Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said Monday that he is introducing legislation to promote science, technology, engineering and math education, because the federal No Child Left Behind Act is not working for Alaska.
"The one-size fits all model of No Child Left Behind needs to be overhauled," Begich told the Alaska Society for Technology in Education at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage. "In too many cases it has tied teachers' and principals' hands and punished schools when they needed help the most."
It has been awhile since Senator Begich has done anything which really gave me a sense of pride for voting for him, but taking on No Child Left Behind certainly qualifies in my mind.
I absolutely hate NCLB and have been waiting for somebody to finally do something about getting it out of the Alaska public school system. Our educational needs are truly unique and NCLB has NEVER been a useful approach in making sure our children, especially those living in rural communities, receive a proper education.
So I hope that this legislation which Senator Begich introduces will start addressing the problems facing the students sitting in our Alaska classrooms, and begins to see them as, not just a series of test scores, but as potentially well educated and capable young people who may someday be in the position to make a real contribution to their communities.
My current read is "Thy Kingdom Come - An Evangelical's Lament" by Randall Balmer. In the author's own words, the book is about "how the religious right distorts the faith and threatens America."
ReplyDeleteHe addresses the public education issue in chapter 3. He criticizes NCLB and suggests that there are some who believe the RR is endorsing and using NCLB for the very purpose of destroying the public school system.
There are lots of books out now that expose the RR. This one explains why, as a liberal evangelical, the author believes the RR is wrong. It's an easy read.
So while we're all waiting for the Dunn, McGinniss, & Bailey books to hit the bookshelves, I recommend this book to help lay the groundwork for what Palin and the RR have been up to.
http://tinyurl.com/4ha5nct
Cannot wait.
ReplyDeleteSeptember release set for Joe McGinniss book on Sarah Palin
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view.bg?articleid=1318803&srvc=rss
We all wonder about the names that Sarah Palin chose for her children. Well science is now explaining it!
ReplyDeleteBabies in Frontier States Have More Unusual Names
http://www.livescience.com/12934-popular-baby-names-frontier-states.html
Frank Bailey, Palin's "director of boards and commissions", was placed on paid administrative leave by the governor in August 2008. According to new reports, Bailey had "made phone calls to an Alaska State Trooper. Palin said Bailey's actions may have been perceived as putting pressure on the department to get the governor's former brother in law Trooper Mike Wooten fired." Palin later apologized, stating “Mr. Bailey was aware of my family’s personal concerns about Trooper Wooten. It appears that he, though, tried to apply some pressure on my behalf and this was without ever discussing it with me and I apologize to Alaskans for this distraction."
ReplyDeleteAndrew Halcro, a 2006 candidate for Alaska Governor and businessman, referred to the suspension as 'Frank Bailey's paid vacation: The cover up'. Halcro himself is mentioned numerous times in the MSNBC Palin e-mail archive. Frank Bailey later worked on a book, “Renegade: Sarah Palin's Hatchet Man” .
http://www.examiner.com/la-county-libertarian-in-los-angeles/palin-troopergate-aide-mentioned-the-vocal-ron-paul-folks-leaked-e-mails?cid=parsely#parsely#ixzz1EnQAFRFG
To 6:26 a.m. ... uh, your point?? You expect me to believe anything Sarah said?
ReplyDeleteWhile I have no doubt that schools in Alaska have many unique challenges that few other states have, I must say that, as an educator, NCLB doesn't work for ANYONE.
ReplyDeleteIt has done some irreparable damage to our educational system that will take years to undo. In fact, it has caused so many experienced and skilled teachers to leave the profession that the damage will never be undone.
I certainly agree that our national education system needs a serious overhaul, but NCLB is NOT the way to fix it!
Begich: "The one-size fits all model of No Child Left Behind needs to be overhauled."
ReplyDeleteTHAT argument is possibly the best one to use against NCLB. When I encounter a rabid supporter of NCLB who is also a parent, I ask them, "If a child is struggling and needs extra help, should they receive it, or should they be treated just like every other child? How about if it's YOUR child? Should their school be defunded for their poor performance on standardized tests?"
That usually makes them pause at least briefly to consider that their children could be harmed by our present system.
Children are not interchangeable cogs and cannot be treated like mere statistics. They are individuals with individual needs. The "one size fits all" approach to NCLB is absurd and helps none succeed. The endless cycle of ever increasing test scores that is the backbone of NCLB is laughably unrealistic and unobtainable.
Scrap the entire POS that is NCLB. It never was worth a damn and it never will be.
