[quote=kleenex,Feb 28 2005, 07:47 PM]
until you spend a day in our shoes, you really aren't qualified to comment on what counts as relevant in curriculum. And all the obscure links you provide don't make it so. Just like in the kerry forum, you add nothing to the debate except to detract.

[/quote]
I do not think so. If Alan Greenspan was elected president of the USA he would have to tackle the problem of the educational system and I do not think he never taught a day in his life. Same goes for Steve Forbes. A lot of the senators and congressmen never taught a day in their life too.

To say that only teachers are the only one that can solve the educational mess is BAD decmocracy and BAD thinking.

My links that I post are not obsucre, they are from major groups that do research on the educational system.

[/quote]


Greenspan and FOrbes!!! Forbes did such a fabulous jobbing spending zillions and getting one delegate!! A flat tax to keep the fat cats fatter while the rest of us paythrough the nose! What a leader! Greenspan once had some sense long ago, he's lost it. Where was he when Curious George took a record surplus and turned it into a record deficit? Why's he for privitazing social security- he's a tool of Wall St.You've gotta be kidding me! And as far as Congress is concerned, yeah, many haven't taught and they created NCLB! ANd partisan bickering and lying; obviously you have no clue! ANd your links are irrelevant, try looking at educational sites, not business ones. You are so wrong about your comment about teachers, we know the system and if we were given the chance, we'd make the improvements our kids need because we are the ones who advocate for them, not your darlings of industry who grow greedier as the days go on. I question wheterh you really are commited to education or are a true neo cona rtist and seek to destroy it. Your posts make no sense. HAVE YOU NO SHAME???

teacher731, to my knowledge Rob Reiner has been vocal politically and has supported teachers unions. The only thing in his biography politically that I could dig up is in 1998, Reiner spearheaded a ballot initiative in California to add a tax on cigarettes to pay for early childhood development programs. It passed by a narrow margin. I don't think he has run for any office out here or has any plans in that direction. I don't know who will run next time against Ahnold. He was just elected gov last year. He has a lot to learn about being the Governor of California, meaning that he is not knowledgable about the complex education system we have here. The only way any politician would ever know about what is at stake is if they were to teach for a few years in a public school like the one where I teach. I'm not optimistic about the future of public education, but I'm hopeful that teachers will be able to educate voters about what really is at stake!
My local teachers union is FIGHTING FOR OUR FUTURE! February 15, 2005 DISTRICT DECLARES IMPASSE! OEA TREAM SEETHING OVER HEALTH AND SALARY PROPOSAL!

District Proposal:
* 0% Salary Increase
* No Health Benefit Contribution Increase
* Reduction of Retiree Benefits

The District presented only ONE proposal and REFUSED to budge! For the first time ever-after receiving OEA's counter proposal-the District declared impasse.

The teachers of my district packed the school board meeting room and outer lobby into the street last Wednesday, Feb. 23rd. The President of OEA, Bargaining Committee Chair, and one of the Reps gave speeches. The teachers' applause was deafening. The school board looked like they had just been given the worst scolding of their lives. This is just the beginning of our FIGHT!

Good luck to you teacher731. Are you on the East Coast?

KT

I'm in CT. Those proposals kind of remind me of states like VA, where I taught before, where teachers have no collective bargaining agreements. Looks like your union won't stand for this nonsense! Ironically, today on C-SPAN I caught a little of the Governors Meeting on Education- we got out early because we may be having a blizzard as I write this! But one of the questions posed was how to retain, recruit, and fairly compensate teachers. Wonder if Ahnold attended or if he was too busy in makeup!

Wow- teacher731, I guess you had a really bad day at school. There is no reason to beat up on "kleenex" and be so rude. This is not a good example of someone I would like teaching my child !

I am not a teacher. That does not mean I have idea of what goes on in the classroom. That does not mean I do not have a clue as to what might help (or hurt) education in this country.

Get a grip We are supposed to be civil on this board and try to reach consensus
find COMMON GROUND thru COMMON SENSE.

Now, go ahead and tell me I have no right to comment on the public education system which my tax dollars support. Dare 'ya.

vent..... vent.....

I bought the February 21, 2005 issue of TIME Pie and enjoyed the article you told me about! lol!
My kinder teacher partner saw something about it on television and remembered Helicopter Parents mentioned. We don't have many of them at our school but I've had several Dry-Cleaner Parents!
On page 48: "Lareau also sees cultural barrierds getting in the way of the strong parent-teacher alliance." That paragraph describes the majority of my students' parents.

A few days ago Noonan told me I should go back to posting on Education Topics. Here I am, but once again I feel that members are often being told that we don't have the expertise to discuss the issues. So sad! Good to see you Pie! I started back on track today.

KT

You're wrong.. had a terrific day at school. Never said that not being an educator disqualifies someone from commenting, but kleenex has a history on the kerry boards, all he did was agitate, many complained about him to the admins. He's still spouting the same nonsense. That being said, I think it's unwise to judge a teacher via a common ground thread. You claimed I attacked kleenex, look at your post with the caps and all. Let's go in a better direction, OK?

Hey KT. Glad you enjoyed the article. As a parent I found it enlightening
I have been so involved in the schools that I wondered if I was a helicopter or a dry cleaner.

Glad you are back on track, doing a great job with the wee ones. The job you do is invaluable to society.

"Here I am, but once again I feel that members are often being told that we don't have the expertise to discuss the issues. So sad! " Not sure who the "we" is you are referring to in this statement. Teachers certainly have the expertise to discuss the issues. And so do many of the rest of us......... those who have attended school; those who have volunteered in the schools;
parents........ just about everyone........... tho I will concede the level of expertise and the
perspective may differ greatly !

"until you spend a day in our shoes, you really aren't qualified to comment on what counts as relevant in curriculum."

Sorry- I guess I misunderstood some of your rebuttals to "kleenex."
Ready to move on in a better direction. And sorry about the caps.

We all have a stake in this educational system. Some are teachers, some are parents, some are single, some are married, some are rich and some are poor, etc... We can all come up with ideas on how to solve the educational system.

It is going to take more than just teachers to solve the educational system and change it for the better.

Sure my idea to fix the educational system is different. I think it is a BOLD IDEA. You can agree with some parts of my idea and you can disagree with some parts of my idea, I do not mind. I love a good deabte.

I do read alot on the educational system. Various newspapers, the CNN.com educational section, college journals, educational magazines, and various Government research groups.

We need those Government research groups to do research on the educational system. They offer us great information and insite into the USA educational system so we can see problems in the system that do need fixing.

Those same government research groups get articles written on the research that they do into newspapers, Educational magazines, and the CNN.com educational section.

The comment I made suggests that if you aren't actively involved in a school, you can't really critique the curriculum or claim it's broken or it's all the teachers fault, ad nauseum. You have to have an understanding of what's going on in the schools that you can't get from TV, or some off the beaten path website. It's also an an open invitation for everyone to come and sign up and teach in our public schools, as a substitute for those of you uncertified to teach. Hope you have a bachelor's degree, that's what usually is required. here's your HW assignment:

Take a long-term assignment in each one of the following:

1. a suburban school with all the trimmings
2. an inner-city school where you'll have to buy many of the things you need on your own(avergage teacher nationwide spends $3000-4000 of his/her own money to supplement the classroom, not just in inner-city schools where out-of-ocket costs will be higher)
3. a rural school that most likely is in an isolated area and chances are doesn't have the latest technology.

A full year should do the trick; this assignment will be due on March 1, 2006. Look forward to your report on your experiences.

We will 100% agree to disagree on who can come up with ideas on solving the educational system.

I would like to know WHERE you got your 3000-4000 number???? I have never seen a number that high.

I think the Government research group websites can be of help and do some good work. I would never call them an off the beaten path website. A lot of information on the educational system would never be out for people to see without them.

School Teachers should not have to pay for the first 2000 dollars in out of paycheck costs for school supplies imo. School Districts should be paying for all of it, but some school districts have cut spending on supplies so they can have a balanced budget.

Rural school districts are a major problem. So much so they changed "Highly Qualified Teacher Rules" giving them one extra year to have all teachers "Highly Qualified". IO think the Government skipped over a whole bunch of school districts in the south east than can easily be called a rural school district.

