New York City to lay off 6,400 teachers this year

yeah, vanguard did a whole episode on this. I think there may be problems when kids start throwing things at it and misbehaving thought.

A little freaky. Androids have come a long way. I looked at the date yesterday and was reminded of Arthur C Clarke's second book. If not for the crazy war machine we would be traveling to other planets already.

Hard to give an android a nervous breakdown.

If you have the ammo, you can get the food. Your grammar needs some attention and I would take care of the idiot that you let piss in your Wheaties. Scary, I kinda get what your saying. We are a nation of sheep run by wolves led by Jackals. Do not waste your breath on the children of a lesser god. Peace be with you brother.

Yikes! So if I choose to opt out of your plan, I guess you would have me shot?

Ha Ha , I hope this is sarcasm

With something this important, should we let politicians run it?

I'm not a right-winger, but if I was against a government religion would you call me an atheist? If I didn't support a monopoly on food production, you say I was pro-starvation? If I favored private production of books and magazines, would I be against literacy?

Is it possible for you to imagine that some people could be pro-education, but don't believe socialism is the best way to get high quality, low cost education services?

Socialism is a recognition of the good. It is right for those with plenty to share with those who want. If the government needs to enforce this truism then so be it. Our shared humanity demands that we take care of one another.

Socialism can and does work. One can not compare the failed soviet socialism to the coming American socialism. Socialism means that everyone will have health care, that everyone will have a warm place to sleep, that nobody will go hungry. These are noble goals that we can achieve. Yes we can.

Socialism is a political means to establish humanitarian goals. We need to establish an adequate social safety net. No one need be homeless or hungry. It is only a matter of the collective asserting itself, for compassion and charity, for justice and fairness.

America finds itself divided into two groups, Progressives and Regressives. The latter wants us to go back to the way things were in the 50's and the former wants to change things for a better tomorrow.
There is no center here, we cannot afford inaction. You are either part of the solution or part of the problem.
Which side are you on?

Just curious…

What percentage of the school taxes confiscated should go to teacher salaries?

How much government spending per student would you consider excessive?

voted up

I have no solid ideas.

Living in the city, the recent attempted bombing of Times Square is a worrisome reminder that we need all the enforcement we can get. There's also a great deal of noise being made by New Yorkers to keep the state from closing down the cities parks. Forget about swimming pools. Those were one of the first things to go. Along with kids summer programs. I think both of these are wrong thought.

I know what I'm about to say next will sound radical and all liberal but, if there was a cut in pay to our senators for every hundred thousand dollars of deficit I bet the state senate would should come up with a solution much quicker. I would clause would be written in there not to get rid of teachers. Wishful thinking I know.

I was wondering if there was a way to get help or sponsorship of some kind from people, corporations, and or grants. One great example is New York Cities mayor Mike Bloomberg. He spent over 100,000,000 million dollars of his own money to get reelected. The most money spent on a campaign in the history of this country. (and he came very close to losing) While he was spending that money on becoming reelected there were reports of community colleges with out heat. With no way of fixing them.

I think that money could have been better spent. Maybe on a school or the school system. What if there was a cap or mark so to speak. A number that says, after X amount of money spent on a public campaign you'd have to donate X amount of dollars to your local school.

Or what if kid's and people raise coin drives. This raises more money then you might think. Take a look at the post below this one. It will have a vid of kid's raising money for kid's in Afghanistan. Quite literally penny by penny.

That's all I can think of for now. You have any ideas?

And only 3.5 months of paid vacation per year! I hear that some might even have to pay a $5 co-pay at the doctor's office. Tragic!

Vacation? What does "vacation" mean? I am unfamiliar with the term.

Teachers are getting paid plenty for the amount of hours they work every year.

As reported by the governments bureau and labor statistics, In May 2008, elementary school teachers had average yearly wages of $52,240. Middle school teachers made an average of $52,570 each year, while high school teachers made $54,390 each year. Special education teachers made slightly more than regular teachers.

http://www.bls.gov/k12/help01.htm

They get Presidents day, Mlk day, Columbus day, spring break, summer break, Christmas break and weekends and snow days off .

