Click to enlarge spreadsheet.Racine Unified continues to struggle with the ACT, the standardized test of high school achievement used for college admissions. ACT components include tests of academic achievement in English, math, reading and science.
Unified reported late Tuesday night that the district's overall scores, and those of students in every district high school except Walden, declined this year from 2008. Except for Walden, the district's scores, and that of students in each high school, are at their low point since 2003
The scores, in the spreadsheet from RUSD above, show that the district fell slightly below the national average, of 21.1, and substantially below the state average of 22.3. Unified's average ACT score was 20.5.
- The biggest decline came at Park High School, whose students' ACT average score dropped 1.3 points, from 20.9 to 19.6.
- Case HS students dropped 1.1 points, from 22.1 to 21.
- The REAL School dropped .9, from 20.8 to 19.9.
- Horlick HS dropped .3, from 20.9 to 20.6.
Unified's memo, by Dr. Stephen Miller, director of Standards, Assessment, and Accountability, and Jeff Weiss, director of Curriculum and Instruction, noted that state and national composite scores remained the same as last year. They said the number of RUSD students taking the ACT decreased from 755 in 2008 to 733 in 2009. Participation at the state level decreased less percentagewise, from 46,990 to 46,658.
The memo continues:
Strategies: Performance on the ACT will have increased importance as we move forward with our North Star vision, as this metric is a priority indicator of students’ preparation for college and/or career. Beginning with a review of disaggregated 2009 ACT data by administration, the conversation will be continued with school staff planning for the involvement of students in challenging core coursework. Enrollment in rigorous coursework is a key strategy for improving ACT performance.In June, three of Unified's high schools were on the state's Schools Identified for Improvement SIFI list, which is not a good thing. Case and Horlick missed meeting standards in reading, math and graduation rate, while Park missed in math, graduation rate and test participation
Longitudinal ACT data were provided for all high schools as part of the Data Retreat conducted last week in Racine Unified. These ACT data were considered when each school created their School Improvement Plan.
What else can you expect from a district which promotes noxious nonsense while neglecting the basics? As I recall, Unified is big on ridiculous musicals, Renaissance feasts, plays and other forms of folly. Elderly people like me are being taxed out of our homes because somebody thought that our kids need frills. In fact, what the students require (and aren't receiving) is a good basic education. Of course, reading, writing and arithmetic aren't glamorous and fun. So our pooped pundits--who want Unified to compete with a richie-poo school I'll call "Precious Airy Academy"--push the performing arts, sports and other non-essentials. If we threw the silly courses and activities out and concentrated on the bare-bones basics, the kids' scores would go up and our property taxes would go down. (I realize that some of these unnecessary classes and activities have been imposed on us by the state. Still, we can have music without musicals and physical education without pricey team sports.)
ReplyDeleteAmen! School is the place where kids ought to learn math, reading, spelling, science, foreign languages, vocational skills and other useful things. Instead, our district goes ahead and stages summer musicals. A few weeks ago Unified gave us a production of Elton John's "Aida" which had no practical value. It's time to close the carnival and bring back basic education.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Unified is out of control. Why else would it offer a crazy program about Siberian cranes when kids should be learning how to read and do simple arithmetic? However, we've got a corporation in town which likes to tell Unified what to teach. Also, we're loaded with low-income students who have to be entertained lest they skip school or drop out completely. That's why the schools have been turned into playpens.
ReplyDelete"North Star vision"? What does this gibberish have to do with education? Whoever dreamt that stuff up should go to the observatory and play astronomer while real educators teach the kids how to read and write.
ReplyDeleteYou bet we need to close the fun-fair a.s.a.p.! That insane bird program ("Three White Cranes, Two Flyways, One World") didn't have to be at Unified. Of course, a company which employs lots of yuppies who live in Caledonia wanted the kids to study Siberian cranes because its owners get tax deductions for donations to the Crane Foundation. Our students need a good practical education minus meddling by businessmen with a hidden agenda.
ReplyDeleteI heard that the company in question actually sent a teacher over to Red China to look at cranes. If seeing cranes is so important, why couldn't they have had the educator take a gander at our Wisconsin whoopers? Seriously, none of this crap belongs in our schools. Elitists with more dollars than sense have swamped Unified with idiotic programs and activities. It's time to ditch the useless stuff and concentrate on reading, spelling and math.
ReplyDeleteI'll come right out and say it: S.C. Johnson's intervention in the affairs of our public school district is why the students perform so poorly. What S.C. Johnson wants is lots of dumb, cheap labor to exploit. Smart kids from ordinary backgrounds would be a threat to the "Family Company" and its control of this town. What's been happening at Unified is no accident.
ReplyDeleteLet's try an experiment by removing everyone connected with Johnson's from the School Board. Then we could bring back basic education.
ReplyDeleteTake the toys out of the playpen. With the Holidays coming in a few months, I'm sure Unified will be gearing up for another totally unjustified Madrigal Dinner. Maybe this year we shouldn't blow dough on this stuff. My Irish Dad said he wouldn't walk across the street to hear kids howl because he had enough mouthy brats at home. Perhaps the would-be warblers should be learning the alphabet. At least then they'd be literate when they graduated from high school.
ReplyDeletePlease don't blame the kids for their poor performance. Many Unified students come from homes where the only books in sight are a Gideon Bible purloined from a motel and a telephone directory. Give them simple basic education and they'll do well.
ReplyDeleteThat's right--we shouldn't hold the kids culpable for the sorry situation at Unified. They didn't ask to be born in low-income families and they didn't choose to reside in Racine. On the other hand, our educators and administrators are responsible for the mess. Thanks to them, we have plays, musicals and team sports instead of reading, writing and arithmetic. We'd better run our pedagogical circus out of town and bring in people who'll teach the kids the basics.
ReplyDeleteLow test scores? What else can you expect from kids in an arty-tarty town? A city which wastes big bucks on a Nic Noblique sculpture isn't going to have a decent school district. Racine's priorities are out of whack and require readjustment pronto.
ReplyDeleteYes J Wax loves a uneducated work force keeps labor costs down.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love is of course will be the cry for more and more tax money for this black hole called RUSD.
Until the present economic crisis is over, Unified should offer ONLY the basics to its students. The kids need the practical courses and the beaten-down property tax payers could use some relief. (I know senior citizens who are worried sick about their property taxes. The so-called Golden Years shouldn't be spent fretting about funds for a frivolous school district.)
ReplyDeleteRemove anyone connected with Johnson's from Unified immediately. That corporation wants the public schools to be bad because it likes having dumb,docile workers to exploit. (If Johnson's really cared about education, it would have helped the public and parochial schools instead of starting a snuggery for snobs and future executives.)
ReplyDeleteA-plus to that suggestion! J-Wax has to learn that Unified isn't its plantation for training the next generation of obedient little wage slaves. Get the Johnson devotees off the School Board and bring back basic education.
