What do we do about it? Accept crappy teaching and mediocrity that proves their point? Put money into a system that won’t even let us measure if it’s being effective?

I am willing to accept that there are incredibly strong forces that want to undue public rights like education. I don’t think our president is one of them or that there is evidence in his past (or the recent healthcare legislation) that he is one of them.

Whatever the forces at play, we must still deal with REALITY. Voters must support taxation to maintain a public good. Do you know of any voters ready to pour their own cash into our public school systems in the form the schools are in? If yes, why haven’t we solved the problems already? If no, what are we going to do about it? Did you see what has been necessary to pass suboptimal healthcare reform?

One course in education is to support innovation. Why? Because maybe it will prove a way to do things better that people will support.

Another answer would be to simply say, we aren’t funded well enough. OK, I can accept that. How much would California have to spend to catch up with states that are doing well internationally? Get that number and figure out how much (proportionately) taxes would need to go up to fund it. While you’re at it, add California’s cost of living into the equation. Then take that to the ballot and see how far you get.

For those of us on the sidelines, it seems that innovation is the path of least resistance and most probable of success. However, I’d love to hear an argument to the contrary. Show me why I should just open my wallet for the system as is and how it will fix 50 years high dropout rates and poorly prepared graduates. I’m all eyes.

BTW, I agree with the original post that appearances are always important politically. However, I don’t think school administrators in California or nationally want children to continually fail.

Politicians? That’s another story.

The camp is held at Redwood Day School in the Glenview / Fruitvale area – great campus.

We would have chosen the Bay Area Writing Project at Mills, but my daughter really, really needs the structure of the afternoon where the mechanics of writing are taught. We have looked at the methods of instruction at Lekha as well as the students’ interactions with the writing coaches and it is a great program. It’s rather expensive – about $350 per week for morning and afternoon sessions – a little more for before and after care.

The Redwood Day School campus is beautiful. Not much parking as it is in a residential neighborhood and the majority of campus space is used for students rather than parking. Spaces in the camp are filling up fast.

Good Luck – Maybe I’ll see you there!

I just finished the book Making the Grade. Almost makes a person happy that my daughter will not be tested. However, my daughter’s teacher used the lack of a test as an excuse to eliminate the vocabulary, spelling and proofreading that would normally be done in fourth grade. Except for peer proofing and parent volunteers, not one piece of writing last year or this year – same teacher both years – has been proofread, corrected or otherwise had suggestions made by the teacher. All work is “Read for Content Only.”

“No impact to the student” is the excuse.

Just had a frustrating conversation with my daughter who is angry that she will have to spend time this summer in writing camp to learn sentence and paragraph structure, Greek and Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes, topic sentences and paragraph ending sentences that lead to the new paragraph. All of these are within the parameters and standards of what should have been taught this year.

I would have loved to donate the money to the PTA again next year benefitting many students instead of spending it bringing up the educational level of just one student.

Elimination of the writing task as a part of the CST and CMA grade four English–language arts assessment
Elimination of the development of an assessment for the fundamentals
of algebra
Elimination of future Web postings of released test questions
Reduction of the number of test forms
Elimination of the distribution of administration videos/DVDs
Elimination of the production and distribution of audio CDs
Reduction of the number of pre-test workshops
Elimination of post-test workshops
Elimination of the STAR Teacher Reports
Elimination of annual analysis of mark discriminations
Elimination of the use of security seals on directions for administration
Reduction of interpretive support materials in languages other than English
The amount of funding apportioned to school districts for the 2009 and subsequent STAR test administrations will not be impacted by the reductions made as a result of the Budget Act. Information regarding STAR apportionments can be found on the CDE Administrative Documents Web page.

I have looked on the OUSD website and there is a schedule TO administer the test.

Would you please try to find out the answer?

Mischaracterizing a struggling and mediocre school as a success raises questions about the quality of research going on here. Can you clarify, please?

I should clarify that I’m not arguing against some of the education reforms proposed this month by the Obama Administration — experimenting more broadly with charter schools, linking teacher promotion to kids’ achievement, and even reconstituting ‘low performing schools’ (or, is it schools serving children beset by family poverty?). As the writers to the Trib suggest, some of these organizational changes might modestly lift school quality.

My point is that these reforms are tinkering at the edges — in part given the public’s skepticism over whether government can be efficacious, can truly lift children’s lives on the ground, along with worries that educators aren’t spending taxpayer dollars effectively.

So, rather that a strategy to rebuild civic enthusiasm over public education… and energize corporate leaders to seriously invest in the new workforce, our political leaders settle for tinkering at the edges.

Now, this is NOT inevitable. We have seen President Obama come to life over extending health coverage to millions of Americans and containing excessive costs advanced by BMW-hugging MD’s. In health care, we may be on the verge of real structural reform, dramatically altering the mixed-market ways in which health care is provided.

But in education, we’re fiddling on the margins — until civic leaders, neighborhood activists, and major employers push politicians to consider serious efforts to lift the schools.

Yes there are procedures for getting rid of bad teachers, but it moves slower than cold molasses on ice and cost more than years of pay.I suspect that is done purposely(children are no longer the priority, jobs are).This is no small thing, one bad teacher can negatively affect a whole classroom full of kids, and set them back in their studies.