Secret Teacher: I'm astonished by what some parents complain about

Don't we all look forward to the day when schools are run on the free market system and parents will have a louder voice on what happens to their little darlings? I just hope teachers will be able to control the weather by then.

---

Reality Internet Personality

Different union, different representation, different vote, different result.

Yet exactly the same media reports you talked about. So many the media reports you see aren't telling the whole story either.

I was unaware you were reading the local throw away news rags we have here locally that cover the local news in detail. If you mean the national yellow stuff a/k/a Corporate Opinion, well ......

I mean all the media, Gary. I am not sure what you are not getting here.

You are taking an absolute position on all media and also telling me no matter which media [plural] I may see, you know how the story is biased.

Gary, you know what I am telling you. Stop playing semantic games as if this is a court of law.

Maybe means yes? Or only on a date?

When you have made hay at others for being imprecise with their language, well, have others do unto you as you would do unto them. You do a fair amount of putting words in others mouths and telling them how they feel in a couple of other threads. If you find a different way to express yourself, you might find a lot more general agreement. Unfortunately, this BBS style of posting tends to force one into making assumptions about the persons you are talking with, assumptions that frequently are not totally correct.

---

Ess your PM over there is best buddies with Tony Abbott and they shear the same views to about education .

So i'm not surprised one bit your having trouble , funny the same thing is starting to happen here mmmm wonder why !!

---

Different union, different representation, different vote, different result.

Yet exactly the same media reports you talked about. So many the media reports you see aren't telling the whole story either.

I was unaware you were reading the local throw away news rags we have here locally that cover the local news in detail. If you mean the national yellow stuff a/k/a Corporate Opinion, well ......

I mean all the media, Gary. I am not sure what you are not getting here.

You are taking an absolute position on all media and also telling me no matter which media [plural] I may see, you know how the story is biased.

Gary, you know what I am telling you. Stop playing semantic games as if this is a court of law.

---

Reality Internet Personality

Different union, different representation, different vote, different result.

Yet exactly the same media reports you talked about. So many the media reports you see aren't telling the whole story either.

I was unaware you were reading the local throw away news rags we have here locally that cover the local news in detail. If you mean the national yellow stuff a/k/a Corporate Opinion, well ......

I mean all the media, Gary. I am not sure what you are not getting here.

You are taking an absolute position on all media and also telling me no matter which media [plural] I may see, you know how the story is biased.

---

Different union, different representation, different vote, different result.

Yet exactly the same media reports you talked about. So many the media reports you see aren't telling the whole story either.

I was unaware you were reading the local throw away news rags we have here locally that cover the local news in detail. If you mean the national yellow stuff a/k/a Corporate Opinion, well ......

I mean all the media, Gary. I am not sure what you are not getting here.

---

Reality Internet Personality

Different union, different representation, different vote, different result.

Yet exactly the same media reports you talked about. So many the media reports you see aren't telling the whole story either.

I was unaware you were reading the local throw away news rags we have here locally that cover the local news in detail. If you mean the national yellow stuff a/k/a Corporate Opinion, well ......

---

Different union, different representation, different vote, different result.

Yet exactly the same media reports you talked about. So many the media reports you see aren't telling the whole story either.

---

Reality Internet Personality

Different union, different representation, different vote, different result.

---

ES 99 wrote:

Interesting thinking.

Government Schools may get worse. Therefore...

Interesting thinking. I tell you what actually happens where this has been done and you replace 'will' with 'may'.

Screw those who wish to succeed.

Nope, it seems that you support screwing everyone.

As I have said repeatedly: It is The Left's 'Thinking', and 'Solutions, which are the problem.

As I have said, where The Right's solutions have been put into practice, misery and inequality have ensued.

Regarding Teachers Unions, from this 10000% Pro-Union person:

Many have degenerated into only Job Security/Pay Raise Unions. Not Pro-Student.

That is the sad fact.

That is a lie. It is not a fact. This coming from someone who has been in more than one teacher's union and knows the lies that are told about us by those with an agenda. You should do some actual thinking and stop swallowing wholesale the BS because you like the sound of it so much.

Highly Educated, does not, and never has, meant Ethical.

However, people generally go into teaching because they are ethical. Those that aren't ethical and are highly educated will go elsewhere to a job with more money and more status and less people lining up to blame the ills of society on you. One where you won't constantly be called greedy for wanting to be paid on level that matches the importance and skill of your profession. (BTW, I don't know what you think the average teacher earns, but if the unions are working so hard to makes us rich they are doing a sh*t job of it.)

Very much agree with parts, and disagree with other parts.

Unfortunately, locally, the rhetoric coming from the mouths of the union when speaking to the press, seems to be far more about insuring that the flow of dollars to the union executives is maximized, rather than any genuine concern for the pupils. There is some reason to believe this. In the recent contract negotiation the School Board told the Union how much additional money was available. They were given an option to hold pay and spend the rest of the money on supplies. That was rejected. They also were given the option to reduce class size. That was rejected. IIRC there was a news report that calculated the $ the union would have gotten from hiring the additional teachers to lower the class size was not as much as the $ that raising the base salary would provide the union. We live in a capitalistic society.

