There's HOPE!

[learn2swim]

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M4tdMsg3ts&feature=player_embedded

[Sparky]

This deserves some attention, since it is a smart 18-year-old girl politely telling the Educational Industrial Complex that they can shove their system up their @$$e$. The audio is not great, but she has included the text in a link below the video, making it easier to follow along, so I suggest you click the YouTube link rather than watching the embedded video. It's worth a look/listen/read.

She's definitely got some GSUS blood in her. One of these generations, maybe hers, isn't going to take it any more. This may be the group that brings this country out of the wilderness in 10 years or so.

[stillwondering]

I had seen this video about a week or so ago. I have to applaud the young lady for speaking out. Surprisingly, they did not shut her down.

Unfortunately, things are only going to get worse for our schools. I was amazed and then I should not be at all, when my kids reported to me that each of the teachers at school are allotted one ream of paper per month for all of their classes! We are talking the high school teachers. Thirty-some-odd students per class and you have five classes per day! One page per student would be 150 pages. Each ream has 500 pages in them. This is an average of three pages per student per month. This is not counting anything that a student may lose!

To top things off, my daughter's science class, there are not enough books to go around, so no one gets assigned books and they do not get to bring them home unless they sign them out on their own! All handouts and reading material will be accessible online. That works for those who have the internet and a computer that works at home! I know it seems strange to think someone does not have that in this day and age, but paying for internet for some is becoming a difficult thing in these economical times!

The budgets for some of the departments are laughable! The music department is mainly supplied by a one time fund raiser put on by the music department and an offering from the school budget of $3000 for both choirs and the band. This is to cover their sheet music, piano player and any other costs to put together their programs through out the year. Really, the budget is sad. The room they have for the band is nothing less than inadequate! They do not have room enough for each of the band members to sit properly for them to play their instruments properly. Oh, and in our area, air conditioning during certain months are a must, the AC is out, there is not a budget to get it fixed.

We started a remodeling of our school and had to send much of the new materials back because the budget had not gotten approved. Teachers are being let go because the budget is not allowing for them to be there either. Some of the teachers are being kept on but losing classes. All the while we are hearing about how we need to improve test scores and how our schools are not performing well enough. I am not sure what is problem with those who are setting these standards as they are slashing budgets. We do need to restructure how the money is spent though. I feel too much is spent on the administrators and they are not spending time in the classrooms with the kids, experiencing what is really going on in the real world of our kids.

What is sad, this young lady who gave this speech has hit the nail on the head. It is not being given proper attention. Things are going to continue to go downhill. But she did get one of the greatest lessons learned, you should be doing more than just memorizing what a teacher tells you... We all seem to think that is the answer to "education."

[Sparky]

stillwondering, you have to keep in mind that some day, after it gets worse, this young woman (and her peers who experienced the deterioration) will be in a position to effectuate change. This is what the book "The Fourth Turning" talks about. Every 20- to 25-year cycle of crisis provides the opportunity for a new generation with a different perspective to turn the tide and build something new from the rubble.

[Awoke]

stillwondering, you have to keep in mind that some day, after it gets worse, this young woman (and her peers who experienced the deterioration) will be in a position to effectuate change. This is what the book "The Fourth Turning" talks about. Every 20- to 25-year cycle of crisis provides the opportunity for a new generation with a different perspective to turn the tide and build something new from the rubble.


That's good in theory, but TPTB have a firm grip on the education system, and it is decaying just they way they want it to. They're not going to let fresh eyes come in and change everything they have been striving for.

[Silver Rocket Bitches!]

A breath of fresh air albeit just a drop in the ocean.

[iOWNme]

I liked this when i heard it, but i hear no emotion in her words. They seem dry, practiced and NOT HERS.

Or maybe she was just nervous. But after seeing the video, i feel more like she is rattling off what she was told to rattle off.

I mean, she admitted she isnt smart, but is good at doing what she is told. LOL Maybe her mom or dad are awake and wrote her speech?

[General of Darkness]

I liked this when i heard it, but i hear no emotion in her words. They seem dry, practiced and NOT HERS.

Or maybe she was just nervous. But after seeing the video, i feel more like she is rattling off what she was told to rattle off.

I mean, she admitted she isnt smart, but is good at doing what she is told. LOL Maybe her mom or dad are awake and wrote her speech?


She's probably nervous. Try speaking to a large crowd of adults as a teenager, it ain't fun.