Okay, now I'm just confused

[heidi]

We got this 'republican party census document' because aaron once donated to a colleague who was running for the statehouse as a Republican, and here are two of the questions:

1. Do you support Bush's plan to make our schools more accountable to parents and to restore local control of education?

3. Do you agree that teaching our children to read and increasing literacy rates should be a national priority?

Um, wouldn't local control mitigate the federal government's ability to make teaching kids to read a national priority, especially given this regime's underfunding problem with education laws?

Comments

[aome.livejournal.com]

We got a political survey on the phone the other day; I don't know if it was really neutral or if it was representing a particular candidate, but most of the questions were asked about each man, evenly.

However, I gave pause to this one:

"Do you feel President Bush is strong enough to lead the war in Iraq?"

Strong enough to do WHAT? I think he's strong enough to make decisions. But it doesn't mean I'm going to LIKE the decisions.

What a stupidly phrased question.

[ceilidh]

More accountable to parents? Sorry, but a large chunk of parents, at least the ones I work with, are more concerned with how many kids their kids can beat up, or how they can blame the teachers for what their kids do wrong, or whether their art is in the biggest frame at the art show, or whether their kid is on the front row in the concert (everyone can't be on the front!) than whether or not their kid can read or do math facts or spell their own name. :-l

(I know all parents aren't like this, but it really feels like it right now given my current work situation.)

[ceilidh]

Oh and if Bush wanted to restore local control of education, wtf did he take it away in the first place? *smites*

[snapefantasy.livejournal.com]

From the standpoint of the child of an educator....It should be the other way around. Parents should be more accountable to the school. I remember hearing my mother cry over late night phone calls, where parents would bitch at HER about their child's low grade. The parents could never answer her questions about if they knew their child had not turned in the weekly assignments, nor did they understand that their "lil angel" was to do a weekly reading out of their Lit book. (8th grade "Language Arts" or English class)
Instead the blame always falls on the teacher or the school system.

While, the school I went to was certainly lacking...in many areas; I made it worse by not doing the assignments given to me. My fault, not the teachers.

Mind you, I'm not saying that some schools need to be brought up to par. But in cases such as...in Cincinnati, where they vote weather or not tax dollars go to schools..it's a matter of funding. Here in Indiana, a portion of your property tax goes automaticly to the school system, in which you live.

[snapefantasy.livejournal.com]

Mind you, I'm not saying that some schools need to be brought up to par.
Yes...I have a sinus infection and not typing properly today! that should say.... I'm not saying that some schools don't need to be brought up to par.

say what?

[metallumai.livejournal.com]

This one confuses me:

3. "Do you agree that teaching our children to read any increasing literacy rates should be a national priority?"

As a beta reader and a schoolteacher,I wonder: what are they trying to say here? Do they want us to teach children to read literacy rates? Obviously they should only read the increasing ones.... Must be important to consider making it a national priority. "What?? My child can't read increasing literacy rates?? OH NO!!...um, what's a literacy rate, and how do you read one?"

Inscrutable, these Republicans....

Re: say what?

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

My bad typing. It should've read "and", not "any." But the sentence still doesn't read well. Wiggy.

Re: say what?

[aegeus.livejournal.com]

... did you just say "wiggy"?

Re: say what?

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Why, yes, I did. I am old, aren't I?

Re: say what?

[metallumai.livejournal.com]

Ah well. Never mind-- I've become quite attached to "any". :D

This puts me back to agreeing with the other comments: kids read better when they see their parents doing it. The President doesn't have a whole lot to do with it....

The funding thing, of course, could be better, but having worked in inner-city schools almost all my career, I have come to the conclusion that the money is secondary. As long as kids think it's "white" to know things and cool to flunk out, and their parents let them think that, they'll stay stupid.

Re: say what?

[goldie-black.livejournal.com]

"As long as kids think it's "white" to know things and cool to flunk out, and their parents let them think that, they'll stay stupid."

I attended some 'inner city' schools and one thing I could not stand was being told that I talked or acted white. WTF? To this day, I still get that. You dumb sons-of-bitches, I do not talk white, I SPEAK ENGLISH. And you're right, they'll all stay stupid. The future is in a crapload of trouble.

I lost my train of thought! Going to go look for it.

[verstehen.livejournal.com]

Good lord, what a completely useless political move. I love it when politicians make noise about education reform during campaign seasons.

Like Bush, even if reelected, is going to do crap with education. He can't even fund what changes he's already made and those had very little to do with the actual underlying social problems that makes education, like crime, so hard to reform for the better.

As for the contradiction in terms, I doubt it. It wouldn't surprise me if he pushed for, say, government regulations and standards for all schools in all areas regardless of make-up, programs, etc, and then turned it over to the local schools to meet those standards however the can/can't. So there's local control in policy decisions but government standards in deciding what they're aiming for.