Since some pro-Einstein folks in the comments to the previous post have brought up what they believe is the argument ending apocryphal story of oral sex in the bathroom at Rio Norte Junior High School (I have also heard the version of this story where it was happening in the back of a classroom, was done for 50 cents, and before Rio Norte opened was happening in the bathrooms of Arroyo Seco Junior High) let me throw out some of my unscientific and unverifiable opinions as to the primary reasons why partisans in the SCV try to get these charter schools going:
- The parents live in pants peeing fear of the outside world which they measure against a false memory of some golden age in education that existed when they attended primary and secondary school in the 80′s and 90′s and have transferred that terror to their children;
- The home environment has resulted in the children having an odd and quirky personality that will make them a likely target in the swamp and jungle that is junior high;
- The children (parents) require constant praise and edification and if the little ones aren’t getting all A’s it is some fault of the system; and/or
- A not so-veiled attempt to get this Lutheran taxpayer to kick in money for their childrens’ religious education.
Loading ...
“Since some pro-Einstein folks in the comments to the previous post…”
Seems to me Tim, just one person brought this up.
When does one = some?
Not just on this board but in other forums and also folks we know around town just always bring up the oral sex story.
Please, Jeff. if you want your blog to be taken serioiusly, you really need to monitor better what your psuedo-journalists (Nickedime, Tim, etc.) state as “facts” just to suit their opinions.
Have to agree with Anobserver. These last two posts by Tim have been nothing but hate filled, insulting, and totally unsubstantiated.
Tim, who hurt you?
Jeff I know its your blog and I enjoy the daily brief but posts like this combine with your defence of some of the regular commentators is taking some of your credibility away.
Sean, I have to disagree. I read this blog daily and agree with about 5% of anything written on here. But if you only listen/read with people you agree with what new knowledge or viewpoint do you learn?
Sometimes people you don’t agree with can be good people that just view things differently than you. Nothing wrong with that. It is exactly why people come on here to read.
Name a single California Charter School that is religion-based. The only one I have ever heard of was an Islamic Charter School that I believe is about to have it’s charter revoked on the basis of it’s rigid religious doctrine.
Charter schools serve one major purpose: Public funded education that is stripped of the bureaucratic morass of Big Labor public schools.
In case you should, for a change of pace, decide to become educated about the Charter Movement, I suggest renting or buying a copy of the movie “Waiting for Superman”. It was produced and directed by the same person that did “An Inconvenient Truth” a film I am sure you have seen.
KK:
I’ll text you when the Union Thugs has stopped looking for you and you can crawl out from under your bed.
Conflating anti-union and anti-Muslim diatribes! I doff my cap to your sir!
OK seriously? Are you just trying to get a reaction?
As for your “unscientific and unverifiable opinions-
1. I have no “pants peeing fear”. I have a child who needed something different. Instead of having all kinds of testing done, and a label stuck on him, we were able to find a school that works for us.
2. My kids are probably cooler than yours.
3. The kids are still not getting all A’s and that’s OK. They like school and are motivated to learn.
4. that may/or may not be the case for one school.
Sorry I do not have much of a sense of humor about your post, Tim. Instead of perpetuating the nonsense and misinformation about charter schools, why don’t you look into what a charter school really is, and how a different approach to education could really benefit lots of our kids.
In addition to watching “Waiting for Superman”, I would suggest “Race to Nowhere”.
http://www.racetonowhere.com/
1. I have no “pants peeing fear”. I have a child who needed something different. Instead of having all kinds of testing done, and a label stuck on him, we were able to find a school that works for us.
Disagree. You obsess too much about alleged acts of oral sex in bathrooms.
2. My kids are probably cooler than yours.
Not possible.
3. The kids are still not getting all A’s and that’s OK. They like school and are motivated to learn.
Mirroring your fears and expectations.
4. that may/or may not be the case for one school.
AES looks suspicious.
