back | next
94>> what's wrong with tucker
93>> Book called duh, web version is up, but buy the book
92>> Local control or uniform buzzwords?
91>> Marc Tucker demonized
90>> reading program study from CA
89>> Middle school as weak link?
88>> STW for the gifted???
87>> Oregon tests not proven to be valid
86>> McNeil hour
85>> Return to Lindbergh High School
84>> yeah school is tough now.
83>> where's the obachine picture?
82>> cyberschool for homeschoolers
81>> Any Rand talk show
80>> tv stations
79>> middle school report
78>> unions on the task force
77>> letter to gov locke
76>> ed reform
75>> anti-affirmative action misleading?
74>> suburbs vs. minority reading
73>> bilingual arguments
72>> re school reading quotas
71>> everything I've been taught is obsolete?
70>> Malkin and ME on local TV
68>> Only half ready to read by grade 2
67>> Grammar packets
66>> Kilpatrick on Wash Times
65>> Chicago - law says promotion must be based on performance
64>> tests bad for minorities
63>> definition of affirmative action is NO preferences
62>> we need ed reform
61>> New standards
60>> affirmative action
59>> half of prof believe affirm act is NOT preferential
58>> I hear the stanford is a good test
57>> DC diversity panel quits
56>> don't teach kids to read in english
55>> more on wenatchee
54>> Seattle Stanford pushover, Issaquah
53>> Ooops, caught wrong type of reformer
52>> Study advocates phonics, but with whole language, inventive spelling
51>> writing test
50>> Chicago math parent complains
49>> Kansas city problem
48>> Superintendent race wars
47>> Naked Emporer meetings
46>> ed deform as Edsel
45>> phonics needed and spelling too
44>> ed deform
43>> not everyone needs phonics?
42>> WA senator
41>> grammar packets
40>> WA is beyond hope
39>> boeing and oher companies
38>> right wing kook
37>> more articles
36>> another person who hates wa tests
35>> bye all
34>> dropout rates
33>> setting standards in USAF
32>> STW spies
31>> buck passing on bad math teacher
30>> colorado tests
29>> washington times
38>> generation gap
37>> more smart people
36>> information systems
35>> stw gives 2 hr academic day
34>> matloff on who is chinese
33>> wierd sex ed
32>> soya on matloff
31>> ed edge is a lower
30>> promotion and retention are wrong
29>> STW follows CIM
28>> texas and CA standards
27>> chiang on TIMSS
26>> Matloff on TIMSS
25>> more questions on STW
24>> sorry
23>> matloff on kwan
22>> STW spy
21>> not just conservatives
20>> San diego has lots of high tech jobs
19>> esteem has new book
18>> STW required for CIM?
17>> review of NTCM standards by Am math society
16>> GED not exempt from education reform
15>> thanks arthur anti-stw
14>> STW CIM
13>> Matloff vs. french immigrants
12>> TIMSS is not higher order thinking?
11> what's ed deform
10>> Don't read to kids, teach them phonics!
9>> japanese do more than rote, more centralized gov schools
8>> letters about stw
6>> TIMSS plea for education reform
5>> charter schools shot down in WA
4>> Gary Lock responds to charter schools
3>> Kumon to immunize against everydaymath
2>> mother ticked off about truth of STW
1>> Spady and charter schools in WA
1>>
Date sent: Mon, 02 Mar 1998 08:33:43 -0500
To: joaneb001@aol.com
From: "Roxanne Sitler" (by way of Fred Battey )
Subject: CHARTER RALLY-Who is Jim Spady?
To All:
More news from Mr. Jim Spady who is now calling for a Rally and for
attendees to bring an American flag and rally much needed votes for Senator
West's Ways & Means Committee. Mr. Jim Spady, a key advocate here in the
state, who interestingly enough took part with his father, Mr. Jim Spady,
Sr. (recipient of the World Futurist Award) in developing what they call
the Fast Forum Technique. Spady, Sr. had a bill introduced into the
Washington state legislature called the Citizen Counselor bill which would
have turned representative government into an electronic form of
participatory democracy - this bill had appointed "citizen counselors"
which would use the Fast Forum Technique to do a kind of consensus process
based on polling of citizens on issues. We are told that Mr. Spady's main
motive in pushing the charter bill is to give parents choice in education.
Based on his involvement with developing a model of participatory
democracy, one has to wonder if the he may be realizing some of his ideals
of governance through his support of charter schools. The following call
for a rally on our capitol steps and the bringing of the American flag
leaves me cold.
Roxanne
> Subject: Charter Rally
> Date: Saturday, February 28, 1998 2:37 PM
>
> ================
>
> AN URGENT MESSAGE TO WA CHARTER SUPPORTERS:
>
> PLEASE JOIN Fawn and me and other charter school supporters at the
> Capitol on Monday to "show the flag" (literally) in support of the
> bi-partisan charter school bill (SB-7901).
**Roxanne comment: Support of what - at this moment SB7901 is a Title Only
bill with no language - only an intent section**
>
> We will be meeting in the capitol rotunda (directly under the dome) at
> 11:00 am on Monday, 3/2/98.
>
> From there, we will go to see Key Democratic Senators to beg them to
> support the Governor and vote for SB-7901, both in committee and on the
> floor of the Senate.
>
> We will also try to get a meeting with the Governor to thank him for his
> continuing efforts to get the handful of votes from Senate Democrats
> needed to pass the bi-partisan bill.
>
> As reported in the Friday, 2/27/98 Tacoma News Tribune: "This charter
> school bill is very important to the governor. . . . Locke told several
> legislators that the bill is now his No.1 education priority of the
> session." The same article quoted Senate Ways & Means Chairman Jim West
> as saying: "I only need one Democrat vote" to send the bill toward the
> Senate floor for an up-or-down vote.
> (A copy of the 2/27/98 TNT article is at the very end of this e-mail)
>
> WE ARE VERY, VERY CLOSE TO GETTING A BILL PASSED! Please come to Olympia
> on Monday and help us find the ONE vote we need in Senate Ways & Means!
>
> Afterwards, charter supporters are encouraged to visit their individual
> Senators and representatives and encourage them to "show the flag" in
> support of charter schools.
>
> PLEASE BRING ** AN AMERICAN FLAG ** WITH YOU TO THE CAPITOL,IF YOU CAN.
> If you don't have time to get a flag, that's OK, there will probably be
> some extra flags at the rally that you can borrow.
>
> We want the AMERICAN FLAG and the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE to be the
> symbol of our struggle for charter schools in Washington.
>
> The AMERICAN FLAG, after all, stands for LIBERTY!
>
> And what are charter schools, but a DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE by
> teachers and parents from the current one-size-fits-all, top-down,
> monopoly approach to public education?
>
> Whether or not you can join us in Olympia, please keep those phone calls
> and e-mails coming in to Senate Democrats, particularly those on the Ways
> & Means Committee. The toll free 800 number is 1-800-562-6000, which is
> available from 8 am to 8 pm Monday through Saturday (closed Sunday).
>
> Phone numbers and e-mail addresses for specific Senators are shown below.
>
> A list of the "five most common objections" raised by Senate Democrats to
> voting for the bipartisan charter school bill in Ways & Means, and
> suggested responses, follows the list of key Senate Democrats. At the
> very end is yesterday's Tacoma News Tribune article.
>
> HOPE TO SEE YOU IN OLYMPIA ON MONDAY! Thank you for all you do!
>
> Jim Spady, Saturday, 2/28/98 (2:30 PM)
>
>
> CONTACT INFO FOR SENATE DEMOCRATS ON THE WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE
>
> (listed in order from those most likely to support the bipartisan bill to
> least likely)
>
> Senator Lisa BROWN (D-3) 360/786-7604 brown_li@leg.wa.gov (Spokane)
> Senator Betti SHELDON (D-23) 360/786-7644 sheldon_be@leg.wa.gov
> (Bremerton)
>
> Both Senators Brown and Sheldon have previously indicated that they would
> vote for a bi-partisan charter school bill supported by Governor Locke,
> but are now waffling due to strong WEA pressure. Both the
> Spokesman-Review and the Bremerton Sun support the bi-partisan charter
> bill. Senator Brown twice voted for charter school bills when she was in
> the House.
>
> KOHL, Jeanne (D-36) 360/786-7670 kohl_je@leg.wa.gov (NW Seattle)
>
> Senator Kohl does not like to oppose the Governor, but is getting A LOT
> of pressure from the WEA. She needs to hear from you! Remind her that
> the Seattle Times, in a Friday (2/27/98) Editorial, said: "Lawmakers
> this session have not demonstrated great skill in crafting
> legislation through bipartisan compromise. If Senate Democrats stop
> stalling long enough to support the bill, this will be an important
> exception."
>
> THIBAUDEAU, Pat (D-43) 360/786-7628 thibaude_pa@leg.wa.gov (Seattle)
>
> Thibaduau, like Kohl, is liberal, but should be sensitive to the Seattle
> Times editorial.
>
> SPANEL, Harriet (D-40) (rural) PH:360/786-7678; (Ranking W&M Dem)
> spanel_ha@leg.wa.gov (rural NW)
>
> Spanel is from the same legislative district (the 40th) as Rep. Dave
> Quall -- the Democratic Rep. who has sponsored or co-sponsored every
> charter school bill ever introduced in WA, including the original 1994
> bill. Spanel is much more liberal than her district and might be
> persuaded to vote for the compromise bill as a personal favor to Rep.
> Quall.
>
> BAUER, Albert (D-49) 360/786-7696 bauer_al@leg.wa.gov (Vancouver)
> FRASER, Karen (D-22) 360/786-7642 fraser_ka@leg.wa.gov (Olympia)
>
> Bauer and Fraser are long-shots, but might be persuaded to support
> Governor Locke, who is, after all, the leader of the Democratic Party in
> WA. Constituent calls/e-mails would, as usual, be most persuasive.
