One Last Bushian Comment

Students should not be doomed to life of poverty because their parents didn’t have the financial freedom to opt out of a failing school.

Every school has some good teachers and every school has some bad ones. This should not surprise anyone. We've had good and bad Presidents, good and bad workers at Walmart, good and bad CEOs of major companies, not to mention good and bad drivers on the highway.

The school isn't "dooming anyone to failure," but its students are behind the eight-ball - and not necessarily at the fault of the school they're in.

The "school" isn't failing the kids in a good teacher's class. The smart kids who bring up the averages aren't being "doomed" by the school - they'll get where they want to go. What you get out of education depends on what you put into it.

There are good teachers and bad ones. You can get an education or not and the school is only a part of it. In my school, your school, inner city and suburbia.

If you select the students, you can get great students from any socio-economic level, just like KIPP. If you are forced to accept anyone, then that's what the public school gets. It doesn't make the school any better or worse, but it does lower the averages.

An individual is not defined by the average. You can always find an average from the individuals but you can't define an individual from the average score.

You can get a bad education (or just a hangover) at a good college or a good education at any college (or you can get a "Gentleman's C" at Yale but that costs money).

More of Jeb Bush - This time we're an 8-track tape.

This speech gets better and better.

"In this knowledge-based economy, would success be measured by how long students sit at their desk rather than what they learn? I hope not. In an age of customization, would we settle for a one-size-fits-all model that moves kids from grade to grade based on their age rather than their skill level? Hell no. Last year, I said our education system was an 8-track tape in an I-Pod world."

Jeb. Please. Try to understand this.

We don't measure students' success by how long they sit at desks. When they reach certain points in the course (called "End of the Chapter" or the "End of a Topic"), we measure their knowledge using something called a "test" or a "project". Their test or project earns a number called "a grade." We use this number because it's a convenient way for teacher, student, parent and school to communicate how well the student understands "the material". We don't throw away the rest of the information, but we do have the summary number (the "grade").

Over the years, I and many other teachers have taught math. We have learned that students, despite the claim of uniqueness that permeates the socio-political consciousness, are amazingly similar in what they can learn about our subject. (This is called "experience" and it is the reason why "experienced teachers" get paid more.) We know that some students are "good in math" and will cover eight major topics and that others will struggle to learn six. That's why we have different levels of classes - not because we are discriminating against anyone, but because we are intelligent enough to choose the right level for each type of student.

Surprisingly, these different courses COULD be used to "differentiate" the teaching for students, but non-teachers don't understand that each little snowflake is not, in fact, unique. They also don't understand that putting kids into courses that are appropriate for them is the best way for them to learn. Until they think about it, most folks don't see that putting kids into sections in which they are significantly the fastest or slowest learner is LESS effective than separating them by ability. Politicians don't really think and lawyers are paid to refuse to. That's why "tracking" is no longer used.

One other thing. Social promotion is necessary sometimes. When you insist that kids stay back, you occasionally get a non-academic kid (who else?) who is not the best influence on impressionable people. Do you really want that 17 year-old in with your 13yo daughter?

Free at Last - Jeb Bush has an Epiphany.

Jeb Bush the Philosopher King, said:

"I want to make a different comparison this year to something completely different. I wish our schools could be more like milk. You heard me, I said milk. Go down the aisle of nearly any major supermarket these days and you will find an incredible selection of milk.

You can get whole milk, low fat milk or skim milk. You can get organic milk, milk with Vitamin D or milk enzymes to improve you the way your brain functions. You can get flavored milk — chocolate, strawberry or vanilla – that doesn’t even taste like milk. Most of the time, there is a whole other refrigerator case dedicated to milk alternatives – like soy milk, almond milk and rice milk. They even make milk for people who can’t drink milk. Who would have ever thought you could improve upon milk? Yet, freedom, innovation and competition found a way."

Okay, so let me get this straight, Jedediah. You want my school to offer lots of options to our students, right? You don't feel that this is being done now? Let me larn you sumfin', Jeb.

Here are a few choices my students have:

At the Tech Center:
Business Management, Financial Accounting For Seniors, Carpentry, Culinary Arts, Electronics: Audio Engineering, Emergency & Fire Management, Engineering Technology, Graphic Technologies, Hands-On Computer Systems, Health Career Academy, Horticulture & Natural Resources, Human Services, Industrial Trades, Law Enforcement, Manufacturing, Pre-Technical Studies, Tourism & Lodging Management.

At another tech center, you can take:
Architecture Engineering Design, Auto Refinishing and Collision, Automotive Technology, Cabinet Making, Carpentry, Computer Technology: IT Systems & Solutions, Culinary Arts, Digital Arts, Electrical/Plumbing, Health Careers, Hospitality and Entrepreneurship, Human Services, Music Technology: Jazz and Contemporary, Natural Resources, Forestry & Horticulture, Power Mechanics/Welding, Public Safety Services: Law Enforcement, Video Production.

At the school:
English, Math, Science, History, Languages, Music, Art. There are some minimums but the choice is up to the student. Everything from a basic and modified all the way up to AP, college level. Electives like US military history, russian, SATprep, media studies, ethics, sociology, chess (at a neighbor school).

Virtual High School
What the title says. Computer programming, math, english, science, whatever the need, they can have it in a 21st Century Schooling sort of way. Kid gets pregnant and can't come to school in the last months? - VHS.

At the college:
Some kids take courses at the college, paid by the school district.

Alternative programs:
Not to get too specific, but these kids don't make it in the high school, so we spend $40k per year apiece to send them to programs to which they belong.

I sometimes believe that we offer TOO MANY choices. Kids get wrapped up in the belief that they know what they will do in life and so "don't see a need for this boring stuff" even though they really will need it, they just don't know much about the world or education yet.

But you don't seem to know much about the world or education either, Jeb.