter than the teacher but that doesn't mean they weren't qualified to teach us. Maybe you should start a roving vigilante quiz bowl squad, since haphazard trivia has got to be a more effective method than state-sponsored board certification and standards-based testing.
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The solution in my opinion is twofold. First, APS is too big and should be divided into 3 or 4 smaller districts.
Size correlates little with educational quality. APS ranks 28th behind far larger districts with far better aggregate and average performance. You've failed to demonstrate how adding additional superintendents and other bureaucratic positions is going to equate to superior educational quality.
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Second, teachers should be held accountable.
Teachers are, by and large, held accountable for their actions; I'm sure the litany of bad apples you listed earlier were given reprimands, suspensions, arrests, or other punishments, or it was determined that no wrong was actually done. Acknowledging that would gain you a fair bit of credibility. Listing examples of inadequate corrective actions would gain you even more.
To parrot on that they need to be held accountable sounds good, but it's merely a thinly veiled implication that they aren't, without proof. It's the sort of thing politicians say to get elected by people who don't pay attention or question authority.
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The good, effective teachers need to be rewarded with higher pay
How much pay is enough? Teachers today do far better than their counterparts 30 years ago.
Propose a metric to help us identify the good ones, because there is no test (not already in use) for bad teachers that identifies them ahead of time.
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and other forms of recognition.
I think most people agree with me that additional recognition should come directly from the parents who were impressed with the teachers their children learned from (Yes, I ended a sentence with a preposition, Mrs. Ironbutt from 3rd grade). Perhaps you'd be good enough to tell us an aggregate dollar total of gifts your household has given to your children's educators over the years to show the example you set.
I wish police would start handing out more tickets to bicyclists that don't obey the laws. In the last week I have seen 5 different cyclists blow throw red lights in downtown. And that is only by driving to and from work down 6th and 5th streets.
I wish police would start handing out more tickets to bicyclists that don't obey the laws. In the last week I have seen 5 different cyclists blow throw red lights in downtown. And that is only by driving to and from work down 6th and 5th streets.
Sure, but I'd say it's more important to hand out more tickets to automobile drivers who don't obey the laws. There's plenty of that to go around, and it's far more dangerous than the cyclists.
Sure, but I'd say it's more important to hand out more tickets to automobile drivers who don't obey the laws. There's plenty of that to go around, and it's far more dangerous than the cyclists.
Whatever. Break the law, get a ticket. Whether it is a car or a cyclist. I say the same thing with those talking on the phone while driving or any other issue.
Doesn't sound like you have any experience running a large organization. Painting the 99% of teachers with the sins of a tiny minority of degenerates and maladroits is a disservice to the teachers who do a good job in very difficult circumstances (including devoting a disproportionate amount of their time to instructing degenerates and maladroits who hopefully won't become teachers themselves someday).
I didn't say or even imply that 99% of teachers are predators or criminals. Because I point out that there outrageous incidents occurring within APS does not mean that I am required to applaud those who do their job well. Drawing attention to a negative aspect of an organization is not a disservice to positive aspects of the same organization.
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Originally Posted by Zoidberg
I bet they didn't know the capital of Costa Rica or how to spell "onomatopoeia" either. Most of my contemporaries in 3rd grade and I considered ourselves smarter than the teacher but that doesn't mean they weren't qualified to teach us. Maybe you should start a roving vigilante quiz bowl squad, since haphazard trivia has got to be a more effective method than state-sponsored board certification and standards-based testing.
It is reasonable to expect that when a teacher is leading a lesson / project on a given topic, that they will know the basics of the topic.
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Originally Posted by Zoidberg
Size correlates little with educational quality. APS ranks 28th behind far larger districts with far better aggregate and average performance. You've failed to demonstrate how adding additional superintendents and other bureaucratic positions is going to equate to superior educational quality.
You might have a valid point here. The reason I would like to see APS split is so that parents in Albuquerque have more than one option for public education. If one of the districts excelled, parents could move into that district rather than having to leave the city altogether to find better public education.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoidberg
Teachers are, by and large, held accountable for their actions; I'm sure the litany of bad apples you listed earlier were given reprimands, suspensions, arrests, or other punishments, or it was determined that no wrong was actually done. Acknowledging that would gain you a fair bit of credibility. Listing examples of inadequate corrective actions would gain you even more.
To parrot on that they need to be held accountable sounds good, but it's merely a thinly veiled implication that they aren't, without proof. It's the sort of thing politicians say to get elected by people who don't pay attention or question authority.
I was referring to holding teachers accountable for outcomes with students. If a teacher is ineffective, there needs to be an easier way of replacing them with someone who is effective. As I understand the current system, union rules make it prohibitively difficult to fire someone simply for being a crappy teacher.
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Originally Posted by Zoidberg
How much pay is enough? Teachers today do far better than their counterparts 30 years ago.
The fact that teachers do far better today than 30 years ago does not mean that they are adequately compensated. There should be an opportunity for teachers to increase their pay based on merit rather than the current system where longevity = pay raise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoidberg
Propose a metric to help us identify the good ones, because there is no test (not already in use) for bad teachers that identifies them ahead of time.
It's true that it would be difficult or impossible to predict who will be a bad teacher. However if teachers could be fired for being bad teachers, that would help the situation immensely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoidberg
I think most people agree with me that additional recognition should come directly from the parents who were impressed with the teachers their children learned from (Yes, I ended a sentence with a preposition, Mrs. Ironbutt from 3rd grade). Perhaps you'd be good enough to tell us an aggregate dollar total of gifts your household has given to your children's educators over the years to show the example you set.
My oldest child is in preschool, and I do shower her teacher with recognition and gifts (can you really put a dollar amount on warm, fresh, made from scratch blueberry streusel muffins?).
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