Some of those Rural school districts have only 10-15 teachers for the full school district. When one leaves the school district it can easily cause a big time problem in the hiring a replacement teacher.

When I taught in Fairfax County, VA, one of the ten richest counties in this country, my budget for the classroom was a paltry $125 for the entire year. You do the math- try buying books for 5 subjects so you can prepare lesson plans on that budget. Or anything else for that matter- I like to keep up to date on the latest technology and methods, and most of that came out of my own pocket. Same for buying supplies, for the classroom and even clothing for children who came to school wearing spring gear in the dead of winter. $3000 is not that far off, but then again, you're not in the profession, so you have no idea. You can even check the latest edition of NEA's magazine for stories on teachers who have spent this much and more...one dedicated teacher spent over $10,000 of her own money just to keep a program kids enjoyed running. How about doing the HW assignment I posted earlier? Are you up for the challenge? Anyway, I want this thread to concentrate on the bush gutting on education and its devastating effects on the most vulnerable members of society, our children. If you have another agenda, I suggest you look elsewhere.

I will say that even I do not like that he want to 100% remove the around 1.3 billion Vocational educational spending. Bush tried to remove it once before and failed.

Do really need to spend soooo much on the Department of Education????

Teachers in the USA will spend around the 2- 2.5 billion mark today for school supplies, Every school district is different.

http://www.schooldata.com/pdfs/teachersspend.pdf

Are non NEA members spending less than NEA members if my schooldata.com link has the right information????

13,000 in one year is certainly an off the charts number. It is great that she is doing this for her students in her dance class.

Once and for all—look at Kleenex’s point of view. He/She wants everyone to believe that his/her plan is the best. I’ll have you know that Kleenex approves of less educated people—people with a mere AA degree—to teach. It is right on the Kerry forum—so do not try and weasel out of it. Here is what the state of FL requires to graduate high school:
SUGGESTED FOUR-YEAR PLAN
Given below are sample four-year programs you may wish to consider in planning your high school curriculum. These programs are
flexible and serve as guides to course selections. Programs of study vary according to each individual student’s interests and academic
achievement. The selection of one program does not prevent a student from changing directions at a later time. These sample plans
include those subjects needed by students to fulfill state and local graduation requirements. Students are urged to consult with parents,
teachers, and a counselor in planning their course of study.
Most Academically
Challenging
Strong College
Preparation
Basic College
Preparation
9th
Grade
English 1 Honors
Geometry Hon/Algebra I/II Honors
Biology Honors
Foreign Language I/II/III
PE/Team Sports
Health Elective
AP Geography
English 1 Honors
Algebra 1/ Geometry Honors
Biology Honors
Foreign Language I/II
Health /Elective
PE/Team Sports
Geography Honors
English I
Algebra I
Earth/Space Science
Health /Elective
PE/Team Sports
Geography
Elective
10th
Grade
English II Honors
Geometry Honors/ Algebra II
Honors/ Pre-Calculus
Chemistry Honors
Earth Space Science
Foreign Language II/III/IV
World History Honors
English II Honors
Geometry /Algebra II
Chemistry Honors /Elective
Earth Space Science Honors
Foreign Language II/III
World History Honors
Elective
English II
Geometry
Biology
World History
Foreign Language I
Elective
Elective
11th
Grade
AP English Language&Composition
Pre Calculus/Alg II Honors/
AP Calculus
Physics Honors
Chemistry AP
AP American History
Foreign Language III/IV or AP
Elective
English III Honors
Algebra II/ Pre Calculus
Physics Honors
AP/Honors Science/Elective
American History Honors
Foreign Language III/I, AP
Elective/Science Honors
English III
Geometry / Algebra II
Chemistry/ Science
American History
Foreign Language II
Elective
Elective
12th
Grade
AP English Lit & Composition
AP Science
AP Amer Govt/ Econ Honors
Foreign Language IV/ AP
Elective-Academic
Elective-Academic
Elective-Academic
English Honors/ Great Books
AP Science/Honors Science
Econ Hon/ Amer Govt Honors
Pre-Calculus/ AP Calculus
Foreign Language IV/ AP
Elective
Elective
Eng Writing I/II or
Classic/Cont Lit
American Govt/ Economics
Algebra II
Elective/Science
Elective
Elective



-Here is a Math teacher’s program
NO 1 GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS - ENGLISH COMPOSITION
-----> NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 2 GORDON RULE WRITING REQUIREMENT (RULE 6A-10.30)
24,000 WORDS OF WRITTEN ENGLISH REQUIRED
-----> NEEDS:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 3 GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS - MATHEMATICS
COLL ALG OR HIGHER (3 OF 6 CRDS MAY BE COMPUTER OR STA)
-----> NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 4 GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS - HUMANITIES
-----> NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 5 GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS - NATURAL SCIENCES
-----> NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 6 GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS - SOCIAL SCIENCES
-----> NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 7 CLAST TEST - FTCE GK - PRAXIS I
FOR FTCE AND PRAXIS SEE COE ADVISING CENTER ZEB230
EARNED:
- 1) READING
- 2) WRITING
- 3) COMPUTATION
- 4) ESSAY
5) NON-PASSING SUBSET SCORES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 8 FLENT/FLEX - FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT; 8-10 CREDITS OF
ONE LANGUAGE REQUIRED. CHECK WITH ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT.
-----> NEEDS:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 9 COE-GENERAL LOWER DIVISION REQUIREMENTS & MAJOR PRE-REQ
45 HOURS MINIMUM REQUIRED
-----> NEEDS:
- 1) ENGLISH - WRITING (3 HOURS)
- 2) ENGLISH - LITERATURE (3 HOURS)
- 3) ENGLISH - SPEECH (3 HOURS)
- 4) MATHEMATICS - GEOMETRY COMPONENT (3 HOURS)
- 5) MATHEMATICS (6 HOURS)
- 6) NATURAL SCIENCE - LABORATORY COMPONENT
- 7) NATURAL SCIENCE - LIFE SCIENCE COMPONENT
- 8) NATURAL SCIENCE - EARTH SCIENCE COMPONENT
- 9) NATURAL SCIENCE - PHYSICAL SCIENCE COMPONENT
- 10) NATURAL SCIENCE CREDIT HOUR COUNT
9 HOURS REQUIRED (FROM SUB-REQUIREMENTS 6-9 ABOVE)
- 11) HUMANITIES - PHILOSOPHY (3 HOURS)
- 12) HUMANITIES - FINE ARTS (3 HOURS)
- 13) SOCIAL SCIENCE - AMERICAN HISTORY COMPONENT (3 HOURS)
- 14) SOCIAL SCIENCE - PSYCHOLOGY COMPONENT (3 HOURS)
- 15) SOCIAL SCIENCES (6 HOURS)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 10 COLLEGE OF EDUCATION COMMON PREREQUISITES
- 1)
INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATION. . . . . . . . . . . EDF 1005
- 2)
TEACHING DIVERSE POPULATIONS. . . . . . .. . . EDG 2701
- 3)
INTRO TO EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY. . . . . . . . EME 2040
- 4)
NATURAL SCIENCE LAB REQUIREMENT - 1 CREDIT . . . . . .
- 5)
SIX HOURS IN COURSES WITH AN INT'L/DIVERSITY FOCUS. . .
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 11 MAJOR COMMON PREREQUISITES
MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
-----> NEEDS: 15.00 HOURS
- 1) CALCULUS I
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: MAC2311
- 2) CALCULUS II
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: MAC2312
- 3) COMPUTER PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: CGS, CAP, COC, COP, CIS, CDA
- 4) ELECTIVE IN MATHEMATICS
(MAC2313-CALUCULUS III IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: MAC, MAP, MAS, MGF
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 12 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION - SUBJECT MATTER SPECIALIZATION
-----> NEEDS: 39.00 HOURS
- 1)
CALCULUS
NEEDS: 9.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: MAC#311, MAC#312, MAC#313
- 2)
PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS
NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: STA#321, STA4322, STA3163, STA3164
- 3)
COMPUTER AND GEOMETRY
NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: COP#210, MTG3212
- 4)
LINEAR ALGEBRA, NUMBER THEORY, HISTORY OF MATH
NEEDS: 9.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: MAS#105, MAS4213, MHF3404
- 5)
MATH ELECTIVES - 3 COURSES ABOVE MAC 3313 LEVEL
NEEDS: 9.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: MAA3200, MAA4211, MAA4212, MAA4402
MAP#302, MAP4401, MAD#104, MAS3105, MAS4302, MHF4302
MAS4301, MHF3404, MAD3305, COP3337, MTG4302, COP2400
MAD3512, MAD3401, MHFELEC, MATELEC, STA4664
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 13 PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
-----> NEEDS:
- 1) EDP 3004 - EDUCATIONAL PHYCHOLOGY
- 2) EDG 3321 - GENERAL INSTRUCTIONAL DECISION MAKING
- 3) EEX 3012 - EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF STUDENTS W/ DISABILITIE
- 4) EDF 3430 - MEASUREMENT & EVALUATION IN THE CLASSROOM
- 5) TSL 4324 - ESOL ISSUES & STRATEGIES FOR CONTENT TEACHER
- 6) ESE 4343C- SECONDARY CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
- 7) RED 4325 - CONTENT AREA READING
- 8) EDF 4634 - CULTURAL AND SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OR EDUCATION
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 14 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION-TEACHING METHODS & STUDENT TEACHING
-----> NEEDS: 15.00 HOURS
- 1)
SPECIAL LAB - MATHEMATIC
NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: MAE4333C, MAE3651
- 2)
STUDENT TEACHING
NEEDS: 9.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: MAE4942
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 15 UNIVERSITY SUMMER ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT
-----> NEEDS: 9.00 HOURS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
OK 16 FIU OVERALL GPA
EARNED:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 17 TOTAL EARNED HOURS
(INCLUDING HOURS CURRENTLY ENROLLED)
EARNED:
-----> NEEDS: 120.00 HOURS 2.000 GPA
1) TOTAL TRANSFER HOURS (IF APPLICABLE)
2) TOTAL FIU HOURS EARNED
3) CURRENTLY ENROLLED
-----------------------------------------------------------------
OK 18 ADDITIONAL COURSES - SEE ADVISER FOR CLARIFICATION
EARNED:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIS REPORT IS TO ASSIST THE STUDENT IN COURSE PLANNING.
FINAL CONFIRMATION OF DEGREE REQUIREMENTS IS SUBJECT TO
APPROVAL BY THE DEAN OF A COLLEGE. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY
OF THE STUDENT TO MEET GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS.
COMMENTS:
------------------------ END OF ANALYSIS ------------------------