As to what happens to government schools ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasadena_Unified_School_District
Went from being able to take high school classes for credit taught at Caltech by their faculty, to not so good but lots of very expensive private schools. Yes, there is good education available, but your taxes don't pay for it anymore, so if you aren't independently wealthy, you can't get a good education!

Well firstly, I have seen how selectively the press reports on things, so just because the press reports one part of something, doesn't mean that is the whole story.

Here in BC teachers have taken many concessions just like the ones you suggested, and I would never recommend they do it again.

For example, we have been in a long fight with the government that may go all the way to the Supreme Court because of one such concession. Teachers agreed to a pay freeze in return for limits on class size and composition. The government then tore up this contract and imposed a new one that took that agreement away. So in the end teachers and students lost out.

The lasted volley from the government is about professional development days. Teachers want to be the best they can so they negotiated that they could take some days off their holidays and use them for professional development through out the year. The teachers organise these themselves because technically they are unpaid. The government has now decided that they don't like teachers having these 'days off' in school time and have just passed a law saying that they will now decided what happens on these professional development days.

So that is what happens when teachers decide to do what is best for students rather than taking pay rises.

This time last year we went on strike over the contract issue. Teachers had been without a negotiated contract for years and had been on a pay freeze so pay was falling below inflation.

The demand were a pay increase below inflation and restoring class size and composition to students. Guess which one the media focussed on? So when the average person in the street was asked if teachers should get a pay rise of 9% they said teachers were greedy. When asked if a pay rise in line with inflation covering the years their pay had been frozen would be acceptable everyone thought that would make sense, not realising that it was less than what teachers were asking for.

Teachers should be paid well for what they do and just like any well educated professional in charge of something so important they should be able to negotiate adequate pay for what they do.

Oh..and the reason the dispute dragged out so long was because teachers refused to 'work to rule' because it would affect the students. They didn't want to stop doing all the unpaid after school activities that parents things students are entitled to.

---

Reality Internet Personality

Ouch! 44 schools & 180 officials involved in cheating

Could it happen here? Is it happening here?

20 years jail ....!!!!

This is what happens when you compare private with public and it's the public schools that have to prove there doing the job but not private schools to get the money to run them .

And to think that is what has been happening here as it's made harder for the schools to justify the money .

As the Liberals wish to push private over public .

IF PRIVATE SCHOOLS WISH TO EXIST THEN THEY ARE THE ONES THAT NEED TO JUSTIFY THEY NEED THE MONEY AND ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING as here even the private schools get money from the government , they just don't have to justify what they spend it on .

TOTAL B/S private school's they only breed jealous , nasty , racists that are mean and greedy .

Pretty much most of the polly's in most country's and why they stuff most things up

---

ES 99 wrote:

Interesting thinking.

Government Schools may get worse. Therefore...

Interesting thinking. I tell you what actually happens where this has been done and you replace 'will' with 'may'.

Screw those who wish to succeed.

Nope, it seems that you support screwing everyone.

As I have said repeatedly: It is The Left's 'Thinking', and 'Solutions, which are the problem.

As I have said, where The Right's solutions have been put into practice, misery and inequality have ensued.

Regarding Teachers Unions, from this 10000% Pro-Union person:

Many have degenerated into only Job Security/Pay Raise Unions. Not Pro-Student.

That is the sad fact.

That is a lie. It is not a fact. This coming from someone who has been in more than one teacher's union and knows the lies that are told about us by those with an agenda. You should do some actual thinking and stop swallowing wholesale the BS because you like the sound of it so much.

Highly Educated, does not, and never has, meant Ethical.

However, people generally go into teaching because they are ethical. Those that aren't ethical and are highly educated will go elsewhere to a job with more money and more status and less people lining up to blame the ills of society on you. One where you won't constantly be called greedy for wanting to be paid on level that matches the importance and skill of your profession. (BTW, I don't know what you think the average teacher earns, but if the unions are working so hard to makes us rich they are doing a sh*t job of it.)

Very much agree with parts, and disagree with other parts.

Unfortunately, locally, the rhetoric coming from the mouths of the union when speaking to the press, seems to be far more about insuring that the flow of dollars to the union executives is maximized, rather than any genuine concern for the pupils. There is some reason to believe this. In the recent contract negotiation the School Board told the Union how much additional money was available. They were given an option to hold pay and spend the rest of the money on supplies. That was rejected. They also were given the option to reduce class size. That was rejected. IIRC there was a news report that calculated the $ the union would have gotten from hiring the additional teachers to lower the class size was not as much as the $ that raising the base salary would provide the union. We live in a capitalistic society.

