Comments on: Why Education Policy Should Be Made By Those With Real Life Classroom Experience http://www.edwize.org/why-education-policy-should-be-made-by-those-with-real-life-classroom-experience Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:46:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: jd2718 http://www.edwize.org/why-education-policy-should-be-made-by-those-with-real-life-classroom-experience/comment-page-1#comment-7864 jd2718 Mon, 14 Aug 2006 02:25:41 +0000 http://edwize.org/why-education-policy-should-be-made-by-those-with-real-life-classroom-experience#comment-7864 Very interesting post and discussion. Careful when straying into other disciplines, though. Humans certainly are by nature (probably seasonally) nomadic. It's only with the advent of farming that we form relatively permanent settlements (iow, roughly the last 10,000 years in parts of the Middle East, less elsewhere, out of about 120,000 years of anatomically modern humans with language). Back to your point, the transience in poor rural counties north and west of the five boroughs is often just as dramatic as what we can see in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Jonathan Very interesting post and discussion. Careful when straying into other disciplines, though. Humans certainly are by nature (probably seasonally) nomadic. It’s only with the advent of farming that we form relatively permanent settlements (iow, roughly the last 10,000 years in parts of the Middle East, less elsewhere, out of about 120,000 years of anatomically modern humans with language).

Back to your point, the transience in poor rural counties north and west of the five boroughs is often just as dramatic as what we can see in Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Jonathan

]]> By: xkaydet65 http://www.edwize.org/why-education-policy-should-be-made-by-those-with-real-life-classroom-experience/comment-page-1#comment-7856 xkaydet65 Sat, 12 Aug 2006 20:09:58 +0000 http://edwize.org/why-education-policy-should-be-made-by-those-with-real-life-classroom-experience#comment-7856 The problems with Schemo's article and the responses to it are the true third rail of American politics. Never has education been able to address the problems caused by poverty or lack of opportunity. Those who cite the success stories of the immigrants neglect the stories of the 95% who did not become Mario Cuomo or Isidor Isaac Rabi, to name two oft cited examples. We lament the fifty percent graduation rate in NYC schools, but we choose not to remember when that rate was in the teens. The true transforming event in education was WWII. The GI bill with its college grants,its FHA loans and even the 52/20 club when combined with post war prosperity gave impetus to educational transformation. What mattered was not affluence, but the existence of a dependable job and a dependable income. This gave hope among parents that their children might do better and made educational success a goal. The success of working class men in colleges designed for the elite, through the GI Bill, gave proof that a college education was a reachable and desirable goal. and economic stability created the foundation for this success. While the GI Bill and FHa programs were surely the work of government, neither was thought a handout by anyone. They were duly earned rewards. The economic stabilty came not from government largesse, but from the economic expansion fueled by the forced savings of WWII. It was a surprise to many, particularly on the left of the spectrum from New Dealers to our Stalinist opponents who expected a renewal of the Depression. The Baby Boomers who came of age in the 60s and 70s were generally the first in their families to go to college, but they grew up with an expectation that they would achieve greater educational levels than their parents. Today we see children of immigrants, who create stability through hard work in economic arenas abandoned by Americans, demanding their kids succeed in school and reaching for the academic stars in their expectations. They start out in poverty, but are determined to do something about it. They bring and improve upon a social and economic stability that cannot be recreated by government fiat or spending. As educators there is little we can do to undo the damage that comes from an unstable background.What we can do is recognize this instability and not try to create a euphemized vocabulary to describe it. What we can do is demand as much excellence as we can and praise every success achieved, not just to the kids, but to their families. What we can do, within education law, is demand the accountability of familes in the education of their children. We will need money for smaller classes, greater intervention mechanisms, and excellent teachers.We may also need to practice triage. Knowing how and when is the true question here since no matter how much we spend, money does not equal achievement. If it did the trillions we have spent as a nation since the start of the War on Poverty would have rendered this discussion moot. The problems with Schemo’s article and the responses to it are the true third rail of American politics. Never has education been able to address the problems caused by poverty or lack of opportunity. Those who cite the success stories of the immigrants neglect the stories of the 95% who did not become Mario Cuomo or Isidor Isaac Rabi, to name two oft cited examples.

We lament the fifty percent graduation rate in NYC schools, but we choose not to remember when that rate was in the teens. The true transforming event in education was WWII. The GI bill with its college grants,its FHA loans and even the 52/20 club when combined with post war prosperity gave impetus to educational transformation. What mattered was not affluence, but the existence of a dependable job and a dependable income. This gave hope among parents that their children might do better and made educational success a goal. The success of working class men in colleges designed for the elite, through the GI Bill, gave proof that a college education was a reachable and desirable goal. and economic stability created the foundation for this success.

While the GI Bill and FHa programs were surely the work of government, neither was thought a handout by anyone. They were duly earned rewards. The economic stabilty came not from government largesse, but from the economic expansion fueled by the forced savings of WWII. It was a surprise to many, particularly on the left of the spectrum from New Dealers to our Stalinist opponents who expected a renewal of the Depression.

The Baby Boomers who came of age in the 60s and 70s were generally the first in their families to go to college, but they grew up with an expectation that they would achieve greater educational levels than their parents.

Today we see children of immigrants, who create stability through hard work in economic arenas abandoned by Americans, demanding their kids succeed in school and reaching for the academic stars in their expectations. They start out in poverty, but are determined to do something about it. They bring and improve upon a social and economic stability that cannot be recreated by government fiat or spending.

As educators there is little we can do to undo the damage that comes from an unstable background.What we can do is recognize this instability and not try to create a euphemized vocabulary to describe it. What we can do is demand as much excellence as we can and praise every success achieved, not just to the kids, but to their families. What we can do, within education law, is demand the accountability of familes in the education of their children. We will need money for smaller classes, greater intervention mechanisms, and excellent teachers.We may also need to practice triage. Knowing how and when is the true question here since no matter how much we spend, money does not equal achievement. If it did the trillions we have spent as a nation since the start of the War on Poverty would have rendered this discussion moot.

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