The Virginian-Pilot
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NORFOLK
Members of the Norfolk Federation of Teachers along with parents and community members are set to rally this morning at City Hall for increased school funding by the City Council.
The council is scheduled to vote on Norfolk’s proposed $1.1 billion budget for next fiscal year at a 2:30 p.m. meeting today. The rally is scheduled for 6:15 a.m. at 810 Union St. For information, call federation President Marian Flickinger at (757) 623-1246.
The School Board proposed a $307 million budget for next year that asks the council to spend $5.7 million more for education than it currently provides. The council is considered unlikely to fully fund that request. The budget's fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2011.
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Thanks NPS teachers.
You prepared my kids for higher education and they graduated from highly ranked universities.
Amazing
im amazed at alot of these comments...im trying to get an understanding. So only private school kids are smart & make something of themselves??????
Well...
No one said ONLY private schools "private school kids are smart & make something of themselves". However, private schools are the only ones to hold BOTH parents and the kids responsible for their own academic success. In some schools ALL parents must contribute a minimum # of hours toward volunteering for the school...or they must pay a certain $ per hour missed. Kids must do homework...real homework, not worksheets run off the copier. Kids will not talk back and if they do, there is real repercussions...staying after school, extra work, etc. In public school, there is not always consequences for actions...or there is a cute little "time out" room for them to go to. Private schools are still teaching grammar...nouns, verbs, etc. In public school, kids learn about "action words" and "describing words". In private school, kids don't have to be "approved" or put into a special "gifted program". If a child is showing promise in a higher level, they get the higher level. The list goes on and on. Basically it is an accountability issue...at NPS there is none.
We mock those in the public
We mock those in the public eye as "elitist" when they have advanced degrees like a masters, JDs, PhDs....
We call colleges and universities the perjorative "ivy tower"....
We idolize "common sense" and "folksy" thinking, and see it as better than informed, rational thinking....
We appeal to sensationalism and emotion instead of complex, logical arguments in the public discussions on issues....
Movie & TV sales and viewing continue to grow, where book sales fall and fall....
And then we wonder why our children don't see the importance of education.
Advanced degrees
Over the course of my lifetime and my life experiences I've seen that "education" doesn't always equate to knowledge. I'm exposed everyday to people in the United States who have tons and tons of education (hence degreed) but very little, if any, knowledge. To include common sense. Kinda like the old joke about the young, degreed store clerk just starting out who was asked by the store owner to sweep the floor. The young, educated man replied "I'll have you know sir that I have a degree". To which the owner replied "well then, guess I don't have to show you how to use the broom". Education institutions appear lacking in every facet except passing out degrees.
The over riding problem with edcation in america
Is that it is free. We value what we work and sacrifice to get. People must get in the mindset that free, in the case of education, does not mean worthless. Free education is priceless.
Education is not free...
there is no doubt about that! What I don't understand is why parents are not supposed to contribute one dime to his/her child's education. There should be book fees, technology fees, and imagine this one: they should have to pay for ALL the kid's school supplies and field trips. While I'll give you that taxes HELP pay for education, it is simply not enough! It is so wrong when I see a teacher buying pencils, pens, and paper for the kids in the classroom! Pitiful! They are the last people who should have to buy our kids supplies! I am so tired of the "some people can't afford..." cr@p! Then they proceed to make calls on the expensive cell phones! It is your kids...pay for them! Maybe then the schools would have more money for the bigger stuff!
easy targets
Educators are easy targets because they are paid with tax dollars and because their collective job performance is on public display. My fellow conservatives believe schools should be treated like a business but the main flaw with this thinking is that public schools have no control over their raw materials, i.e. students. Private schools do and have understandably better results. Frankly, in most cases if a public school 'produces' an illiterate the fault lies with the parents in most cases. Students arrive at kindergarten not knowing their colors, how to count, how to tie their shoes, etc. This is not the schools' fault. The fact is that, relative to other Western countries, our teachers are underpaid and horribly disrespected. In continental Europe being a teacher is considered an honorable, highly skilled profession and they are paid accordingly. In the States, we pay teachers terrible wages and subject them to constant public flagellation and wonder why the best and brightest aren't attracted to the profession.
conservative
oh so being disgusted with the education systems performance is a conservative thing huh? As to your snide remark about what the children know and don't know that sad thing is 12 year and over a hundred thousand dollars later they don't seem to know much more. Oh and Im sick of this its the parents cop out too. YOU EDUCATED THEM TOO !
assume much?
I'm in the Army. The only people I've educated are fellow soldiers and my children. My toddler is still a couple of years away from going to school and knows how to count, his colors, the alphabet and other skills to enable him to succeed once he does go to school. Why? Because I believe it's my resonsibility to teach him and because I take the time to do so. It isn't a cop out to demand that parents assume some of the responsibility of educating their own children.
And, no, being disgusted with the education system isn't a conservative thing but trying to treat schools like businesses is. That was the point of my remark.
I am a product of public schools. The teachers are, as a group, more than adequate, but if neither the students nor the parents are concerned with whether students learn there isn't much the teachers can do.