ReplyDeleteNo more nonsense! Art, music, sports and other luxuries should go. (If the state won't let us drop them completely, we can reduce them to the absolute minimum.) Then emphasize reading, writing, math and other practical subjects. Meanwhile, Johnson's should be told to mind its own business and keep its corrupt corporate paws off the public schools. That teacher who took J-Wax cash to gape at Siberian cranes and snooze in a Mongolian yurt ought to be replaced by a sensible educator who'd make sure that the students were literate and knew their arithmetic.
ReplyDeleteLiterate students capable of doing simple arithmetic are the last thing Johnson's wants here. Workers who could figure out how they've been tricked by Johnson's pet temp agencies would make trouble for the so-called Family Company and the degener-twit dollar-sign dynasty which runs it. J-Wax likes bad public schools which turn out clueless fools who'll work for peanuts. Believe me, the mink-coat matriarch and her spawn would scream in terror if Unified were to give a decent basic education to its students.
ReplyDeleteWhile we're on the subject of J-Wax, somebody should make it pay the property taxes it dodged courtesy of Governor Doyle. Maybe if Johnson's met its obligations, we wouldn't be taxed into poverty to support Wisconsin's worst school district.
ReplyDeleteUnified is a disgrace and an example of what happens when citizens allow a corporation to manipulate a public school district. Nobody with any ties to Johnson Wax should be on the School Board. Teachers who accept J-Wax-related cash for trips to Inner Mongolia must be fired. Basic education untainted by a corporation's yen for stupid factory hands and genial menials must supplant the present filthy farce--the sooner the better!
ReplyDeleteEver since a notorious corporate crime family opened Prairie, public education in this badnews burg has headed south with no turn around in sight. Emulating Prairie's art, music, drama and sports programs has distracted Unified from its primary task of providing an adequate basic education for kids from non-privileged families. The person who said that Unified's sorry state was no accident was right. Unfortunately, wealthy industrialists have a long record of undermining public education and keeping working class kids ignorant. J-Wax likes a dumb work force and intends to keep it that way.
ReplyDeleteEver since a notorious corporate crime family opened Prairie, public education in this badnews burg has headed south with no turn around in sight. Emulating Prairie's art, music, drama and sports programs has distracted Unified from its primary task of providing an adequate basic education for kids from non-privileged families. The person who said that Unified's sorry state was no accident was right. Unfortunately, wealthy industrialists have a long record of undermining public education and keeping working class kids ignorant. J-Wax likes a dumb work force and intends to keep it that way.
ReplyDeleteDump the art, music and sports in the garbage and focus on the three r's. I've had it with a district that can teach kiddies Elizabethan madrigals but can't equip them with basic skills. Unless the students intend to work at Renaissance fairs, they shouldn't be trilling "Greensleaves" at the Horlick Madrigal Dinner. In fact, we shouldn't even have events of that type. All they do is devour time and money which ought to be spent on the basics.
ReplyDeleteDear 4:43, You're absolutely correct. Racine has terrible public schools because J-Wax likes a semi-literate labor force which doesn't demand decent pay and good working conditions. (To be fair, other corporations along with J-Wax are guilty of this crime against humanity. However, J-Wax is the worst offender.)
ReplyDeleteWhat the heck is "North Star vision" and what does it have to do with education? It sounds like some type of motivational scam to me.
ReplyDeleteIt probably is a motivational scam. And let's not forget that corporations like this stuff, which they cram down the throats of their employees. Want to bet J-Wax had some connection with "North Star vision" and other high-flown hoohah at Unified?
ReplyDeleteOur school district is a factory which transforms students into stultified Stepford wives who'll work for pennies. We all know which company wants this and profits from it through questionable labor practices. Until that corporation is banned from all involvement in Unified's affairs, the problem will persist. Every J-Wax acolyte should be kicked off the School Board and people with no corporate affiliation should be elected a.s.a.p.
ReplyDeleteGet rid of the musicals and teach the pupils how to write their names. Unified's priorities are utterly warped by its desire to compete with a certain school for rich spoiled brats.
ReplyDeleteWow.....some troll was busy posting 20 something comments on this story every couple of minutes. All that J-Wax bashing was from the same person.
ReplyDeleteDear 7:06, Don't you wish it had been one "troll." Nope--a lot of concerned citizens are working hard to improve education in this town and get a certain corporation's flunkeys out of Unified. By the way, buddy, "troll" in modern slang is an insulting term for homeless folks who live under bridges. If I were you, I wouldn't fling it at people. In today's raunchy economy, it could backfire and you could wind up with that designation.
ReplyDeleteThis is especially troubling since "ACT" scores usually represent the better college bound students. The WKCE scores also confirm the lack of any sign of progress. The administration is big on catch phrases and costly programs, but has not shown one sign of any meaningful improvement.
ReplyDelete"Precious Airy Academy"? Prairie's average ACT score was near 27 last year. Those arts, sports and non-essentials seem to have them 30% higher than the rest of the city. What's next? A Prairie renaissance feast?
ReplyDeleteThose of us who think that the Horlick Madrigal Dinner is a waste of money will be horrified to learn that the darned thing is counted as a class. That's right, the kiddies get academic credit for prancing and belting out Elizabethan ditzy ditties. We'd better eliminate this nonsense and go back to basics SOON.
ReplyDeleteThose Prairie students have such high ACT scores because their solvent parents hire coaches to prepare them for the test. Furthermore, most Prairie students don't have to hold after-school jobs to survive, so they can prepare for the ACT in a way that ordinary kids can't. As for the art, music and sports, they don't harm hyper-advantaged kids whose parents will make them focus on the test. On the other hand, non-essentials can cut into the scant study time available to working class students.
ReplyDeleteWe so-called trolls are everywhere and more activists are joining us with each passing day. One way or another, we'll free Unified from corporate control and bring in people who'll teach our kids what they need: the basics.
ReplyDeleteI smell a troll movement.
ReplyDeleteJust a question: For being Racine's biggest employer, Why is it that SCJ is NEVER hiring people and makes it next to impossible to EVER get hired there?
ReplyDeleteAt least we now know that to get a high ACT score you just need a preparation coach and no after school part time job. Whew.
ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree. Yes, we need to get back to basics. Musicals are NOT the problem. It is the teaching methods and curriculum.
ReplyDeleteWe started these weird touchy feely politically correct and slanted text books and no one can learn from them. The tried and true methods of teaching are not being used.
Complicated methods and materials are being bought and sold.
I love the musicals. I think we need to give our kids that artistic outlet. They go home and practice and have better self esteem. Your tires are safe.
Kids at Walden are in musicals too. They have been in them at Horlick, Park and Case H.S. So musicals are not the problem.
ReplyDeletePlaying sports made me better at school since I needed to keep up my grades in order to play. My parents required a certain level of performance or I'd be yanked as well.
ReplyDeleteI also had a part time job where I learned responsibility with money and learned that I wanted to further my education. I saw the adults that worked with me at these jobs and how tough they struggled.
