LowerCaseRepublican

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Sep 26, 2005 -> 11:54 AM) Nice to see you again, Juggs. Not. So it's all public education's fault and not the fault of the parents at all, huh? So nice to see that you have the "blame everyone else" game down except where TRUE responsibility lies, and that's at home with the parents. Kap, it is the mantra of personal responsibility unless they can link whatever's happening to one of the chic targets of the insane Right (i.e. "the liberal media", "uppity teachers", etc.)

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Sep 25, 2005 -> 08:31 PM) Ihave to agree with G&T. Your column makes it appear that the only thing needed to fix the schools is more money. There are alot more problems than just lack of funding. All the money in the world will not fix the apathy that alot of parents have towards their own kids education. You mention that most don't seem to want to pay, but it is about more than money. They have to CARE. Ask your parents how many times they have called parents to tell them about how thier kids are not doing well, only to be berated by the parents, or told to mind thier own business. My mother works in a grade school, and part of her duties is to call parents to schedule meeting with them and the teachers for the kids that are failing, or in need of discipline. She commonly gets the "I don't have time", even though they offer evening and early morning hours to meet. You MAKE time for your kids. Basically, there are three parts to getting a quality education. You DO need money to help secure good facilities and teachers. You also need the kids to WANT to learn, and the parents to have an interest in their kids learning. There are poor districts that give an excellent education, as do many private schools that pay teachers alot less than most public schools. But if the kids and parents don't give a damn, the hallways could be gold plated and the kids would still fail. By the way, I like your style, and admire your choice of profession. Funding is the first step to take. The primary mode of receiving funds for schools is property taxes. Government knows that property values are different in various areas so there will be great disparity in the tax rates. Being aware of this fact, the government of Illinois has knowingly perpetrated this inequity as the premier mechanism of funding the public school system. This systematic institutionalized inequity has been the breeding ground for many of the problems that Illinois’ school systems have had. By using property taxes, the disparities between schools are glaring – with amounts spent per pupil in some districts more than doubling the amounts spent in others. With less money, some schools have a greater difficulty getting necessities like textbooks. Jonathan Kozol’s book Savage Inequalities greatly details the inequalities in schools as a result of these funding disparities. Another major reason for problems with Illinois schools is that many of the schools in the state are running deficits. According to the Illinois State Board of Education, 17% of Illinois schools have been found to be in “dire financial trouble” – which is a 55% increase from 2003. These schools have incredible debt and have been forced to barrow money to pay for daily operating costs. One hundred forty more school districts have been designated as “financial early warnings” which is the second-worse rating after “dire financial trouble”. Overall, 33% of school districts have been given these two rankings and 77% of Illinois schools have become enveloped in a spending deficit in order to cover their costs. The vast majority of Illinois schools are unable to pay for resources and materials that assist in creating an effective, positive learning environment. The third major factor for the problem with quality education comes from under-funded legislation like No Child Left Behind. While Congress increased the amount of funding towards education, the money given did not meet the necessities for states to meet the standardized testing requirements of No Child Left Behind. These standardized tests result in a focus on low-level achievement in the classroom because testing focuses on what it is measurable. Students in class are cheated out of high level thought, critical thinking and in-depth analysis because teachers have been strong-armed into keeping state test scores up – since the school’s funding depends on continued high scores. If scores fail to increase, the federal government will put the school under review and later close the school if scores fail to improve – all the while not increasing the funds to the school. A final major problem is faced with teacher burnout, a lack of teachers and teacher wages. As http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm?id=1869 shows, an analysis of weekly wages have fallen behind those of other workers – only inflation adjusted 0.8% increase compared to 12% weekly wage growth of college graduates and all workers. In fact, the site states: A comparison of teachers' weekly wages to those of other workers with similar education and experience shows that, since 1993, female teacher wages have fallen behind 13% and male teacher wages 12.5% (11.5% among all teachers). Since 1979 teacher wages relative to those of other similar workers have dropped 18.5% among women, 9.3% among men, and 13.1% among both combined. • A comparison of teachers' wages to those of workers with comparable skill requirements, including accountants, reporters, registered nurses, computer programmers, clergy, personnel officers, and vocational counselors and inspectors, shows that teachers earned $116 less per week in 2002, a wage disadvantage of 12.2%. Because teachers worked more hours per week, the hourly wage disadvantage was an even larger 14.1%. • Teachers' weekly wages have grown far more slowly than those for these comparable occupations; teacher wages have deteriorated about 14.8% since 1993 and by 12.0% since 1983 relative to comparable occupations. • Although teachers have somewhat better health and pension benefits than do other professionals, these are offset partly by lower payroll taxes paid by employers (since some teachers are not in the Social Security system). Teachers have less premium pay (overtime and shift pay, for example), less paid leave, and fewer wage bonuses than do other professionals. Teacher benefits have not improved relative to other professionals since 1994 (the earliest data we have on benefits), so the growth in the teacher wage disadvantage has not been offset by improved benefits. Politicians and bureaucrats have cheated students while trying to be “tough on education” with demands for increased achievement. The current wages for teachers are drastically below those of other professions. The state and federal government have created a system where teachers in certain districts have been financially handcuffed from providing an effective education. By creating and enforcing this system of inequality, the problems for American schools will only increase. But you are on the button with parents wanting the kids to learn and the kids learning. A lot of the kids not wanting to learn is based on most lesson plans (studies I've seen put most objectives of lesson plans in classrooms at about 80% in the first three levels of Bloom's Taxonomy of learning -- which is just basic rote memorization) While I agree that rote memorization can build a quality and necessary foundation for further education, there must also be higher end synthesis and analysis as well...and that is lacking. Add in the melodrama of most textbooks, speaking from my experience in social studies, it makes it seem very dry and not nearly as vibrant as history can be. Plus many parents can be problematic. Often times you get the parents that want to be too involved and then the parents that can't be found when needed for a talk. It's just too bad that I couldn't get all that in to a 450 word column. /grumbles about original amount being 525-550 but due to narrower format of the paper having to be reduced to 450 from now on.

