A Nation That Is Still at Risk

After reading, “A Nation At Risk: Edited by Yong Zhao,” which was published: “March 10, 2011” (Zhao, 2011). Zhao makes several good points while editing this article. I’m not sure how I feel about how he edited this report. The report, at the time it was written, was informative and I know things have changed but Zhao was quite harsh in his editing. One example was when he stated that “[t]he real risk America faces is the insane policies and scapegoating practices in education” (Zhoa, 2011). He went on to say that this is why he “decided to edit the document” (Zhoa, 2011). He then says that he has “replaced what” he thinks is “misleading and misconceived phrases, sentences, and paragraphs with what” he “believe[s] to be correct” (Zhoa, 2011). This was confusing to me because this man takes it upon himself to edit someone else’s work twenty-eight years later. In my opinion, maybe someone needs to start from scratch and write another report for today’s education report card.

After reading the edited version, I then read the unedited report, “A Nation at Risk,” I think that we have not seen much progress in education in the twenty eight years since this report was written. It has changed some, but not what I think it should have after nearly thirty years. I have found that progress does not happen over night. One thing this report stated was that the National Commission was “confident that the American people, properly informed, will do what is right for their children and for the generations to come” (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). I believe parents are doing what they believe is right for their children, but I also believe that some parents do not see the need for lifelong learning. With the way our world is changing, we all need to become lifelong learners to stay marketable.

Our country seems to be losing many jobs to foreign competition. This report tells us that one of the risks that the commission perceived was that “[w]e live among determined, well-educated, and strongly motivated competitors” (NCEE, 1983). I watched a television show about how Mexico now grows its own cotton, gins it, and makes blue jeans. This is just one example of how other countries industries are growing while depleting what our country does. I believe this is one reason our job market is at its lowest in a long time. In one of the college classes I have taken, the professor talked about how our country is losing jobs because other countries are paid less to do the job even though the employers are educated more than Americans. Even though this report was written in 1983, they knew that “Learning is the indispensable investment required for success in the ‘information age’ we are entering” (NCEE, 1983).

We are still facing this issue now, but to a greater degree. We are now looking at the issue of some jobs disappearing while other jobs have not yet been created. A professor in one of my classes told the class that students that are now in elementary school will be doing jobs that have not yet been invented. To me, this is mind boggling. Never in my life have I ever thought of such a thing. Times are changing. I have to keep reminding myself that this article was written in 1983. This article also said that, “[a]lthough a million and a half new workers enter the economy each year from our schools and colleges, the adults working today will still make up about 75 percent of the workforce in the year 2000” (NCEE, 1983).

I’m thinking these were the baby boomers since many are beginning to retire. “[W]orkers, and new entrants into the workforce, will need further education and retraining if they—and we as a Nation—are to thrive and prosper” (NCEE, 1983). We have already found this statement to be true in the way the workforce is changing toward the future. I know of many people that have had to go back to school to learn a new trade or to learn more for the jobs they already have. This is becoming a way of life. Something that everyone should think about is, “formal schooling in youth is the essential foundation for learning throughout one’s life. But without life-long learning, one’s skills will become rapidly dated” (NCEE), 1983).

I always knew that education was the key to success, but after reading this article I became more aware of just how important it really is. One person cannot make the difference needed to make our country successful but if we, as a nation, see the importance of education, we have a fighting chance to succeed. “[E]ducation is important not only because of what it contributes to one’s career goals but also because of the value it adds to the general quality of one’s life” (NCEE, 1983).

This report addressed many more interesting points that Americans need to think deeply about. Our country is still at risk and it takes time to change.

The article: A Nation At Risk can be found at: http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html  and “A Nation At Risk: Edited by Yong Zhao” can be found at: http://zhaolearning.com/2011/03/10/a-nation-at-risk-edited-by-yong-zhao/

How Far Will Testing Go?

After reading about the restrictions the U.S. Department of Education has placed on the public schools in all states for special education students, it doesn't seem fair that most students are tested without modifications. Maybe they just figure that there will be so many students fail anyway but it is not fair to the students to put them through this kind of pressure. Many are set up to fail before they even take the tests.

The article I read, States Pressured to Curb Test Exemptions for Disabled Students by Nirvi Shah,
 stated that only one percent could be exempt. The article also said that it use only exempt one half of a percent but they have raised it to the one percent that is current. This article is a recent article published May 4, 2011 at: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/05/03/30disabled_ep.h30.html. The one percent would only cover the most severe students in special education. The article states that the exemptions "are not intended for children with moderate disabilities, said Ricki Sabia, the associate director of the policy center for the National Down Syndrome Society, based in New York City" (Shah, Nirvi, 2011).

This article explains how the one percent cap works for special education students in public schools. You can read this article at: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/05/03/30disabled_ep.h30.html. The title is: States Pressured to Curb Test Exemptions for Disabled Students and is written by Nirvi Shah.

Bullying: A Hot Issue in Special Education

According to the article,"Special Education Law Blog: Bulling: A Hot Issue in Special Education", disability based bullying seems to be increasing rather than decreasing (Gerl, 2011). When I took a class, Special Education Law, we were told by the professor, that if the person doing the bullying is a special education student and the behavior is caused by the disability, they look at the behavior differently. There is a new government website that provides students, teachers, administrators and others with tools to end the bullying. This website is at: www.stop.bullying.gov/. The website where I got the information about the bullying issue is at: http://specialeducationlawblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/bullying-hot-button-issue-in-special.html.
Another article that links back to this article is:  Bullying Among Children and Youth with Disabilities and Special Needs at: http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Bullying_Among/. I plan to take a closer look at this article as well. I want to know as much as I can about the issue of bullying since it is on the rise.