BTW - I went to public school and J-Wax, plays, etc had nothing to do with my education.
I'll tell you what made things difficult....classroom sizes were too big. Too many students to manage for the teacher. It is very difficult for them to control and it only takes one or two screw-ups to sidetrack an entire class. Plus, there was little time for individual attention, and some needed it more than others.
If you want to improve performance in these tests, then decrease the number of students in the classroom at a time. No more than 20.
The biggest factor though, has nothing to do with the school itself. It has to do with parents and their expectations and the environment in which you live.
Just like in the classroom, if parents have to work 2 jobs to support the family these days then they don't have the time to spend with the kids for that personal attention. Parents need to demand and expect excellence but that job is made very difficult when you don't have the time to devote to it.
With unemployment and underemployment where it is at right now, expect lower scores and more challenging times.
In most school districts kids are encouraged to use a calculator. They are not required to memorize the multiplication tables anymore. Extra curricular activities have no baring on that. We all had choices in electives. We cannot eliminate the electives, and not fix the curriculum. We would have a huge truancy and drop out problem.
ReplyDeleteWe are not giving the new superintendent Shaw a chance to implement the necessary changes. You might just be happily surprised with what he is able to do.
SCJ and Neubauer are only in control of the school board. They are not effective.
Lets give the new superintendent a chance and a hand. He deserves our support.
This is all very predictable folks. Test scores are down, and everyone starts crying about "my tax dollars are funding useless extracurriculars! music! art! dance!" Take a moment and consider your words, and take a look past your emotional knee-jerk judgement.
ReplyDeleteOur district has MANY problems. However, cutting the arts out of schools will have an effect on the schools and the children, that in 10 years, you'll be wishing you never advocated.
Take a quick look at that list. What's the only school that improved? Walden.
Walden is a school that not only teaches the arts, but FOCUSES on the arts. They cater to a student's individual needs, and make classes engaging by using a student's interests in the arts to their advantage.
It has been proven, time and again, that not just teaching the arts, but INTEGRATING the arts into an educational program is one of the best ways a school can succeed. students, as well as any person, are more likely to be interested and engaged by the arts, so why not use it to your advantage.
and THAT is the problem with unified. Where Walden takes an approach to teaching and learning that emphasizes real results for the student as a person, and not for the school or some numbers game, The rest of the schools in the district institute programs sloppily.
Classes are taught because they are mandated. Teachers teach because they have to. When no-one gives a damn, this is what happens to education. the schools have become so big, and the student, so out of control, that nobody wants to do anything about it.
School is indeed a place where children should learn math, reading, science, foreign language, etc. but that doesnt mean you have to strip away everything that actually interests the students and make school a punishment for them. Because lets face it, In most cases in racine, school already IS a punishment.
The district, and the community, like to regularly point and laugh at walden and its quirky programs like ROPE, or green school, or its extensive focus on arts and team building. And dont forget small class sizes.
But the proof is in the pudding my friends. If our teachers, administrators, and parents took a real, honest look at walden, they might learn a thing or ten that would help them become educators.
I have often wondered the same about the Johnson's use of Temp services, and the unlikeliness of ever becoming a full time employee.
ReplyDeleteBeing a "family company" only refers to the Johnson family not to anyone else's..
I have also heard it is who you know when it comes to their hiring practices.
I think it is kinda late to start getting serious about education in high school. We have already lost them by then. Hope Shaw can fix this mess Hicks got us into.
ReplyDeleteFrom a recent retreat held by Unified where educators from successful schools presented their methods to Racine's educators:
ReplyDelete"Practice makes perfect so key subjects are taught daily at Alcott with repeated exercises.
"Students have daily math problems that employ critical thinking. They do repetitive sound exercises to learn to read and are evaluated on fluency and accuracy with mistakes corrected instantly."
http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/article_e76b2389-6ce2-5819-99e8-2c4623aaa868.html
Repetitive exercises to teach the basics. Math problems to improve critical thinking.
Duh! That's only worked for a few hundred years. Whooda thunk it?
May the politicians and the pundits party on with Racine's future. May generation after generation fail because Unified is someone's toy.
Dear Ramon, You're right about Walden to a certain extent. Although the students at Walden have plenty of art, music and other non-essentials, they DO earn good ACT scores. However, Walden has a non-representative student body largely composed of educated middle class families' kids. Since the Walden kids generally don't need to worry about economic survival the way the students in other public high schools do, they can concentrate on mastering the basics. Because most Walden students aren't worn out from rotten fast food jobs, they've got enough energy and time to play with nonsense without impairing their ability to learn useful subjects. But for poor and lower-middle class kids who don't know where their next meal is coming from,art, music and sports are just distractions.
ReplyDeleteWhile we're clearing the nonsense out of our curriculum, let's not forget to ditch dance in the dumpster. Seriously, I'd like to know how much Unified blows on dance per annum. It's probably a hefty sum. Yes, I realize that the wee spadgers enjoy leaping and cavorting on stage. It's just a pity, though, that many of them can barely read.
ReplyDeleteWe need to force the teachers to pay their fair share of benefits. That savings alone would be huge. Money we could put back into education
ReplyDeleteAmen!
ReplyDeleteThe good folks who suspect a corporate crime family of tampering with Unified aren't paranoid. Let's never forget that a certain family foundation has a six-figure flunkey in charge of education out at "Whitebread." You can bet that babe isn't getting Wax-bucks to snoop on the servants or count the silver after Hellwitch's galas. As I see it, the Carnauba Court and its lackeys want the public schools to range from mediocre to awful because in the Wax-mind they exist primarily to supply Messy-John-It's-A-Sin with low-cost, semi-educated labor. Because the Waxies may need literate office help, they tolerate the adequate education at Walden and--as yet--haven't tried to sabotage the church-affiliated schools. However, if Widow Wax and her progeny would be candid, they want the Racine area to possess one and only one excellent school--their training and indoctrination facility for hyper-privileged future Wax-executives. Deep in their greedy little guts the Waxies worry that well-educated kids from non-advantaged backgrounds may question their peculiar labor practices, refuse to do chimp chores for chump change and eventually smash the House of Wax.
ReplyDeleteI hope that stinking Crane Foundation program won't be at Unified this year. All the kids did was listen to a teacher tell them about these far-from-important birds and draw pictures of them which they shared with kiddies in Communist China. From what a friend told me, her nephew--who participated in this sick excuse for education--was given a dose of internationalist propaganda. Inasmuch as "One World" was part of the program's name, I wouldn't doubt it. Finally, we must remember that the people who inflicted this stuff on Unified and some of its students were and remain active participants in the dirty deeds of the CFR and the Trilateral Commission. Enough said!
ReplyDeleteSend your kids to a private school. guaranteed results.