Here is a stupid PE major’s program:
NO 1 CORE CURRICULUM: FRESHMAN EXPERIENCE
-----> NEEDS: 1.00 HOUR
- 1)
FRESHMAN EXPERIENCE SEMINAR
NEEDS: 1.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: SLS1501
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 2 CORE CURRICULUM: ENGLISH COMPOSITION - GORDON RULE
-----> NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
- 1)
FRESHMAN COMPOSITION & LITERARY ANALYSIS
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: ENC1101, ENC1102
- 2)
ENGLISH COMPOSITION TRANSFERRED COURSES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 3 CORE CURRICULUM: MATHEMATICS - GORDON RULE
-----> NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
- 1)
MATHEMATICS COURSES (SELECT AT LEAST 1 COURSE)
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: MGF1106, MAC1114, MAC#147, MAC#311
MAC#312, MAC#233, MGF1107
- 2)
ADDITIONAL MATH COURSES MAY BE TAKEN FROM THE FOLLOWING
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS
-> NOT FROM: CGS3300
SELECT FROM: CGS#060, CGS#403, CGS#420, STA, PHI2100
COP, CGS#423, CGS2100
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 4 CORE CURRICULUM: NATURAL SCIENCES
MUST SELECT 1 COURSE W/LAB FROM BOTH BIO AND PHYS SCIENCES
-----> NEEDS: 8.00 HOURS
- 1)
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE WITH LAB
INTRODUCTORY BOTANY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: BOT1010L, BOT1010
- OR)
INTRODUCTORY MICROBIOLOGY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: MCB2000L, MCB2000
- OR)
FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: PCB2099L, PCB2099
- OR)
GENERAL BIOLOGY I
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: BSC#010L, BSC#010
- OR)
GENERAL BIOLOGY II
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: BSC#011L, BSC#011
- OR)
HUMAN BIOLOGY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: BSC2023L, BSC2023
- OR)
INTRO MARINE BIOLOGY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: OCB2003L, OCB2003
- OR)
ECOLOGY OF S. FLORIDA
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: EVR3013L, EVR3013
- OR)
INTRODUCTORY GENETICS
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: PCB2061L, PCB2061
- OR)
HISTORY OF LIFE
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: GLY1101L, GLY1101
- OR)
ACCEPTABLE TRANSFER CREDIT
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: BIOCREDL
- 2)
PHYSICAL SCIENCE WITH LAB
STELLAR ASTRONOMY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: AST2201L, AST2201
- OR)
SOLAR SYSTEM ASTRONOMY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: AST2100L, AST2100
- OR)
CHEMISTRY & SOCIETY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: CHM1032L, CHM1032
- OR)
SURVEY OF CHEMISTRY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: CHM1033L, CHM1033
- OR)
GENERAL CHEMISTRY I
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: CHM#045L, CHM#045
- OR)
INTRO TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: EVR1001L, EVR1001
- OR)
PHYSICAL GEOLOGY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: GLY1010L, GLY1010
- OR)
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: GLY3039L, GLY3039
- OR)
METEREOLOGY & ATMOS PHYSICS
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: MET2010L, MET2010
- OR)
UNDERSTANDING THE PHYSICAL WORLD
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: PHY1020L, PHY1020
- OR)
PHYSICS W/ CALCULUS I OR II
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: PHY#048L, PHY#049L, PHY#048, PHY#049
- OR) PHYSICS W/OUT CALCULUS
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: PHY#048L, PHY#053
- OR)
ACCEPTABLE TRANSFER CREDIT
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 5 CORE CURRICULUM: SOCIAL SCIENCES - 2 COURSES REQUIRED
EARNED:
-----> NEEDS: 6.00 HOURS
- 1)
SELECT ONE COURSE FROM FOLLOWING LIST:
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: ANT2000, ANT3409, ECO2013, ECO2023
EVR1017, GEA2000, INR2001, INR2002, POS2042, POT2002
PSY2020, SYG#000, SYG#002
2)
ADDITIONAL COURSE MAY BE SELECTED FROM THE FOLLOWING:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 6 CORE CURRICULUM: ARTS - 3 CREDITS REQUIRED
-----> NEEDS:
- 1)
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: ARH2050, ARH2051, ARH4470, ARH4710
ART1202C, ART1203C, ART2752C, ART2150C, ART2300C
ART2330C, ART2400C, ART2500C, ART2702C, CRW2001
DAN2100, DAA1100, DAA1101, DAA1200, DAA1201, DAA1500
DAA2104, DAA2105, DAA2204, DAA2205, MUH1011, MUH2116
PGY2401C, THE2000, TPP2100, MUN1100, MUN1140, MUN1210
MUN1340, MUN1380, MUN1430, MUN1460, MUN1710, MUN2440
MUN2450, MUN2480, MUN2490, MUN2510, MUN2711
- 2)
MODERN LANGUAGES - INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: ARA3210, CHI3210, FRE2200, FRE2241
FRE2270, GER2210, HBR2200, ITA2210, JPN3210, LAT2200
POR2200, RUS2200, SPN2200, SPN2230, SPN2340, SPN2210
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 7 CORE CURRICULUM: HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN
CIVILIZATION
-----> NEEDS:
- 1)
HIST FOUNDATIONS OF WEST CIV - 1 GORDON RULE COURSE
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: AMH2000, AMH2002, EUH2011, EUH2030
EUH2021, LAH2020, WOH2001
- 2)
ACCEPTABLE TRANSFER COURSES - SEE ADVISOR
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 8 CORE CURRICULUM: CRITICAL INQUIRY