>
> The following Democrats are unlikely to vote for any charter bill, no
> matter how weak:
>
> SNYDER, Sid (D-19) 360/786-7636 (Senate Minority Leader) (NO E-MAIL)
> (rural SW)
>
> LOVELAND, Valoria (D-16) 360/786-7630 (NO E-MAIL) (Walla Walla)
>
>
> THE FIVE MOST COMMON OBJECTIONS RAISED BY SENATE D's (and suggested
> responses)
>
> OBJECTION-1: THE REPUBLICANS ARE THE MAJORITY PARTY IN THE SENATE, SO IF
> THE CHARTER BILL DIES, ITS THEIR FAULT, NOT THE FAULT OF SENATE
DEMOCRATS.
>
> ANSWER-1. If the BI-PARTISAN charter school bill dies, Senate Democrats
> must accept the responsibility. The Tacoma News Tribune's article on
> 2/27/98 quotes Ways and Means Chairman Jim West saying he needs only 1
> Democrat to say he/she will vote for SB-7901 and West will call for a
> vote and vote it out of committee. In other words, West is saying that
> 10 out of 12 Republican Senators are ready to vote for the bill while
> ZERO out of 9 Democrats are ready to vote for the bill. To say that
> Republicans are to blame when only 2 Republicans are opposed while 9
> Democrats are opposed defies common sense. Indeed, because any ONE
> Senate Democrat could provide the margin of victory, EVERY Democrat on
> Senate Ways & Means must accept PERSONAL responsibility for killing the
> bi-partisan bill if he/she continue to withhold his/her support.
>
>
> OBJECTION-2: FAR-RIGHT REPUBLICANS (LIKE SENATORS ZARELLI & HOCHSTATTER)
> ARE THE ONES TO BLAME FOR BLOCKING THE CHARTER BILL, NOT "MAINSTREAM"
> SENATE DEMOCRATS.
>
> ANSWER-2. This is a variation on the first argument. It is ridiculous
> to expect the Republicans to provide unanimous support for the
> bi-partisan bill when the bill includes, at Governor Locke's insistence,
> 100% compliance with the 1993 Education Reform Act (HB-1209). Everyone
> knows that there are a handful of far-right Republicans (such as Zarelli
> and Hochstatter) who are passionately opposed to the HB-1209 standards
> and assessments. There is thus no way that a bill, such as SB-7901, that
> incorporates the HB-1209 standards, could ever get unanimous Republican
> support. Again, SB-7901 is a BI-PARTISAN charter school bill that can
> only become law if has BI-PARTISAN support in the Senate. SB-7901 is
> supported by the Governor, the SPI, the majority of House Democrats,the
> majority of House Republicans, and the majority of Senate Republicans.
> But even with all that support, it cannot become law unless at least ONE
> Senate Democrat on the Ways & Means Committee will vote for it.
>
>
> OBJECTION-3: THERE HAS NOT BEEN A PUBLIC HEARING ON SB-7901.
>
> ANSWER-3. While it is true that there has not been a public hearing on
> SB-7901, the Senate Education Committee has held hearings on charter
> schools during each of the last four sessions (1995, 1996, 1997 and
> 1998). Everyone knows that the four of the seven members on the Senate
> Education Committee are either far-right (Hochstatter and Zarelli) or
> far-left (McAuliffe and Goings). If a Senator makes this argument, ask
> the Senator whether he or she would vote for the Governor's bi-partisan
> charter bill IF Chairman West agreed to hold a hearing on it in Ways &
> Means. Although this would be unusual, the Legislature often makes
> procedural exceptions for important bills. For example, the 1997
> Legislature made a number of exceptions to ordinary procedures when it
> passed the Seahawk Stadium Bill. Certainly better public schools for our
> children should have at least as much importance.
>
>
> OBJECTION-4: SB-7901 SHOULD BE SENT BACK TO THE SENATE EDUCATION
> COMMITTEE.
>
> ANSWER-4. Given Hochstatter & Zarelli's opposition to any charter bill
> that includes the HB-1209 standards and assessments, any suggestion to
> "send the bill back to the Senate Education Committee" is nothing less
> than a death sentence. Can't we find a more creative solution than that?
>
>
> OBJECTION-5. THE CURRENT VERSION OF SB-7901 ONLY HAS AN "INTENT" CLAUSE.
> VOTING FOR AN "INTENT" BILL IS LIKE GIVING YOUR CREDIT CARD TO A THIEF.
>
> ANSWER-5. The credit card analogy doesn't hold water. SB-7901 will
> never pass the floor without the support of at least 5 Democratic
> Senators (again, because of the guaranteed opposition of far-right
> Republicans to any charter bill which includes the HB-1209 standards and
> assessments).
>
> A better analogy: Voting for SB-7901 in Ways & Means is more like
> throwing a life line to a drowning child than "giving your credit card to
> a thief." 29 states already have charter school laws, and almost 200,000
> students already attend over 750 charter schools across America. The
> evidence from those states is charter schools are a lifeline for kids who
> are struggling in conventional public schools, many of whom will drown in
> educational mediocrity unless Senate Democrats will "give charters a
> chance" in WA.
>
> Passing SB-7901 out of Ways & Means doesn't pass the bill out of the
> Senate, it just KEEPS HOPE ALIVE for charter schools and allows the bill
> to go the floor of the Senate.
>
> Everyone knows that once the bill reaches the floor, the Governor's
> bipartisan bill will be substituted for the "intent-only" language BEFORE
> the final vote.
>
> Voting for SB-7901 is thus nothing like "giving your credit card to a
> thief." But there is no doubt that Senate Democrats who refuse to vote
> for SB-7901 are "slapping the Governor in the face" since the Governor
> says that passing the bipartisan charter school bill is now his "No. 1
> education priority" of this legislative session (again quoting the
> 2/27/98 TNT article).
>
>
> OBJECTION-6. REPUBLICAN WAYS & MEANS CHAIRMAN JIM WEST DIDN'T EVEN
> INCLUDE ANY MONEY FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS IN HIS PROPOSED BUDGET.
>
> ANSWER-6. The lack of funds for charter schools in West's proposed
> budget is another red herring. West didn't include any money in his
> budget for charter schools because the charter school negotiations had
> dragged on so long, with so little progress, that he didn't think the
> negotiators would reach an agreement. Now that an agreement has been
> reached, West has promised to put money back into the budget for charter
> schools as soon as the the Governor can find ONE Senate Democrat on Ways
> & Means who will vote for the bipartisan bill.
>
>
> YOU NOW HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO PERSUADE SENATE DEMOCRATS TO
> VOTE FOR THE BI-PARTISAN BILL. MAKE THOSE CALLS. SEND THOSE E-MAILS.
> NETWORK WITH YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CO-WORKERS. GET THEM TO MAKE CALLS
> AND SEND E-MAILS. WE CAN DO THIS!
>
> Thank you.
>
> Hope to see you on Monday!
>
>
> Tacoma News Tribune, Friday, 2/27/98, p. B-5
>
> HEADLINE: Democrats bottle up legislation that would allow charter
> schools
>
> subheadline: Teachers union position depends on who's talking; Locke
> lobbies for bill
>
> By Peter Callaghan.
>
> OLYMPIA - What's the Washington Education Association's position on a new
> charter school bill?
>
> It depends on who in the big teachers union you ask.
>
> And when.
>
> A negotiated agreement between Democratic Gov. Gary Locke and a
> bi-partisan group of legislators has moved the issue further than it's
> been in five years.
>
> If approved, Senate Bill 7901 would make Washington the 30th state to
> permit independent public schools -- paid for by tax dollars but
> independent of local school boards.
>
> But resistance from Senate Democrats and the teachers union slowed its
> progress Thursday.
>
> A scheduled vote in the Senate Ways and Means Committee was put off
> Thursday when Locke couldn't recruit a single Democratic vote.
>
> "It sounds like we have some work to do," said the governor's spokeswoman
> Marylou Flynn.
>
> The split response from union officials Thursday was further evidence of
> that.
>
> "We're not lobbying for it, but we do support it," said Trevor Neilson,
> spokesman for the union. He said concerns over several sections of the
> agreement were resolved -- one with an additional sentence in the bill.
>
> "We've been assured by the governor that concerns we had (Wednesday) have
> been met," Neilson said.
>
> But Democratic lawmakers told of the WEA's endorsement of SB-7901 were
> surprised. They'd heard differently from the union's lobbyists.
>
> "There are several concerns with the bill as we've seen it," said Judy
> Hartmann of the union. She listed several complaints, including how the
> bill treats union bargaining for charter school teachers. But the
> primary concern was more philosophical and probably irresolvable.
>
> "Since we haven't properly funded public education to begin with, we
> wonder why the state would create a new program," Hartmann said. "This
> doesn't do anything to assist kids currently in public schools."
>
> Locke signed off on the negotiated agreement Thursday, though he had yet
> to send a letter to legislative bargainers as they requested.
>
> The deal allows school boards to approve or disapprove charter schools
> charter school applications but requires them to act reasonably and in
> good faith. If approved, the school would receive state per-student
> funding and could receive local levy money.
>
> The bill allows the creation of 20 schools per year statewide for four
> years. Existing schools can convert to charter schools if a majority of
> teachers and parents support such a move and the local school board
> approves. No religious influence would be permitted.
>
> Applicants -- only public benefit nonprofit corporations -- also could
> seek sponsorship from one of the six state colleges or universities.
> However, such schools couldn't receive local levy money.