ReplyDeleteDear 2:41, That's very good advice. Unfortunately, many folks don't possess the means to follow it. As you know, a great Catholic charter school with affordable tuition recently closed its doors. While the other religious schools are great, they cost more than many low-income families can pay.
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line about the Waxies is that they want as many kids as possible in our terrible public schools. That's why they didn't cut checks to save San Juan Diego and other affordable alternatives to Unified's playpens. They must need a lot of cheap, stupid temps for their factories.
ReplyDeleteYou people are all nuts. You want higher scores? It's not Unified's Fault. The blame goes to the parents. Get them involved in the education of their kids, stop this entitlement attitude and do something right for your kids! GET INVOLVED. "It takes a Parent to raise a child".
ReplyDeleteMoney is not going to give your kids a better education if the parents don't care. Walden III gets next to nothing from Unified. It hasn't been painted in OVER 37 years, the stairs are rickety, the gym floor is distressed and almost impossible to use as a basketball court. Their computers are all "hand-me-downs" from other schools,The have no sports, the facility is an absolute joke... Unified should be embarrassed for not putting any money into what we all consider the best public school in the district if not the state. YET these kids continue to excel!
WHY? Because the parents care. There is as much poverty at Walden as any other school, the difference is the kids care and the schools care.
The JWax bashing is ridiculous - You folks from Prairie and SCJ, Please ignore the Racine/Caledonia/Mt Pleasant WHINERS CLUB. We love your company and we love your school. I wish we could afford Prairie. I wish Walden III had a better facility... I wish I wish I wish, BUT... Even without, I know my kids are getting a great education at Walden.
A proud WALDEN III PARENT of 2 Honor Roll students and ALUMNI!
Walden = tattos, multiple piercings, black clothes and chains, weird hairdo's and green or pink hair.
ReplyDelete"Walden = tattos, multiple piercings, black clothes and chains, weird hairdo's and green or pink hair."
ReplyDeleteSteve Jobs, Bill Gates, Tesla, etc. Did not fit in in the day.
Post the scores by race and you will see why the average is so low. Unified has these numbers by the way!
ReplyDeleteProud Walden III Parent you just said it all. So many people in this city sit and complain, pass the blame on to teachers and corperations and are to busy to take the time to be a part of their childs education. SCJ is not the problem the whinning idiots of this city are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, we do have a major slug of a school district called RUSD but blogging under Anonymous isnt going to fix it, taking time to see that your child is doing homework, studying for exams, corresponding with Teachers may.
ReplyDelete6:33 Just what Racine needed another "idiot bigot"
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:59 - You are just another idiot in denial about the true problem.
ReplyDeleteI'll give you a hint - it wasn't the white students that brought the average down.
Dear Proud Walden III Parent, Emerson's dead, Horatio Alger wrote fiction and it's time for us to face reality. For most poor and working class parents, who have to work multiple minimum wage jobs to survive, your advice is ridiculous. Just how is a downtrodden burger-flipper who doubles as a house cleaner going to find the time and energy to make her kids do their homework? Don't demand the impossible and you won't be disappointed. As for your admiration for the House of Wax, it's not going to get you one thin dime. The Waxies didn't accumulate their obscene stash by being philanthropists. I pray that I may witness the nationalization of Messy-John-It's-A-Sin by a socialist government and the end of their snooty school. May it be turned into a cultural and sports center for ALL the children of Racine!
ReplyDeleteGuess they're learning to tow the line for the teachers' union. It was just an election year. Looks like they spent time listening to a lot of bull about Obama instead of learning to question or analyze anything.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:17,
ReplyDeleteChoose your priorities. Children need attention and motivation and if they are not getting it in the home where do you expect them to get it? Money is a necessity but your child's future should be more important. If they don't get the attention needed they will go down the same path laid by their parent. Is that what you really want?
I grew up in a low income family but with support from my mother and her hope for me to have a better future I graduated high school with honors, graduated college, and am now succeeding at my life goals.
As for arts in the schools, that is not the problem. Creative outlets are important, especially for children who feel they cannot express themselves anywhere else, you know because their parents are too busy working.
The solution starts in the home and you can build from there. Your children need support and guidance.
Garbage in ... garbage out. I'm sure there are still many good teachers at RUSD, but we need to reward the good ones (loose the bad ones). More parent involvement is needed too. Schools should not be a day care operation, or a training ground for prisons. The Teachers Union is too strong and has too much politic strength. Start putting the true interest of the kids first vs. protecting under performing high pay babysitters. Make a difference in the students life ... you may find it more rewarding then your pay check.
ReplyDeleteWho among you anonymous posters has first-hand knowledge and experience with Unified programs, teachers, administrators and students besides your property taxes? The bloggers here on RacinePost endlessly bash the school board every time there is an article about our schools because they ask for referendums, they ask you for more of your money so they can promote "noxious nonsense" and "neglect the basics". As tax-payers, you inherently have the right to question where your money goes and why. But, if you're not willing to be involved or change things for the better in your community instead of sitting in front of your computers whining and moaning; do not blame inefficiencies or test scores on Prairie or SC Johnson.
ReplyDeleteI have gone to Walden for 3 years and will be a senior in September. I’ve seen the direct impact of those referendums, the changes in state-mandated classes, and the failing economy’s consequences on schools quite a lot more than most of the people who talk about it on here.
Walden receives the least amount of funding from Unified, and we have one of the worst-equipped facilities. We’ve been using the same hand-me-down books from the 1980’s and 90’s because that’s what we’re given. We have art classes, jazz bands, an orchestra, and extracurricular clubs just the same as all the other schools. We have the same income bracket ratios as all the other schools. We at Walden have jobs during the school year same as the students at Park, Case, Horlick. We are taught the three R’s.
Maybe our parents are more supportive, I don’t know. All I do know is that the kids I go to school with and the teachers I have are some of the best people I’ve ever met and I am honored that I have been able to get to know them. I also know that my education is broader and better because I have the opportunity to talk about art and sing in a musical if I want to, but only as long as my GPA is maintained and my grades don’t slip. (And that GPA… it’s mainly based on the grades I receive in science, math, English, foreign language and history.)
Yes, our class sizes are smaller than a lot of schools’. Yes, we do things differently than the other schools in regard to student responsibility and independence. Yes, we have open discussions in our English, History and Sociology classes. So what if Thoreau is dead? In times like these, maybe what we all really need is an alternative approach to the problems in the world.
Test scores are important for funding from the state and for getting into college. We all know that. The 30 I got on my ACT might earn me enrollment to the college of my choice, but only in correlation with the caliber of my high school courses, my participation in extracurricular activities like Model UN and Green School, my ability to hold a part time job while retaining a place on honor roll, and my involvement in the community.
If you’re ever interesting in gaining a little bit of true awareness and feel like loosing a little of your ignorance, come on over to Walden for a while and talk to some students. We’ll tell you how hard it is trying to get an education when all you hear from people in your city is how awful Unified is, how it should be disbanded, how the teachers can’t do their jobs, how our parents obviously don’t care about us because they won’t fork over the thousands of dollars to send us to private schools.
