obama making schools longer

who here is mad at obama for trying to get a law passed for every kid that goes to school to go to school all year and making summer vacation only 2 weeks long. I think its horrible for him to make our schools longer especially since its supposed to be under our states jurisdiction. also hes going to try to make us go on the weekends and for longer periods of time. Heres the link http://www.thefoxnation.com/culture/2009/09/28/obama-wants-more-school-shorter-summer-break

He’s making schools longer? By a few feet or a mile or what?

I also love the first comment on that page you linked to.

Obama ordered that one floor be taken off of every school building, and that the schools be expanded to make room for the lost space. It’s part of his “architectural revolution” initiative.

From what I hear about the state of the education system in the US, you probably need it.

Originally posted by mask_and_mirror:

From what I hear about the state of the education system in the US, you probably need it.

As someone who just recently graduated from the US education system. . . I agree. Schools could use more in-class time. While breaks and stuff are nice, I found myself both annoyed and bored of getting, like, two weeks off, coming back for three weeks, getting another week off, then a day here and there, etc..

I also wish schools would add more class choice to their list of electives. It may have only been my school, but while having page and page of math, science, and such is nice. . . It would be great to see more music, art, and physical education choices, just to name a few. Learning another language, I think, should be mandatory, too. Obviously, you’d get to choose what language you want to learn, given the restraint of what the school can offer, but I know of no argument against why someone should learn a second language.

The school system needs a bit of an overhaul.

From the state of the OP’s grammar, I’d say more time in school wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

In all seriousness, though, this is a good idea – our children are not on the same level as those from other nations – just look at how many college students end up in remedial classes.

Give it two years. You won’t even remember 2 and a half months of summer

Yes, it does. I agree about more subject choices too. We might have it better over here, since we had a fair bit of choice, but even more would be better. Particularly in the modern climate, vocational learning at a younger age would be very useful; it’d give some children a chance to express their skills and interests, keep some children in school who would otherwise choose to leave, and provide a well trained workforce for the future. woo!

Democrat or Republican, the educational system is flawed!

Democrat wins, Republicans complain about our schools.

Republicans win, Democrats complain.

oh…. I quit, it feels like I’ve explained this to too many people… so instead, I’ll post a quote to explain how I feel right about now about all this

“When you’re born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you’re born in America, you get a front-row seat.” – Carlin

We don’t need more time, we need better quality. I had not learned anything in middle school, it was all just review yet some kids still could not understand it. It needs to be more personalized, more than just CP, honors, and AP courses. We need at least 5 levels of difficulty. And worse yet, My school has cancelled AP classes for ninth grade due to lack of money, after buying 10 smartboards, 300 useless laptops, and 4 flat screen televisions. My school is putting cool technology in front of a personalized, quality education and then asking for more money. We need more federal personnel in school comities,and less locals to ensure useful spending.

EDIT: Never use fox news as a source. He wants schools to be open on weekdays so that kids have a safe place to stay, not to school them in.

Its just that the cost is way to much, the companies that make all that boost up the prices (look up the price for one smartboard) It’s the same reason the military costs so much, private companies producing products that are extremely expensive. Why, because they are a company, and they need to make a net profit (profit after paying for everything & salaries), just money in the stockholders pockets.

As a student, I’d like to see reform in how the current time is used rather than more time used like it is now. I’d like to see students given more choice in curriculum, and see my school district focus less on benchmarks, standards, evaluation and the like and focus more on students’ education. A proposed system that has since been shot down is one that allows students to make their own choices in curriculum and material under the guidance of advisers (teachers). Students would be given free reign over their learning, and report to their advisers for advice and support. Another proposal was that classes did not grade students, but either passed or failed them, allowing students more leeway with the classes they weren’t interested in and more time to pursue what was relevant to them as individuals.

These are two examples that I found appealing, as students either “sank or swam” depending on how responsible and motivated students were with their education. I’d like to think that most students would flourish and become involved in their learning and pursuits, but the reality is that some students would take advantage of this freedom in all the wrong ways, and exploit systems like these to slack off. These systems undeniably have some holes, but are just two examples of how a school could use their existing time in alternative ways to better meet the needs of students.

Originally posted by pmr0078:

Its just that the cost is way to much, the companies that make all that boost up the prices (look up the price for one smartboard) It’s the same reason the military costs so much, private companies producing products that are extremely expensive. Why, because they are a company, and they need to make a net profit (profit after paying for everything & salaries), just money in the stockholders pockets.

I’m sure the price reflects the research behind the product, and the cost of materials, labor, and actually bringing the product to the consumer. Besides, why are we assigning blame to the company for making an expensive product? The State made the decision on how the budget was to be allocated and which companies to buy from.

I see FOX is even aiming to put the fear into children these days. “Students beware” indeed.

We don’t need more time, we need better quality.

More time is one road to better quality. The education chief agrees based on this idea.

It needs to be more personalized, more than just CP, honors, and AP courses. We need at least 5 levels of difficulty.

We don’t have the teachers to make it more personalized, and many states have been slashing funding consistently for years.

And worse yet, My school has cancelled AP classes for ninth grade due to lack of money, after buying 10 smartboards, 300 useless laptops, and 4 flat screen televisions. My school is putting cool technology in front of a personalized, quality education and then asking for more money. We need more federal personnel in school comities,and less locals to ensure useful spending.

Obama’s job is national policy, not running your local schools budget. Complaints in this area should be directed at your school board.

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A proposed system that has since been shot down is one that allows students to make their own choices in curriculum and material under the guidance of advisers (teachers).

Probably because of the aforementioned manpower problems. That and it would be terribly risky for early education.

Another proposal was that classes did not grade students, but either passed or failed them, allowing students more leeway with the classes they weren’t interested in and more time to pursue what was relevant to them as individuals.