>
> The schools would have to meet the requirements of the state's school
> reform law of 1993 -- a move that has caused many conservative
> Republicans to oppose the charter bill.
>
> That's why Locke must recruit Democrats.
>
> "This charter school bill is very important to the governor," Flynn said.
> "He's working this bill. He'd like to see it passed."
>
> Locke told several legislators that the bill is now his No. 1 education
> priority of the session. he said he would consider a yes vote a personal
> favor.
>
> But Locke's lobbying -- done mostly on the telephone -- wasn't getting
> Democratic support.
>
> "If I brought it to a vote today it would fail," said Senate Ways and
> Means Committee Chairman James West (R-Spokane). "The governor hasn't
> done his job. I only need one Democrat vote."
>
> Senate Democratic Leader Sid Snyder (D-Long Beach) said he opposed the
> bill and wasn't responsive to Locke's lobbying. Snyder said charter
> schools were rejected overwhelmingly by voters in 1996, and he sees no
> reason to override that vote.
>
> "I haven't been guaranteed that students remaining in public schools
> won't be harmed," Snyder said. But there is no Senate Democratic policy
> to oppose the bill.
>
> The key lawmaker may be Spokane Democrat Lisa Brown. She voted for a
> charter school bill twice while in the House. She doesn't object to
> charter schools philosophically.
>
> Thursday, however, Brown said the issue is connected to broader concerns
> about the Democrats' role in the legislative process and the overall
> funding for education.
>
> "I voted for them in the past," she said. "But it makes sense to
> consider it in the context of what else we're doing -- and not doing --
> in the area of education.
>
> "The governor made it clear he was very interested in getting it out of
> committee," Brown said.
>
> Her response?
>
> "I guess I don't know yet," she said.
>
> -- end of article --
>
>
>
> ----
> Jim Spady
> Seattle, Washington
> JimSpady@aol.com
> phone: 206/634-0589
> fax: 206/633-3561
>
>
2>>
Date sent: Mon, 02 Mar 1998 08:31:19 -0500
To: joaneb001@aol.com
From: EGoldis111 (by way of Fred Battey )
Subject: New Member Bio - Ellen Goldis
Thanks for adding me to the loop. I just found out about school-to-work from
Shelly (Mrs Horn) last week and have been glued to the internet ever since. I
began fighting OBE and our town's efforts to implement block scheduling last
winter. We had a ten-week trial of block this past fall and are now in our
"evaluation" phase. We live in an university town and many of our parents are
professors and not easily snowed. We knew no sane person could honestly
believe that OBE, Mathland, Whole Language and OBE are academically valid
methods. But we couldn't find an explaination why they were dumbing down. It
made no sense until, prompted by a message by Shelly on an aol teachers lounge
bb, I asked our superintendent during a school committee meeting about school-
to-work. He totally freaked. I waited two months for his answer that never
came and then e-mailed Shelly.
Now I know that RI is one year into stw implementation. I confronted our
superintendent with all my new info, and he gave me two booklets from our
state dept. of ed confirming the move. One was dated 1992!
I also happen to be in the beginning of an ACLU suit to retrieve a"health"
assessment my daughter took last spring in grade 8. It was one of those OBE
what-would-you-do essay tests that made her confide her attitudes about
controversial issues (e.g. sex, drugs, parental authority, the ENVIRONMENT of
course -- what is it with their stupid environment!). If I'm not able to
retrieve this test (from what I've been reading, I don't think I will be able
to), it should send up a lot of red flags around here. The lawyer is sending
out a press release this week. Wish me luck with the media!
Thanks for including me.
Ellen Goldis
3>>
Date sent: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 13:01:14 EST
Send reply to: core-net@TUCC6.TUCC.Trinity.Edu
From: RSmith1110
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Re: Got any U of Chicago Math Results?
Originally to: core-net@TUCC6.TUCC.Trinity.Edu
The publisher rep for Everyday Learning (UCSMP) is coming to our school on
3/16 for PTA meeting to discuss math series. He mentioned in our phone
conversation that the company was coming out with supplemental computation
material next year. (More copying expense). To cover all bases since my kids
(at least for the time being) are in public schools, I have them both enrolled
in Kumon.
4>>
Date sent: Mon, 02 Mar 1998 22:57:58 -0800
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
From: James Burts
Subject: Letter I received from Gov Locke charters
Dear Ed loop and Arthur Hu
I called Gov Locke's office about the Charters and told him that I was
against charters and why and told him that the people already voted down
Charters in this state. This is what he wrote back.
Dear Julanne
Thank you for contacting me concerning my budget proposal for charter
schools. I appreciate that you share my interest in making Washington
schools the best in the nation. {I told him I'am against charters.}
I have proposed $1.38 million to support the bipartisan effort to establish
charter schools within the public school system. My proposal would ensure
that funds could not be taken from state education funds for privately run
schools. This is a different concept from the previously failed initiative
for charter schools. Funding is provided in my proposal because it is
expected that charter schools will attract some students currently enrolled
in private schools as well as those being home schooled.
This plan will provide an opportunity for innovative programs and
additional choices for students within the public school system.
Decisions regarding the charter schools would be made by existing local
boards with limited appeals to the Superintendent of Public Instruction
{SPI] These schools would be required to meet the new state learning
standards and achievement requirements being implemented for all public
schools, but would be exempt from many state statutes and rules. I expect
charter schools to provide examples of both innovation and deregulation.
Thank you again for expressing your concerns about education in our state.
Sincerely
Gary Locke
Gov
What do you think folks key words to bring back in private and home schools
into the system again they might get some back but not all. Terri Berguson
also said this as well. They are hoping to get us back into the system one
way or the other. It worries me that the republicans in Congress will jump
on the band wagon of charters and vouchers. Any suggestions on what I
should write back to him? Also I commend Senator Joe Zarelli and
Hockstatter for fighting this one given that republicans are for charters.
Hopefully we can educate them on this issue and we need to put pressure on
to fight OBE in this state.
Also thank everyone that has been involved in this issue and that have done
lots of work especially to Roxanne.
Julanne Burts
5>>
From: JimSpady
Date sent: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 21:52:08 EST
Subject: kclp: WA CHARTER UPDATE: No Bill This Year :(
To: kclp@ix.netcom.com (kclp Mailing List)
To:
To:
Send reply to: kclp@ix.netcom.com
Memo to Charter School Enthusiasts
From: Jim Spady
Date: Monday, 3/2/98; 6:30 PM
RE: NO CHARTER BILL, AGAIN, THIS YEAR.
9-0 DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION ON SENATE WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE
KILLS CHARTER BILL IN SENATE FOR 4th STRAIGHT YEAR
Dear Friends,
I'm sorry to report to you that Washington's bid, to become the 30th
state in the nation to pass a charter school law, died today in the
Senate Ways & Means Committee.
Despite the support of Democratic Governor Gary Locke, the Superintendent
of Public Instruction, the majority of House Democrats, and the majority
of House and Senate Republicans, not one of the nine Democrats on the
Senate Ways & Means Committee would vote to send the charter school bill
(SB-7901) on to the floor of the Senate for an up-or-down vote.
SB-7901 was defeated by a vote of 12-9, with 3 far-right Republicans
(Hochstatter, Zarelli, & Roach) joining with all 9 Democrats to block the
bill from reaching the Senate floor.
Although SB-7901 (an "intent-only" bill) did not contain the Governor's
agreed bipartisan compromise charter language, SB-7901 was to be the
legislative vehicle that was to receive the agreed language on the Senate
floor before final passage.
In a scene that resembled "Alice-In-Wonderland," several Senate
Democrats refused to vote for the "intent-only" bill, claiming -- with
straight faces -- that no one had given them a copy of the Governor's
proposed substitute bill, even though the Governor had been lobbying hard
for the bill, and had described passing it as his "No. 1 legislative
priority" of the session.
The last-minute hope of charter school supporters was that Seattle Public
School Superintendent John Stanford (a former Army General who last year
stated that he wanted to "convert all of Seattle's 100 schools to
charters") would join the Governor in publicly supporting the bipartisan
compromise. If he had, it probably would have been enough to turn two
Democratic Senators from Seattle (Kohl and Thibaudeau) from "no" to
"yes", which, in turn, would have turned a 12-9 defeat into a 11-10
victory. Stanford declined to ride to the rescue, reportedly saying that
he was against the charter school bill, although if it had passed, he
would have tried to convert all 100 Seattle public schools to charter
schools. Go figure.
Well that's about it. There should be a lot of articles about the vote
in tomorrow's newspapers. I'll send out excerpts as soon as I can.
Thanks to everyone for all of their hard work, with extra thanks to
everyone who came down to Olympia for today's rally.
Your efforts DID result in substantial progress this year, in that we now
have a decent charter bill that is supported by the Governor and the
majority leaders of both the House AND Senate. That progress will
definitely help next year, when the 1999 Legislature reconvenes in
January.
Until then, we can still cheer on our friends in the 29 states that have
already authorized charter schools. Knowing that almost 200,000 kids are
living the charter school dream in other states helps everyone "keep the
dream alive" in WA.
Thanks again!
Jim Spady 3/2/98 6:30 PM
----
Jim Spady
Seattle, Washington
JimSpady@aol.com
phone: 206/634-0589
fax: 206/633-3561
6>>
Date sent: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 12:25:50 -0800
To: arthurhu@mail1.halcyon.com
From: James Burts
Subject: test scores Eastside Journal
Dear Arthur Hu and ed loop
Also in todays paper opinion page our view {Test results a dismal look at
US schools.} Those of us in this area should write a response back that
tells them we are in this spot because of the ed reform in this state for
years.