Ever think about the affect you naysayers really have? Not a single thing. Don’t be misguided in thinking your blogging is doing something positive and you’re getting anything changed. All you’re doing is making the situation worse with your constant complaining. Yes, Racine has its unavoidable problems, but get out of your house and your cozy, comfortable little judgments and do something about it! Be the solution, not the problem.
And by the way, Walden seems to have given me the confidence to sign my name to my opinions; something very, very few of you also seem to possess.
-Rachel Pettit
Rachel - Very well written and to the point. These are the type of comments I like to read.
ReplyDeleteDear Walden Kids, Yes, my nephew attended your school and loved it. However, that doesn't alter the fact that seniors like me are being taxed out of our homes. As long as this stupid state dumps the burden of financing public education on homeowners, we're going to complain and demand the removal of pricey frills from the curriculum. Art, music, dance and sports are fun. Even so, they're not necessities and ought to be strictly curtailed during a depression.
ReplyDeleteand yes Walden has tatto's, green hair, black clothes, chains and multiple piercing's. Dressed and looking like that - how many corporate employers would hire you?
ReplyDeleteRachel Pettit
ReplyDeleteWe are having an effect or you and others would not be posting. For the first time in years I think we can stop a referendum. Before RUSD gets one more dime they need to explain
1) why a 50% graduation rate is ok
2) why the union can not pay for more of their benefits like the real world does
3) What happen to all the millions and millions they have received in the last few years
Anonymous blogers are saying what you and others fear to here we are mad as hell and are not taking it any more
Rachel do over 95% of Walden students go on to college like the private schools, care to compare ACT scores with the private schools, the private schools don't require cops in the building, absentism is just abount non-existant, they have stong sports, choral and theatric programs. No green hari, no black clothes and chains - limite tatoos and piercings - I could go on forever. Walden does not even come close to the private schools.
ReplyDeleteSorry - I have bad typing skills this morning - not bad spelling.
ReplyDeleteWe need to elect better people to the school board. I guess Neubauer found another way to get his election post cards out. Heard he said someone else is doing it now.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile people who really care are not getting elected.
Amen! Many good people can't afford to be candidates because campaigns cost very serious money. Unless a person is well-to-do or has rich backers, he doesn't stand a chance. Of course, in this corrupt company town, we know which corporate crime family misuses its moolah to pack the School Board...
ReplyDelete9:12 - isn't is great?
ReplyDeleteNope, it's gross.
ReplyDeleteThe rich need to rule and run the city - that's the way it is meant to be.
ReplyDeleteThere are far more parents and tax payers with votes than union members or SCJ employees.
ReplyDeleteWe can do it, people just have to go to the polling place and ignore the postcards that used to be Neubauers post cards but now are being sent by someone else.
I'd like Sue Kutz to go first.
Private schools have a self selected school population and cannot be compared apples to apples with a public school.
ReplyDeleteLet them open the doors to all and not charge horrific sums of money for tuition and see what happens. It isn't that their teachers or cirriculum is better necessarily. But if you do think they are that superior, then why not have the private and public school teachers switch jobs for a year and check the ACT scores.
10:59 - 1st off all you talk about high tuition, there is money available for those that want to go to a private school, there are also scholorships and work programs. Most people are to lazy to check them out. Another reason people don't send their children to private schools is they will not sacrifice to give up their toys - Harley's, camper's, cars, snowmoblies. ski-do's etc. And that is true private schools can be selective they do not have to take trouble makers - that's the beauty of it. Private schools are superior to public school in just about every aspect. Check them out if you are willling to sacrifice for your children - I did.
ReplyDeleteThe point, as I see it, that is being missed in this "discussion" is the problem is not the cost of "extra" things like music or sports, but thecost of the bloated whale on Northwestern Ave.
ReplyDeleteJust look at the article. There are 2 "directors" quoted. How many more "directors", "assistant superintendents", and the accompanying "assistants to the" and "asscoiate assistant to the" exist?
Thats where the real big bucks are being wasted.
I don't have anything against private schools....I just don't think you can fairly compare performance of public to private as if they operate under the same conditions. One chooses the students, the other does not. That makes a significant difference.
ReplyDelete12:16 The point is parents have a choice, and I don't understand with the academic results of RUSD why anyone would ever send their children to a RUSD school - and then there is the whole safety thing. Gun, knives, gangs etc. You won't find cops in the private schools because they do not need them.
ReplyDelete12:49
ReplyDeleteThey hand pick their students. I could do the same and produce the same results. It isn't because private education is better, it is because they create a favorable environment by selecting which students they want at their school. Plus they can limit the class sizes if they choose. They have countless structural advantages that do not make it apples to apples comparison.
Hey! That's because Walden is awesome. I go to Walden, and I love it there. GO GREEN!
ReplyDelete12:49 - that's one of my points - the question still stands, why would parents send their children to RUSD - when the private school alternative gurantees positive results for whatever reasons.
ReplyDeleteWalden = tattos, multiple piercings, black clothes and chains, weird hairdo's and green or pink hair.
ReplyDeleteWalden also = highest ACT scores in the district, highest graduation rate, and highest college placement. Your stupid is showing.
ReplyDeleteSt. Cat's, Prairie and Lutheran - beat Walden in every category. Now who is stupid?
ReplyDeleteDear 9:38, No, the rich RUIN the city for needy people. Please wake up: the Puritans, their Calvinist work ethic and their warped view of worldly wealth as a sign of divine favor are dead. By the way, unless you're loaded to the max, espousing the oligarchy's cause is tantamount to sabotaging your own advancement. Please remember that there are many more workers than Waxies and Wax-lackeys. Don't forget that today's pauper is mobile, armed and smart. And, finally,reflect on the fact that if some corporate porker were to send your job overseas or south of the border, YOU could end up POOR. (By the way, this not my wish for you. As a Christian, I must pray for your prosperity here and eternal happiness hereafter.)
ReplyDelete9:38 - so sorry, I work for the fun of it. I don't need to work, I just like taking jobs away from people like you!
ReplyDeleteDear 4:10 P.M., Since you probably don't know Sanskrit, Chinese and Medieval Spanish, my research income--such as it may be--is safe. However, I'm glad that you enjoy your work, a fact that puts you way ahead of most people in our sick society.
ReplyDelete4:10 - I bet there's a great demand for those skills - NOT! You must make a fortune - ha!