-----> NEEDS:
- 1)
CRITICAL INQUIRY - 1 GORDON RULE COURSE REQD
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS 1 COURSE
SELECT FROM: ENG2012, PHI2011, REL2011
HUM3306 (1996.8-2010.1), SSI3240 (1996.8-2010.1)
HUM3214 (1996.8-2010.1)
- 2)
ACCEPTABLE TRANSFER COURSES - SEE ADVISOR
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 9 COMPARATIVE CULTURE & GENDER STUDIES
-----> NEEDS:
- 1)
CHOOSE ONE COURSE FROM THE FOLLOWING:
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: AMH4560, AMH4570, ANT3241, ANT3451
ANT3640, ANT4273, ANT4306, ANT4451, AMH3560, CPO4034
ECS3003, FOW3540, HUM3225, HUM3930, HUM4491, HUN3191
INR4024, INR4283, LIN4651, LIT3383, PHI3073, PHM4123
POT4309, REL3145, COM3461, REL3171, REL3330, REL3170
REL3145, REL3091, REL3308, SYA4170, SYD4700, SYD4704
SYD3810
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 10 FLENT/FLEX - FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT; 8-10 CREDITS OF
ONE LANGUAGE REQUIRED. CHECK WITH ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT.
-----> NEEDS:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 11 CLAST TEST - FTCE GK - PRAXIS I
FOR FTCE AND PRAXIS SEE COE ADVISING CENTER ZEB230
EARNED:
- 1) READING
- 2) WRITING
- 3) COMPUTATION
- 4) ESSAY
5) NON-PASSING SUBSET SCORES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 12 COE-GENERAL LOWER DIVISION REQUIREMENTS & MAJOR PRE-REQ
45 HOURS MINIMUM REQUIRED
-----> NEEDS:
- 1) ENGLISH - WRITING (3 HOURS)
- 2) ENGLISH - LITERATURE (3 HOURS)
- 3) ENGLISH - SPEECH (3 HOURS)
- 4) MATHEMATICS - GEOMETRY COMPONENT (3 HOURS)
- 5) MATHEMATICS (6 HOURS)
- 6) NATURAL SCIENCE - LABORATORY COMPONENT
- 7) NATURAL SCIENCE - LIFE SCIENCE COMPONENT
- 8) NATURAL SCIENCE - EARTH SCIENCE COMPONENT
- 9) NATURAL SCIENCE - PHYSICAL SCIENCE COMPONENT
- 10) NATURAL SCIENCE CREDIT HOUR COUNT
9 HOURS REQUIRED (FROM SUB-REQUIREMENTS 6-9 ABOVE)
- 11) HUMANITIES - PHILOSOPHY (3 HOURS)
- 12) HUMANITIES - FINE ARTS (3 HOURS)
- 13) SOCIAL SCIENCE - AMERICAN HISTORY COMPONENT (3 HOURS)
- 14) SOCIAL SCIENCE - PSYCHOLOGY COMPONENT (3 HOURS)
- 15) SOCIAL SCIENCES (6 HOURS)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 13 COLLEGE OF EDUCATION COMMON PREREQUISITES
- 1)
INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATION. . . . . . . . . . . EDF 1005
- 2)
TEACHING DIVERSE POPULATIONS. . . . . . .. . . EDG 2701
- 3)
INTRO TO EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY. . . . . . . . EME 2040
- 4)
NATURAL SCIENCE LAB REQUIREMENT - 1 CREDIT . . . . . .
- 5)
SIX HOURS IN COURSES WITH AN INT'L/DIVERSITY FOCUS. . .
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 14 PHYSICAL EDUCATION
PROGRAM PREREQUISITES: LOWER DIVISION
-----> NEEDS:
- 1)
ANATOMY
NEEDS: 3.00 HOURS
SELECT FROM: PET3325L, PET3325C
- OR)
NEEDS: 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: BSC#085L, BSC#085
- 2)
CARE & PREVENTION OF ATHLETIC INJURIES
NEEDS: 1 COURSE
SELECT FROM: PET2622, PET4622
- OR)
ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY II
NEEDS: 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: BSC#086L, BSC#086
- 3)
SKILLS & PRACTICE
NEEDS: 4.00 HOURS 2 COURSES
SELECT FROM: PEL1511, PEL1211, PEL1321, PEL2321
PEO2011, PEO2216, PEO2321, PEO2511, PEL2621
PET2993 (2000.1-2000.1), PEO2121, PEO2314, PEO2341
PEL1441, PEL1211, PEL1341, PEL1346, PEL1111
- 4)
CONDITIONING, FITNESS & WELLNESS
NEEDS: 1 COURSE
SELECT FROM: PEM2101, HLP1081
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 15 PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
-----> NEEDS:
- 1) EDP 3004 - EDUCATIONAL PHYCHOLOGY
- 2) EDG 3321 - GENERAL INSTRUCTIONAL DECISION MAKING
- 3) RED 4325 - SUBJECT AREA READING
- 4) TSL 4324 - ESOL ISSUES &STRATEGIES FOR CONTENT TEACHERS
- 5) ESE 4343C- SECONDARY CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT OR
EDP 3218 - CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
- 6) EDF 4634 - CULTURAL AND SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OR EDUCATION
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 16 PROFESSIONAL CONTENT STUDIES
-----> NEEDS:
- 1) PET 3310 - KINESIOLOGY
- 2) PET 3351 - EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY
- 3) PET 3640 - ADAPTED PHYSICAL EDUCATION
- 4) PEO 4004 - PRINCILES & PRACTICES OF COACHING
- 5) PET 4050 - MOTOR LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
- 6) PEP 4102 - APPLIED CONCEPTS OF FIT. & HLTH.
- 7) PET 4442 - PHYS. ED. IN SECONDARY SCHOOL
- 8) PET 4401 - ADMINISTRATION OF PE & SPORTS
- 9) PET 4510 - EVALUATION IN PE
- 10) PET 4622 - ATHLETIC INJURIES
- 11) DAE 3371 - DANCE IN ELEM. SCHOOL
- 12) PEO 4041 - GAMES & GYM IN ELEM. SCHOOL
- 13) PET 4943 - STUDENT TEACHING INTERNSHIP
- 14) PET 4929 - SENIOR SEMINAR(TAKEN CONCURRENTLY W/ PET4943
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 17 9 HOUR UNIVERSITY SUMMER ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT
-----> NEEDS:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
OK 18 FIU OVERALL GPA PE
EARNED:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NO 19 TOTAL EARNED HOURS PE
(INCLUDING HOURS CURRENTLY ENROLLED)
EARNED:
-----> NEEDS: 120.00 HOURS 2.000 GPA
1) TOTAL TRANSFER HOURS (IF APPLICABLE)
2) TOTAL FIU HOURS EARNED
3) CURRENTLY ENROLLED
-----------------------------------------------------------------

