Thursday, January 28, 2010
Obama on education
Now, this year, we've broken through the stalemate between left and right by launching a national competition to improve our schools. And the idea here is simple: Instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. Instead of funding the status quo, we only invest in reform -- reform that raises student achievement; inspires students to excel in math and science; and turns around failing schools that steal the future of too many young Americans, from rural communities to the inner city. In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education. (Applause.) And in this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than on their potential.
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I think it's unfortunate that so many people are in situations that don't allow them to reach their full potential, while other people are in situations that push them to their boundaries trying to make them succeed. There are so many extremes in this world. I know many people who are so stressed because they are being pushed to their full potential, as well as those who take it for granted. On the other hand, I've seen kids who are being introduced into good schooling, who havn't had the opportunities before, and it's amazing how much they can change, and how much they appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that the government wants to help give everyone that equal opportunity. I think it's an idea that many like. But I also think that the government, and the people making all the rules, are often people who know nothing about the classroom. I think people who have at least had some sort of teaching experience should be in charge of schools. Or even the best teachers should be in charge. Because I'm seeing more and more often that there are nit-picky issues being toyed with than true learning. You want to improve student's learning? Worry less about what they're wearing, or if a teacher has a specific poster up in the room, and perhaps spend more time on fixing the student to teacher ratioand make sure the teachers are qualified.
In many stories I've read, teachers are the most important people in a community. Why is it then, that teachers are looked almost down upon here? They are the people that feed the minds of our future generations.
Alex Scheidt Period4
I really don't understand why math and science are the only subjects that get any recognition at all. To me, a reform would not be putting more emphasis on them.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the children of rural communities being able to go to schools that are not in their area to recieve a better education, that's all well and good, but I doubt it will be done, and if it is, not properly.
I completely agree with Alex on the basis of "true learning." The idea of improving schools and creating opportunities for those who never had them before is great. It is said that knowledge is the key to future success. This gets me thinking. How can the government expect that to happen when they are busy scrutinizing the millions of tiny pixels rather than looking at the big picture as a whole? Narek G. Per.4
ReplyDeleteI agree with Obama's statement that we need to spend more money in our schools because the better eduction you have the better job you are likely to get. But the functionality, like the others have said, would probably be questionable. But it can't get improved by doing nothing.
ReplyDeletei completely agree with Obama's speech, because there are so many intelligent and succesfull minds all around the world that are being lost all because their families do not have the money to send them to school, so that their children can have a better future. Instead all the money is being wasted on kids who could care less about what they do at school and they take this huge oppurtunity that is being given to them as a joke. Arsen S. Per.4
ReplyDeleteWhat about the schools that trys to reform and fails, do we leave them with no "invests" until they can reform?
ReplyDeletei mean i agree with rewarding success thing because it provides schools an incentive to do better but the schools that fail they dont get anything.
I actually got the chance to hear this part. This was arguably the highlight of his speech. At least to me it was. I agree with the line "the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education." This couldn't be truer. Poverty and being uneducated go hand in hand. We as a nation need to find a way to motivate kids to go to school. Our kids need to want to learn. And I support the last sentence. Some kids in this country are predestined to fail because they live in a bad area. Every American child should have an equal opportunity when it comes to education. Where you live and how much your parents make should not make even the slightest difference.Kids shouldn't have to move to get a quality education. The government should move the education to them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex...but when Obama says "Instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success." Since when have schools rewarded kids who have failed? That statement doesn't make sense to me. And when he talks about how he wants to inspire students to excel in math and science..why only math and science? and to get kids more inspired is not going to come from a reform...the inspiration is going to come from what the children like and love to do, also it depends on whats going on at home I mean parents are a big part of your influence and how you view school especially at a young age, then the teacher plays a big role in education and inspiring the students. I know if I have a good teacher then I want to be more involved in what I am doing in class and I'm more comfortable asking questions. Like Alex said the schools are more focused on little details like dresscode Instead of education. For instance I know bullard is trying to improve by using red yellow and green cards to indicate to the teacher if we understand the chapter that we are learning...but if a student is uncomfortable to ask a question in a classroom and has to use a colored card (which really isn't any different because everyone can still see the color you are holding up)then the school has to realize that this little change isn't going to improve anything. The teacher is the one that can create a comfortable environment for the student to be able to ask a question without being embarrassed...for the most part I don't want to ask a question if the teacher makes me feel stupid because he/she made a remark during class to make me feel uncomfortable. By changing things like making sure we have the very best teachers who actually like thier job. And yes it is unfortunate that some people don't live in a great area and it's great that we try to help these people out. But honestly life isn't fair and you have to make the best of what you have instead of looking at what you don't have look at what you do have and make sure that parents and teachers are helping to inspire students to excel. Lauren Kolehmainen pr.4
ReplyDeletePoliticians always talk about how they will make some great reform. Politicians say that they will give more money to the schools. If they are giving more money to schools, then why couldn’t my AP calculus teacher get a working projector for the first 3 months of school? Any attempts on her part, were just shunned by the administrators. Per Obama’s speech, more money should go to good teachers and students. This means that more money should be used for AP students and AP teachers. The calculus class went from 17 students to 35 students. The speech is all talk as money is not really going to the good teachers and students. Most money is just wasted with layers of government bureaucracy.