What affect will the school budget cut have on our children?

After reading many articles about how other people think the school budget cut will affect our children, I have decided to write this blog to express my opinions and to inform with the information I have gathered. Our school systems are in a sad state. No one knows what will happen next. I heard some teachers talking the other day and they were saying that elementary schools were being shut down and students were to be bused to other schools. They said that they weren’t waiting until the school year is over to begin this endeavor but doing it immediately. We are seeing a change in our country that we have not seen in our lifetime.

The articles that I read, and some were blogs, were from states all over the United States. Schools all over America are in a crisis. Teachers are being laid off, programs are being cut, and schools are being consolidated. There was talk of eliminating kindergarten, having school four days a week, shortening the school year, plus many other things. It doesn’t seem like very long ago that we were being told how far behind the United States was compared to other countries and there was a push for better education. The message that is being sent now is that our children’s education is not important anymore. The government is wanting the schools to do more with less. This seems to be the situation that many businesses are in today. It’s always about money! I hope the children aren't the ones that pay for this with their education.

I can’t believe that cutting school funding was even considered. I agree that schools should not spend more than is necessary but what are our children and our future worth to us? This is not the place to cut spending. There are many other places that cuts could be made before money is taken away from our children’s education. Nelson Mandela’s quote speaks volumes, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” -- Nelson Mandela

Maybe I am wrong, but when I started college to become a teacher, I never thought that by the time I got ready to graduate that there would be such chaos in the education field. Teachers are scared, parents are scared, and the children are scared. I think about the children in the schools that all of a sudden, overnight, closed and the children were bused to other schools. That has to be frightening to the children and to the parents. Many other pre-grad teachers are wondering if there will be jobs available after going to school for years to be a teacher. Many have college loans to pay back. Not only are our schools in a crisis, but our country is in a crisis. In my opinion, this is the worst shape our country has been in since the depression in the 1930’s.

I say, without education for our children, our future looks very bleak! This is an evil force that will bring our country down. This is one way to destroy our country without firing a shot, by destroy ing our young and by keeping them from having the best education. This quote by John Dewey says a lot: “Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself.” -- John Dewey

Wake up America, the pot is boiling!

Cartoon from: http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolBudgetCuts/1.asp

What Should We Do About What’s Happening To Our Country?

Our founding father’s said that our rights come not from the government but from nature and nature is God. I had it right!  So is it our government’s right to equalize people’s lives by taking from the rich and giving to the poor? What many Americans do not realize, that by our government doing this, they are, in fact, taking away our rights as individuals? Do we want our government to control our lives totally?

Maybe Samuel Adams said it best when he said: “If you love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”

Our principles that have made our country great are being stomped on. Our country is being hit hard with the lack of jobs. Just look at what is happening to the school system. We have never seen this kind of down hill spiral in our lifetime. People have to depend on the government more and more instead of themselves for their livelihoods. We are sliding down into a pit of poverty. Some people have not seen the light as of yet because some are still wearing blinders. We have got to stand up for our rights to keep from sliding into that pit of dependency.

The people we now have in our own government want to remake our government and destroy the Constitution. Wake up people and smell the coffee! Believe what you see and believe what you hear! This is real! We have got to stand up for our rights. Is taking away our guns going to make our country safer? Here is something to think about: If we were attacked by another country on American soil, how would we be able to defend our homes? John Adams said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Our founding fathers were intuitive in the way they wrote the Constitution. These were God fearing men.

It appears to me that some of the people we have elected to run our country do not have our best interest in mind. This scares me. As Americans, we all need to investigate and learn for ourselves what our government wants to change and what our founding father’s principles were so that we can be informed and ready to stand up for our beliefs.

Here are some of the things our founding father’s believed: “Any people that would give up liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it an instrument for the people to restrain the government.”

–       Patrick Henry

This one makes me think of how our government seems to be trying to take more and more of our rights away. We do not want too much government control.

“A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our happiness.”

-- Thomas Jefferson

I say we should all get educated and open our eyes to what is going on. We have to be informed! It is more important at this time in history than at any other time.

I got some of my ideas from http://www.thoughts.com/averageamerican/Whats-happening-to-our-country.

Education & Technology

It is critical to integrate as much technology into the classroom as swiftly as possible. The reason this is so critical is because that is where most employment is headed. The students of today will not be prepared for the jobs of tomorrow if they don't have the skills that are necessary. Students already use technology in there private life but when they get to school there isn't much technology used in their classrooms. Some schools are doing better than others with implementing technology. Many teachers need knowledge of technology rich lessons. I have been in classrooms where the students know more about technology than the teachers do. I can now say that I have been in an elementary school that uses quite a bit of technology and the students seem to be more eager to learn.

What is most important to me right now!

God is in control and I am not! Trying to keep my life organized and prioratized with student teaching, a four hour class on Wednesday night, helping my mentally ill brother, and trying to fit in three state tests while keeping up with everyday tasks is a major task in itself.  This is why I have to depend on Him to take care of it and for me to do the best that I can everyday. I have to take one day at a time or be overwhelmed! I think that I am doing a pretty good job, considering.