It's another plea for ed reform. They say our high schools on The first
third international Mathematics and Science tests showed that they ranked
well below the world's average in standard math and among the worst in
advanced math and science.} Now for the really bad news they say is that
about 70 percent of the students thought they had done well on the
tests.{well of course they were taught to feel good about it no matter
what.} The paper says that this is because other countries go to school
longer and go to class longer than we do here. And also our graduation
requirements are less stringent here than there. Well this is setting us up
for the Certificate of Mastery folks. Then the article talks about Richard
Riley sec of education calls for higher standards and rigorous classroom
stands in math and science.This is a complete joke they have dumbed down
the standards. Then they call to action { Rather than form more blueribbon
panels to take the pulse of public schools politicians, educators and more
important parents should demand that schools should demand that schools
establish tough scholastic standards and then enforce them.} They are right
on this issue but parents don't really understand what is happening. They
are being led to believe goals 2000 and ed reform will fix the problem.Then
they quote { Our schools can get better but only if everybody gets
involved.} Involved with what? ed reform to solve our problems.
Julanne Burts
8>>
Date sent: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 12:09:52 -0800
To: arthurhu@mail1.halcyon.com
From: James Burts
Subject: Charters
Dear Ed Loop and Arthur Hu
I wrote letters to all nine Republicans that voted for the charters and
also in the todays paper Eastside Journal Page a-2 Like Roxane said the
charters did not get out of ways and means. But it states in the paper that
Dave Quall D Mount Vernon will try again next year. They are making
charters sound like home grown independent public schools.} We need to get
to the house members as well to educate them on ed reform and charters this
summer before next session. They will not quit until we have deregulated
all public schools into charters. The article did say { An unlikely
coalition of minority Democrats and conservative critics of education
reform joined forces to defeat the House passed legislation 12-9. It was
the fourth year in a row that legislation has sailed through the house only
to die in the Senate. "strange bedfellows " said the irritated house
sponsor Dave Quall D. } Also Steve Johnson is still for charters and
{stressed to the ways and means committee that this is a bipartisan support
from the house and governors office for making Washington the 30th state to
authorize the home grown independent public schools.} The bill passed the
house 72-22 last month. So folks we have our work cut out for us to educate
these people on these issues.
Julanne Burts
9>>
From: "Regnier, Paul (Burkholder)"
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com, LKFS43A@prodigy.com
Subject: RE: GREAT Ed Editorial: Wo(e)begon!
Date sent: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 08:31:40 -0500
The most important effect of such international comparisons is to force
Americans to look not only at the achievement of students in other
countries but at the education systems and instructional practices that
lead to such achievement. For one thing, education systems in other
developed countries are MORE centralized and government controlled than
in the US - usually much more. It seems illogical to bemoan the low
international ranking of US education and then call for a move in the
exact opposite direction from systems in the other countries. For
another thing, it is not just "rote memorization" that characterizes
instruction in these other countries. In Japan, for instance, you have
elementary-school classrooms in which students can spend a whole period
working on a single problem in small groups and then reporting on their
work and learning from both successes and failures. At the same time,
students are working to improve their speed and accuracy (and
automaticity) in computation, but doing this in after-school programs
(such as Kumon Mathematics) paid for by parents. It isn't just
memorization but also understanding and, in general, mastery, that
characterizes student learning in these other countries.
-----Original Message-----
From: arthurhu@halcyon.com [SMTP:arthurhu@halcyon.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 1998 11:08 AM
To: LKFS43A@prodigy.com
Subject: Re: GREAT Ed Editorial: Wo(e)begon!
This is the key - this is an anti-reform editorial:
Clinton is right. But -- as expected -- he exploits the dismal
scores
to plug an education agenda ill-suited to the task. Chester Finn
-- a
10>>
From: "mcnee"
To: "ECC"
Copies to:
Subject: Year of Reading
Date sent: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 07:44:20 -0000
President Clinton has launched "America Reads". Here, Blunkett has
designated Sept.1998-on as the Year of Reading. Clinton has said that
all we need is to roll up sleeves, sit with a child a share reading. Posts
on the net have been about books, books, books, reading. John Patten when
SoS Education said reading to/with a child for 15 minutes a day would solve
our problems. Blunkett has said the same thing, but gone one better - 20
minutes.
Shared reading has been endowed with powers it does not possess. If you
are on the way to reading, it can or may help some. But the problem is the
"tail" and these are children who CANNOT read, and their need is not
stories, but to be taught how letters work on their own and with other
letters, sh, aw,, -tion, and blending, that the bits of c-a-t can
be BLENDed to make cat. It is perhaps hard for some of us to realise what
a barrier this seemingly simple, obvious step is. Some teachers have said,
"If they cannot learn one way, teach them another way" and have moved on to
flash cards, but this may only end up with "knowing" 20 ot 50 flashcards.
In the end to be a reader you have to know how to trickle through letters
left-right to get the word.
There is a vast amount of goodwill floating around, but up to now it has
been engaged to get adults to "help" their children. This weasel word
"help". Volunteer Reading Help absorbs a lot of these good intentions and
time of the volunteers, but when volunteers are shown what to do, it
includes letting the reader guess. The standard version of Reading
Recovery includes whole words and far too little phonics. So if any of
you out there can raise questions, would you find out if your local
programme encourages or discourages guessing? Is taxmoney going into
guessing or into phonics-first? The summer schools here and and pilot
family literacy projects all tolerated guessing, yet some children are
simply not going to get going on reading until they STOP guessing.
Guessing is a cry for help, a statement that "I cannot read this word from
the letters so I have to dream up something, or try to work it out from the
picture." Guessing is from the picture, from the context, or from
first-letter-and-guess. The missing ingredient is nearly always phonics
(first).
A "mix of methods" includes guessing. The City & Guilds course I was
required to take before the Basic Skills Agency would allow me to tutor
reading was very Politically Correct, with only a brief, inadequate mention
of phonics. It was mostly about the work being "relevant".
If we are to tackle this sad tail, we must first teach children HOW to
read, - systematic phonics. Unless Clinton and Blunkett grasp this, the
failure will go on, costing us more and more. Is the Canadian premier
saying the same thing as Clinton and Blunkett? They mean well, but they
keep trusting the experts who have had the power for 20-30 years of
failure. Mona.
EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE
12>>
Education Deform is a term I've invented to negatively spin education
reform as the problem, not the cure for low academic achievment.
Reform math and reform "whole" math and reading have destroyed
math and reading test scores where they have been applied.
> From: "mcnee"
> To:
> Subject: Wenatchee
> Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 07:14:40 -0000
> Dear me. But inertia has been a key factor in preserving the neglect of
> phonics in reading, too - politicians preferring to "cover their backs" by
> going along with the "experts" rather than seeing the plain facts, or
> listening to their own common sense. Depressing - but heartening, too,
> that there still exist people who will lay their own interests on the line
> for others.
> Jargon; will you help me please, if you can? I know what the word
> REFORM means, and that "They" can spin any word to mean what they want.
> But when I saw DEFORM I first thought it was a typing error. It seems
> not. What does DEFORM mean, please and is it a straightforward word or a
> spin word?
> Thanks. Mona.
>
12>>
13>>
From: SDRAOUL
Date sent: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 04:31:21 EST
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com, pjherz@siu.edu, matloff@heather.cs.ucdavis.edu,
dchiang@juno.com, DaleWarner@aol.com, preacher@earthlink.net,
Pravdanyet@aol.com, msk@cis.org
Subject: Re: (Fwd) FWD: French Emigrate To America
Gentlemen, I suspect that Neither Norm Matloff nor his cronies in the various
anti-immigrant groups will hardly notice an influx of French men and women.
Do remember the famous Pat Buchanan/Peter Brimelow et al question: This is
paraphrased, of course, -- But who would assimilate better, a million Zulus
in Virginia or a million Englishmen?
Raoul Lowery Contreras
14>>
From: "Roxanne Sitler"
To:
Subject: Re: STW required for Washington CIM. Mandatory for all.
Date sent: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 18:09:11 -0800
Is this no STW/no CM in district literature? So far, I have not seen that
in the state language specifically, however in the report from the ad hoc
committee on the CM states that they will be looking to add "other content
area" as assessments become available and as they continue the review
process on what should make up the CM. Right now they are just whispering
about including classroom-based assessments in the CIM (fancy name for
portfolio) as a way to measure the EALR's that the State Assessment does
not cover - which when decoded simply means specific work skills, SCANS
etc. OSPI did a bar coding project and I have the 500 page print out that
contains all the bar codes - each page has about 15-20 different
competencies broken down by occupation. I predict that the classroom
portfolios is where they will scan these competencies in. Oh well, we know
all the parts of the airplane - we just don't know exactly how they are
going to put them all together...
----------
> From: arthurhu@halcyon.com
> To: Jim Keeffe
> Subject: STW required for Washington CIM. Mandatory for all.
> Date: Tuesday, March 03, 1998 8:07 AM
>
> Nice presentation, can you tell me where the page was that
> said that STW was required to get a CIM? That would be even
> more proof that it is mandatory (at least for anyone that
> wants a job or higher education...)
>
> (to cc, Jim gave a nice presentation at the first ed deform get
> together that was held in Federal way on saturday. He pointed
> out a page that says no STW, no CIM.)
>
> > Date: Sun, 01 Mar 1998 20:47:26 -0800
> > From: Jim Keeffe
> > To: dale-reed@postoffice.worldnet.att.net
> > Subject: Re: School to Work
>
> > 1. http://www.industries.net/radio-liberty/school.htm
> > "School-to-Work: A Formula for Failure" (The business mentioned in
this
> > article is Sizzlers restaurants)
> >
> > 2. http://www.fastlane.net/~eca/stwcollision.html
> > "School-to-Work: A Comming Collision" co-authored by Lynne Cheney.