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Sep 24, 2005 -> 09:02 AM) I think salary heavily depends on where you teach. Brian's cousin teaches at a public school in the south suburbs (she is at a K-8 school) and makes (or so she says) above 90K a year - she's been there for about 5 years, I believe. A friend of mine taught at a Catholic school (math in the middle grades) in the south surburbs and made less than 30K. I saw the salaries of the teachers in the Woodridge/Darien/DG area and I remember the lowest salary being around 40K and that was for someone who had about 1 year in there. Right. It depends on districts you teach in since property taxes are the primary way that schools are funded. So the affluent districts have high paying jobs and the well "not so affluent" have lower paying positions (not to mention the lack of funds to get supplies like textbooks etc.)

I think I win the debate when he has on his web site: "In America, BIG ED first came for the homeschoolers, and I didn't speak up because I don't want to seek power. Then it came for the charter schools, and I didn't speak up because I don't want to seek power. Then it came for the private schoolers, and I didn't speak up because I don't want to seek power. Then it came for the Pre-Schoolers, but I didn't speak up because I don't want to seek power. Then it came for me, and by that time there was no one who had the power to fight them." -- When were teachers massacring 6 million Jews again? He used the first Hitler reference so I win by default. Oh man this is going to be fun.

Bruno Behrend from WIND radio was b****ing about me & wants me to come on his show. This Rush Limbaugh wannabe blowhard is going to get f***ing owned. Details as they come for me getting on the air there.

My column ran in today's Joliet Herald if anybody gets it. Anyway, wanted to throw up a link to it to get some feedback from the ST faithful...and to get our mind off the Sox collapsing http://lennybrucefan.tripod.com/id36.html

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Sep 20, 2005 -> 07:17 AM) Wow. Too bad Pat Robertson didn't say it, that way the rest of the networks could run it as their top story. One is a crackpot who has a million+ followers and a huge media empire (Robertson owns ABC Family etc.) The other has a show on low-power cable that most cities don't even get. While the point of them both being religious leaders doesn't slip past me -- I don't think they'd get high ratings if the media went after Mr. "I need to rent out bingo halls" Farrakhan.

Brian, they were making fun of the Kanye quote -- since everything else Stewart had said was edited (for comedic effect), they threw that in as well.

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/parthun/shared/js.wmv When I saw this, I was laughing my ass off.

When was the last time that Dennis Miller was relevant?

For SouthSideIrish, one can be an atheist and be a Reverend in the ULC. The only credo of the Church is to "do what is right" without harming others. It is the same case as the Newdow case only this time the people have legal standing. And it seems that there is a simple solution -- remove the law that says that something patriotic must be said at the beginning of class. It would be the easiest way to not offend that "Christian" minority. Because they are so ostracized Perhaps one day we can have a President who is openly Christian and courts Christians in his campaign...or forty three of them...consecutively. And to anybody who says that we were founded on the Christian religion, I point to the Treaty of Tripoli in which George Washington wrote (and it was unanimously passed by Congress): "The United States is in no sense founded upon the Christian religion."

QUOTE(knightni @ Sep 12, 2005 -> 12:34 AM) "Pretty please with sugar on top, now get in the f***in' car." It's "Clean the f***ing car" -- not that Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite movies or anything.