Then how would you measure performance over time?

i mean my classes are way to easy except for english because writing a page essay for a warmup each day is stupid and retarted but anyways the us could hire better teachers that made learning fun and helpful. i mean my school buys these crappy computers for 100 bucks and then they sell us them for 50 and if they break for your fault like you dropped it you pay 50 dollars or if you break it completely you pay 100. i mean where i live classes are way to easy. also about the budget i think instead of wasting money on computers or smartboards or something we dont need we could fund better funner and harder classes. i mean gyms fun but it could be actually better if people weren’t afraid of getting hurt. also i mean i think we should all have like go to school for 2 or three weeks then a week off that seems much funner than having summer imo.

More time is one road to better quality. The education chief agrees based on this idea.

Sure it would be less cramming by teachers (assuming they do not add additional learning standards with the days), But I would prefer a more personalized learning environment over additional wasted time.

We don’t have the teachers to make it more personalized, and many states have been slashing funding consistently for years.

The education system is wasting money that is given to them in most cases.

Obama’s job is national policy, not running your local schools budget. Complaints in this area should be directed at your school board.

Our school comity is currently fighting the public to the death on publicizing what they actually spent the money on. That is why I said school should be handled at a more federal level.

Probably because of the aforementioned manpower problems.

How so? In our case, we already have multiple teachers in each department; the workload wouldn’t drastically increase, as they’d still be responsible for about the same number of kids. I’m guessing it’d be the same for most school systems, too.

That and it would be terribly risky for early education.

No doubt. I think the proposed measure was for highschoolers.

Then how would you measure performance over time?

I suppose measurements would be more broad, but that was sort of the point of the proposed system. The goal was to focus more on education and less on measuring students against students and schools against schools. I can see the problems that this could generate, but I don’t really know what the specifics regarding this plan were.

Sure it would be less cramming by teachers (assuming they do not add additional learning standards with the days), But I would prefer a more personalized learning environment over additional wasted time.

That would cost exponentially more and there is no guarantee it would work. We could at least try Obama’s idea, it doesn’t have to happen in every school overnight.

The education system is wasting money that is given to them in most cases.

How so?

Our school comity is currently fighting the public to the death on publicizing what they actually spent the money on. That is why I said school should be handled at a more federal level.

The federal government can’t micromanage every school though, its impractical and probably undesirable. That being said, I’m pretty sure withholding that information is a crime.

also i really wonder why we need science or world history for. I mean if we aren’t going to be scientist or into government what do we need it for, nothing, its a complete waste of classes and money teaching it

also i really wonder why we need science or world history

Seriously? How about “because you have the power to vote.”

Originally posted by SaintAjora:

also i really wonder why we need science or world history

Seriously? How about “because you have the power to vote.”

i meant other stuff. not voting i know how to vote :P

That would cost exponentially more and there is no guarantee it would work. We could at least try Obama’s idea, it doesn’t have to happen in every school overnight.

Getting more teachers may be more expensive, but it would definitely work.

How so?

It may just be in my state, but most of the budget has been going to technology we don’t really need. I haven’t used any of those smartboards, TVs, or laptops yet, and we already had plenty of smartboards and laptops.

The federal government can’t micromanage every school though, its impractical and probably undesirable. That being said, I’m pretty sure withholding that information is a crime.

Our school board promptly ignores us, and they have no competition when running. Thats why it at least needs a detailed list of what money is being spent on viewed at a federal, or even state level. I am also fairly certain that withholding that information is a crime.

Originally posted by mask_and_mirror:

From what I hear about the state of the education system in the US, you probably need it.

Ouch, mask… ouch.

Originally posted by FuzzyBacon:

From the state of the OP’s grammar, I’d say more time in school wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

OMG… I’m sick of grammatically incorrect Americans giving us a bad name! frowns

For the most part, though… America’s education is in the toilet, and the next generation of dummies in their have their finger on the handle. :(
To be fair, though, it IS only the public schools that have this problem. And its because of the lack of family support. (imo) Most of the problems in the schools stem form the students themselves.

1. Rising literacy problems in high schools.
2. Gang related activity.
3. Increasing number of illegal immigrants entering the school system.
4. Basic lack of CARE for the school itself.

I clean a public high school… oh, its bad. And the quality of teachers has definitely gone down.People aren’t teaching high school anymore. Anyone in an education track in college with me is going for elementary education. There definitely needs to be some revamps.

And I do agree… the OP made me laugh… a tiny bit.

i meant other stuff. not voting i know how to vote :P

…

One day, you’ll be entrusted to vote for representatives – if you aren’t educated in the sciences or World History, you can’t make informed decisions regarding the issues they’ll be voting on.

Getting more teachers may be more expensive, but it would definitely work.

Where are they all going to come from? Who is going to foot the bill? How is the legislation going to fare, especially now? I just don’t see it happening. Extending the school year is a far more realistic solution right now. You can work on fixing the rest later.

It may just be in my state, but most of the budget has been going to technology we don’t really need. I haven’t used any of those smartboards, TVs, or laptops yet, and we already had plenty of smartboards and laptops.

Well that goes back to what I said about local problems.

Our school board promptly ignores us, and they have no competition when running. Thats why it at least needs a detailed list of what money is being spent on viewed at a federal, or even state level. I am also fairly certain that withholding that information is a crime.

How is there no competition? I’m not sure how bad the problem is (at least so far as everyone recognizing it) if no one is stepping up to the plate.

Originally posted by Ljispopular:

also i really wonder why we need science or world history for. I mean if we aren’t going to be scientist or into government what do we need it for, nothing, its a complete waste of classes and money teaching it

I can tell you aren’t paying attention in science class?

Reading those comments made me feel sick inside.