Thu 17 Jul 2008
Continuation of The Nerve and Isn’t there a law…?
Posted by Susan under Parental Watch Issues , Universal Preschool , Homeschool NewsAhhh…I appreciate being able to ask that question in the title about the public school ‘fixed statistics’ shenanigans instead of having to answer the same with: In Illinois, homeschoolers are not overseen by ‘experts’, but rather by parental guidance, love and authority.
Most people find that shocking. One of the former superintendents here said that their (school authority) hands were tied in Illinois as far as seeing what those homeschoolers are really up to…
Following up on that dropout/pushout/homeschool thang, I ran into a couple of ditties today that I wanted to pass along:
From the San Francisco ChronicleThursday, July 17, 2008 24% of state high-schoolers likely to drop out
Using its new "Statewide Student Identifier System," the state Education Department has given every student a unique and anonymous identification number. With that, schools can track the whereabouts of missing students for the first time and learn whether students are truly absent without leave or whether they are somewhere legitimate.
Did they leave the state? Join a homeschool? Die? The new system recognizes 29 kinds of student invisibility, 10 of which are counted as dropouts, including "expelled."
One stunning fact learned from the new system was that 53,600 students who said they were transferring to a new school last year never actually showed up.
Who thinks NCLB stinks? Texas Republicans, that’s who. Dallas Morning News’ Dallas ISD Blog
But he [Texas Monthly] hasn’t blogged one amazing tidbit I found on page 16 of the GOP platform, whereby the state’s Republicans officially declare NCLB "a massive failure [that] should be abolished."
Cripes! Do the good folks who wrote this platform paper realize that Texas Republicans basically midwifed NCLB?
And that NCLB is the centerpiece of their Texas Republican President’s domestic policy?
And that its implementation was orchestrated by loyal Texas GOP’ers in Rod Paige and Margaret Spellings (who, by the way, some have rumored might run for office upon her return to Texas)?
And that NCLB was modeled after the Texas accountability system which was designed by Texans (Sandy Kress)? Question: Given that, why doesn’t the GOP also call for abolishing the state accountability system?
To see the state GOP now slap down NCLB, well that seems to be a striking reversal on what was hoped to be the President’s domestic policy legacy.
Dallas ISD blogger also included this:
Republicans also oppose mandatory kindergarten, saying "parents are best suited to train their children in their early development…" That one surprised me. I didn’t realize that somebody could be against kindergarten.
Just like baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and ……I don’t think so. Somebody could be against kindergarten. My siblings and I didn’t go to kindergarten. Our mother said we didn’t need to since we knew how to read and she wanted us home. My parents, grandparents and all those before didn’t go to kindergarten either, and I think that turned out ok. We didn’t go to prison anyway. Take a look at who the public school industry has hold of now. Fight Crime. Invest in Kids.
Spunky wrote up a piece on the follow-through for NCLB with Federalizing Education. Check it out. Texas Republicans don’t like NCLB, but we need some more of that? No logic, lots more money, and is it really "For the Kids"? I don’t think so.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:59 am
I never went to kindergarten either, and my primary education was mostly at Dad’s Kitchen Table University. (I went to school but that was not a ‘real’education compared to Dad’s U.
But then, since I turned out to be a radical subversive libertarian, I tend not to bring up the lack of kindergarten. Some federal employee might determine that the best way to prevent radical subversive libertarianism is enforced pre-school and kindergarten. Oy.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
My dad’s University was our barn and pasture along with all the animals. The baling twine trip wires we laid out in our hayloft tunnels and the strange, slightly dangerous pulley/harness contraptions my brother built to fly from tree to tree were probably why he went on to get an engineering degree. Those pulleys hurt when they fall on your head. I’m not sure my dad would claim that distinction.
Kinda strange and unique what came out of central Illinois, Elisheva. At least you can claim being Normal.
July 17th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I read that article on student data as well Susan. They claim that the number is anonymous, but how does a student get one anonymously and then how do they accurately add information to it?
I DID attend kindergarten, but it was nothing like the kindergarten of today that is controlled by state education standards.
Nope, we were there for just a few hours every day. The first half of our year we were immersed in hands on Native American culture and the second half Hawaiian. Still, I would have rather been at home with my Mom.
I wonder if there are any states left today that do not have preschool standards?
July 17th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
The notion of “anonymous” can cover (or not) so many different avenues. Could we trust the school system to not fool around with “anonymous”? I’m SO cynical now.
When our middle batch of 2 went to kindergarten 16/17 years ago, it was different than it is now. Their wonderful 1/2 day kindergarten teacher was very apprehensive about the trend towards full day kindergarten. She was afraid they’d be too tired and it was too much for little ones.
She didn’t like it, but no one bothered to ask her for her opinion. The school is full day now with the ‘option’ of being half day if parents are being ‘difficult’ about it. Their teacher retired around that transition.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Susan,
What the writer of the Dallas Morning News blog carefully ignores is that NCLB reflects not only the position of the “Texas Republican President,” but also the very strong influence of Ted Kennedy. Surprise, surprise! The very thing everyone strives for - cooperation between parties rather than partisanship - results in an education law NOBODY likes.
Oh, and it must be acknowledged that when it comes to certain issues (including teacher certification), this “Texas Republican President” bears a striking resemblance to a Democrat. (Don’t get me wrong - I pretty much like President Bush - but I do find some of his policies not as favorable to small government and conservative values as I’d like.)
Just my 2 cents’ worth!
July 25th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Thanks for your thoughts, Marcy. I think you hit the nail on the head in mind: bipartisanship made for a bad federal law. I get very nervous when these legislators start getting along too much.
I’ve found that President Bush doesn’t seem to walk the conservative walk, for sure. After all of this Homeland Security ‘business’, I can’t say I see anything better coming down the presidential trail at this time. Guess we do need a President, even though some of these people could take a permanent break from politics and I’d be happy.