ReplyDeleteI am going to be a senior at Walden this coming fall. If you think that Walden is full of middle income students, and our parents don't work multiple jobs to support their families, I dare you to spend a day in our school. I've maintained a high honor GPA the whole six, going on seven years I've gone to Walden, and it wasn't from taking simple classes I can promise you that. People at my school work hard for what they earn. the Arts are not what is ruining our schools. At most schools like Walden, musicals and clubs are extra, and not considered credits. And if "tattoos, piercings, and colorful hair" is "affecting our education," and making us the non-hirable "freaks" some people think we are, then could one of the accusers please tell me why the class of 2010 has "tattoos, piercings, and colorful hair, " and we increased our test scores? Why is it that half of our class has high honors, while maintaining jobs as well? If you don't think that Walden students work fast food jobs, and any other job for that matter, swing by the school, I think you'd be surprised to see that the majority of the kids who have high honors and high ACT scores, do in fact have jobs, myself included. Also, go Rachel!
ReplyDeleteDear 4:41, An honestly acquired and augmented fortune is rarer than a hen's tooth. Nevertheless, I'll assume that your stash falls into that category. As for remuneration, the Medieval Spanish can be surprisingly lucrative because some of its dialects survived into Renaissance and Early Modern Times--the golden age of the Treasure Fleets. If you want to know what a particular Spanish galleon had in its cargo hold before it sank, you'll need to know these dialects to read the manifests. Some of these documents are in Mexico City while others were copies sent in advance on other boats to a government agency called thr Casa de Contratacion in Seville. Deciphering the handwriting is also tricky but fun. Commercial salvors as well as underwater archaeologists usually can't read these things, so researchers of my type are in demand. You'd be astonished how much loot went to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico--gold bars, silver ingots, raw and cut emeralds,even Oriental porcelain shipped to Mexico from the Philippines are all there. In addition to the stuff listed on the manifests, there's plenty of treasure which the passengers and crews smuggled on board in order to avoid a tax called the alcabala and another tax known as the quinto real ("royal fifth"). Often a galleon recorded as transporting a ton of gold could have twice as much AU stowed below. So, the long-gone Spanish dialects possess a place in both the business and academic worlds. Any treasure hunter or professional salvor active in the Gulf or the Caribbean will need a person who knows those tongues sometime during his career. Regarding the Chinese and Sanskrit, I'll concede that they're not as useful. Still, the interest of wealthy Hindus in their sacred language is growing and native speakers of Chinese like textbooks written in the officially-approved form of their tongue (Pinyin). Enjoy a good evening!
ReplyDeleteTried for scholarships at private schools it is practically impossible. We need vouchers.
ReplyDelete6:54 Call St. Catherine's and ask about Fair Share.
ReplyDeleteA friend has her daughter at St. Cats she has to volunteer her time selling hot dogs for a kajillion hours. I even helped her a few times at Bradley Center. She barely has times to do it. She is stressed about being able to keep her daughter there.
ReplyDeleteLutheran schools said no money was available for scholarships.
2:48 No one said it was easy, it all depends on how much of a sacrifice a parent will make - my wife and I worked the Bradley Center - it can be done.
ReplyDeleteI am appalled at the JWax bashing going on in these comments. In reality, I am sure JWax would like nothing more than to have good, safe public schools here. This is essential for a corporation to attract and retain top talent. I do not have any ties to JW, but I work for a company headquartered in NYC that employs many people in SE Wisconsin. I see so many people transfer into this area. At first they look at Racine as an option, they like the location and the property values. Then they look at our school district and buy their homes in a different district. This affects us all, as it adversely impacts our property values and quality of life in general.
ReplyDeleteA thriving area has quality public schools and good private schools too to provide an option for those that prefer. Several key components to success in education include intact families and parental involvement. The responsibility for this lies with the public, and the blame cannot be placed on the corporations that are struggling to survive in this environment. We are blessed that we continue to have ANY corporations headquartered in our city, and need to stop bashing the ones that remain.
Dear 3:14, Nobody should have to endure hotdog-hawking hell for high school tuition. Please wake up and see that secondary education is a generic product. Unless the place is a "Blackboard Jungle," one high school is pretty much like another. Why can't those poor overworked parents tell their kids this fact and send them to a public high school?
ReplyDeleteDear 3:14, Nobody should have to endure hotdog-hawking hell for high school tuition. Please wake up and see that secondary education is a generic product. Unless the place is a "Blackboard Jungle," one high school is pretty much like another. Why can't those poor overworked parents tell their kids this fact and send them to a public high school?
ReplyDeleteDear 7:47, Maybe some corporations are struggling to survive, but SCJ is positively flourishing. At a time when most of us are suffering, the wicked Waxies and their lackeys are rolling in loot. However, despite their obscene wealth, the Waxies dodged a property tax which they easily could have paid and denied their employees their customary profit sharing checks. Then there's the Waxies' tendency to hire temps in order to avoid giving workers perks and benefits. All of these reasons and more explain the SCJ bashing, which is a major literary industry in this badly-divided corrupt little town.
ReplyDeleteDear Lee Beth,The Waxtrash Corporate Crime Family and its flunkeys have NO stake in improving our public schools. The Ivy League types they entice into this badnews burg send their progeny to a ritzy private academy. As for the local blue collar people, the Waxtrash like them dumb and docile--smart factory hands would ask questions about certain peculiar labor practices and cause "The Family" trouble.
ReplyDeleteDear Lee Beth,The Waxtrash Corporate Crime Family and its flunkeys have NO stake in improving our public schools. The Ivy League types they entice into this badnews burg send their progeny to a ritzy private academy. As for the local blue collar people, the Waxtrash like them dumb and docile--smart factory hands would ask questions about certain peculiar labor practices and cause "The Family" trouble.
ReplyDelete7:54 - I must storngly disagree - not all high schools are the same. The private schools do not have police in the school, they do not have gangs, they do not have guns or knives. What they do have is the highest ACT tests in the area, they graduates as a % of students
ReplyDelete(95-99%) the highest number of student scholarships, high attendance records, strong parent involvement, no criminals, virtually no teen pregnancies, the students both home team and visiting can enter and exit at the same place, strong community involvement, over 90% of the students participate in a club or sport. The list goes on and on - there are tremendous differences - it's just depends on what sacrifices a parent wants to take.
Or whether the parents--who often hold multiple low-wage jobs--can make the sacrifices. Still, IF the high school in question ISN'T "The Blackboard Jungle," one high school is pretty much like another. By state fiat, the public high schools have to teach certain subjects and meet minimum standards. If those standards prevail and the school offers the mandated courses, that school is adequate and good enough for the kids. (One reason working class and lower-middle class parents have such a tough time sending their kids to college or Gateway is the fact that they blow what could be the college fund on private elementary and secondary school tuition. By the way, I'm not blaming the parents. Between pressure to "keep up with the Joneses" and pro-private school propaganda, it's difficult for them to enroll the kids in public schools keep them there.)
ReplyDeleteMy apologies for botching the end of the last sentence in my message. It should read: it's difficult for them to enroll their kids in public schools and keep them there.
ReplyDeleteA kid can learn enough to graduate and function in society at any school which meets state standards. What's all the fuss about?