Presented
> > to the Heritage Foundation 2/4/98.
> >
> > 3. http://www.fastlane.net/~eca/Terminology.html
> > "Terminology Every Parent MUST Understand" by Jeanne Donovan
> >
> > 4. http://www.basenet.net/~eagle/educate/1997/may97/holland.html
> > "What's Wrong With School-to-Work" by Robert Holland
> >
> > 5. http://eagleforum.org/educate/1996/apr96/alarmed.html
> > STW in Missouri State
> >
> > 6. http://www.fessler.com/stw.htm (read 'School-to-Work: It's the
Law!')
> >
> > 7. http://www.compuex.com/eaglecross/OBE.html
> > "School-to-Work; Goals 2000; Outcome Base Education" by Hon. Henry
Hyde
> >
> > 8. http://www.sover.net/~nbrook/Hillary.html
> > Letter to Hillary Clinton by Marc Tucker 'author' of workforce
development
> > and School-to-Work.
> >
> > 9. http://www.accessus.net/~eagle/educate/1995/sept95/ersept3.html
> > "Hillary Letter Lays Out School-to-Work Plan" by Dennis Cuddy Ph.D.
> >
> > 10. http://www.crisismagazine.com/OLDissues/apr96/iacovelli.html
> > "Hillary's Scarlet Letter" by Karen Iacovelli (Constitutional Law
Schalar)
> >
> > 11. http://www.accessus.net/~eagle/educate/1997/dec97/focus.html
> > "NCEE's Human Development Plan" by Virginia Miller
> >
> > 12. http://www.jb.com/~btennison/
> > The Tennison family of Oregon. Their son received the first
Certificate of
> > Initial Mastery in the nation. The Tennisons are leading a
national campaign
> > against School-to-Work and Goals 2000. They are also in the
process of suing
> > their school district.
> >
> > 13. http://www.home-ed-press.com/HEM/HEM141.97/141.97_clmn_tkch.html
> > "School-to-Work: Problems and Alternatives" by Larry and Susan
Kaseman in
> > Home Education Magazine.
> >
> > 14. http://www.fastlane.net/~eca/Beasley2000.html
> > "Goals 2000 and Work Force Development" by Sherry Beasley in 'Hope
for the
> > World' news letter.
> >
> > 15. http://www.athenet.net/~jlindsay/Educ1617.shtml
> > "Educational Tyranny:H1617 = Certificate of Mastery for ALL ADULTS"
> > by Katie Levans.
> >
> > 16. http://www.fessler.com/listen.htm
> > "School-to-Work - a stupid idea' by Dick Farrell, editor of 'The
Times
> > Reporter' of Ohio.
> >
> >
> > Washington State School-to-Work information:
> >
> > 1. http://www.wa.gov/wtb/
> > Washington State's 'Workforce Training and Education Coordination
Board'
> >
> > 2. http://www.wa.gov/wtb/stw-what.html
> > Washington State's "School-to-Work Transition" report
> >
> > 3. http://www.wa.gov/wtb/hshwexec.html
> > Washington State's "High Skills, High Wages" report
> >
> > 4. http://www.stw.ed.gov/ (On left side click on 'States'. Find
Washington and
> > click on 'Submit' to go to Washington State's School-to-Work
Initiative.)
> >
> >
> >
> > National School-to-Work information:
> >
> >
> > 1. http://www.stw.ed.gov/factsht/act.htm
> > Federal 'School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994' (Public Law
103-229)
> >
> > 2. http://www.stw.ed.gov
> > National School-to-Work web site
> >
> > 3. http://www.stwnews.org
> > School-to-Work news letter
> >
15>>
Date sent: Wed, 04 Mar 1998 18:16:18 -0500
To: joaneb001@aol.com
From: JSOOD (by way of Fred Battey )
Subject: Board Member's Response to STW Criticism
I wrote a memo to the Berkeley school board members last week explaining my
concerns and objections to STW. I've been an advocate of more rigorous
academics, more research-based teaching methods, etc. in the district, and a
critic of overemphasis on self-esteem, etc. so they know that is where I'm
coming from.
This is a letter of response I received this a.m. from one member, who is a
lawyer who works for the University, married to a woman also employed by the
University who does pregnancy counselling for students at a clinic . He is
pro-affirmative action, pro-bilingual ed, etc. (so you understand his
background.) I sent him some of the STW websites I got off the loop yesterday
(thanks, Arthur Hu). We live in a university city with some very well-
educated parents (most of whom are no longer in public school), as well as
many who are not and have lots of the well-known social problems; for this
reason I think STW is an easy-sell here.I know what some of my responses to
his statements are. I thought I'd send the board member's letter to you all.
If anybody is inspired to send their responses, I'd be interested in hearing
them--JSOOD@aol.com Thanks! Susan O'Donnell
"I was surprised by your "take" regarding School to Career. Your views and
concerns seem to be based on facts and assumptions that are at variance from
everything I have learned regarding school to career programs, both from the
literature and from districts that conduct active programs. They also do not
seem to accurately reflect anything that is being discussed for introduction
into Berkeley schools.
No school to career program of which I have ever been exposed is intended nor,
in my opinion is capable of, being an educational Trojan Horse leading to some
sort of socialist/collectivist nightmare where children are brainwashed and
then forced to choose a career at age 12. Likewise, none of the proposals I
have seen has been driven by the need of industry for cheap, well trained
labor.
School to career is a response to the mismatch for many students between what
they are being taught in school and their ability to envision and achieve a
satisfying career, at whatever level of achievement they are capable.
Many students find their studies at school to be irrelevant and a waste of
time because they have no way of connecting them to a future job and/or
career. These feelings start early for those who lack successful parents or
other role models. The principal force behind school to career in the teachers
and administrators I have talked to is to improve the quality and relevance of
education and to improve the access of young people to career opportunities.
The plan currently under discussion for Berkeley schools involves the
following stages:
**building career awareness at the middle grades, i.e., that there can be a
place for the student in the workforce, whether as a cook, accountant,
engineer, or whatever;
**building student self-awareness as to interests and skills
**creating an academic plan that matches the student's interests and skills;
i.e. figuring out how to choose courses, acquire skills and gain experience
while in school
and
**acquiring the education that is required to be successful.
Clearly, that process does not end at the end of high school. It can and
should go on as long as the student is willing and able to continue his or her
education.
The important point I want to make is that the school to career process is not
some Soviet-style dictate to do what the State wants, but, rather, it is
individually-based, focusses on maximizing the choices available to the
individual student.
I believe the whole approach of school to career is a fundamentally
individualistic approach to education that also promises to meet the needs of
employers better than is currently the case. This approach is neither
conservative nor liberal. Those that have seized on the phrase as a buzzword
for collectivization are, in my opinion, off base.
We must always guard against the tendency to reduce the rigor of instruction
and learning, but school to career progams do not themselves either encourage
or discourage that tendency. My experience, as a result of meeting with the
fifteen or twenty technical employers in the Berkeley Biotech program, is that
they are not at all interested in employing half-educated technicians who,
with a mistake, could destroy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of
equipment or product. They have been very interested in having students who
can reliably demonstrate real mastery of mathematics, science and
communications skills. I would love to talk to you about whether there is a
programmatic link between school to career and reduced academic standards, but
so far I have not seen one.
Thanks, as always, for your thought-provoking materials."
Mr. Board Member
16>>
Date sent: Wed, 04 Mar 1998 18:11:32 -0500
To: joaneb001@aol.com
From: icemom@flash.net (by way of Fred Battey )
Subject: GED Changes
Did everyone's paper have a copy of the canned piece by Lori Horvitz of
the Orlando Sentinel on plans to change the GED?
The gist of the piece is that the test should "mirror what the K through
12th grade systems are doing" and we all know what THAT means. As the
article says, "Content standards developed at both the state and
national levels are the basis for the proposed changes."
Why does the GED, which was a result of the Armed Forces wanting to be
able to test achievement levels of young men during WWII who had dropped
out of school, need to be changed? Big Brother's interest in this
previously over-looked instrument is that home-schooled children often
take this test as a way to gain college entrance. If these jokers can
change it so that it measures problem solving, et cetera, instead of
academic knowledge, they will have placed one more stumbling block int
the way of those who are trying to circumvent the "system."
Be aware.
Mary McGarr
Katy, TX
OFFICE MEMO AMS Report on NCTM Standards Date: 3/4/98
The American Mathematical Society committee to comment on the NCTM Standards
and possible revisions to the standards has released its first and second
reports. These are available on line at
http://www.ams.org/government/nctm2000.html
18>>
What's your email program, it does not wrap properly in my
reader - I get an infinitely long line, maybe you shold do
your own line feeds
Anyways, the page I saw that that to get an CIM you have to
have some work-shadow experience, which is the most burdensome
requirement of STW since this takes time out of class. He didn't
mention this, but it was up on one of his slides
> Priority: Normal
> To: "Arthur Hu"
> From: "Lynn M Stuter"
> Subject: STW and the CIM
> Date: Tue, 03 Mar 98 22:54:45 PST
> I don't remember Jim Keefe stating that STW was a requirement for the CIM. Such wouldn't follow the general structure of STW and the CIM. By that I mean the CIM will be obtained about the age of si> Lynn
>
>
19>>
From: bernie@binghamton.edu
Date sent: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 20:18:43 -0500 (EST)
To: loopers <73633.2665@compuserve.com>, 75717.1715@compuserve.com,
aaabrown@juno.com, abnhma@aol.com, agiacobbe@aol.com,
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alayton@icdc.com, angusalfie@msn.com, anneagle@htc.net,
anton2185@aol.com, apc@americanpolicy.org, armorgod@concentric.net,
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barb@pacifier.com, bcbnpne@nponline.net, beezbunny@aol.com,
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beverly@thnet.com, bhowse@aol.com, bill_carlson@eee.org,
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Copies to: capazzi , danmelissa@juno.com,
donald s bernardo
Subject: New Book
The NY state grass roots group called ESTEEM is in the process of
publishing a book containing 3 essays which may be of interest to
you all. Entitled THE SLIPPERY SLOPE OF EDUCATION REFORM 2000,
it contains essays by William Coulson, Aldo Bernardo, and Charles
Richardson.