As to what happens to government schools ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasadena_Unified_School_District
Went from being able to take high school classes for credit taught at Caltech by their faculty, to not so good but lots of very expensive private schools. Yes, there is good education available, but your taxes don't pay for it anymore, so if you aren't independently wealthy, you can't get a good education!

---

Ouch! 44 schools & 180 officials involved in cheating

Could it happen here? Is it happening here?

I am, and will continue to, pay for mine. Affordability is key.
However, I will soon be filling these forms out: Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

Here you would not owe $100,000 + student loans as it's regulated and subzidised by Fed and state Governments .

Christopher Pine Minister for Education want's to deregulate the system , but that would mean over time the Uni free's will increase and become like your system and they don't wish to stop there , they also wish to have Local school Boards, like i believe the States have .

Big no to second one ...YOU END UP WITH WITH stupid boards teaching B/S like

divine creation

My student loan debt is not that large, nor is it very small.
Most of it was accrued during graduate school, past a Master's degree. When one decides, after a few years, to go back to school and earns about 1/3 or less of what he earned prior, one cuts back, but there are still earlier bills to pay, plus it may take time to figure out what and how much to cut. Also, as I implied, I do not wish to leave my debts for the taxpayers to pick up. On the other hand, I have put in a great amount of public service and so I will be applying to get some of that debt forgiven. Note that one of the requirements is 10 years of on time payments for at least the amount due each month.

Your second point had nothing to do with anything I posted, yet I shall address it. Yes, it is in our Constitution that education is left to the localities and the state governments, not the federal government. Given what most of what I gather from your posts, you would not like, say, the Texas curriculum, but you might like the curriculum of NY State, or at least what it used to be. I am a product of the latter, for better or worse.

What you seem to be unaware of is that the US federal government has become more and more involved in local state decisions. You might think that is a good thing. If so, look more into Laura Bush's "No Child Left Behind" (sounds so grand on the surface) or "Common Core" that is working its way through during the current Obama administration. I am not passing judgment, but I am aware of pros and cons.

Pro: a family with children could move in the middle of a school year from Texas to New York State and not lose time because a child learning 7th grade math in Texas turns out to be learning 5th or 6th grade math in NY State. (No offense to Texas: this is just a hypothetical example!)

Con: apparently one publishing company is producing materials for this nationwide curriculum. (Disclaimer: I have done freelance accuracy checking for the publisher.)

Furthermore, in Texas, there are apparently enough politicians from the local to state level to have Creationism taught in science classes. Texas remains the largest state in terms of population, so there curriculum choices can have influences on publishers' choices. If you are against Creationism, do you want Texas to eventually force it to be taught nationwide via their influence on the publisher? Or, if you are against evolution, that NY STate (perhaps around 4th in population these days?) to force teaching of evolution on the rest of the nation?

---

Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

the poor devil was screwed from the start!

Yes he was, very much so.

was just 14-and-a-half-years-old. He was somebody at that stage in his life who perhaps did not have the parental guidance he needed at that time." She said her client had "gone off the rails"

Judge Anthony Russell QC told him: "Your upbringing was unfortunate. You have been allowed to run wild.

What I find wrong about this is that there is no mention of the parents, For a start, anyone that names their child Kyle has to be a bit suspect for a start. Why aren't they in court being charged with neglect?

With people with your views in the system, the poor devil was screwed from the start!

Why do you use Chris instead of Christopher? After all, that is your name is it not?

Secondly, just what is wrong with Kyle?

I can't find a better place than this and I would rather not start another thread.

A drunken 14-year-old boy who killed a man after wishing him "Happy New Year" in an unprovoked attack has been detained for three years. Preston Crown Court heard Major had drunk six bottles of lager and whiskey. Major initially denied any involvement in the attack when arrested.

The court heard that Major regularly drank to excess and was a habitual user of cannabis. He already had seven previous convictions for non-violent offences such as burglary and theft.

Julie Taylor, defending, said: "Kyle Major in the early hours of New Year's Day this year was just 14-and-a-half-years-old. He was somebody at that stage in his life who perhaps did not have the parental guidance he needed at that time." She said her client had "gone off the rails"

He had been under the supervision of a youth offending team since December 2013 following various court orders but his response was said to have been "poor" and he was described in reports as acting in "a reckless and carefree manner" with no regard to the consequences to himself or others.

Judge Anthony Russell QC told him: "Your upbringing was unfortunate. You have been allowed to run wild.

What I find wrong about this is that there is no mention of the parents, For a start, anyone that names their child Kyle has to be a bit suspect for a start. Why aren't they in court being charged with neglect?

Thug in detention

Wow thank's Sirius for that wonder if this is a prelude to Minister for Education Mr Christopher Pine has in stall for the rest of the school system he wishes to transform .

Wonder if it was a private or public school as the article does not say ....my money would be a private school seeing as it's Canberra where all the snotty nose polly's are

---

Australian "Oops"

Don't the Aussies have "any" special needs schools?