The Blob That Ate Children

"The Blob That Ate Children
By John Stossel - March 20, 2013

Shortly after I did my first TV special on education, "Stupid in America," hundreds of union teachers showed up outside my office to yell at me. They were angry because I said union rules were a big reason American kids don't learn.

The union is a big reason kids don't like school and learn less. Union contracts limit flexibility, limit promotion of good teachers, waste money and make it hard for principals to fire even terrible teachers.

But I was wrong to imply that the union is the biggest problem. In states with weak unions, K-12 schools stagnate, too."................

http://www.unionleader.com/article/2013 ... /130329710

The counterpoint? Texas doesn't have union teachers and their schools are about the same. Of course, Texas has to assimilate many more non-English pseaking minorities than the national average.

FredHayek wrote: The counterpoint? Texas doesn't have union teachers and their schools are about the same. Of course, Texas has to assimilate many more non-English pseaking minorities than the national average.

Counterpoint to what? That was his point.


"But I was wrong to imply that the union is the biggest problem. In states with weak unions, K-12 schools stagnate, too."................

OK,
I had seen the Stossel special and thought that was what this thread was about. I think schools are bad for a bunch of reasons, unions, parents who don't care, parents who care too much, zero tolerance policies, school bureacracies, school boards, department of education meddling.

What would I like to see? Competiton with private schools, vouchers, trade high schools offered. School/Intern split days so students could get an education in the morning and real life experience in the afternoon.

"March 22, 2013 11:50AM

School Board Votes to Shutter Three of California’s Top Schools
By

Andrew J. Coulson
On Wednesday, the Oakland school board voted 4–3 to close three of California’s highest performing schools: the American Indian Model (AIM) charter schools. When Ben Chavis took over the American Indian Public Charter School just over a decade ago, it was the worst peformer in Oakland—an utter shambles. Today, it and the two sister schools Chavis created are among the highest-performing in the entire state. I know—I did the math. In a 2011 study comparing the performance of all of California’s charter school networks, I found that AIM was #1 by a wide margin. For contrast, I included in the study two of the state’s most"......................

http://www.cato.org/blog/three-californ ... Liberty%29

Very sad. Punish success, reward failure.

Blazer Bob wrote: "March 22, 2013 11:50AM

School Board Votes to Shutter Three of California’s Top Schools
By

Andrew J. Coulson
On Wednesday, the Oakland school board voted 4–3 to close three of California’s highest performing schools: the American Indian Model (AIM) charter schools. When Ben Chavis took over the American Indian Public Charter School just over a decade ago, it was the worst peformer in Oakland—an utter shambles. Today, it and the two sister schools Chavis created are among the highest-performing in the entire state. I know—I did the math. In a 2011 study comparing the performance of all of California’s charter school networks, I found that AIM was #1 by a wide margin. For contrast, I included in the study two of the state’s most"......................

http://www.cato.org/blog/three-californ ... Liberty%29

They were charter schools it's no wonder they were first to close.