As you can read, one should surmise that teachers are plenty capable to teach what is needed to graduate. Kleenex likes to bring to attention that other countries are doing better. Well, ask yourself this: If we are so behind, why is it that it is the USA that has produced every major invention? I point out: Airplanes, the automobile, computers, and even the nuclear bomb. So Kleenex, if we are so behind—why are we the most advanced country?

It is true that public education needs a lot of work; however, not everything is as bad as people claim it is.

right on kboun! and what this poser fails to recgonize that in Europe and Japan, statistics from their HS only include the select few- the upper strata. In most of those countries, kids get tested to see if they will follow a HS with an academic curriculum; they do not include data on other students. As anyone can tell, even those who just have a diploma, we are preapring for the future, it's critics like this poser who can see the forest through the trees! All they can do is criticize, complain, and condemn- they offer no solutions and when asked to take a 1 year assignemnet and work in a variety of school settings, they immediately imitate the sounds of chickens!

For insight into CT's requirements for graduation go to:

http://www.state.ct.us/sde/dtl/curriculum/.../hsmono_all.pdf

All this talk about our schools not preparing our kids for the future is just a lot of hot air blown by ignorance.

NOPE. We have 50 states and 50 different set standards on how to graduate a high school student. How that is ever a good thing, I would love know.

I say our curriculum needs a big boost. I think all students need an economic/finance class before they graduate. Only 7 states force this on students. It will be better for students to have taken 2 years of a foreign language before high school. This is just for starters.

Only 22% of students are ready college as stated by a 2004 act.org report. The same people that produce the ACT test.

ACT report link: http://www.act.org/path/policy/pdf/crisis_report.pdf

Students will be up to the task to take a tougher curriculum if forced, we need to do it so we will have a better workforce for the 21st century.


kboun, under my system you can teach with an 2 year degree if and only if you go through the Teach for America program. You will be limited somewhat on what you can teach though. I think you will be surprised of the quality of some students with only a two year degree. I am being completely bold with this idea.

Prepare To Call on March 8 for a Fair Budget!
National Budget Call-In Day Is March 8


NEA is part of a growing grassroots coalition that will participate in a national call-in day to Congress on Tuesday, March 8, to let lawmakers know that President Bush's budget proposal does not protect the vulnerable and, if approved by Congress, would result in higher state and local taxes and fees.

While the long-term consequences of the President's budget proposal are becoming clearer -- for instance, overall funding for the major elementary and secondary education programs would be reduced by $11.5 billion from 2006 to 2010 and by $4.6 billion, or 14 percent, in 2010 alone -- advocates for children, the elderly, veterans and others who don't have a voice in government are making their case to Congress. Also, 48 federal education programs are eliminated, and $500 million is designated for a merit pay scheme for teachers. See how the budget proposal affects education.

As House and Senate Budget committees begin their consideration, we need to tell our Senators and Representatives that we are counting on them to produce a responsible budget resolution that maintains services to children and the elderly, keeps our communities strong and accomplishes deficit reduction in a fair and balanced manner.

Action Needed
Call 1-800-247-2971 on March 8 to urge your Members of Congress to write a fair and responsible budget resolution!

Ask to be connected to your Senators and Representatives or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard directly at 202-224-3121.

Don't be discouraged if the lines are busy; we want calls to pour into the offices! You can also find your Senators' direct line at www.senate.gov or your Representative's direct line at www.house.gov.
Tell your members of Congress:

Don't eliminate programs such as Vocational Education, Safe and Drug Free Schools, education technology grants, community technology centers, Upward Bound, Talent Search and GEAR UP. We are deeply concerned about cuts to programs that protect the vulnerable.

Don't make deep cuts in domestic discretionary programs. These cuts would result in a significant loss of support for public schools, veterans' medical care, health care, law enforcement, environmental protection, and other important services that affect millions of people. We support a budget that is fair and that invests in America's communities to help rebuild them.
The More People Know About Privatization, the Less They Like It
Fresh on the heels of new independent polling information that reveals the more people know about President Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security the more they oppose it, the Administration yesterday announced that it will embark on a 60-day, 60-stop sales blitz to build public support for the proposal to allow Social Security funds to be diverted to private stock market accounts.

The President, Vice President and other Administration officials take the sales show to 29 states beginning today. The Madison Avenue-style road tour will be complemented by an aggressive $20 million marketing campaign led by the financial services industry and by a ramped-up, back-home effort by congressional supporters during Congress' spring recess, March 19-April 3.

NEA supports strengthening Social Security to ensure it remains a long-term lifeline, especially for the most vulnerable: children, the elderly, widowers and disabled recipients of survivor and disability benefits. A 2001 study by the General Accounting Office, Congress' independent research arm, found that any Social Security plan that included private accounts would result in reduced benefits for the disabled. Currently, 20 percent of retirees rely on Social Security for every penny of their income. Another two-thirds receive half or more of their income from Social Security. NEA opposes any effort to privatize Social Security, the nation's most trusted and successful anti-poverty program.

Your voice and that of scores like you from every part of the nation are making the difference. In light of the privatization wall-to-wall sales blitz, it's more critical than ever that you let your Member of Congress know that private stock market accounts would hurt the vulnerable among us and that they reflect the wrong priorities.

Action Needed
Join the more than 30,000 teachers, education support professionals and others who have signed NEA's petition to save Social Security. Urge your Senators and Representative to:

Oppose any effort to privatize Social Security
Ensure that public employees who are enrolled in and have paid into other retirement security plans are not mandated to participate in Social Security, and
Repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), unfair provisions that deny earned Social Security benefits to many public employees.
Find out if your Representative is one of the 203 who has signed on to H.R. 147 -- the GPO/WEP repeal bill. If not, urge him or her to do so.
Bill Targets Tax Credit to Educators in Disadvantaged Schools
Teachers, education support professionals, principals and counselors who work full time in disadvantaged schools would be eligible for a $2,000 tax credit if a bill (H.R. 986) introduced in the House last month becomes law. Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM) introduced the Teacher Tax Credit Act of 2005 to provide an important incentive for good teachers to consider disadvantaged schools. The bill has the backing of Congressman John Boehner (R-OH), chairman of the House Education Committee, and already has 34 cosponsors.

Wilson's bill provides a $2,000 non-refundable tax credit for teachers, instructors, counselors, principals and aides who teach or work full time in a Title I elementary or secondary school, that is, a school with a 40 percent or more student population that is eligible for the federal lunch program.

NEA supports this bipartisan bill because it seeks to help schools in low-income rural and urban areas attract and retain teachers.

Action Needed
Contact your Representative and urge him or her to help America's teachers educate the kids who need them most by becoming a cosponsor of H.R. 986.

Once again, you show you ignorance. The ACT is certainly not the bellwether for college preparation, again it is misguided to judge any program or individual by one test. How would you like to have these rules imposed on yourself? By the way, what do you do? You certainly talk the talk, but anytime you're asked to act, like do that 1 year homework assignment, you don't back it up. As far as Teach for america goes, this organization is poorly run and mismanaged. Retention rates under this program are very low. you can't lear the tools of being a teacher in a short, 6 week program in the summer. TFA is a sham. As is your call for teachers to have only a 2 year degree. Don't you know most states require that we earn a Master's degree? How foolish of oyu to think they'd require less education from teachers. Already college programs acrosss the country are adding more requirements to get a degree in education. Wake up and smell the coffee!!

Teaching is about the only profession that no matter how many years training you have had, everyone else knows more about it. In the UK the journalists are the education 'experts', or the politicians, who may be minister for transport one week and minister for education the following week.

While I think businesses and parents have relevant things to say, they should at least admit that they cannot know as much about a profession as those who do it for years. And teaching is not a 9-5 job, it is a 24 hour job because you can be up all hours doing preparation or marking homework.

And as for what the business community want....with jobs in such a state that you may have to change career three times and get retrained to keep up with the job situation, it would be mindless to train children from an early age to suit the business community. They should have IMO a broad allround education that prepares them for work or unemployment, pressures or too much leisure time.

Until you actually try teaching, you cannot know what is involved in say teaching reading skills, it is not something that you can even learn in college fully, it involves getting classroom experience with many individual children. Parents have little idea how difficult it is to teach to different levels when there is one teacher. It involves a lot of organizing, planning, forethought, and patience.

If teachers are continually treated as paid babysitters, who have few skills, then the community will end up with what they deserve, barely qualified, quickly trained and certified classroom assistants who are only a step ahead of those they teach, and who can be easily sacked and replaced, making a very insecure environment for the children.

Thank you for an excellent post! Teachers always get a bad rap from people who have no clue what being a teacher is all about. I bet that all these naysayers wouldn't have the courage, atamina, or patience to survive a day, maybe not even a period at school! And as far as using business as a model, these same ignornant folk seem to think that companies are so well-run. Let me remind you of some very costly businesses(and poorly managed) and some with anti-consumer and anti-worker beliefs (partial list):

Enron
Worldcom
Adelphia Cable
WalFart
Savings and loan scandals, 1980s-90s, billions paid out by taxpayers for their greed
AIrline industry (exceptions Southwest, Jet Blue)
Defense contractors- remember $600 toilet seats?! Today, if these companies were scrutinized, that would seem like a bargain!
Haliburton and its shady subsidiaries bilking Americans and neglecting our troops
Banks in contries with lax laws, like Cayman Islands, mainly used to avoid US taxes and allow drug cartels a refuge

Well qualified teachers must be appreciated. In the UK ten years ago the politicians said the only qualification necessary for teaching was to have given birth. They were trying to attrack the people now doing the job, quickly trained mums, who can forget the job as soon as they go home with their children.

