Comments on: Top 10 politically incorrect reasons our schools are failing

By: Eric

Eric — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:30:00 +0000

99 are CLUELESS when it comes to what a teacher must do to be successful. And many teachers are tired of doing it for mere pennies. In so many schools teachers = Day Care. It is NOT up to teacher to teach our children RESPONSIBILITY, RESPECT, and MANNERS. It is the PARENTS! It helps if a child has ADULTS for Parents. And the responsibility of behavior issues of any child falls directly on that child parental units, NOT their teachers.

EVERY PARENT should be REQUIRED to be a substitute Teacher 3-5 days every school year. Just the tip of the ice-berg, it would at least give each parent a clue as to what goes on in a classroom…

In one school… DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR FORMS
A Great thing! As a sub, I would take several to my assigned class, hold them up for the students to identify, and they all paid attention and behaved well! Why??? Each form in triplicate: 1 home with student, 1 to students file and 1 MAILED to the parents. There were several things which got a student an auto-DBForm.Throwing anything, talking back to the teacher, hitting another person, etc… When the 3rd Form was given – the child was EXPELLED for 3 Days AND a parent had to come and set IN CLASS for an entire day to get their child back in school. THIS GOT PARENTS INVOLVED in their child’s up-bringing as they had to not only get child care for 3 days (elementary school) but they ALSO had to take a day off from work and set in class an entire day or keep their child at home!!! Ya wanna PLAY and have children, ya gotta PAY! But the rewards can be GREAT too!

By: rrrrrr

rrrrrr — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:55:44 +0000

even though some points (which are stated in incredibly wast way) are true.. boy, oh boy, you must be one BORING person to be around

By: Steve22

Steve22 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:23:28 +0000

Good point, overpaid lazy employees doing substandard work aren’t the only things unionized employees from GM and schools have in common. The schools and GM both need to just declare bankruptcy and start over.

By: Jerome

Jerome — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:18:52 +0000

In Japan they are studying for tests literally every day they are in school and most of their effort is devoted towards them. They spend a fraction of the money we do on education and simply focus on the basics (math, science, grammar) and leave the fluff out. Another huge difference we have with Japan is the parents make the kids do homework, and take interest in them getting A’s.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:55:39 +0000

I must agree with most of the causes you listed, but I was glad to read that you were joking on most of the solutions. I work in the school system as a computer tech, and see many of these problems.

Oddly missing from your list is the new government focus on testing. They use the test scores for teachers raises and to determine how much funding a school gets. These “standard tests” are poorly created and make teachers focus only on what is on the test and force them to leave out a lot of good useful information kids need. Also the idea that a school with low test grades gets less funding is insane, that starts a cycle in which the kids suffer.

Handicapped kids do raise costs for the school, but they still deserve an education, separate them to other classes or schools would help the kids in normal school some, but would cost more tax money in the end.

By: noahsmom

noahsmom — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:00:18 +0000

I have to say, Aleksey, you are a complete disgrace to your generation. You claim to be so educated, yet your grammar is so poor. Maybe you should be less critical of these so called “stupid kids” since you seem to be one of them.
Also, your views on disabled children and abortion are disturbing. I am thankful you are in New York and nowhere near my children. It is kids like you that put fear in my heart regarding our country’s future. You need some mental help and I pray your parents recognize this.

By: Emmeline

Emmeline — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:43:11 +0000

I read this article as far as the comments on children with special needs. I couldn’t at that point continue. What I can not believe is that in these supposedly enlightened times, somebody is saying that the additional assistance given to children who are mentally disabled is causing failure in our school systems. That is about the weakest argument I have ever heard!
It is very easy to state that us individuals who are highly intelligent somehow have anything other than luck to thank for that fact. Whether or not you have special needs is merely an accident of birth. Surely assisting children to make the best of themselves and their lives is something that as a society we should do, if not because we are decent people, but because encouraging inprovement and independence will save additional cost at a later date.
To Aleksey, you are a sad, narrow-minded individual who is to be pitied for their lack of humanity, decency and thought rather than reviled for being scum.

By: Ivan

Ivan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:37:34 +0000

“give financial incentives for interracial marriages (if we all are semi-asian, semi-black, semi-white, semi-hispanic and kinda everything there will pretty much be just one race.”
Now there’s a solution to race problems!
Love it!
Many salient points in this post, and kids and schools are much the same as when I failed miserably at it, thirty-five years ago. If my parents had opted for the trade school option (here they were for the ‘slow’ and ‘difficult’), I probably would have finished high school.
Critics of grammar, etc., remember the new school mantra is ‘ Let the kid express himself, spelling and grammar aren’t that important’. In today’s society, people are discouraged from being intelligent, and are encouraged to join the ‘lowest common denominator’ club. Excellence causes isolation, and criticism from the herd.

By: Farmer

Farmer — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:17:48 +0000

Ummmm, since when is the time a person commutes to and from work considered time spent at work? The way I see it, Nemo’s only spent 7 1/3 hrs on the job… and that’s if he/she hasn’t taken lunch or breaks. Which would reduce his/her time to 6 1/3 hrs.

By: Nemo

Nemo — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:25:35 +0000

“Parents are working until five so teachers and kids should be putting in a full day too.”
I’m a middle school student and I wake up at 6, hop on the bus at 6:45, and arrive at school when the clock strikes 7 AM. I get out at 2:20. That’s 8 1/3 hours, a bit more time than a “full day” of work. Do your homework before you speak, in the meantime, you’re grounded. Go to your room.