What about people in failing schools who go through huge hoops to get their kids transferred out, if you can even get approved, and try to find a place to transfer in only to be told no one has any room. What’s the point of going through the exercise of pretending to be able to leave a failing school if there isn’t a place to go to? We’re in this situation, our school is failing, we have to take our kids 15 – 20 miles away to find a place that isn’t failing. We can’t afford private school, nor do we want a religious eduction for our child that isn’t from us. We NEED these charter schools, and many of these to have a place to go to have a chance of a decent education for our kids.
All different types of kids have different learning needs. Some would thrive in this, others in more directed learning and structure, others are more hands on learners. Why does everyone have to get information in the same way? Why is everyone so afraid of this charter school? I don’t understand.
Did you ever think that one of the most conflict ridden place in the world speaks Hebrew and Arabic? Do you think maybe some talented people should now those languages so we can use our words instead of blowing each other up? Is the only reason why you think it’s religious is because of the language?
The only people who are scared are those with a vested interest in keeping the status quo.
This is probably the best argument yet for reinstituting the draft. If everyone had to go crawl through the mud, clean latrines and be yelled at by mean drill sergeants for two years they might give up this idea that they are “special” and need “special treatment.”
So true. Everyone thinks they are special.
You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile. ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
Tonight we make soap.
We are stardust. We are golden.
Tim, I agree with you… I think today’s young folks should deal with more discipline… this especially holds true to the “30 somethings” on this blog. You know who you are…
I love it when Billy talks “discipline”. I can almost smell the leather.
OMG! add that one to your greatest hits!
Hmm what did I do with all my public education foreign language training? Oh yeah I was a linguist in the Navy. Guess what? Still a special little snowflake, very few latrines and no mud.
You are still in the compost pile with the rest of us…
I don’t think my kids are more or less important than anyone else on this planet, even though I would go to my grave to defend them. Why do you think that school life now is any less tough than in the 1950′s? I don’t remember a time when 12 year olds brought guns to school and blew away fellow classmates. I don’t remember kids needing to be security screened. If anything, I think kids today are too tough, too detached from understanding how their actions create suffering. Death and guns are part of a game, not reality. While I blame parents for this and no one else, I think that your assertion that kids today consider themselves snowflakes is false.
Most of them are just trying to get through the day, just like the rest of us. Charter schools and other means of education, military schools or otherwise, are ways to make our society stronger and more creative. If you went to the store and had only one product to chose from, would you be content? Isn’t that soviet style thinking? we’re in real trouble, and we can’t afford to pretend otherwise. we need to salvage everyone, all hands on deck, we can’t just brush high drop out rates under the rug and then pay to support a huge number of people who don’t feel they can compete, and largely can’t. Or do you just want a low cost, prison labor, slave class like in China?
Command and control also doesn’t allow people to creatively problem solve, just take orders. while self discipline is an important skill, it doesn’t get us anywhere. All the old tricks don’t work anymore, we need people who can problem solve and communicate rather than quote one liners to provoke anger and frustration. Different models of education are part of the solution to train the next generation to compete and solve problems, and think of the next great thing.
Edit to above – meant while self discipline is an important skill, it doesn’t alone get us where we need to go.
Yes, my 80′s era Junior High was “a golden age of education”. I picked my own classes, had a broad range of electives to explore, and foreign language was not a reward for excellent grades in English. I learned more grammar in French class than I did English. I got literature, grammar and a second language between the two. 3 languages were available in Jr. High, just because you were interested, 6 in high school. I’m not afraid of the current state of education, but profoundly disappointed by it. Budget cuts…blah…blah…blah. I know, but foreign languages being a luxury item is horrifying.
So my “quirky” 7th grader whom I had to remove from your beloved Rio Norte last month, because they were so incredibly rigid in their teaching style that he could receive As on nearly all his tests, but Ds due to his ability to organize himself. (And did you just blame our home environment for his learning disabilities and asperger’s syndrome?) We were required to choose between support and academic appropriateness. General education had little to no support, Special education had him helping classmates read cursive.
As for “swamp & jungle” that is junior high, his bike brakes were cut at school in the fourth grade. Stakes are a little higher than they used to be. So not really appropriate fodder for just being provocative for giggles.
Tim it just doesn’t seem like your post enables a thoughtful debate.