Teachers, of the old variety, should stick together.

Sorry for the misprint. Before everyone comes down on me....it should have been 'attract' not 'attrack'.

I should know what a crappy curriculum looks like since I am a high school graduate who did also go to a vocational technical school as well.

You know something is wrong when 75% of students do not finish three years of computer science classes. One thing I learned from those classes is a small student to teacher ratio along with a small class size will only increase the amount of students that complete three years of computer science classes. A few years later after I graduated they changed the curriculum to make it a whole lot better, it could still use improvements though.

If you use out of date equiptment is class like in Auto Shop all you going to wind up doing to is to have to retrain yourself later, that is no good for you at all.

11th grade social studies was mainly a complete repeat of what was taught in the 7-8th grade. Are so stupid that we have to take stuff twice???

12 grade social studies was 2 half credit classes. One of Government and one on Economics. Had a few other classes to pick from as well. IMO I would have junked the 11th grade social studies class and have one year of Government in the 11th grade and one year of an economics/finance class. When I was in High School no state had an economics/finance as a standard forced class for all students. Now only a measly 7 states have it.

As a requirement for graduation we had to have one credit of health. Once half year of health and one half year of sex education. The health class had the DARE program in it. The only good part of that class. Why we had to repeat stuff I learned in 6th grade is beyond me. The sex ed class should have been one full year long with the DARE program included. I say all high school students should have a one year SEX ed class for graduation and NONE of the Abstinence only crap education.

Although states are making changes to the curriculum, they are not making enough of the right changes imo top meet the needs of a 21st century job market.

Teach For America is a Americorps program, that is just one reason why the program is bad money wise. Dick Gephardt campaigned for a program like Teach For America. I would like to see Teach For America get out of Americorps program and be run as a seperate thing. I will say that some people have had bad experiences with Teach for America and some will say they have had good experiences, no program is perfect. You can easily improve retention rates for new teachers if all new teachers in a school district had a mentor(an older teacher) to ease them into teaching in this school district.

Teach for America is not part of Americorps, this was a program in place long before Clinton was president. And, much to your ignorance again, Americorps is a success, you seem blinded by your devotion to the pathological liar bush. TFA fails because its retention rates are abysmal, worse than the natl average, and the program, despite its good intentions, proves that you cannot train to become a teacher in just 6 short weeks.

One can clearly tell from your bitter and angry post that your judgment on education has been clouded based on what you claim to be a bad experience. Just because you had a bad experience, don't impose your flawed beleifs on us. You need to deal with your anger. You also appear to be so out of the loop, one can not take you seriously. BTW, what do you do other than criticize, condemn and complain?

from TFA's website, note they have been in existence since 1990, during the error of King George I, 2 years before Clinton was elected:

Who we are

Teach For America is building the movement to eliminate educational inequity in this country.

Since 1990, more than 12,000 exceptional individuals have joined Teach For America, committing two years to teach in low-income rural and urban communities. Following this experience, many have become committed leaders in the effort to expand opportunities for all children.

Teach For America has 22 regional sites across the country, including our expansion into Las Vegas and South Dakota in the fall of 2004.

Kleenex(why do you use a user name of a product whose only function is to blow snot into, was Charmin taken?!

Prepare To Call on March 8 for a Fair Budget!


NEA is part of a growing grassroots coalition that will participate in a national call-in day to Congress on Tuesday, March 8, to let lawmakers know that President Bush's budget proposal does not protect the vulnerable and, if approved by Congress, would result in higher state and local taxes and fees.

While the long-term consequences of the President's budget proposal are becoming clearer -- for instance, overall funding for the major elementary and secondary education programs would be reduced by $11.5 billion from 2006 to 2010 and by $4.6 billion, or 14 percent, in 2010 alone -- advocates for children, the elderly, veterans and others who don't have a voice in government are making their case to Congress. Also, 48 federal education programs are eliminated, and $500 million is designated for a merit pay scheme for teachers. See how the budget proposal affects education.

As House and Senate Budget committees begin their consideration, we need to tell our Senators and Representatives that we are counting on them to produce a responsible budget resolution that maintains services to children and the elderly, keeps our communities strong and accomplishes deficit reduction in a fair and balanced manner.

Action Needed
Call 1-800-247-2971 on March 8 to urge your Members of Congress to write a fair and responsible budget resolution!

Ask to be connected to your Senators and Representatives or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard directly at 202-224-3121.

Don't be discouraged if the lines are busy; we want calls to pour into the offices! You can also find your Senators' direct line at www.senate.gov or your Representative's direct line at www.house.gov.
Tell your members of Congress:

Don't eliminate programs such as Vocational Education, Safe and Drug Free Schools, education technology grants, community technology centers, Upward Bound, Talent Search and GEAR UP. We are deeply concerned about cuts to programs that protect the vulnerable.

Don't make deep cuts in domestic discretionary programs. These cuts would result in a significant loss of support for public schools, veterans' medical care, health care, law enforcement, environmental protection, and other important services that affect millions of people. We support a budget that is fair and that invests in America's communities to help rebuild them.
The More People Know About Privatization, the Less They Like It
Fresh on the heels of new independent polling information that reveals the more people know about President Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security the more they oppose it, the Administration yesterday announced that it will embark on a 60-day, 60-stop sales blitz to build public support for the proposal to allow Social Security funds to be diverted to private stock market accounts.

The President, Vice President and other Administration officials take the sales show to 29 states beginning today. The Madison Avenue-style road tour will be complemented by an aggressive $20 million marketing campaign led by the financial services industry and by a ramped-up, back-home effort by congressional supporters during Congress' spring recess, March 19-April 3.

NEA supports strengthening Social Security to ensure it remains a long-term lifeline, especially for the most vulnerable: children, the elderly, widowers and disabled recipients of survivor and disability benefits. A 2001 study by the General Accounting Office, Congress' independent research arm, found that any Social Security plan that included private accounts would result in reduced benefits for the disabled. Currently, 20 percent of retirees rely on Social Security for every penny of their income. Another two-thirds receive half or more of their income from Social Security. NEA opposes any effort to privatize Social Security, the nation's most trusted and successful anti-poverty program.

Your voice and that of scores like you from every part of the nation are making the difference. In light of the privatization wall-to-wall sales blitz, it's more critical than ever that you let your Member of Congress know that private stock market accounts would hurt the vulnerable among us and that they reflect the wrong priorities.

Action Needed
Join the more than 30,000 teachers, education support professionals and others who have signed NEA's petition to save Social Security. Urge your Senators and Representative to:

Oppose any effort to privatize Social Security
Ensure that public employees who are enrolled in and have paid into other retirement security plans are not mandated to participate in Social Security, and
Repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), unfair provisions that deny earned Social Security benefits to many public employees.
Find out if your Representative is one of the 203 who has signed on to H.R. 147 -- the GPO/WEP repeal bill. If not, urge him or her to do so.
Bill Targets Tax Credit to Educators in Disadvantaged Schools
Teachers, education support professionals, principals and counselors who work full time in disadvantaged schools would be eligible for a $2,000 tax credit if a bill (H.R. 986) introduced in the House last month becomes law. Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM) introduced the Teacher Tax Credit Act of 2005 to provide an important incentive for good teachers to consider disadvantaged schools. The bill has the backing of Congressman John Boehner (R-OH), chairman of the House Education Committee, and already has 34 cosponsors.

Wilson's bill provides a $2,000 non-refundable tax credit for teachers, instructors, counselors, principals and aides who teach or work full time in a Title I elementary or secondary school, that is, a school with a 40 percent or more student population that is eligible for the federal lunch program.

NEA supports this bipartisan bill because it seeks to help schools in low-income rural and urban areas attract and retain teachers.

Action Needed
Contact your Representative and urge him or her to help America's teachers educate the kids who need them most by becoming a cosponsor of H.R. 986.