If a teacher worked 50 hour weeks with no vacations or three month summer holidays., (like most people) factoring in their benefit package they would be making about $100,000 a year.

Even if they suck at their job?

Who said anything about corporations?

"If you want to get laid, go to college,
if you want to get an education, go to the library."

Obviously, we're talking about schoolchildren, but the same concept applies.

I *really* hope you're kidding. I'm assuming you are, in which case I'm guessing you agree with the quote, since you didn't say anything to argue against it.

Steal whatever you need to feed those leaches. Right?

Any thought on how to "instill" that? Yeah, nothing easy about that undertaking.

Voted up. That’s an issue that really needs to be brought to light. Even high schools that have the best facilities and teachers in the country, still produce many - I dare say a majority of - students that have an aversion to education, a genuine disdain for learning, and an anti-intellectual attitude. All the educational resources are irrelevant, if a kid doesn't have desire for knowledge. I think it is partly a cultural problem brought on by the values of current society. Learning takes time and effort, and is really only driven by desire. This is incompatible with the widely accepted pop culture concept of instant gratification. Even in our media, the slacker, the one who take shorts cuts, and screws up, is somewhat glorified in television and film.

We need to teach our children to Create Value. The world has many problems that need solutions. I am teaching my children to pursue what they love. Cutting art and music out of education cuts our creative edge in the world market.

SageRockandRoll: How to instill *what*?

Any brain storming ideas on how to nurture an individual's natural inclinations for creativity and curiosity. Any ideas on how to get them motivated?

As treewolf39 says "teaching to pursue my children what they love." My question there would be how? And how did they find what they love.

Please know, I don't mean these questions as snap or counterpoint. I'd hope, if anything, that hearing about one persons thoughts and or experiences may be able further our dialog and aid in creating an idea or inspiration. Maybe from all that we might solve the problem. Or maybe not.

Just trying to the conversation going.

Very cool. "teaching to pursue my children what they love." My question here would be how? And how, this is a big one with slackers and many college seniors, did you find out what they love?

My youngest is five and reading to her everyday has had an incredible affect on her vocabulary. I spend a lot of time trying to explain concepts to her. When I bust up laughing I try to explain why. If you show children an exuberance for life they tend to get a positive charge. I do not lie to her even when it would be convenient. Oh, most important is no television. No commercials.

I am at a loss though when we speak of the public school system. I remember every really good teacher I ever had. Each was passionate about teaching and set aside self interests in the hopes of raising one more student up to become self reliable.

Show them everything as age allows. Parents have it hard in america because both usually have to work. I have chosen to slow down and put my energy into love instead of things. The problem may be "The one with the most toys wins". People should not be valued by how much or how large their things are. President Jimmy Carter said that in a very important speech. Enter Regan and the beginning of this mess.

I can dig on that.

In terms of self reliability home ec helped alot. Was a big fan. But out of an entire school day there has to be more there. Ponderous. I wish we had a few teachers in here to comment.

How to teach children follow your bliss? Hmm . Listen to them . Show them the world (the safe bits) without bias . A worlds fair or something like that , can really be great . Allow them freedom to explore all the facets of their personality . Be silly when the situation is in need of it . It shows them joy is allowed and keeps the monster of perfection at bay . Perfection is a life choking concept . Watch what they spend time on . Video games and such , do not count as life . Life is not a spectator sport . Participation is KEY .

True. But I am concerned with what commonsense was talking about, the genuine aversion to learning that most students have after they are processed by the school system , it doens't serve them or society well.

I have learned a lot by reading to my daughter everyday. Her questions are starting to push the limits of my knowledge.

yes, but you can make anyone do anything. Like leading a horse to water. They'll only drink if they want to. I think there are people out there that want to learn more, they just don't know it.