ReplyDeleteThen sacrifice away for your children. I think it is unfair for you to assume everyone else has the same ability. The only way to really make it work is for us to get vouchers for school. That way parents can really choose where to send their children.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started reading the posts here I was absolutely amazed that the first 27 responses ALL agreed. Then I read them again. It is absolutely obvious that they are all the same poster. What a jerk.
ReplyDeleteBut, there are some good points made. I don't know just how much pull SCJ has with the school board, but if it is substantial, then that needs to change. There are a few things missing from the posts that I've read. Though many make good points, one thing that I believe should change is to get the Fed out of our educational system and put it solely back in the hands of the states. Tenure is another problem. I can remember having teachers that were so bad as educators that they should have been fired long before I ever got into their classes, some were alcoholics, some just said, "Read the book because all tests will be taken directly from the pages," and on, and on. But, there was nothing that could be done about them because they had "tenure." Where else can you do a really crappy job, but not get fired just because you were on the job for a certain amount of years. Tenure is stupid.
As far as arts, theatre, glee club and the rest of the extra curricular activities we had when I was in school, they were after-school projects, NOT CREDITED CLASSES!!! But, you had to keep your grade level at a "C" average or above to participate. I agree, get the arts & entertainment out of the classroom and off the backs of the taxpayers. Get rid of the teachers that don't produce, restore discipline in the class room so teachers spend more time teaching than dealing with disciplinary problems. Make the parents responsible for seeing that students get their homework done and attend class when they are scheduled to be there. And do away with this "no child left behind" crap. If a kid doesn't apply him/herself, do the work, pass the tests and advance, then they should be held behind.
Something else we should do is return to a dress code in the schools. Get the gang clothing and foul t-shirts off these kids and put them in white shirts and black pants or skirts. The kids that don't comply, put them in an empty room with nothing but their books; no mp3 players or iPods or radios or games, etc. They can sit there and study or do nothing and fail.
During the last mayoral campaign a couple of the candidates made mention of the uneducated, near useless, workforce that is produced in this town by the local school system. It was also mentioned that most students who did excel in school either left Racine to find work elsewhere, because there is almost nothing here, or went on to college and then never came back because of the lack of jobs. They had to go where the jobs were, and that ain't Racine.
It's time to vote out everyone on the school board, particularly those representing any special interest and elect only parents of who have children currently attending the public schools. In fact, make it a law that in order to be on the school board you must have at least one child enrolled in an Racine public school. Then they will have vested interest in the quality of education in our schools. Also, stop the NEA from dictating what teachers can and can't teach. The NEA is there to represent teachers, not dictate policy to the school boards. So many teachers want to teach what's NEEDED for a sound education, but the NEA threatens to have them fired if they don't teach NEA's political agenda. That's just outright wrong!
Dear Graham, Nope, those first twenty-seven comments WEREN'T the work of a single individual. In this sorry excuse for a city, there are lots of us who've had it with a dysfunctional school district run behind the scenes by corporate pigs who want an ignorant workforce and a teachers' union whose members don't want to work. We're sick and tired of being taxed out of our homes for crap like musicals, plays and sports. We're terrified of our property tax bills and are literally worried sick at the thought that the clowns over on Northwestern can take our homes away so kiddies in costumes may pretend that they're jesters at Queen Elizabeth's court. Somebody please rein in this out-of-control school district SOON!
ReplyDeleteDear Part Time Jobs Hurt Our Kids, One of the reasons that European secondary school students trounce our youngsters on international standardized tests is the fact that most of their academically-gifted youngsters have only one job--their schoolwork. Alas, over here the absence of a social safety net compels many of our high school students to flip burgers in order to survive. Since time and energy are limited, our worn-out little wage slaves-cum-students can't compete with Europe's full time students. The same situation prevails when we compare our public high school students with the privileged youngsters at Prairie. By and large, the Prairie students don't need to chase nickels after school, so they have more time to devote to the pursuit of academic excellence. Also, let's never forget the coaches and trainers hired by well-to-do Prairie parents to prepare their progeny for the ACT. Although coaching and extra study time don't guarantee high ACT scores, they certainly promote success. All other factors being equal, the kid with the coaches who doesn't have to flip burgers will beat the boy or girl whom poverty forced into the mucked-up Mc Job market.
ReplyDelete11:42 - do you have your head in the sand? Did you read the article, obviously it does matter which accredited school you go to -compare the ACT scores between private and public schools. And for the person that talked about students not having jobs - I'd say the vast majority of Lutheran and St. Cat's students have jobs so your arguement has no basis.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I DO know from personal experience--after school jobs grind kids down and interfere with their academic work. When I did chimp chores for chump change, my morale and school work suffered. Conversely, once the junk jobs were history, my sense of self-worth and my grades bounced back. If we had a decent society, no student who earned a B average would have to participate in the brain-numbing labor market.
ReplyDeleteIn most case extra curricular activities and or jobs help students better manage their time -that is a proven fact.
ReplyDeleteWho will make my drive thru food when I need a snack? Stop making problems.
ReplyDeleteI'd say the same poster posted from 3:05 am til 7 am. Give or take the one post they most likely made to make it look legit.
ReplyDeleteMust be schizophrenic. They carried on whole conversations agreeing with themselves.
Go see a musical it will cheer you up. : )
Don't worry about your fast food--as long as we've got scads of poor desperate people who'll take those awful jobs, you'll be fed. Seriously speaking, we should exempt students with decent grades from the hellish nickel chase. All it taught me was to hate those who bossed me around because I came from a poor family.
ReplyDeleteIf you think just one or two people wrote lots of comments, you're wrong. We planned this campaign to spread the word that Unified must change or we'll vote down each and every referendum.
ReplyDeleteEveryone that bashes Walden just shows how ignorant they truly are. I spent my first semester of high school at Park and absolutely loathed it.There were too many students and the teachers didn't care about the students education. I didn't feel that I was learning anything. So, I made the decision to transfer to Walden. I quickly realized that Park really hadn't taught me anything when I had to re-learn half a year's worth of classes in a matter of days. But, I did. And I accomplished it with one-on-one help from the teachers.
ReplyDeleteYes, Walden has students with green hair, black cloths, chains, and tattoos. What public school doesn't? In all honesty I saw more of "those students" at Park.
Don't for one second believe that Walden students don't have jobs. Many students hold jobs along with keeping their GPA up.
I have learned so much more in my semester at Walden than I did at Park. I am very proud to say that I will be a sophomore at Walden in a matter days.
Also, I'll start talking people seriously when they have the decency to sign their name to what they write.