The piece by Dr.Coulson is entitled "The Role of Psychology in
Current Education Reform." Concentrating on the work of noted
psychologist Carl Rogers, Coulson stresses the dangers inherent
in having untrained teachers use psychological methods to
produce desirable behaviors in students. Under the guise of such
labels as experiential learning (if it feels good, it is good),
values clarification, and higher order thinking skills, many
well-meaning teachers have been doing irreparable harm to
students, being pushed by OBE adherents and by the endless flow
of funds from Washington. As a result, kids with bad experiences
tend to dominate class discussions while good kids are ashamed of
not having had such experiences and tend to admire those who
have. This explains in part why drug education seems to lead to
wider use of drugs, and sex education to more involvement in sex.
This is also why the DARE program is having serious problems. He
warns that unless parents start to realize how damaging the
misuse of psychology in the classroom can be, we are headed for a
generation of youngsters with warped minds.
In his essay,"Education Reform: Dumbing Down or Emasculation?"
Dr. Bernardo shows how the indoctrination of teachers in the use
of OBE methods has led them to believe that the results attained
by the use of standardized tests are invalid and should not be
taken seriously. As a result, they tend to overlook the serious
implications of falling scores by American students on
international tests. Performance testing and the use of
portfolios are increasingly becoming the order of the day. By
deemphasizing standardized tests, the reform movement has gone
beyond the dumbing down process. It represents a completely new
view of education which moves away from academics and toward the
socialization of student behavior.
Charles Richardson, a retired Long Island engineer and educator,
provides a detailed analysis of the extent to which hocus-pokus
plays a central role in determining what the real costs of
education are when computed honestly, and why increased funding
for schools has little bearing on quality of education. His essay
is entitled "Dollars and Sense in Education."
The 65 page book will be available after March 15 for a donation
of $5+$1. Pre-publication orders are being taken by emailing me.
Donation may be sent to ESTEEM, 25 Third St., Johnson City, NY
13790.
20>>
From: SDRAOUL
Date sent: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 00:28:22 EST
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
Subject: Jobs
Arthur: Why don't you post this item for Norm matloff to chew on, after all,
he maintains we don't need immigrant workers.
San Diego Union/Tribune, Thursday, March 5, 1998, Column of Dianne Bell
"Fortune magazine's March 16 cover story of the high demand for skilled 'gold
collar' workers quotes San Diego Economic Development Corp.'s Julie Meier
Wright regarding S.D.'s current openings for 3,000 engineers and 2,000
technical workers. 'If anyone's interested,' Wright joked, 'them to call me.'
By yesterday, two days after the magazine hit the stands, 28 had done just
that. Her advice? Tap into the extensive jobs Web siite created by local
high-tech firms. The address: www.sandiego-high-tech.com".
We have plenty of American engineers to fill our jobs. Sure. Imagine, 3,000
job openings in the finest place to live on the face of the earth. Imagine?
Raoul Lowery Contreras
21>>
I suppose the same goes for the progressives who are offended by
what Tucker has done to education reform as well. We all need to
unite on this, whether conservative or otherwise.Liberals need to
read and compute too, right?
> From: "Regnier, Paul (Burkholder)"
> To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
> Subject: RE: Can't we (conservatives) just get along?
> Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 17:09:19 -0500
> I resent the assumption that all of us who agree with J. E. Stone, E. D.
> Hirsch, etc. about what is wrong with US education are "conservatives."
> We are not. I wish that those of you who are would listen to those of us
> who are not and recognize that this is not a left-right issue. My
> experience in exchanging notes with some individuals on this listserv is
> that this is impossible for you even to consider. But if you do not, you
> will alienate many who would otherwise support you and divide the
> national movement to make education more challenging, effective, and
> accountable for rigorous academic learning.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: arthurhu@halcyon.com [SMTP:arthurhu@halcyon.com]
> Sent: Thursday, March 05, 1998 5:38 AM
> To: arthurhu@mail1.halcyon.com
> Subject: Can't we (conservatives) just get along?
>
>
> ------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
> Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 21:22:23 -0800
> From: "Dale R. Reed"
>
> Reply-to: dale-reed@postoffice.worldnet.att.net
> To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
> Subject: Re: Libertarian says he's OK with Marc Tucker
>
> arthurhu@halcyon.com wrote:
> >
> > It was good to see you at the meeting. I think the
> > christian conservatives are going to have to figure out how to
> get
> > along with the moderate republicans and the generally
> non-christian
> > libertarians if we're going to fight the left with any chance
> of
> > winning. Check out the KVI christian / jewish / secular
> coalition.
>
>
> You sure got that right Arthur. As the song used to go:
>
> If we don't hang together we will certainly hang separately.
>
> We must agree on a few fundamental unalienable rights and
> individual
> responsibilities and go with that. We have to agree to disagree
> on
> certain issues and work together on those we can agree on.
>
> It is difficult sometimes to be optimistic. Even the
> homeschoolers are
> breaking up into factions along various religious and political
> visions. And some of them are even drifting back to the
> government
> schools for sports or band or even expecting to receive a rebate
> on
> their taxes to help them pay for their learning materials.
> Dale
> --
> $ dale-reed@worldnet.att.net Seattle, Washington U.S.A. $
>
>
> EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE
>
22>>
Date sent: Fri, 06 Mar 1998 09:40:43 -0800
From: Terry Olive
Send reply to: tlolive@accessone.com
To: jimkeeffe@accessone.com, arthurhu@halcyon.com
Subject: Charles Hoff
Hi Arthur and Jim...This is a heads-up on a person who may contact
people on the parents' panel. His name is Charles (Charlie) Hoff. We
are 99.9% sure he attended the forum as ears for the school district.
He showed up an hour early, probably to find out who planned the event.
He attends all of our school board meetings and sticks
shoulder-to-shoulder with the Supt. and the Asst. Supt. (who are not our
friends).
He protrays himself as a concerned businessman who can't get employees
direct from highschool with basic skills. He has given the same (tired)
presentation to the board several times, but always neglects to mention
that he is a business partner of the Schoolwork Initiative of North King
County + several others. They received grant $ from the State as part of
the School-to-Work program.
He has been anointed by the industrial supply industry to support
efforts to produce qualified employees. He also worked with the
aerospace industry (Boeing) to create a remedial class for 50 highschool
seniors in the Edmonds School District.
All I'm saying is we don't know where this guy is coming from, but he is
intentionally vague about who's paying his salary to travel to School
Districts up and down I-5. Just be aware. Terry
23>>
Date sent: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 17:28:32 -0800
From: Norm Matloff
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com, jackpeng@juno.com, pjherz@siu.edu,
matloff@cs.ucdavis.edu, sdraoul@aol.com, dchiang@juno.com,
dalewarner@aol.com, preacher@earthlink.net, wyll@gr.cc.wa.us,
PLAUT@HAAS.BERKELEY.EDU
Subject: Re: (Fwd) "American beats Kwan"
Forgot to add: I think that headline, "American Beats Kwan," is
appalling, as was MSNBC's half-hearted apology for it.
Norm
Date sent: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 17:27:27 -0800
From: Norm Matloff
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com, jackpeng@juno.com, pjherz@siu.edu,
matloff@cs.ucdavis.edu, sdraoul@aol.com, dchiang@juno.com,
dalewarner@aol.com, preacher@earthlink.net, wyll@gr.cc.wa.us,
PLAUT@HAAS.BERKELEY.EDU
Subject: Re: (Fwd) "American beats Kwan"
On Fri, Mar 06, 1998 at 09:06:48AM +0000, arthurhu@halcyon.com wrote:
> note - anyone that doesn't speak the langauge is not Chinese
> according to Norman Matloff.
Not quite what I said. Here is what I said, after one of your
tirades on being Chinese (Sept. 18, 1997):
Second, this is laughable, because it is NOT your ethnic group.
You're not Chinese in any real sense. You don't speak Chinese.
You've said you're glad that your parents didn't teach you and your
siblings about Chinese culture. What would you say if I called
myself "Lithuanian"? (My father was from Lithuania.) You'd laugh
out loud, as you should.
Norm
OK, let's see, this means if Arthur Hu can't speak the language, then
he's not chinese, but that's not true in general of persons of
Chinese ancestry, regardless of other cultural Chinese markers????
24>>
Cheez, that makes at least two people I offended. Wonder who
else I messed up??? sorrrrrrrrry....
> Date: Fri, 06 Mar 1998 15:27:19 -0800
> To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
> From: Barb Witt
> Subject: Re: Can't we (conservatives) just get along?
> I did try to introduce myself to you at the meeting on Saturday. You
> wouldn't even shake my hand!
>
> Barb
>
> At 10:37 AM 3/5/98 +0000, you wrote:
> >
> >------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
> >Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 21:22:23 -0800
> >From: "Dale R. Reed"
> >Reply-to: dale-reed@postoffice.worldnet.att.net
> >To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
> >Subject: Re: Libertarian says he's OK with Marc Tucker
> >
> >arthurhu@halcyon.com wrote:
> >>
> >> It was good to see you at the meeting. I think the
> >> christian conservatives are going to have to figure out how to get
> >> along with the moderate republicans and the generally non-christian
> >> libertarians if we're going to fight the left with any chance of
> >> winning. Check out the KVI christian / jewish / secular coalition.