There has to be a way to invoke learning that doesn't involved spectacle or low budget fear. I site all the end of the world and ghost hunter shows on the history channel. Everyone is, especially the news, are doing programing and stories on stories that are meant to scare you into watching, even if it's for 30 seconds.

There has to be a way to beat out this "i'm going to get mine while I can attitude." I don't just mean this in TV and commercialization, i mean it more so in everything. There's a great Edward R. Murrow quote about this and TV. I'll post it below.

Things are so easy today. People trust Wikipedia. And people are so lazy that they won't research past that. What is the answer. It has to come from with in. How do we dust it off. Make that desire glow? Activate it?

I would definitely agree that a great upbringing would be the start. Reading, writing. And as for sapience, there has a be a balance of both. If a type of learning goes to far in one direction it will fall apart.

See Murrow quote below.

"To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. Good night, and good luck." - Murrow

"But unless we get up off our fat surpluses, and recognize that television, in the main, is being use to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture, too late." Murrow

I think this one maybe more to the point. Please know I'm not trying to steer this convo in another direction. This is just a little bit of a side thought.

"You try controlling 50 kids must less getting them to pay attention and learn."

Here here. I am very thankful that is not my job. Was a camp counselor once. Never again.

lol they smoke dope for a reason!

yes the reason is they dont give a shit..

its not that they don't care... its you...

If you get a chance there is a new movie out called "Grow Op". You may enjoy it and perhaps you might see another side to your anti-marijuana mind-set.

Have to answer that bullshit statement. Go down to the your local bar and check out how many parents drink EVERYday . You should be screaming about alcohol because it is responsible for what YOU accuse pot of doing. Oh and violence and booze walk hand in hand.

I do not know if you have kids but I have raised a few. Teen drinking is huge and very destructive. After 4 drinks responsibility gets VERY cloudy. Rape goes with drinking as well. Booze is almost always used to implement the date rape drugs. Go ahead though and try to explain all the wonderful things alcohol gives to our lives. I am truly interested.

If people really drank responsibly you would have a point. You just answered nothing. Alcohol what is its redeeming contribution to society except helping people to have sex?

Damit I was not done with him yet.

its called "unions" every card carrying liberal should know that..

Ha, right?

Do you think a sudden lack of 6,400 teachers will make it difficult to children to get a proper education.

What? Me spell and grammar good?

Isn't it ironic that the first line in an article about education has a gross grammatical mistake?

lol probably...

Yes. That was pretty funny and ironic.

Do you have an answer to my question?

I have a few friends that work out in the bronx. And class size there can be about 40 a room. the 27-30ish number is an average for the whole city. And thankfully I have never had to do it, but controlling a room of 30 kids seems like a pretty tough job. Let alone teaching them. I'd want as much help and as many teacher available to do it.

yes. Another big problem.

One thing I can't believe is that they don't teach civics in high schools. How the heck is a person suppose to make an educated vote when they don't even know how the system they're voting on works?

I was taught nothing about congress or the way laws are made when I was in high school. Had to learn about it myself when I was in college. Shouldn't that be a requirement? Isn't it important? Know how the country you live in runs?

Okay, maybe this was more of a vent then an actual question. But still, the whole thing really irks me.

I had to take civics in high school... an entire class dedicated to "U.S. Government." It was part of the history requirement. From my understanding, you still can't graduate from that school without it.

And that class was separate from U.S. History. That was a different semester's class.

It is a requirement in my state to take both US history and US government in high school.

Yeah, in my home state, GA, it's required to take US government, US History, and a separate course on economics all during one's high school career.

American government / political economy was a requirement for all seniors in my high school. I took U.S. history twice - once in eighth grade and again in eleventh.

I went to high school in CT and never took or heard of a us gov or civics class. About 3 years after I graduated they started teaching a civics class that lasted only half a semester. So I guess it goes state by state then.

Just out of curiosity, what state Calm?

SageRockandRoll: California.

you are so right, this is the educational equivalent of the gated community

What part of the country is your school district in islek?