I know some from CA will appreciate this article. Now I understand how the Terminator operates! It also shows the effect of when the feds usurp their responsibility by slashing and gutting education, how this tehn affects the local level.

http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-m...ack=1&cset=true

Mental Health Care for Students at Risk
State budget shortfall has jeopardized payments for full services. The costs may fall to school districts.
By Joel Rubin
Times Staff Writer

March 9, 2005

Mental health care for about 30,000 of California's most troubled schoolchildren has emerged as a highly charged issue as the state continues to struggle with budget shortfalls.

Already, counseling providers say, lack of state financial support has forced them to turn away an increasing number of students in need of treatment. And they fear more cuts could be ahead.

"We know there are many, many of these kids who are just waiting for services," said Ari Levy, a director of the nonprofit Child and Family Center in Santa Clarita. "But we can't go into bankruptcy."

At issue is a recent proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to shift responsibility for providing treatment from counties to school districts.

The idea has alarmed parents, who fear a further erosion of services, and educators, who worry they will be left scrambling to provide millions of dollars in federally mandated services.

School officials "are in a state of panic," said Paul Goldfinger, vice president of School Services of California, a firm that consults with school districts on financial issues. "No one knows what is going to happen or how to plan for next year."

At stake is a wide range of psychological services for children with learning disabilities who also suffer from mental illnesses too pronounced to be treated by school staff. Many such students require intensive, one-on-one sessions with therapists or psychiatrists, and drug therapy, while the most seriously ill are treated at residential facilities.

The uncertainty is unsettling to parents such as Tess Matheny, whose son, Alex, 17, visits a therapist each week and a psychiatrist once a month to treat his anxiety disorder and depression.

"I'm a single parent, and this is something I couldn't possibly afford," said Matheny, who lives in North Hills. "This is so important not only for my kid, but for so many others."

Under federal law, students diagnosed with learning disabilities are entitled to mental health treatment if it improves their learning abilities. Since the early 1980s, state law has required that California's 58 counties provide a range of outpatient and residential programs for about 30,000 students a year.

Because counties were required to treat the students, they were entitled by California law to be reimbursed by the state. Last year, counties spent roughly $140 million on student mental health services — three times more than any other mandated service for which the state reimburses counties.

Since 1999, lawmakers have failed to fully reimburse counties for the mental health services. In 2002, then-Gov. Gray Davis and legislators, faced with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, allotted no money for the mental health program.

Under Schwarzenegger, the state has continued not to reimburse counties, but has covered some of the costs by redirecting $69 million in federal education funds.

Left largely on their own, counties have paid much of the treatment costs. In Los Angeles County, for example, supervisors have set aside $20.3 million from the general fund yearly since 2002 to maintain a program that serves about 6,200 students. In Orange County, supervisors say the state owes $53 million for services provided to about 3,500 students a year since 1999. By June, the amount is estimated to have grown to $64 million.

Statewide, the state owes counties about $450 million, according to the nonpartisan legislative analyst's office.

Schwarzenegger is proposing to repay the money sometime over the next 15 years — a pledge county officials have little confidence in.

"The counties cannot continue to pour in funds to pay for something that is a state responsibility," said Dave Riley, assistant director of the Orange County Health Care Agency. "These kids have a right to these services. If we are going to be the one to provide them, we need to be paid."

Since the state cut its funding, counties have struggled to pay the organizations — such as Levy's Child and Family Center — that they contract with to treat mentally ill children, leaving many clinics reluctant to provide the services.

After struggling to get his bills paid by county officials, Levy said his agency had reduced the number of the special education students it treated by nearly half in two years.

Orange County supervisors voted last month to begin charging school districts for mental health services beginning this fall. The decision came after a similar move by San Diego County last summer.

The two counties joined Contra Costa and Sacramento counties and sued the state over the lack of student mental health funding last year.

In July, a Superior Court judge in Sacramento ruled that counties were not legally obligated to provide mental health services if the state did not reimburse them. The state did not appeal the decision.

San Diego County supervisors moved quickly to stop offering mental health treatment for 1,250 students, despite protests by educators and parents. The school districts eventually agreed to pay for services after the county exhausted its limited federal funding.

Contra Costa County officials are negotiating with school districts over payments for services next year. Sacramento County health officials plan to seek permission from county supervisors next month to begin negotiations.

Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger is lobbying lawmakers to suspend the counties' mandate to treat mentally ill students. If his efforts succeed, the responsibility for paying the bill in the future would fall to school districts. Districts would have to decide whether to hire staff or contract with county offices or private providers to continue treatment.

To help schools pay for those services, the governor has earmarked $100 million in federal and local money for school districts — at least $40 million short of what is needed, education officials say. Aides to the governor defend the allotment, saying that counties have inflated the costs of the program by seeking reimbursement for services beyond what is mandated by federal law.

Last month, the legislative analyst's office advised lawmakers not to suspend, but to eliminate, the county mandate, saying that if school districts were responsible the program would be more cost-effective. The analysts, however, agreed with education officials on the cost of the services and called for lawmakers to redirect an additional $40 million in education funds.

With approval of the state budget not expected until this summer, the prospect of assuming control of the student mental health program weeks before the start of the school year has left some educators unnerved.

"To suddenly decide that educators can do a better job than the counties at providing mental health services isn't logical or reasonable," said Steve Morford, director of special education for the Riverside Unified School District. "If they gave me enough time and a modicum of resources, I could figure something out. But that isn't happening."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Teach For America has gotten funding from Americorps though, at least that is true.

I do not like BUSH at all and did not vote for him. HE does not know educational policy at all. I want the NCLB bill junked, have been saying that for a long time.

It was not a totally bad experience in my high school years. Had my good teachers and my bad ones.

I like that 13 governors want to change the curriculum they have. Some governors now would like to see students take three science and three math classes before they graduate from highschool. I think it should be two science classes and 4 math classes.

Some governors wants students to complete a semesters worth of college classes by the end of high school. I SAY these governors are on the right track in changing the curriculum.

Even Bill Gates has called high schools "obsolete". I would not say that, but he is not 100% wrong though. How do you compete with the rest of the world without a proper curriculum????

If a class that is forced on you to take to graduate from highschool is worthless, why teach it???? I felt a few of the classes I took were worthless. You only have 4 years in high school and that is not much time at all. If you fill it up with some junk classes students are forced to take to graduate you are only hurting the students in the end.

All my educational beliefs are not that flawed. Some may not 100% work, But I think a lot of my ideas will really work in the educational system. I am certianly not out of the loop. I am just an american person throwing out some BOLD ideas to solve the educational system. The American educational system needs changes imo.

Poll: Paperwork and test prep eating more class time




BY ELLEN YAN
STAFF WRITER

March 7, 2005, 7:11 PM EST

Elementary school students lose the equivalent of two school days each week because test prep and teachers' mandatory paperwork are eating more class time than ever, according to a United Federation of Teachers poll released Monday.

Teachers "spend more time on required paperwork and bulletin board maintenance than they do on social studies and science combined," UFT president Randi Weingarten said a news conference.

Almost 3,000 out of the city's 30,000 elementary teachers responded to the January poll.

While nine of 10 reported spending more than two hours per week on non-instructional duties, only 15 percent said they spend more than two hours a week on science. Twenty percent said they spend more than two hours a week on social studies.

Weingarten said growing layers of student assessments and tests reflect the Department of Education's "teacher-proofing teaching."

As an example of "make work," she noted that portfolios of failing third- and fifth-graders are now written in longhand, with three separate written copies required, because of the new promotion appeals process. She characterized the portfolios as resembling a "trial court evidentiary record."

Like Weingarten, many educators believe the increasing pressure on test preparation reflects the Education Department's drive to raise scores during an election year and to show their much-criticized initiatives are successes. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has told voters to judge him on his schools overhaul.

"We had four years of steady growth in reading scores before last year's scores were flat," Weingarten said. An Education Department spokesman called the complaints a "bargaining strategy" on the teachers' contract. It expired almost two years ago.

"Our students are required to pass examinations as part of their education," Jerry Russo said, "and it is our obligation to ensure that they are well-prepared for these exams. It is also important that students be assessed periodically so that children who need support can be identified and helped as soon as possible.

