Messed up education?

We ask a lot of our teachers and professionals and yet they are still treated very badly by dysfunctional administrations. Our local big school district has dropped from 100,000 students to 27,000 and at this rate, with the issues shown in this article, they are going to have even fewer. I feel so sorry for her and the constant disruption in her attempts to do her job. Note that the very large stipends had no real effect on her staying since the district could never stabilize.

http://www.indy.education/blog/2018/...is-leaving-ips

My observation--as a completely uninvolved civilian--is that from ed school on, the game is to layer all kinds of high-flown (mostly obfuscatory) language to conceal the fact that no one really knows what they're doing, and every year, it seems, someone else is in charge and generates even more meaningless paperwork and a tidal wave of edu-speak. Governments seem to be in on the game--No Child Left Behind, anyone?. Am I completely off base here? Why can't teachers just teach?

That's such a shame. When I read about these crazy dysfunctional school administrations, I think about Laura Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie.. and wonder why education has to be so darned complicated??? And I think about my own square-peg-in-round-hole son who simply defied fitting in to the mainstream and was punished for it. So for all the crazy rules and curricula and job titles in the public school system, there are so many kids that are under-served and who deserve better.

Catherine: have you heard this one? http://www.wdsu.com/article/associat...award/21923286

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Originally Posted by sweetana3

Catherine: have you heard this one? http://www.wdsu.com/article/associat...award/21923286

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Funny--I just read it!! Bummer. She was such a simple-living inspiration for me. I remember watching Little House on the Prairie on our black-and-white TV in the 80s, and being mesmerized by it. I do think, to Alan's point on another thread, while some things aren't tolerable today, there is a historical context that we shouldn't ignore. I would hate to see generations deprived of those books because of a sentiment that was wrong, but not intentionally so.

I was very sad to read that about LIW. A number of people want to whitewash history and ignore the unpleasant stuff. What’s the quote - those who forget history are doomed to repeat it?

No one is stopping anyone from reading Little House books. It is just an Award. Renamed.

I have several thoughts about this.

I think it is, in general, a good thing to re-title awards when the old names symbolize outdated and sometimes obscure people. Not saying this is LIW necessarily, but I dont know how popular Little House books are now. I see this happen over and over in plant societies and elsewhere when awards are named after long dead people who I never knew. That makes the awarding organization seem stuffy and irrelevant.

I think it is a bad thing, in general, to attempt to purify our world from historical events and issues that we find unpleasant today.

On the topic of LIW, I am sure this action of the ALA upset many librarians of my age where she has hero-icon status. Me, I was bored by the Little House books as a kid, had to read them since I read voraciously and our town library was small, and then I had to sit and listen to them being read by second and third grade teachers. It was quite enough of LIW. I live in LIW country now, with her memorial place 4 hours away.

I loved the Little House books, even had a calico dress and bonnet my grandmother made for me. However I am for changing when we need changing.

A little off topic maybe but the fastest growing neighborhood in Denver is named after the airport that used to be there, Stapleton, and that was named after a Denver politician who was a KKK member apparently. Not a secret from what I understand. So many people want to change the name, and some people don't. I talked with a person who really thought that history should be history and things should not be changed. Well they do, and if a neighborhood well over 50 % black does not want to use the name of a KKK member then they get the option to make that change.

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Originally Posted by sweetana3

We ask a lot of our teachers and professionals and yet they are still treated very badly by dysfunctional administrations. Our local big school district has dropped from 100,000 students to 27,000 and at this rate, with the issues shown in this article, they are going to have even fewer. I feel so sorry for her and the constant disruption in her attempts to do her job. Note that the very large stipends had no real effect on her staying since the district could never stabilize.

http://www.indy.education/blog/2018/...is-leaving-ips

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I feel for her, I have seen this happen but not as extreme. It is a real heartbreaker when you want to grow in your skills and when you understand the growth that can come from longer relationships with students. And just total chaos! Really, no one can do their job effectively because they are not sure even what it is, or what to prepare for. It especially hit me that she spent the summer writing lesson plans for a grade she didn't end up teaching, that is what teachers do over the summer in reality.

A real reason for me to get out in general. The OST world is a little more stable but I see the lowest performing districts are constantly changing in order to try and address things while other districts have teachers that stay for decades and have stability all over, This includes funding of course.

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Originally Posted by Zoe Girl

I feel for her, I have seen this happen but not as extreme. It is a real heartbreaker when you want to grow in your skills and when you understand the growth that can come from longer relationships with students. And just total chaos! Really, no one can do their job effectively because they are not sure even what it is, or what to prepare for. It especially hit me that she spent the summer writing lesson plans for a grade she didn't end up teaching, that is what teachers do over the summer in reality.

A real reason for me to get out in general. The OST world is a little more stable but I see the lowest performing districts are constantly changing in order to try and address things while other districts have teachers that stay for decades and have stability all over, This includes funding of course.

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What is “OST?”

As the main music buyer for a large library system, I know it as Original Sound Track. But I have no idea what you are talking about.

Oops, out of school time, all the before and after and summer providers

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Originally Posted by JaneV2.0

My observation--as a completely uninvolved civilian--is that from ed school on, the game is to layer all kinds of high-flown (mostly obfuscatory) language to conceal the fact that no one really knows what they're doing, and every year, it seems, someone else is in charge and generates even more meaningless paperwork and a tidal wave of edu-speak. Governments seem to be in on the game--No Child Left Behind, anyone?. Am I completely off base here? Why can't teachers just teach?

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We decided to opt out of the whole mess by going to private school.

For our inner city, the vouchers and charter schools offer the opportunity to do that for those who cannot afford private schools. Lotteries are used for "popular" schools, ie good schools. How can anyone gamble on their child's education?

I never liked the Little House books (seemed a bit preachy to me) but as a librarian I know they are dear to many hearts.
The ALA is infamous for poor award choices (Have you seen the list if Caldecott winners? Ugh.)

I had an issue as a parent of highly sensitive kids about some of the elementary books like The Giver. Seems like that could be a choice bopk instead of required in case your child would have a really hard time with it. Handling issues like death and dying in public schools which wre moving towards less and less empathy and more towards testing seems like a bad combo