Geoff:
First of all, my view is not about charters in general but charters in the SCV, where it is my personal opinion that people pushing them are doing so out of some fear or sense of Gen Y entitlement. The classrooms in South Korea and Taiwan where they kids are beating our kids in math look like classrooms in 50′s America with 50 students, one teacher, chalk and chalkboards, with ONLY one learning approach.
You are right about the Gen Y entitlement. Did you read the Huff Post thing about Gen Y?
I am with you on this Tim.
Parents should be taking responsibility of their kids and quite blame shifting. Teachers are the heroes not the problems.
Repel “no child left behind now”, america needs an attitude change not more poltics!
Get rid of “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top”. Let teachers be teachers- not testers. My attitude has nothing to do with a lack of respect for teachers- on the contrary- get the bureaucracy out of the way and let them teach!
Let me get this right. Bush lied about WMD in Iraq-Qaddafi gives up his WMD and Obama wants to go to war ???????
That’s the best thing I have heard all week.
As someone whose kids are part of a non-religious charter school, one of the most compelling cases I heard against charter schools came from none other than Roger Gitlin. He and Tim would seem to be virtually unanimous on this subject.
It’s one of life’s little ironies.
That and Jesus preaching tolerance – and a large portion of his followers doing nearly the opposite.
Where did Jesus preach tolerance?
John 3:17 – “For God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Maybe? Sorta?
The ironies of those who call themselves Christians, yet do and say things that would make Christ blush is the cloak of evil. Plain and simple. And also the reason most people stay away from the freaky fringes with “Christ Lives” stickers on their cars. If you ain’t gonna walk the walk, then keep it to yourself.
One of life’s other ironies is trying to save the souls of the lost while being a massive jerk.
BINGO. The approach, arrogance, and intolerant rantings of soul savers push away many more than it attracts. Hilariously outspoken “believers” have more in common with the WWF than GOD.
No wonder the generation coming of age now is so frightened and disgusted by those proclaiming themselves as followers of Christ’s teachings, yet routinely show gutter minded and downright aggressively hostile tactics in showing lost souls “the way.”
This commentary has absolutely nothing to do with providing children with the best education possible, and everything to do with marginalizing those who don’t fit what you think of as the “norm.” Treat children with respect and as individuals; blanket treatment of any community is not beneficial, especially those who are immature, vulnerable and under our care. Public school works for your family; great. Don’t assume the same for other families.
For those on this thread who are interested in shaking up the system, rather than insulting parents and preteens, I just saw this on ABC and thought I’d share. It speaks to the unique snowflake in me.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/PersonOfWeek/principal-turns-school-student-time/story?id=13166519
I’m just proud I’m not like most parents here in the SCV. Paranoid and drunk on horrible margaritas.
I think you’re painting with an awfully broad brush, Tim. While I would agree that SCV has its fair share of annoyingly over protective and neurotic parents who live through their children, not all parents seeking alternatives for their children can be lumped into that category. Most parents want their kids to do well academically and be accepted socially and some of them are willing to step in and do what they can to change things for the better when things go awry with teachers or administrators. God bless them for caring and being willing to advocate for their children.
What is more, if parents wish to opt out of special education at a regular public school and pursue an alternative experience at a charter school, that may in fact save the taxpayers money. Whether the child will ultimately benefit from the experience in terms of worldly success …. well that remains to be seen and probably depends on the individual.
As to the Korean kids beating our butts in math, Asian cultures have an incredible capacity for self discipline and hard work, and there is much that is good about that; however, such nose-to-the-grindstone, blindly obedient behavior is not without corresponding shortcomings. How many major inventions or innovations can be credited to Korean, Chinese or Japanese inventors? And what of the suicide rates amongst Asians and Asian Americans? Here are a couple of articles that may make you reconsider your admiration for that model:
http://calstate.fullerton.edu/spotlight/2010/Eliza-noh-studies-suicide.asp
http://hardboiled.berkeley.edu/archived-issues/issue-12-6/the-asian-suicide-phenomenon/
Our school system is not based on any Asian model, though there is a rise in popularity of some Asian math programs. Our educational system is based on the Prussian model of the early 1880′s, which was purposefully developed to promote nationalism, to teach a common language, to train young men for the military, and, according to Johann Fichte, a key influence on the system, “the schools must fashion the person, and fashion him in such a way that he simply cannot will otherwise than what you wish him to will.”