ReplyDeleteJon Kratz per. 4
I think that Obama had the right idea in his speech. But it takes a lot more effort to actually improve the schools. All a school ever needed was dedicated teachers that care about their students learning rather than just trying to look good to their superiors. Which is quite frankly, a very good example of our own school. However I think Obama is a dedicated president and hopefully he can push this and actually get everyone in government and schooling on board. Even though the government and schools should focus on ALL subjects and not just math and science. Alyx G. per. 4
ReplyDeleteI agree with Obama's ideas about improving education. But reading Phil's comment got me thinking that if everyone was able to excel and get the best education they could, allowing them to get high paying jobs, I doubt there would be many people actually willing to do the lower income jobs that are necessary to our country.
ReplyDeleteAlex Ferguson per. 4
I agree that success needs to be rewarded more. Not that they reward failure, but that they focus too much on bringing the failing kids up to par while the smart students are ignored. The schools need to find the right balance though. They can't fully ignore the slower kids either. That's why I don't think the federal government can't really help the schools' balance. They are too distanced to control the balance, because every school has a unique demographic of students. It's up to concerned administrators within the school district to reform schools. Obama uses vague, but expressive language that sounds appealing, but he doesn't actually say how he will bring about this reform. He talks of changing schools in America, but he's speaking as if the issue is black-and-white, not highly differentiated and specialized. I don't know the best solution to our education problems, but I don't think the federal government should get too involved.
ReplyDeleteBen Wiens per.4
Sorry, correction: "That's why I don't think the federal government CAN really help the schools' balance."
ReplyDeleteBoth Brandon and Jon had valid point of views. I think Obama's idea for reform is a great one. As Brandon said, poverty does go along with being uneducated. Those living in poverty stiricken neighborhoods, may not have the same advantage as the students in better areas.Future generations should able to want to learn, and the disadvantages of some schools may hinder that ability to the point where students don't even care. Equal opportunity for a good education should be provided for everyone in our nation. As for what Jon said, AP teachers and students should receive more money because they are actually taking the initiative to do better and challenge themselves for a better education. I'm not saying those students in regular classes should get nothing, but they need to show they want to succeed and also that they actually would like to learn. Adelbert Mendoza, Per. 4
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea to focus on education. There are obvious problems in some of the government programs such as "No Child Left Behind," and it's a good idea to improve on that. As a student i think getting an education is one of the greatest things you can do in life and it is important to further your knowledge as much as you can. Improving Schools will help improve students excitement for education. But one can't help to think that this may be just like the many other promises made by Politicians that will die out and just be a way to boost popularity numbers at the polls. I hope Obama can fallow through on this, after all The United States has been slipping in the world education rankings. Given what the United States spends on education, its relatively low student achievement through high school shows its school system is clearly inefficient and needs to be reformed. Can you believe the United States spends $11,152 per student. That's the second highest amount in the world! So now I ask, where are the results?
