Michelle Rhee For Education Secretary!

[JoeKyleVol]

I worked in the Sumner County school system for over 5 years. Great people and great kids. Miss that place sometimes as I have moved on to pursue other opportunities. Sumner county is a great example of communities that would be irreparably harmed by charter schools and school vouchers, but what do we know.

What a coincedence! I also work for Sumner County Schools! It is absolutely a great school district to work for, and my school does a lot with our very limited resources. I am very proud of who I work for and with.

 

[T-TownVol]

I worked in the Sumner County school system for over 5 years. Great people and great kids. Miss that place sometimes as I have moved on to pursue other opportunities. Sumner county is a great example of communities that would be irreparably harmed by charter schools and school vouchers, but what do we know.

There you have it.......

 

[T-TownVol]

What a coincedence! I also work for Sumner County Schools! It is absolutely a great school district to work for, and my school does a lot with our very limited resources. I am very proud of who I work for and with.

typical

 

[NEO]

What a coincedence! I also work for Sumner County Schools! It is absolutely a great school district to work for, and my school does a lot with our very limited resources. I am very proud of who I work for and with.

How are the resources limited? Every time I turn around a new school is popping up? Not disagreeing. Just curious.

Also don't think vouchers hurt most of sumner county at all. Good pasture, Davidson, hca are the main options and many feel SC and Hendersonville are right on pace with them.

 

[JoeKyleVol]

How are the resources limited? Every time I turn around a new school is popping up? Not disagreeing. Just curious.

Also don't think vouchers hurt most of sumner county at all. Good pasture, Davidson, hca are the main options and many feel SC and Hendersonville are right on pace with them.

Well, my middle school has had over half of our computers "decommissioned," when we barely had enough for a single class per grade. We did receive one class set of ipads, but that nowhere near replaces the number of computers we are losing.

We don't have enough teachers to adequately teach all of our classes. One gym teacher had to start teaching math classes, and then teachers like myself (I teach Theater) have to teach some Gym classes because we lost 4 teachers to cuts two years ago.

We have lost almost all of our Fine Arts except for Band and my Theater class due to losing teachers (whether through retirement or being let go because of teacher-student ratio) and not being able to replace them.

In one of my classes, I don't even have enough desks for all of my students because there are 32 of them in there. I use stools and chairs just so they all have seats.

Those are some of the challenges I and my school face directly.

 

[T-TownVol]

I know.....they should add another administrator on a six figure salary to address these issues.....Ya....."THATS the TICKET"......

 

[JoeKyleVol]

I know.....they should add another administrator on a six figure salary to address these issues.....Ya....."THATS the TICKET"......

I know you are stating that in jest, but I did read a study in the past year that argued much of the cost of education has gone to an increasing number of administrative positions and those with larger salaries.

Although, I will say, I would NOT want to be a principal in today's school culture and perception. They have a really tough job that I certainly don't envy.

The solution to "fixing" schooos isn't necessarily just "more money" (although teachers should be paid better), but that certain practices need to be tweaked.

I, for one, believe we should revamp truancy laws and our disciplinary processes. Chronically disruptive students need a fast-track to an alternative setting so that those who are there to learn can actually do so without such distractions.

 

[Carl Pickens]

The problem is private schools don't have to follow the same rules public schools do and they can refuse and kick out students with ease. To remove a trouble-making student from a public school to an alternative setting takes loads of paperwork, documentation, interventions, etc. Not to mention the differences in standardized testing.

That system would be inherently unfair. If private schools can accept public funds they should be bound by the same expectations as public ones.

Pffffft spoken like a true educator..... I guess private schools should also be forced to offer tenure and keep the lazy good for nothing teachers too

 

[T-TownVol]

I know you are stating that in jest, but I did read a study in the past year that argued much of the cost of education has gone to an increasing number of administrative positions and those with larger salaries.

Although, I will say, I would NOT want to be a principal in today's school culture and perception. They have a really tough job that I certainly don't envy.

The solution to "fixing" schooos isn't necessarily just "more money" (although teachers should be paid better), but that certain practices need to be tweaked.

I, for one, believe we should revamp truancy laws and our disciplinary processes. Chronically disruptive students need a fast-track to an alternative setting so that those who are there to learn can actually do so without such distractions.

There is no "jest" in my statement.....

 

[JoeKyleVol]

There is no "jest" in my statement.....

My point being your sarcasm, with which I did agree. I was trying to agree with you, if that's okay.

 

[Orangedogsrule]

I know you are stating that in jest, but I did read a study in the past year that argued much of the cost of education has gone to an increasing number of administrative positions and those with larger salaries.

Although, I will say, I would NOT want to be a principal in today's school culture and perception. They have a really tough job that I certainly don't envy.

The solution to "fixing" schooos isn't necessarily just "more money" (although teachers should be paid better), but that certain practices need to be tweaked.