Whatever anyone is doing stop and watch these two videos. A prank caller posed as David Koch and talked to Scott Walker for quite a while about his strategy for breaking the unions and more.It is amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBnSv3a6Nh4
ReplyDeleteThanks to another poster on Mudflats!! Here is a link to a possible punking of Scott Walker by the Buffalo Beast.
ReplyDeleteSeems authentic. What do you think!
2 10 minute You Tubes
http://tinyurl.com/4jntf64
Daddy calls buttboy
ReplyDeleteAt 8:05 that is what I came to post also too.
Must see gryphen!
Now front page on Wonkette!
http://wonkette.com/439021/guy-pretending-to-be-david-koch-has-lengthy-conversation-with-scott-walker
It is ugly.
Picking up from Anon 7:11 comments. I worked in a school district where for about 60% of the children, English was their second or third language. Many were also migrant farmworkers. The teachers had eliminated virtually everything but reading and math. I noticed that I didn't hear children laughing anymore; school wasn't fun. Still we were failing schools and threatened with cutoff of federal funds. That is NCLB in action.
ReplyDeleteNCLB is just a tool. A tool of those who came up with the idea.
ReplyDeleteThe rightwing strategy since 1980 has been to break (as in ruin) government- then announce that it is broken. To fix it it has to be eliminated. It can only be replaced by the private sector. Homeschooling, religious schools and charter schools in the case of education. They are getting the job done. NCLB required time and money wasting which is followed by NCLB mandated funding losses for schools which are even less functional due to NCLB and other right wing stupidities ensure that the public education system is in a state of chaos.
The right wing blames broken government on minorities, liberals and the unions. Teh gay, deevorce,and libberal sexing are also at fault in the great wreck of the nation if you listen to what the right wing says. Everyone except those voting for, funding and paying for the right wing is at fault. Birth control, abortion and teaching of modern science (pollution and evolution) complete the list of rightwing boogeymen.
They used to blame teevee, but that was before they had Fox and Sinclair. Conservative forms of sexing are either sanctioned by gawd or a sin forgiven already so that the leaders doing the illicit conservative sexing may continue to hold their power and do gawd's work.
The best part about NCLB is that it allows connected folks like a former president's brother to make money by selling NCLB sanctioned snakeoil devices and ideas to the schools. Directly profiting from the wrecking of education. Google Neil Bush and COWS.
NCLB needs to be repealed, which won't happen. Maybe Begich can get something done. Starting the debate is a good first step. Too bad Darrell Issa (R.-car alarms) won't be investigating this scam.
Tom Chapin's take on NCLB: "It's not on the Test:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dAujuqCo7s
Anything Mr Mark can do is a step in the right direction. The PTB have a goal. The dumbing down of America. An educated America is not the sheeple they want. It has always been my contention that if Alaska had built the best K-PHD system in the world they would come.
ReplyDeleteHey a guy can dream.
Many comments at Wonkette are hilarious- unless you are the punked governor of Wisconsin.
ReplyDeleteI like this one by 'PublicLuxury'
Scott Walker is fucked. He's got santorum all over his body. He rolled in it, rubbed it all over and licked his fingers.
Gawd I hope the tape is authentic.
and this one by the same ' PublicLuxury' reminds everyone that it happened to Palin first! All political Fails now bring up Palin Fails.
It is not hard to fool a republitard, is it? First Palin and 'Sarkozy' and now Walker and 'Kock'
It is not hard to fool a republitard, is it? First Palin and 'Sarkozy' and now Walker and 'Kock'
The Governor's staff has responded that the governor did participate in this phone call. Many more details at a Milwaukee WI newspaper website.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/116737394.html
"The governor takes many calls everyday," Walker's spokesman, Cullen Werwie, said in a statement. "Throughout this call the governor maintained his appreciation for and commitment to civil discourse. He continued to say that the budget repair bill is about the budget. The phone call shows that the governor says the same thing in private as he does in public and the lengths that others will go to disrupt the civil debate Wisconsin is having."
Some of the more damaging things said by the Fake Kock Suckered Goobernor can be read there.
Koch Whore: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Part 1
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBnSv3a6Nh4
The attack on unions is beginning all over, not just in Wisconsin.
ReplyDeleteNow, Providence, RI is firing ALL their teachers: http://newsblog.projo.com/2011/02/all-providence-teachers-to-rec.html
This has been a long time coming. NCLB gave us a bunch of students with limited analytical skills who are good at memorizing and repeating random data. They also are highly skilled at using technology to cheat on tests.
ReplyDelete