Blackwater Writing Project

June 28, 2006

Short Articles of Intrest

What do you guys think?
CNN
Teachers paying teachers

posted by lc at 7:50 PM

5 Comments:

  • I think it might work with enough brave teachers on board. But I'm not one brave enough to try it first.

    By Blogger Diana Chartier, at 9:39 AM  

  • Wow! The CNN article just riled me! Especially this quote, "Whether schools and their administrators are lying or cheating, or they're simply incompetent, matters little." I will readily admit that some teachers do not perform to the standard they should, but this blanket statement makes it sound s if we are all morons! We do need more teachers that teach because they want to, and we do need stricter discipline in our schools, but to compare today's students to students of forty years ago and not take into consideration the changes in family and lifestyle, well you do the math. Teachers can only teach so much if students are given no discipline or motivation from home. I'm not one of those teachers that expects students to come to school fully educated; I know that's my job, but if I reprimand a child and his/her mother shows no support for my decision, I have lost all credibility and authority in the eyes of that student. Parents do not have to be overly involved or interested to teach their children that school is a place to learn and that certain things are and are not acceptable in that setting. The idea that teachers, schools, and the government must reform education is worthless if parents are not willing to support the education system. Will everyone? No, but you'll also never get rid of the teachers that went into it for the summer off. But, if there were a few more good teachers and a few more good parents and a lot more administrators will the ability to appropriately discipline students we might see a change.

    As for "Teachers Paying Teachers"-sounds good, looks scammy, maybe, but not now.

    By Blogger blindsi, at 1:46 PM  

  • Ladies,

    I think you're overreacting to that particular sentence. If your administration covers up failures (by graduating unqualified students, for example) then they do you harm in the long, but more importantly they hurt the kids. Lou has a lot of good ideas. His call to eliminate music and art from elementary education should have gotten you much more riled up! That just shows how important lessons like Lisa's are going to be in the future. Take away art, recess, and music, and Kim's ideas on engagement become critical. Paying teachers well and expecting a lot is a good idea. So is financing higher education at whatever cost necessary.

    My two cents: do whatever you wish, but until parents step up and take back responsibility for their children, we will not be fully effective. I hate the idea of legislating such stuff, but it really is becoming an epidemic in the poor community.

    By Blogger Fisher, at 5:24 PM  

  • Oh, and the teachers paying teachers.....nice, poor teachers now have to pay for the help of peers...where is our sense of community and mutual support? Is it about the kids or is it really all about the benjamins??

    By Blogger Fisher, at 5:25 PM  

  • OKay Jason, I agree with what you said about art, recess, etc., and those points riled me too, but I was too ill to be prolific when I posted. : ) I guess my biggest problem was the overall tone of the article, and the fact that people blast educators all the time for what, as you said, is a community problem. But who gets the blame? We do. In my frustration over the article I wrote to Dobbs. The following is my message and his response:

    -----Original Message-----
    From: blindsi@hotmail.com [mailto:blindsi@hotmail.com]
    Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 2:41 PM
    To: Lou Dobbs Tonight
    Subject: Lou Dobbs Tonight

    Name: Lindsi Elliott
    City: Valdosta
    State: Georgia
    Zip: 31602
    Country: United States
    Phone:
    Coming from: TV
    Subject: $subject
    View: Negative
    Webaddress:
    Comments:
    In your article, "No summer vacation for our failing schools," you move
    from claiming that "we all bear responsibility for failing an entire
    generation of students" at the beginning of your piece to hypothesizing
    on whether or not schools and administrators are "simply incompetent."
    Were you trying to ease the blow for educators with your opening
    statements, or did you believe we weren't intelligent enough to respond
    to your remarks? You are correct in stating that we need more qualified
    teachers, but you did not give credit to the thousands of very educated
    and capable teachers we already have in our schools. You also did not
    take into consideration the number of variables involved in this
    equation; instead, you make it sound as if you cannot understand why we
    educators don't just fix things so everyone can earn higher wages and
    live happily ever after. If you have the answers Mr. Dobbs, please join
    the educational field and show us where the money is and how to get our
    par!
    ents and communities involved; solve our problems. If you are not in
    the classroom and do not work with or know our students, please do not
    assume that you have a quick fix. I assure you, if there were one, even
    we "incompetents" would recognize it.


    Lou Dobbs wrote:
    I assure you I wasn't trying to "ease the blow" at all....and
    interestingly, you take out of context my use of "simply incompetent,"
    in reference specifically to the reporting of graduation rates. Why
    weren't you as offended by "lying and cheating?" And please don't think
    that because our educational crisis can't be solved easily that there is
    any reason whatsoever not to begin the effort. And that's what this is
    all about...like war and generals, education is too important to be left
    to educators....and far too important to permit the status quo to
    persist. All the best. lou

    By Blogger blindsi, at 7:59 PM  

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