Opinions of Betsy DeVos

[an]

[quote=bearishgurl][quote=AN][quote=bearishgurl]AN, if you live in an attendance area of excellent public schools, what do you have against them? Do you currently have any kids attending public school in your neighborhood?

If not, how do you know your public school will offer a sub-par education for them?[/quote]
I have nothing against them. I just like the private school I sent my kid to better. I have my kid going from private to public, so I know exactly what both system provide.

I never say anything about sub-par.[/quote]Is your kid currently attending public school … or are they still at their private school?[/quote]
Both.

[Coronita]

[quote=all]Elite private schools have limited capacity and the cost is the major control mechanism. LJCDS already has all the kids they want. They would just increase the cost by whatever the value of the voucher is.

I am a bit surprised that you would argue against Common Core, FLU. Important purpose of math in school is to develop problem-solving skills and common core math is doing that. It is the path that matters, not the number at the end. My 4th-grader can solve quadratic equations, but as long as he cannot explain the solution he is just a well-trained monkey.[/quote]

The absence of common core does not mean you don’t teach problem solving skills. I think that’s the misconception when common core didn’t exist teachers didn’t teach kids problem solving skills. But what I do see is that In the quest to try to get our kids to “think” more, they are missing key fundamentals. And it’s not just about arithmetic. The biggest problem why I think math is lagging here is lack of practice.
As an experiment, I asked my kid out of the 5 different ways she learned how to solve a problem, which one she still remembers and uses. And basically, it’s the old fashion way. All the emphasis on friendly numbers etc, very seldomly used in practice in the curiculum and at home on in this country, since on a day to day usage, this concepts are never reinforced regularly. So they will be forgotten. It’s a little different in our household, because a lot of the problem solving we make my kid think everyday, and it’s this constant practice which is what I think sticks. Every trip to the grocery store is a few math problems…. What’s worse is if a kid remembers half of the strategy and not the complete strategy and ends up trying to apply a misremembered strategy.

[bearishgurl]

I just researched common core a little and realized it only applied to my youngest and only in HS.

Aside with helping with 4th grade mission projects, I didn’t get too involved in my kids’ schoolwork, as I am unqualified to do so. I left that to the professionals … their excellent public school teachers and after-school programs they attended.

I have the utmost respect for public school teachers. They manage to get the best out of their students often with few resources. I don’t have the skills or patience for it. CVESD and SUHSD have the best teachers … just incredible. And a high percentage of them have a LOT of experience. Many of them stay on past retirement age even though they could have retired yesterday for the same monthly pay. They just love what they do.

[spdrun]

LoL, how many kids do you have spd?

None, but I don’t want to pay tax to send some other idiot’s sprogs to a fundie Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc school where they’ll be taught what some superstitious freak wants them to learn, vs scientific facts. Then pay more for their welfare when they can’t get into college or get a paying job in the real world.

Ta hell with using gov’t money to pay for the idiocy of fundie freaks.

[an]

[quote=spdrun]

LoL, how many kids do you have spd?

None, but I don’t want to pay tax to send some other idiot’s sprogs to a fundie Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc school where they’ll be taught what some superstitious freak wants them to learn, vs scientific facts. Then pay more for their welfare when they can’t get into college or get a paying job in the real world.

Ta hell with using gov’t money to pay for the idiocy of fundie freaks.[/quote]
Too bad. You’re SOL. You’re already paying for crappy public school that can’t get into college already. So, nothing new. LoL.

[EconProf]

Charter schools and vouchers are spreading rapidly across the country because they give parents a choice to opt out of failing public schools. They are most desired by minorities, whose kids are stuck in the worst schools, staffed by the weakest unionized teachers who cannot be fired despite their proven incompetence.
Many of the comments here are from people unexposed to such teachers and such schools. Better neighborhoods naturally have the resources and teachers that deliver a better education, which is why vouchers face an uphill battle. But if one is concerned with the abysmal ranking of ALL our students vis-à-vis other developed countries, one has to challenge the status quo dominated by the unions.

[spdrun]

Charter schools, fully paid for by the government, make sense. If you’re a minority (or otherwise) who can’t afford private school, you’re given a voucher for $10,000, and private school costs $30,000 per year, you’re still fucked. With the added benefit that your public school gets even less funding.

No. Improve the public schools. Take them out of the hands of corrupt municipalities and put them under state or Federal control if they want a dime of funding.

[EconProf]

You misunderstand how charter schools work. The students pay no tuition. They are public schools, government regulated, but operated for the benefit of the students and parents who want to opt out of the local public school. Funding accompanies the student in an amount at or below (depending on the state) the amount of per capita expense that student would have had at the public school. In other words, the charter school takes the same amount of money (or less) and does a better job with it.
It can do a better job because it is not saddled with the union work rules, salaries, benefits, etc. and silly rules that the public schools have. Their educational results are better, which explains the many people clamoring to get into charter schools.
Opposition to charter (and voucher) schools comes mainly from the powerful teachers unions, who do not want to see their government-enforced monopoly threatened. They are naturally embarrassed by the educational results of charter vs. public schools, especially for minority and poorer students.

[spdrun]

I understand how charter schools work. I have no issue with them, assuming teachers are treated fairly (decent pay, good time off, etc).

I have a problem with vouchers, where a private school requires a large additional outlay.

But the best solution would be to ban private education on the primary and secondary levels and have strict national standards for the public schools.

No exemptions for Bible/Koran/Torah thumping idiots.

[EconProf]

You want to “…ban private education on the primary and secondary levels…”
So you are against parents having choices to direct their children’s education. Only the government monopoly should control k-12 education. Got it.

[spdrun]

Yep. Better than letting fundie whackadoodles send their kids to a school that fills their heads with superstitions that have no place in the real world. Like creationism. Or global warming denial. Or not teaching kids how birth control works and where it’s available, so they get pregnant at age 16.

Public schools.
National standards.
Any school that doesn’t meet national standards should be subject to a Federal or State takeover till it does.

Every American should be guaranteed a quality, free, and secular education. Parents shouldn’t be able to choose to fail to teach their kids about scientific concepts.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=spdrun]

Parents shouldn’t be able to choose to fail to teach their kids about scientific concepts.[/quote]

They are irredeemable. Trying to save them only breeds resentment. Just give them what they want.

Rational people should just concentrate on building our own Elysium. You can’t help people who don’t want help.

AN is rational in wanting vouchers for his kids. He’s wiling and able to pay the difference for private schools. All the more power to him.

[spdrun]

Should irredeemable parents also be allowed to beat their kids at will? Engage in honor killing?

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=spdrun]Should irredeemable parents also be allowed to beat their kids at will? Engage in honor killing?[/quote]

Leave it to each state. No need trying to save everyone. Get the vouchers for your own kids. Don’t like like state laws? pull yourself up by the bootstraps and move to where the laws are more to your liking.

Some dude in Indiana claimed that religious freedom law allows child abuse.

[Author]

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