I had my huge block of classes that day. So I had no TV in the morning since the roommate was sleeping. My TA told us that somebody had flown a plane into the WTC and my first reaction was "What kind of dumb f***tard softheaded pilot would do that?" Later I found out about the 2nd plane.

In a Rolling Stone issue released today, they are publishing the apparent suicide note for Hunter Thompson. Per CNN: Douglas Brinkley, the presidential historian who is also Thompson's official biographer, writes that a February 16 note may be Thompson's final written words. It reads: "No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always b****y. No Fun -- for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax -- This won't hurt." Hunter left the note for his wife, Anita. He shot himself four days later at his home in Aspen, Colorado, after weeks of pain from a host of physical problems that included a broken leg and a hip replacement. Written in black marker, the note was titled, "Football Season Is Over."

Happy birthday!

QUOTE(juddling @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 07:57 PM) well....it's a surprise he's been without work for so long....considering his HUGE range as an actor. I mean after seeing Goodfellas and Casino back to back....i couldn't believe it was the same guy. But, I'm funny how? Funny like a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh? I'm here to f***in' amuse you? /obligatory

Japanese Cinema - Fun, interesting professor. Class looks like it will be a very intriguing time. Pan-Chinese (Mainland China, Hong Kong & Taiwan) Cinema - Professor is a little hard to understand but it looks like it'll be a lot of fun to be debating issues in the movies. Classroom Assessment - f***ing easy. 16 weeks of making lesson plans and making sure the assessments are actual measures of the goals in the lesson plan. High School Social Studies Teaching - Very fun class, discussion of lesson plans, what social studies should entail. Great professor. Literacy in Social Studies - Lame ass class. f***ing boring as Hell and everything in it we're already doing in other classes. Special Education - Interesting practical application of theories in the classroom.

Alright! The star of "Gone Fishin'!" is back in making films! Yes!

QUOTE(G&T @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 12:41 PM) Is The Nation a credible source. I thought it was ultra liberal. And didn't Nixon get the US out of Vietnam? I took a Vietnam War Era class and all of this is acurate except interpretation differs. Even the article states that Theiu would have ignored peace talks without prodding from Nixon, and that's the way I learned it in my class. While it was wrong to do without question it really made no difference. Anyway, here's a story that I heard about LBJ because it's kinda funny. He was having a meeting with some aids and was asked why the US continued to fight in Vietnam. He stands up from his desk, unzips his pants, displays an erection and says "This...this is why we are in Vietnam." I know it seems ridiculous but if when you hear about LBJ it seems true. By the way, don't assume that Nixon was some horrible person because of Watergate. He was paranoid but not a bad president. And he really believed in the power of family and hard work. If he hadn't been so insane he would be regarded well today. He was paranoid because he was a huge anti-Semite, said we should flood Vietnamese villages etc. etc. Listen to the Nixon Tapes -- the man was a f***ing loon & a gigantic moron.

Ben Stein was a former speechwriter for the most atrocious President who has ever slimed the White House with his disdainful presence (read: Nixon)

ID is a pseudo-science. You have to hand it to the fundamentalist Christians, they're evolving.

http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,...5001028,00.html Castro joins the fray of assistance. Offering 1,100 doctors and 26 tons of meds.

The Red Cross has been banned from New Orleans and volunteers bringing food, water, blankets and other materials have been turned away by National Guardsmen and FEMA because there is no significant coordination for the assistance program. So they should bring Jesse Jackson, Barack Obama and the Rainbow Push Coalition down to New Orleans. Have them get in contact with the mayor & organize an effort to get assistance to where it needs to go. I would love to see the President arrest the mayor of New Orleans and Jesse Jackson for illegally trying to bring aid into New Orleans. Because the last thing the administration needs with the current claims of racism in respect to the lack of assistance is black people being beaten and harassed by police and National Guardsmen in the South.

Alright gang, time has come again for yet another installment of the book club. I'm kinda partial to asking Texsox to pick this month's book since he seems to have some good ideas to suggest. How bout it Tex?

Nuke, I fail to see how video links to CNN and Fox News (and links to journals like American Prospect and Salon) are "leftist conspiracy web sites". The government, the governor, FEMA et. al. knew in 2002 that the majority of people in NO would have to get out using an untested emergency evacuation system since they are too poor to have cars etc. THEY DIDN'T EVEN TEST THE SYSTEM TO SEE IF IT COULD WORK. Congress gutted FEMA, didn't reinforce levees despite clamoring for it to be done and waited days to get any substantial response to the area. It was gross bipartisan incompetence. It is terrible mismanagement that has made the already devastating hurricane much worse than it already was.