> >
> >
> >You sure got that right Arthur. As the song used to go:
> >
> > If we don't hang together we will certainly hang separately.
> >
> >We must agree on a few fundamental unalienable rights and individual
> >responsibilities and go with that. We have to agree to disagree on
> >certain issues and work together on those we can agree on.
> >
> >It is difficult sometimes to be optimistic. Even the homeschoolers are
> >breaking up into factions along various religious and political
> >visions. And some of them are even drifting back to the government
> >schools for sports or band or even expecting to receive a rebate on
> >their taxes to help them pay for their learning materials. Dale
> >--
> >$ dale-reed@worldnet.att.net Seattle, Washington U.S.A. $
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
25>>
From: ZorroFRR
Date sent: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 21:18:15 EST
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
Subject: Re: STW required for Washington CIM. Mandatory for all.
And...How about liability insurance? Who pays....?
Minors working unsupervised on tax payers time during normal school hours,
hours in which the school is "locus parenti" ? Is it going to be the school
(taxpayer) who picks up the added liability costs for each business...as does
the taxpayer in absorbing the cost of training workers for industry, training
that industry once did itself ? If I were a business, safety would be of huge
concern...law suits could follow if a minor were physically harmed or raped or
never arrrived back at school or...home.... And, what about all the PAPER I
must keep, circulate and file in order to "comply" with all the conditions I
assure in order to be a "partner" with the school...
And, how do my workers like having a kid around (machinery) or whatever.....
unsupervised, or if supervised....do I, the owner, have to absorb cost of
supervision by detailing one of my employees to mentor this student or can I
pass it back to the taxpayer? AND, if the student is unsatisfactory, now what?
My mind races right along on this ...are such issues addressed in WA? Fran
Rice
26>>
Is there a version of this online? My take is that it's useless when
the US is virtually neck and neck with Germany in almost every
category, and even more useless when it's used as an excuse to
switch to goofy dumbed down education reforms which swap
basic skills for "higher order thinking skills". The TIMSS is a basic
skills test, not a "performance-based" test like the NAEP.
(to bcc, Norman Matloff is the #1 authority on anti-immigration, and
oddly though he is married into the Chinese Amercian community, he
is the #1 critic, and the inheritor of the legacy of the "Chinese
Must Go" movement of the late 1800s. He's actually #1 on my
evil people list, Marck Tucker would be #2, at least Marc Tucker
doesn't attack the accomplishments and abilities of the Chinese like
Norm.)
.
> Date: Sat, 7 Mar 1998 21:25:11 -0800
> From: Norm Matloff
> To: dchiang@juno.com, arthurhu@halcyon.com
> Cc: DNSBNA@aol.com, chavezi@oxy.edu, sdraoul@aol.com, pjherz@siu.edu,
> msk@cis.org, Ekent@brooklyn.cuny.edu, matloff@cs.ucdavis.edu,
> 74242.2223@compuserve.com, plaut@haas.berkeley.edu, DaleWarner@aol.com,
> benny.wong@utoronto.ca, jleo@usnews.com, zwang@suffolk.lib.ny.us
> Subject: Re: TIMSS International Study
>
> On Sat, Mar 07, 1998 at 10:43:14PM -0500, dchiang@juno.com wrote:
>
> > Arthur, the TIMSS study shows that American students are well behind
> > students of other industrialized nations (ie. see US News & World Report,
>
> Well, not quite, Dave. What you are quoting is not the TIMSS study
> itself, but rather a reporter's VIEW of it---and reporters always
> try to make things as sensational as possible.
>
> There is an excellent article in the current issue of The American
> Prospect which puts the TIMSS study in perspective. Things are not
> quite the way they've been described in the press.
>
> Norm
>
>
27>>
From: dchiang@juno.com
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
Copies to: DNSBNA@aol.com, chavezi@oxy.edu, sdraoul@aol.com, pjherz@siu.edu,
arthurhu@halcyon.com, msk@cis.org, Ekent@brooklyn.cuny.edu,
matloff@cs.ucdavis.edu, 74242.2223@compuserve.com,
plaut@haas.berkeley.edu, DaleWarner@aol.com, benny.wong@utoronto.ca,
jleo@usnews.com, zwang@suffolk.lib.ny.us
Subject: Re: TIMSS International Study
Date sent: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 22:43:14 EST
Arthur, the TIMSS study shows that American students are well behind
students of other industrialized nations (ie. see US News & World Report,
March 9 1998, "Hey, we're Number 19, P14). Among the 21 nations in the
study, American 12th graders came in 16th in general science knowledge,
19th in general math skills, and dead last in physics. The U.S.
performance was actually "relatively" worse because Asian nations, which
do particularily well in this type of comparison, declined to participate
in the 12th grade study. Otherwise America might have been fighting for
39th or 40th
Dave Chiang
dchiang@juno.com
-------------------
On Thu, 5 Mar 1998 10:37:46 +0000 arthurhu@halcyon.com writes:
>The NAEP has a page explaining why the US did poorly on the NAEP,but
>relatively well on the TIMSS. The NAEP is criterion referenced, and
>puts a much higher emphasis on "higher order thinking skills". When
>high heels exert higher pressure, it's an obvious application of
>pressure - weight divided by the surface area. If you know the basic,
>skill, there's no thinking involved. That the big scam behind testing
>- most of what they're testing is simply out-of-grade facts, not
>anything that requires thinking. Heck, if you can figure out
>anything, you don't even need facts. Why memorize e=mc^2 when
>you can simply figure it out like Einstein did?
>
>> From: DNS BNA
>> Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 07:07:14 EST
>> To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
>> Subject: Re: GREAT Ed Editorial: Wo(e)begon!
>
>> In a message dated 98-03-03 20:36:45 EST, you write:
>>
>> <<
>> Everyone in the education industry is using the TIMSS as an excuse
>> to promote education deform. TIMSS is a test of BASIC SKILLS,
>> and we're getting killed by nations that are better at teaching
>ROTE
>> FACTS and MEMORIZATION. And what do the reformers
>> say we should do??? >>
>>
>> Arthur,
>>
>> What evidence do you have that TIMSS at the hs level was "basic
>skills" and
>> that the dreaded rote memorization of basic facts was the secret of
>success.
>> For example, how does not knowing that high heels concentrate force
>in a
>> smaller area, thereby doing more damage to floors, constitute a
>"rote fact"?
>>
>> Dave Shearon,
>> Nashville, TN
>>
>
_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
28>>
Date sent: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 23:23:20 +0000
To: jimmyk5@swbell.net
From: "Donna Garner" (by way of Jimmy Kilpatrick )
Subject: My Response to Post on California Standards
You might be interested to know that Shelia Byrd, who is the chair of the
Academic Standards Commission of California, has been in contact with us
and has followed the Texas Alternative Document (TAD) for a long time. She
and her group utilized much from our (TAD) document in their California
English / Language Arts / Reading standards, and she found the TAD helped
their document to be more explicit. They were not too "proud" to take the
best from various standards documents, and we are glad that they were able
to utilize parts of the TAD to help them in California.
Yes, it was the California board members such as Marion Joseph who achieved
the impossible in the area of reading. Marion has been a tremendous force
for change and also helped us here in Texas. I understand, however, that
Marion et al still have much work to do because their superintendent does
not seem to share their same beliefs.
The point that we never could seem to get Texas to realize is that K-12
ELAR standards are more than just about reading. Even though there is some
redeeming content in K-3, the Grades 4-12 standards are deplorable. They
repeat the same skills Grades 4-8 and 9-12. They are broad and
meaningless--not specific; they do not increase in depth and complexity
from one grade level to the next. Therefore, nobody (neither teachers nor
students) will really be held to accountability at each grade level. If
there is not accountability at each grade level, there is no way that
social promotion will be a thing of the past. Politicians can harp on the
derogatory effects of social promotion all they want; but nothing will
change unless there are specific, grade-level goals.
We teachers simply must have an explicit set of goals for each grade level.
Without that, we cannot hold our students to a standard of excellence.
With students, parents, and even administrators pressuring us to pass
students, we do not have a chance to make a "stand" unless there is a
definite line "drawn in the sand."
It is hard to make the public understand the daily pressure we teachers
face from parents who are deep into the self-esteem philosophy. They do
not want their Johnny or Suzie to face the harsh realities of the real
world. The fact is that success does breed success, and most of us
teachers want our students to be successful. However, the fact remains
that once a reasonable goal has been set and we teachers have done our part
to present the material well, then it is still up to the learner to do his
part and learn the material. If he chooses not to put forth the required
work, then he should face the consequences. It is when the consequences
begin to fall on Johnny or Suzie that teachers get dragged into the
administrators' offices. If we teachers cannot justify our grading
policies by showing how they are aligned to an "explicit" set of standards,
we cannot possibly hold the student to accountability.
Of course, I say all of this knowing that many teachers who are steeped in
whole language strategies are not giving their students a fair chance for
success. That is why we wrote the TAD; it is an attempt to try to help our
fellow English teachers to teach valuable and research-based ELAR content.
Not only is it important to teach phonemic awareness and phonics; but it is
also important to teach classic literature, grammar, spelling, and
vocabulary. Students must have their compositions graded for correct syntax
as well as content, and they must be guided and then held accountable to
use correct oral communication also. They must be exposed to the great
ideas of the world's finest literature. If they miss that experience in
school, they will probably never read the best that the literary world has
to offer.
It is my belief that a child needs to develop "self-confidence." He does
this by reaching a reasonable goal through hard work. Once he himself has
actually put forth the effort to learn something, then he feels true
self-confidence; nothing can take that wonderful glow away from him. He has
not only learned the valuable course content, but he has developed
self-confidence and self-discipline along the way.
