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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Those damned scores

What's Mallard raving about today?

Schools, Grades.

In a general sense, of course this is idiotic. But, since school funding is now largely performance-based, schools are doing the rational thing and finding ways to insure their funding.

Sorry, Mallard, this is what happens when free market principles are applied to schools as a result of Republican policies. Unintended consequences, indeed.

14 comments:

Tog said...

We should shut down schools, increase class sizes, and slash the salaries of the few teachers we'd have left! That'd show those socialist turds who's in charge!!

...What? The students?!? SCREW them! Haw!

Iron Dragon said...

On the one hand, I have to actually side with Tinsley, the schools doing this are doing a disservice to their students and to the american workforce. Conversely, as was pointed out due to the link of school funding to the number of graduates and people going on to the next grade schools fearing budget cuts push students to the next grade for fear that if they don't things will get worse.

If Tinsley seriously wanted to fight for schools and educational standards why not complain about the illogical aspects of no child left behind? Why not argue that schools should be a priority in funding in terms of dollars per child as well as updating out of date books and computers? Or at least why not argue options for vocational training in schools?

Neo Tuxedo said...

Iron Dragon skrev:

If Tinsley seriously wanted to fight for schools and educational standards

(strikes Phoenix Wright pose) OBJECTION! Assumes facts not in evidence!

Steve-O said...

There's only one solution to this problem, vouchers! Because you know if only those inner-city kids could just get some Jesus!

Kip W said...

Tin's willing to go along with whatever it takes to reduce the size of education enough to drown it in the bathtub and replace it with compulsory home schooling. That way, Mom's gotta stay home all day instead of messing with the workplace -- a win-win-win-win... well, counting is for elitists anyway.

Michael Foley said...

Why, when I graduated high school, I had "65%" dangling from my mortarboard!

dlauthor said...

Tinshley's just upset because if they'd just done this thirty years ago, he might have made it past the ninth grade.

I do love the "40%" just sorta hanging there next to the weirdly framed student. It's just so incredibly half-assed. Or two-fifths-assed, I guess.

Factinista said...

So "some states" are doing this, are they?Kinda reminds me of Fox News' tried-and-true source for information, "some people."

exanonymous said...

Huh, he thinks 40% is outrageous?

It's generally 50% in Europe.

It's just a percentage though. It does not reveal either quantity nor quality of knowledge obtained to get the 40%.

But isn't he of the bootstraps crowd anyways? He and many others seem to think that slip of paper that certifies public provided knowledge is worthless but boy do they get worked up when they hear it's being handed out for less. It's required to get most jobs, so isn't it better that more people are graduating with the qualifications to work?

Kaitlyn said...

They've already done this on state tests for NCLB results.

The threshold for passing is 50 questions right, say. Well, too many get just 40 right.

So next year, the threshold is dropped to 40.

And you know the worst fucking part of NCLB? The poor schools that perform the worst get PUNISHED and get less funds, while the rich schools (if you have trouble with tests, you can afford a tutor) do well and get more money.

Fucity fuck fuck! A kid in bumfuck NM deserves as good a public education as one in Manhattan!

Grumble grumble, do you know France centralizes their schools? The poor areas and rich ones get the same things. Oh well, socialism.

What I hate is the discrepancy within districts! My high school is title one, broke as a joke. My mom works at another high school in the county - oodles of money, not title one, snobby. Both public schools.

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY?

I don't even want kids, so since I'm in college, I shouldn't give a damn about schools. But I do. Tax me, but give me healthcare and give my younger countrymen a good education, not useless wars on ideas.

David in NYC said...

A kid in bumfuck NM deserves as good a public education as one in Manhattan!

Actually, that kid in bumfuck NM (around here, we would probably place bumfuck in NJ) is probably getting at least as good an education, if not better (if we restrict this to public schools), than the kid in Manhattan.

You see, in its infinite wisdom, the New York State courts have held that NYC schools don't actually need all the funds they have not received (and it is quite a lot) because the funding formulas grossly shortchanged the NYC public schools.

The Campaign for Fiscal Equity won multiple lawsuits and appeals wherein they claimed that underfunding NYC schools denied NYC students of their constitutional rights. (original case: Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. v. State, 86 N.Y.2d 306 (1995))

At one point, the court ruled that students in NYC were only entitled to an "eighth grade education" (2002). Despite the fact that CFE has continued to prevail in court, and the State legislature passed a law mandating payment of up to $9.2 billion in annual operating expenses and $4.7 to $5.63 billion in capital funds, the City has yet to receive these funds.

IIRC, one of the judges in the 2002 ruling observed that (paraphrasing) "somebody has to work at Taco Bell".

Kip W said...

Friday: This is cute. Yes, 40% is indeed bigger than the number that represents Bush's inalienable supporters. Odd you'd choose to remind us of that.

Kaitlyn said...

Wavydavy - my mom grew up in a town near bumfuck NM, and even for its time, got a bad education. (College wasn't mentioned at all.)

I was reaching for some rich place.

That fucking sucks. Why can't we fund our damn schools?

David in NYC said...

@Kaitlyn --

That's the question that always puzzles me, All this "the children are our future" and "teaching is the most important profession" et al. goes out the window as soon as it affects the ol' pocketbook. I mean, when was the last time you heard of a school tax increase that was actually supported by voters.

What really galls me about the CFE case is that the relevant NYState officials, from Pataki on down, never even bothered to pretend that they were concerned about NYC students. It was, apparently, just assumed that this was a natural state of affairs.