I, for one, believe we should revamp truancy laws and our disciplinary processes. Chronically disruptive students need a fast-track to an alternative setting so that those who are there to learn can actually do so without such distractions.

Whatever happened to all these $$$$$ for education from the Tennessee Lottery?

Gross instant ticket sales for fiscal year 2014 were $1.149 billion. Don't know what for other years, but good grief; shouldn't more be showing up for individual schools operating costs?

 

[JoeKyleVol]

Whatever happened to all these $$$$$ for education from the Tennessee Lottery?

Gross instant ticket sales for fiscal year 2014 were $1.149 billion. Don't know what for other years, but good grief; shouldn't more be showing up for individual schools operating costs?

It is my understanding that lottery revenues go to the HOPE scholarships, TN Promise, and also after-school programs, but not necessarily to school operating funds. I may be mistaken, but that is all it mentions on tn.gov and lottery sites.

 

[Orangedogsrule]

It is my understanding that lottery revenues go to the HOPE scholarships, TN Promise, and also after-school programs, but not necessarily to school operating funds. I may be mistaken, but that is all it mentions on tn.gov and lottery sites.

Considering the size of the lottery, one would think more would be available. Lots more. Especially after all the promises the state legislature made about how much it was going to help.
I'd like to see a list of all those promise vs. what the benefits actually are vs. actual $$$$ taken in.

 

[JoeKyleVol]

Considering the size of the lottery, one would think more would be available. Lots more. Especially after all the promises the state legislature made about how much it was going to help.
I'd like to see a list of all those promise vs. what the benefits actually are vs. actual $$$$ taken in.

I agree. And I think it's important to remember that I'm sure both you and I want what is best for our state's students and nation's kids, but that we might have different perspectives on how that is done.

I apologize to those in this thread that I got a little too heated with. I often tell my students that everyone wants what is good, but may disagree on how that is accomplished, so we must have patience and understanding with others. That is a lesson I need to better apply, myself.

I will say that what made me angry in this thread and influenced my inappropriate outburst is that all the public school teachers I know do what they do, not for the measly paycheck, but because they care about kids, our nation, and education, itself. Sure, there are a few bad apples among public school teachers, but they are the very rare exception rather than the rule.

All I desire is more understanding for our unsung heros of public school teachers, who often bear disproportionate blame for our nation's educational woes.

I will, in turn, extend greater patience and understanding to those with whom I disagree concerning things like vouchers and charter schools.

 

[Orangedogsrule]

So...getting back to education...

Should text books be greatly reduced in the sheer number of words in them? I truly believe much of the problem with some kids is getting past the sheer volumn of hoopla tucked in around the real meat of a topic.

https://www.edutopia.org/textbook-publishing-controversy

...sic..."Who writes these things?" people ask me. I have to tell them, without a hint of irony, "No one." It's symptomatic of the whole muddled mess that is the $4.3 billion textbook business.

Textbooks are a core part of the curriculum, as crucial to the teacher as a blueprint is to a carpenter, so one might assume they are conceived, researched, written, and published as unique contributions to advancing knowledge.

In fact, most of these books fall far short of their important role in the educational scheme of things. They are processed into existence using the pulp of what already exists, rising like swamp things from the compost of the past. The mulch is turned and tended by many layers of editors who scrub it of anything possibly objectionable before it is fed into a government-run "adoption" system that provides mediocre material to students of all ages."...

 

[Orangedogsrule]

And so, not using a textbook very much, ...my son's high school math teacher (who he didn't like very much by the way..."old dinosauruski" or something... anyway she, and all the other HS teachers got enough into a "strong willed child" that he got an academic full ride at UTK. The "Old Dino" so much so that he got every available point in calculus. All points from testing and quizzes. All points from homework, and all points the instructor let him "contract for" as extra credits. I don't know that public school teachers have near as much freedom to truly design their own syllabus as the private school instructors do, and those public school textbooks...

 

[mrorange211]

And so, not using a textbook very much, ...my son's high school math teacher (who he didn't like very much by the way..."old dinosauruski" or something... anyway she, and all the other HS teachers got enough into a "strong willed child" that he got an academic full ride at UTK. The "Old Dino" so much so that he got every available point in calculus. All points from testing and quizzes. All points from homework, and all points the instructor let him "contract for" as extra credits. I don't know that public school teachers have near as much freedom to truly design their own syllabus as the private school instructors do, and those public school textbooks...

Most of my teachers do not use the textbooks given to them by the district and have the autonomy to teach as they would like as long as their student perform on the state assessment. That in and of itself is an entirely different subject.

Also don't think vouchers hurt most of sumner county at all. Good pasture, Davidson, hca are the main options and many feel SC and Hendersonville are right on pace with them.

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I don't believe any of the schools you mentioned are charter schools.