ReplyDeleteI disagreee with Jon and prnz_of_Bellaire aka Adelbert about giving money to AP classes. In an AP class youre there to recieve a different level of education, but that doesnt mean youre better than your friend taking the regular class in with the same title. Money should be given to lower income inner-city schools because pride in your school DOES have something to do with your classroom performance. A 'world class' education is a great idea and had me smiling as I listened to that part of the speech because I do compare our education system to that of some friends I have in Germany and England. I personally could go off on a whole other tangent about our school system but thats a different topic. In repsonse to Alex's comment about higher education equalling more people with higher paying jobs and less people likely to work the lower paying jobs-I say that adversity will take care of that in itself because it hits everyone to a different extent and there are other countries with great education systems whom still have a functioning country.
ReplyDeleteCVillalobos p.4
Responding to the part on poor education for certain children, I completely agree. I was very fortunate to come from a family that pushed me to succeed in school and everything I do. Some kids just don't have that, and I can't imagine what it must be like to try and find the will to do good in school if even your parents, who are supposed to be your main supporters, don't care about it.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that there is a lot that needs to be reformed in the way of schools, I can't help thinking to myself that it just won't get done. People care too much about the money and not enough about the kids, who are the ones this is directly affecting.
Agreeing with what Alex said, I believe that people with actual teaching experience should be making the decisions about what reforms should be implemented and which are unrealistic.
Not being the first to use this example, I have to bring up the red, yellow and green cards our school has so willingly paid $5000 (or so I heard) for. I understand the concept; if teachers know what the students understand and what they don't, then maybe they can focus more on what the kids don't understand. But this theory just isn't realistic. Just like a lot of the "reforms" that have been tried out.
We need to come up with a plan that works, that gets through to the majority, if not all, kids. Hopefully Obama can make this happen.
I think that this is a good start but it is not going to work right away. It is not to difficult for the government to give a school money and a new set of rules and expect change. If this is all government programs are doing to improve our schools, then the changes that are expected might not turn out to be the best. Just about everyone needs an education, so we really need to improve schools. Schools that do not have the best test scores and need improvement do not need copious amounts of money. A smart board does not make you smarter, a better trained teacher could. Schools that perform well academically, should be given rewards to reinforce acheivement. Rewards such as, relaxed dress code ect.. Obama better step up to the plate a.s.a.p, because their is so much that needs to be fixed.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde once wrote, "Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught". From this we can gather that the goal of education should be to teach kids to teach themselves. Instead American education has turned into regurgitation and repetition. We learn information, but not how to apply it. We're taught dates and slope intercepts but not how to productively converse in a democratic society. Ultimately we're indoctrinated into the "America" system of morals by things like dress code and "pledge of allegiance" propaganda, and lose touch with our individuality. Is it then, to bold to say, that the problem with the American education system is not the students or their aptitude, but rather the administration and its curriculum?
ReplyDeleteThis is openly visible at Bullard. Where administration pins its educational impotency on the students self expression, thereby justifying crushing student civil liberties while simultaneously expanding class sizes to unmanageable levels. Rather then teaching students to think for themselves the administration teaches reliance and conformity. They pass out "ghetto white boards" and $5000 flash cards to improve student satisfaction, when at heart no student can be happy because they no longer have the right to retain their free will.
We must be taught to teach ourselves, and to do this we, as students, must retain our free will to individuality. Administrations everywhere, emphasis on Bullard, focus so much on the aesthetics that all to often the deeper meaning of education is lost. So in response to the statement, Obama can't help schools if they; administration, faculty, and students, do not first look into the mirror and see what needs to be done from their own perspectives.
Timmy Do -
ReplyDelete"And in this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than on their potential"
I strongly disagree with President Obama on this matter. Yes, the potential of an individual is one of the main aspects of success, but the environment that they are placed in is a factor that must be taken into account as well.
The demographics of certain areas certainly affects the growth potential of an individual, particularly a student's.
Before President Obama makes plans to reform and give a "world-class education", the communities with high poverty counts must be taken care of. Though, improved schools with newer materials can possibly help the moral of students in high poverty areas.