-Alex Aviles
One question which bugs my elderly neighbors is this: why the heck do we have the Model UN program in our public high schools? Last week the "Journal Times" carried an article about kids from Horlick who took a nice pricey trip to Communist China to participate in this farce. My neighbors and I would like to know why Unified tolerates this crap and how much it costs our taxpayers to send Prince Brattykins and Princess Bratanella overseas to play diplomat with a lot of other youngsters. By the way, the Horlick spadgers didn't even represent our country at the Model UN session. Nope--they had to pretend that they were Albanians! The only reason I can see for this folly is a certain multi-national corporation's desire for middle-echelon salary serfs who "think globally" and won't object to being moved around the planet at some executive's whim. Let's never forget that the cash-cadging clan which controls a certain corporation likes the Trilateral Commission and is very fond of the CFR. The elitists who run this town feel more allegiance to international organizations than they do to our country and our government. It's time to remove all corporate flunkeys from the school board and clear their nonsense out of the schools.
ReplyDeleteOne question which bugs my elderly neighbors is this: why the heck do we have the Model UN program in our public high schools? Last week the "Journal Times" carried an article about kids from Horlick who took a nice pricey trip to Communist China to participate in this farce. My neighbors and I would like to know why Unified tolerates this crap and how much it costs our taxpayers to send Prince Brattykins and Princess Bratanella overseas to play diplomat with a lot of other youngsters. By the way, the Horlick spadgers didn't even represent our country at the Model UN session. Nope--they had to pretend that they were Albanians! The only reason I can see for this folly is a certain multi-national corporation's desire for middle-echelon salary serfs who "think globally" and won't object to being moved around the planet at some executive's whim. Let's never forget that the cash-cadging clan which controls a certain corporation likes the Trilateral Commission and is very fond of the CFR. The elitists who run this town feel more allegiance to international organizations than they do to our country and our government. It's time to remove all corporate flunkeys from the school board and clear their nonsense out of the schools.
ReplyDeleteAlex you said "Yes, Walden has students with green hair, black cloths, chains, and tattoos. What public school doesn't? In all honesty I saw more of "those students" at Park."
ReplyDeleteThat's my point - go to a private school and you'll see none of this nonsense dress and looks - and the academic results beat Walden and all Public Schools.
Maybe so, but who can afford to send his kids to private schools?
ReplyDelete1:49 - I'll give you a couple options:
ReplyDelete1. Parents give up their toys like motorcycles, snowmobiles, campers, cars etc. and invest in their childrens education.
2. Or - if a family really cannot afford it, check with the schools, some have funds available for needy, some have work programs to pay tuition, there are some scholarships, some schools have fundraisers that parents participate in to reduce tuition. There are options available if the parent takes the time and effort to check it out.
I understand that Private schools can obviously afford to give students more opportunities for a better education, but you also have to understand that private schools are not always what the student wants.
ReplyDeleteI understand that Private schools can offer more opportunities for a "better" education, but at the same time you have to understand that Private school is not always what is best or what the student wants. That is why I believe Walden is a wonderful choice because it's not a Private school, so there is no tuition, but you do have to maintain your grades, behave yourself, and our student body is hand-picked.
ReplyDelete-Alex Aviles
Alex you said "I understand that Private schools can offer more opportunities for a "better" education, but at the same time you have to understand that Private school is not always what is best or what the student wants." A student should want more opportunities and a better education, otherwise what's the point of school. Why would you want something less than the best that is available?
ReplyDeleteIn this system, if you can't afford the best, you make do with what's within your means. However, thanks to Emerson and his tribe of Transcendentalist trash-rats, we make ordinary people feel guilty if they don't reach for the stars. Over in Western Europe, where ordinary folks aren't forced to excel for the benefit of the rich,there's a lot less pressure on working Joes and a lot less crime. Someday the elitists will push the American laborer too far and he'll teach them a lesson which they'll never forget. For everyone's sake, we need to ditch our money-ocracy-cum-meritocracy which drives millions to despair and replace it with a social safety net for all our citizens.
ReplyDeleteIn this system, if you can't afford the best, you make do with what's within your means. However, thanks to Emerson and his tribe of Transcendentalist trash-rats, we make ordinary people feel guilty if they don't reach for the stars. Over in Western Europe, where ordinary folks aren't forced to excel for the benefit of the rich,there's a lot less pressure on working Joes and a lot less crime. Someday the elitists will push the American laborer too far and he'll teach them a lesson which they'll never forget. For everyone's sake, we need to ditch our money-ocracy-cum-meritocracy which drives millions to despair and replace it with a social safety net for all our citizens.
ReplyDelete9:09 - people should want the best in everything instead of settling for mediocracy.
ReplyDeleteWhy should ordinary people run themselves ragged for richie-poo and his Transcendentalist tripe? It's time that America grew up, shelved the Horatio Alger stories in the fiction section and stopped expecting the impossible from people who can barely survive.
ReplyDelete5:03 - Because running ragged is what ordinary people do. They don't have skills to do anything else. That's why we call you ordinary.
ReplyDeleteYou'd be astonished how many people with marketable skills and degrees are trapped in low-wage jobs. Pray that YOUR job doesn't head South of the Border or over to Elephant Land, because YOU could wind up in the same sad situation.
ReplyDeleteDear 3:17 P.M.,Grow a heart and a functioning brain.Grinding people into the muck and bullying them could backfire on you and your crass capitalistic tribe. Although I can't tell you when the local labor force will turn on the elite and its yuppie pets, the common people will wise up and rise up against their oppressors. Since the poor know that privileged people worship their property, a lot of businesses and pricey residences will be reduced to charred rubble. (I saw what the ordinary people whom you scorn could do during several urban insurrections. Contrary to old stereotypes,the poor didn't confine their violence to their neighborhoods. Since some of them were mobile, they looted and burned stores in bourgeois communities.)
ReplyDelete5:29 - Sounds like you are threatening again! If you are one of them - it is a threat!
ReplyDeleteNo, I would never threaten anyone. Rather, I'm just telling you what has happened in the past so we may learn from it and avoid similar events in the future.
ReplyDelete7:59 - you threaten every day!
ReplyDeleteNope, I'm just a watchman warning the community about things which could happen if certain social and economic injustices aren't rectified. Failure to correct these sad situations could harm everyone. Please don't view my work as an endorsement of violence -- I merely report what I see and present an interpretation of current conditions based on my past experience and research.
ReplyDelete8:59 - individuals create their own social and economic situations by what they do or do not do -
ReplyDeleteTry telling that Transcendentalist fairy fib to Holocaust survivors and other victims of forces beyond their control. Most people possess very little power as individuals. However, when they organize and work together to change the system, they can accomplish worthwhile objectives.
ReplyDeleteWhile schools should concentrate on the basics, reading, writing and nost importantly mathamatics. The arts and drama catagories are still pertenint to todays education as well. In fact, the real issue is the sociological fascination with sports. Sports should be cut to make way for more intense and involved academic standereds. It is a question of what is more important, sports or academics, the arts furthermore provide a stable and available genre for students to apply thier skills, without the arts we have no culture.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid you're all-too-correct about sports. However, reining in sports programs is tough because our state mandates physical ed. courses and fitness has become a sacred cow. If you even threaten a sports-related program, the educators howl that you want the kids to be weaklings or slobs.
ReplyDelete