Is Everybody Crazy, or Is it Just Me?

A wife and mother who finds that life is just strange so often!

Saturday, December 16, 2006

No Child Left Behind?


One legacy of our 'illustrious' President is the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program. No Child Left Behind my Ass! We as a country routinely leave our children behind. Our test scores on a whole are lower than other industrialized countries. We are one of the only nations in the world that uses the death penalty on children. We have huge numbers of adults who prey on our children. Our social service departments seem to leave children in abusive situations constantly. Many of our schools are crumbling and overcrowded. Our children are using textbooks that are over a decade old. Our children can't even count on their parents to keep them safe. We left our children behind a long time ago.

I know that there are lots of problems that can't be fixed easily, but education is not one of them. Step one: pay teachers what they are worth! So many people complain about the quality of teachers. One of the main reasons that there are not enough high quality teachers is the pay. Many teachers leave during their first five years because they need to take jobs that have better pay. Teachers are college educated (often with graduate degrees as well) professional employees. Yet there are administrative assistants who make more money than teachers. Many teachers have worked for over 10 years and still are not making $50,000 per year. I know that seems like a lot of money, but shouldn't your teacher make more than your mechanic?

Step two: revamp the tenure system. As a teacher, I am sure that many people are going to think that I am a traitor, but tenure is a broken system. There are too many bad teachers who have jobs only because they have tenure. I don't think we should get rid of tenure, but we do need to fix it. Tenure is important because some of us have to teach things that are controversial and tenure protects us from ignorant members of the community. Teachers are required to teach things like evolution, world religions, slavery, politics, and other hotbutton issues. Tenure insures that they can teach without the community forcing agendas down their throats. Also, because administration changes frequently in schools, tenure insures that teachers can retain their jobs even when they have a new principal every couple of years. The bad side of tenure is that it makes it too difficult to fire bad teachers. Everyone needs to be accountable in their jobs. Tenure makes it very difficult to fire bad teachers. There are many steps that have to be followed before a bad teacher is let go. We need to simplify these steps and make sure that bad teachers are fired!

Step three: student accountability. Why is it always the teacher's fault? We need to hold students accountable for their actions. If you don't do your work and don't study, you fail. No more 'social promotions.' Maybe if a kid is the only 16 year old in the 7th grade he will realize that he needs to get his act together or go to trade school.

Step four: update our schools. Build new schools, buy new books, put computers at every desk, build amazing libraries. Do whatever it takes. If we spent even 1/2 of the money that we are spending in Iraq on our schools, we could have the most high tech schools in the world. We continually spend on everything but education! In many states, school budgets are the only budget that the people can vote for or against. Many vote against increases because it is the only say they have regarding their taxes. Let us vote on salaries for all public employees, including congressmen, and I bet you would see a change! Our government wastes money on a regular basis, but our children have to attend overcrowded classes in schools that are falling down around them.

Step five: reduce class size! Any administrator will tell you that there is no direct link between class size and test scores. Any teacher will tell you that there is a direct link between class size and quality of education. Education must be measured by more than test scores!

Step six: teach kids to think, not how to test. Thanks to NCLB, teachers spend the bulk of their time teaching tests instead of content. We need to teach children skills and critical thinking, not just test answers. NCLB is based completely on testing. As a result, children are passing without the knowledge and skills that they need. I recently did a non-traditional reading assessment on a 6th grade student. He is only reading at a 2nd grade level! This must be stopped.

The only way to ensure our children's future is to fix our education system.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Three Weeks and Counting!


Some of you may be aware that my family leaves for Walt Disney World (WDW) in just three weeks. My 6 year old son and I are the most excited about the trip. My 12 year old is excited, but not nearly as much as we are. The baby has no clue, of course, but I have been showing him tons of disney videos to get him used to the characters. My husband is looking forward to the trip but he doesn't get how much planning and work go into a great Disney vacation. In fact, he has been spending quite a bit of time mocking the amount of energy I am devoting to planning this trip. Am I going a bit overboard? Probably. I am a bit Type A so I tend to overdo this kind of stuff. But, by putting in the time and energy planning and researching now, I am going to be able to relax and enjoy the trip.

That having been said, I found the most amazing website for planning a trip to WDW. Tour Guide Mike has done so much of the hard work for you. He has been the tour guide to Disney VIP's for 10 years now and he has soooooo many trip tips and ideas that most people don't know. He does charge a fee of $21.95 to access the site for your trip but it is totally worth it! There is so much info on the site that you could spend days reading it all. He also has lots of things to print out and use. I have learned so much from his site and I have been to Disney a few times before. I really feel like I have been able to plan everything much better this time thanks to TGM and all his great tips. If anyone is planning a trip to WDW I highly recommend his site!

I am almost done with our itinerary and park plans. All that is left to do is to create the packing lists and get all our stuff together. With Chanukah starting on Friday and then Christmas right after that, I think the next three weeks will fly by. I don't know how often I will be able to post, it depends on how crazy life gets between now and then, but I will try to keep you updated on all of the fun. Of course I will post some great pics when we get home.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

It is a Sick, Sick World


Could someone please explain what the hell kind of person could MICROWAVE THEIR BABY!!!!! I was lucky enough to miss this story when it first appeared. I wouldn't have even known about it if my hubby hadn't brought it to my attention. I can not understand mothers who hurt their children. Another sicko decided to DROWN HER CHILDREN because they were coming between her and her boyfriend. What the hell is wrong with these people?

I have three beautiful boys. I love them more than life itself. There are times when they drive me completely insane. There are times when I want to get in the car and just keep on driving. But never, no matter how bad they are, have I ever wanted to harm them in any way. Even on the few occasions where I have had to issue a spanking, I am the one who felt the worst when it was over.

When I was pregnant with my oldest boy (I can't believe he is 12 already!) I was not really ready to become a mother. I took good care of myself and I went to the doctor regularly, but I didn't feel any major connection to the little lump in my belly. The minute I had him my whole world changed. I never understood the words 'love at first sight' until I saw that baby. In that moment my entire world changed. The focus was no longer on me and my needs. Everything was about that baby.

Things have not changed with my other two boys. They are my world. They are my life. I would step in front of bus if it would spare them a moment of pain. So, could someone explain how a parent could harm her own children? Especially a helpless little baby. What kind of monster could microwave her baby? This isn't some overwraught mother with a colicky baby who lost it for a minute and shook the baby (horrible, but somewhat understandable to any parent who has ever had a baby that wouldn't stop crying). This is premeditated, thought out, evil. There is no punishment severe enough for this woman. To just lock her up is not good enough. The death penalty is too easy unless they microwave her. Maybe she should be locked in a tiny box and forced to listen to the sounds of a baby crying for the rest of her life and each day someone who would love a baby but can't have one gets to punch her in the face. Maybe that is a strong enough punishment, maybe.