"Given the past several years, one can only wonder what's new here -- nothing, except for the UFT's need to pursue its political and bargaining strategy," Russo said.

According to the survey, at least 63 percent of teachers reported spending more time on required paperwork, some said six hours more a week than last year.

More than half said test drilling, primarily on math and English, took up at least five hours a week, and 65 percent of classroom teachers said they start test prep at least six weeks before the tests are given.

"If you drill, drill, drill, cram, cram, cram without the real basics, then kids forget the information almost as soon as the test is taken," Weingarten said. "We do not want a situation where they just know enough to get by so that it will work for politicians and bureaucrats to count test scores."
Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.

PRIVATE ISN'T BETTER

For those that believe privitization will work in education(Edison ring a bell?!) or in other government matters, this is REQUIRED reading:




washingtonpost.com
Private Doesn't Mean Better

By William Raspberry

Monday, March 7, 2005; Page A19


Remember the gag about "the three biggest lies"? They were: "The check is in the mail," "Of course I'll respect you in the morning" and -- the punch line -- "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you."

Maybe it's time to add a fourth: "We're from the private sector, so naturally we'll do it better."

This last "biggest lie" has become a conservative mantra, a mystical incantation repeated not so much to explain as to make explanations unnecessary. Of course the private market will do it better -- whether the "it" is cleaning city streets, funding Social Security or staffing prisons.

Somebody got the bright idea that the private sector would do a better job managing health care for prison inmates. The New York Times, which undertook a year-long examination of one such company, Prison Health Services, reported several cases of inadequate -- sometimes fatally inadequate -- medical treatment of inmates and detainees because the private company had cut staff and services in an effort to keep costs down and protect its multimillion-dollar contracts.

A jail medical director, for example, cut off all but a few of the 32 pills a Parkinson's sufferer had been taking to keep his tremors under control. The patient-inmate died.

Stories abound of similar abuses in prisons operated by private companies -- many of them the result of attempts to hold down costs and boost profits.

The point is not that public correctional facilities are perfect -- only the foolishness of imagining that privatizing improves them.

Nor is it only conservatives who fall for privatization's big lie. One of my least favorite examples is in the liberal District of Columbia: the privatizing of traffic enforcement -- the dreaded red-light and speed cameras. A lot of people object to the fact that the cameras are hidden and, unlike a highly visible patrol car, don't give motorists a fair chance. My objection is to the fact that in the District and elsewhere, the cameras are owned and operated by private for-profit companies that issue and collect on tickets. The city managers like the cameras because they bring in more revenue than cops in patrol cars.

The system gives the companies an interest not in public safety but in collecting fines. Private isn't always better.

And yet people keep looking to privatization to improve everything from education (remember Chris Whittle's Edison Project?) to drug safety (leaving it to private lawsuits to drive dangerous medicines off the shelves).

Even Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement has gone private, albeit in a backdoor sort of way. Securities abuses that ought to be left to the SEC are increasingly being "prosecuted" by private lawyers through class-action lawsuits.

Several times a month, I get notices that a class of which I may be a member (because I once owned a few shares of some company or another) has won a class-action lawsuit. All I need to do is tell the lawyers (or the court) when I owned the stock. They will confirm my membership in the class and certify me for my share of the settlement.

Since I hardly ever know the answers to the questions they ask, I've been tossing the notices in the trash.

Big mistake? I asked Mary Malgoire, president of a Maryland financial planning practice called the Family Firm, what she does about these notices.

"We fill out the paperwork for our clients and submit it -- and, typically, it goes into a black hole," she said. She's had a few clients get back a little money -- "maybe a dollar, maybe 67 cents" -- but most never see any money at all.

She assumes, as I do, that the lawyers who bring these class-action lawsuits get compensated for their efforts.

Still, doesn't the fact that the misbehaving companies have to pay out a lot of money serve as a deterrent to corporate misbehavior? And doesn't that make the class-action lawsuit a useful form of nongovernmental law enforcement?

Well, not necessarily. As investment adviser Nathan Gendelman explained, the easiest lawsuits for class-action lawyers to win are those in which the companies have already been ruined by mismanagement. "The threat of a lawsuit in such cases probably doesn't change anybody's behavior, at least not in the way the threat of an SEC investigation might," he said. "The lawyers may get their fee, but the people who suffered the wrongdoing usually don't get much of anything."

Private isn't necessarily better.

willrasp@washpost.com

March 11, 2005

Budget Blueprints Fail To Protect Students and Schools
Call Congress March 15 and 16 To Share Your Concerns


Thousands of citizens concerned about how the House and Senate budget committee resolutions approved this week fail to protect children, the elderly and vulnerable working families are poised to speak out during a national call-your-Members-of-Congress day on Tuesday, March 15, and Wednesday, March 16. If left unchanged during House and Senate debate next week, the blueprints would push the costs of cuts in education and health care to states and local communities.

NEA believes the federal budget should reflect our nation's priorities of educating our children and providing them adequate health care, protecting the most vulnerable among us and investing in stronger communities. CALL 1-800-247-2971 ON MARCH 15 AND 16 to make sure your Members of Congress know we want a budget that gives priority to education, health care and the elderly.

The Senate budget resolution:

Cuts education and training programs by $34 billion from 2006 to 2010.


Calls for $15 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next five years, which will reduce state money available for education.


Offers positive changes in higher education.


Adding money for increasing the maximum Pell Grant.


Eliminating Pell Grant funding shortfalls to allow more eligible students to receive help.


Reserving money for improvements in the student loan program.
The House budget resolution:

Cuts $2.1 billion next year and $21.4 billion through 2010 in funding for mandatory education programs, which could include school lunch and student aid for higher education.


Will likely to lead to cuts totaling $15.1 billion or more over the next five years for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, thereby reducing state money available for education.


Falls some $9 billion short of the funding promised for No Child Left Behind.


Does not address the needs of tens of thousands students served by Title I and the Individual with Disabilities Education Act.


Does not address the critical need for increasing the Pell Grant maximum to a level that helps students meet rising tuition costs.
Action Needed

Call 1-800-247-2971 on March 15 and 16 to urge your Members of Congress to write a fair and responsible budget resolution!


Ask to be connected to your Senators and Representatives or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard directly at 202-224-3121.


Don't be discouraged if the lines are busy; try again later. You can also find your Senators' direct line at www.senate.gov or your Representative's direct line at www.house.gov.


Send an e-mail to your Members of Congress urging them to adopt a budget that protects children, the elderly, and vulnerable families.

Studies such as the large scale, longitudinal Student Teacher
Achievement
Ratio, or Project STAR and Milwaukee's Student Achievement Guarantee in
Education (SAGE), support what teachers have always known: small
classes
mean better education.

Legislation such as HR 3450 would establish a $2 billion per year
program
to provide funds to school districts to reduce class sizes with highly
qualified teachers and to recruit and train new teachers, test them for
content knowledge, and provide professional development and mentoring.

Three steps to privatization

Say that you cannot improve education by throwing money at it. (As Margaret Thatcher said many years ago.)

Take money away from it.

Watch it fail and smile, say 'See, public education cannot work,' and close all state schools in order to force people to go private.

that's the madness behind NCLB, and as you have observed, it is already happening. shrub doesn't like public programs that work- hence why he's going after education and social security. Question is, do dems and moderate repubs have the balls to stand up to him???

I have the bolas to stand up to Shrub and Ahnold both, teacher731, but what happened to YOU? How dare you cut and run out on me here when the going gets tough! Can't you stand up to a Libertarian candidate either? Now who has bigger bolas here??????

KT

Not only has the Bush budget slashed education, there is a Governor in California who is out to reform education. He says he isn't against teachers/nurses, it's their unions he is against. My answer to that is, WE ARE UNION! We are united together with one cause and we are fighting to save education. Are there any other teachers in here?

Too bad teacher731 left. Boo hoo hoo!

KT

If you take a bird's eye view of our government. Bush spent(stole) more money than anyother president on our combined history. If you added up all the money spent since FICA was started to fund the civil war he has spent more money then all that combined BUT

He is cutting every government program and centralizing all of our FICA and SS.

Think a