I didn’t say our system was based on an Asian model.
Right. I misread. That is what I get for posting late at night. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Some interesting differences between education in our country and education in the countries that are performing better than we are:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/us/july-dec10/education_12-10.html
Way back in the day, as soon as my son turned 16 he took the California High School Proficiency Exam, and when Fall rolled around he enrolled at College of the Canyons. For weeks after high school started, we kept getting phone calls from the Principal of his Hart District high school “demanding” that my son and I show up at the high school and sign documents so the Hart District would still get cash for my son on the “headcount” day. I talked to the counselor at COC and they said it was simply the Hart District trying to shake the state down for money they didn’t earn or deserve. So I told the Principal to shove it, I wasn’t taking time off from work, nor was my son taking time off from COC to line his pockets. Funny, when my son went to a Hart District high school it was clear they didn’t damn about him. It was only after he left that they appreciated the cash they generated for him.
In my humble opinion, that’s why there is so much opposition to Charter Schools, and why the accrediting of Charter Schools must be taken away from local school districts.
Petz finds Tim Myers comments needlessly acerbic towards Charter parents, he should read Win by Frank Luntz to improve his communication skills. Imagine this , Petz is also in agreement with Lori Rivas and Readermama about charters providing alternatives for parents and students. While not a charter, Academy of the Canyons provided a great alternative for my eldest son who reallly did not enjoy the high school personal drama scene and was remarkably mature and responsible at a young and tender age.
While not commented on, the charters also provide employment for teachers who really want to teach and feel constrained in the typical classroom environment.
Now let’s get to work. That’s what Petz says on the eve of the Super Moon tonight.
Petz had a sleepless night over Americans being led by the French and the Arab League into Libya. Madder than hell at all those who criticized Bush and remain silent while Obama puts American lives at risk to protect French and Italian oil interests, and gets on Air Force One to travel to Brazil to look for oil. This president is the worst since James Earl Carter and the silence of the progressives on this board is disappointing.
Sleepless night? Time to turn the computer OFF for a few weeks.
Why are we involved? I think he is just trying to get oil. Can labia do any harm to the US?? Why even bother with them
An article from yesterday’s USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-03-18-schooltesting18_ST_N.htm
“Chinese educators, historically trained to deliver a top-down education that relied heavily on standardized testing and rote memorization, now focus almost obsessively on two things: creativity and innovation.”
Uh-oh…I think we gots it backwards here…
All I have to say is that Charter does not necessarily = better education. Be careful as you quickly remove your child from our public schools in SCV, which are great schools by the way, and throw them in a new charter with no history of success or failure. Ask many, many questions and always audit classes – this will tell you much.
Many families that quickly jumped on the charter bandwagon were back at their home public school within 6 months completely disenchanted. Most had to be tutored in order to catch up in Math and more. There are some great charter schools out there, but there are far more charters out there that think they = easy money. Just saying – do your homework.
Or maybe “good enough” really isn’t, is it? Why is it wrong to want something better for our kids? BTW, your reasons for why parents would want to send their kids to a charter school are exactly how I would describe most of the people who are afraid of them. Lmao!
So, it’s been over a week- but SCVi just posted this on YouTube. It explains why my kids are there, and why choice in education is important. And why Tim Meyers doesn’t fully understand what he is talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efll3jcMtAQ
Are your kids their because they like hats?
Some comments:
1. Nice to see they are not wasting money on high production value videos. I expected Rebecca Black to jump out at any second! (“It’s Friday, Friday,………)
2. What’s with all the hats?
3. I had hoped the helmet hairdo had died with Nancy Grace, but I guess not.
1. parents volunteered and did the video
2. I know, right? Kids allowed to wear hats at school!
3. helmet hair- just another example of being a leader, not a follower.
sorry I spelled you name wrong.