Thanks for clarifying the matter about California. I was concerned that
Supt. Eastin would get the credit for what the "good guys" on the
California school board actually did.
Donna Garner
dggarner@swbell.net
----------
> From: JSOODby way of Fred Battey
> To: joaneb001@aol.com
> Subject: Standards
> Date: Saturday, March 07, 1998 7:36 AM
>
> In re: the message from Fred F. about CA standards and Delaine Eastin:
Right,
> Delaine Eastin is not to be trusted under any circumstances. She
reportedly
> owes her entire political career to the teachers' union, and she appears
to
> support national standards over the states', is in cahoots with the NCEE.
But
> the language arts (formerly known as English) standards as well as the
math
> standards that were approved we owe mainly to the State Board, and I
think
> most people think they are pretty decent.
>
> I chose to follow the math standards process, since there were more
reliable,
> informed laypeople following the language arts standards and who could be
> counted upon to raise a fuss if the standards were bad. The impression I
got
> was that since California had sunk so low with whole language, that even
> Delaine and the anti-phonics crowd saw the handwriting on the wall, that
the
> standards had to have phonics, grammar, etc. There was some altering of
the
> Commission's standards by the State Board, but there wasn't a controversy
> anything like with the math standards.
>
> We owe a lot to some very special people on the CA state board of ed:
Marion
> Joseph, known to some as "the Phonics Queen", Janet Nicholas, who was a
> heroine in the math controversy, and president Yvonne Larsen. No doubt
some of
> the other board members played important roles too, but since I'm less
sure of
> their particular contributions, I don't want to guess.
>
> Thus, California's standards are more attributable to the Board, and not
> Delaine E.
> Just wanted to clarify that.
>
> The Standards commissions wrote their standards by looking at others'
> standards, including Virginia's, Charlotte-Mecklenberg 's of North
Carolina,
> Japan's, Singapore's, and others--they didn't start totally from scratch;
they
> didn't have that much time and it made sense to start with products that
were
> considered good.
>
> I have an article written by math professor Hung-Hsi Wu, entitled "Some
> Observations on the 1997 Battle of the Two Standards in the California
Math
> War". He has an amusing way of explaining why the Board's adopted
standards
> are better than the Commission's. Here is an excerpt:
>
> (Referring to a math problem in the original Commission standards):
> "This passage is supposed to clarify the content of the Standards, but it
has
> achieved the opposite effect of obfuscating it. It would take many pages
to
> write an analysis that does this passage justice, so here is a very
> abbreviated account..First of all, mathematics deals with precise
statements,
> and if we are going to educate our children at all, we would do well to
teach
> them the necessity of eliminating the inherent fuzziness in many everyday
> utterances before transcribing them into mathematical terms. "Her
classroom is
> bigger" is clearly a case in point. Faced with such a statement, a set of
> mathematics standards has the responsibility to instruct children of
grade 3
> to make sense of the word "bigger" before proceeding any further. If they
> interpret "bigger" to mean "more area", then they should measure the
> respective areas. If they interpret "bigger" to mean "longer perimeter",
then
> measure the perimeters. The basic message is therefore that each answer
would
> be correct according to whichever interpretation is used. Furnishing such
an
> explanation would seem to be the minimum requirement of a mathematics
> education for the young. Now look at the passage above: it tells teachers
and
> students alike to accept an instruction that has no precise meaning
("bigger")
> and immediately proceed to "find the answer", and worse, "prove that your
> solution is correct using mathematics". If a teacher in an English class
shows
> students a black box without telling them what is inside other than that
it is
> an expensive piece of jewelry, and asks them to write an essay to
describe the
> latter and justify why their description fits the object, there would be
an
> uproar. Yet when the same thing happens in a set of mathematics
standards, we
> have people leaping to its defense and calling it "world class". Why is
that?
> I very much regret to say that this kind of mathematics standards would
> guarantee the deterioration of mathematics education for a very long
time."
>
> The article is 20 pages long and I don't know how to attach pages (my
husband
> does, though.) If anybody wants me to, I'd be happy to fax or mail them a
> copy. Let me know at JSOOD@aol.com
>
> Professor Wu seems optimistic that eventually the state exam will force
the
> implementation of the new math standards. My husband and I have already
> attended meetings armed with various math documents (including the above-
> mentioned article) and argued math with the president of the Berkeley
> Federation of Teachers. It would be so much easier to take a voucher to
the
> school of our choice! Probably much more effective in improving
education,
> too, math and otherwise. Susan O.
>
EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE
29>>
Priority: Normal
To: "Arthur Hu"
From: "Lynn M Stuter"
Subject: line feed
Date sent: Sat, 07 Mar 98 15:34:11 PST
My email program is Internet Explorer for 3.1. It has an automatic
format to frame. Don'y know why it doesn't work on your email.
What I said was that STW being required for the CIM wouldn't follow
the setup as STW emersion follows the child receiving the CIM at or
about the age of sixteen. Thanks for forwarding Jim Keefe's
eresponse to you.
My back is still out of commission. Hopefully by mid next week I'll
be back togwther again.
Lynn Stuter
P.S. Is Dale Reed the head of the Liberatarian Party?
30>>
pass this on --- I think the idea is that "all students will succeed"
har har har. Or "all will perform at the highest levels". All you
have to do is set higher standards. Hehehehehehehehehahahahahahahaah.
> Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 16:35:52 -0500
> To: joaneb001@aol.com
> From: SHAFER305 (by way of Fred Battey )
> Subject: Re: Proof of Federal Strings
> In a message dated 98-03-06 20:39:36 EST, LYTK73A@prodigy.com writes:
>
> << "Neither promoting students when they are unprepared nor simply
> retaining them in the same grade is the right response to low student
> achievement," Mr. Clinton wrote to Secretary of Education Richard W.
> Riley. "Both approaches presume high rates of initial failure are
> inevitable and acceptable." >>
>
> If I may ask a pretty silly question: If you're not promoting them nor
> retaining them, what is he advocating to do with the kids-- sending them back
> a grade level or two? It seems to me there aren't many alternatives: move
> ahead, stay where you are, go back.. Am I missing something? :-)
> Barbara
>
>
>
31>>
From: Nlgriswold
Date sent: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 23:31:14 EST
To: rebco@tricon.net, education-consumers@tricon.net
Subject: Re: Education Edge
In a message dated 98-03-05 10:48:09 EST, rebco@tricon.net writes:
> "Conservatives pepper Education Edge backers"
>
> By Tim Whaley, Kingsport Times News (twhaley@timesnews.net)
> Friday, February 27, 1998
Steve,
Thanks for posting the article. STW/Ed Edge is an ill-advised, ill-conceived
disaster. The best we can hope for--which I happen to believe is the case--is
that the Sundquist administration is not really committed to the program
beyond what is required to draw down the $28 million from the Feds. I predict
that, when the grant is exhausted, the state ed department will have no more
interest in Ed Edge. Just another federal revenue stream to tap until the last
trickle has dried up.
I also predict that, especially in districts with block scheduling, the Ed
Edge program just won't work because of time limitations and the logistics of
getting kids to an internship and back to school for the next class. Just how
much time will that leave for their invaluable "hands-on type endeavors with
internships, cooperative education [and] work agreements"? 30 minutes before
they have to race back to school? 45 minutes? I believe that teachers, who
already feel that they have too little classroom time with their students,
will revolt when they begin to see kids shuttled off to some workplace in the
middle of the school day when they should be in class learning. THEN, you get
the teachers union involved . . . . Ain't nothin' much happen in education in
this state unless and until the union says so.
But how much damage will be done to our kids in the 3-4 years that the program
is federally funded?! And in the years following as the remnants of Ed Edge
are still in effect?
I'm glad y'all are keeping on the issue. But the Republican governor, his
Commissioner of Education, AND big business in the state are hard to fight.
Good luck! You're on the side of the angels.
Regards,
Nelson Griswold
Nashville, TN
EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE
32>>
Date sent: Fri, 06 Mar 1998 18:33:52 -0800
From: Soya Jung
Organization: WAIRJ
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
Subject: Re: Sen. Abraham proposes more visas for high-skilled workers
Thanks for responding, Arthur. I agree that we should all be more vocal about
denouncing Matloff, along with others in the larger, increasingly
well-orchestrated anti-immigrant movement -- FAIR, Population-Environment
Balance, Carrying Capacity Network, Pioneer Fund... Regarding the issue of
immigration enforcement and "illegal labor," I think there's a disturbing
assumption in current public attitudes: that "illegal" immigrants are the
root cause of our social and economic ills, and that they should be punished
accordingly. The reality is that there are forces much greater than
undocumented workers themselves (and their families) that are contributing to
global migration -- forces like repressive governments and multinational
corporations with no national allegiances that cause large-scale environmental
damage and economic displacement, making it impossible for people to survive
in their homelands. While I agree that policy is tied to public opinion, it is
precisely that connection that comprises our challenge.
arthurhu@halcyon.com wrote:
> These are two separate issues, bringing in more immigant engineers is
> a win for everybody, unless you are Norman Matloff, he's still the
> #1 enemy of high tech, and traitor to the Chinese community he's
> married into. You really need to start to pay attention to this guy,
> he's causing a lot of real damage
>
> Norman Matloff is the inheritor of the legacy of anti-chinese
> immigration in the late 20th century.
>
> As long as society wants to crack down on low-paid illegal labor,
> people will call for enforcement.
>
> > Date: Wed, 04 Mar 1998 20:57:17 -0800
> > From: Soya Jung
> > Organization: WAIRJ
> > To: Soya Jung
> > Subject: Sen. Abraham proposes more visas for high-skilled workers
>
> > Here's an article on Senator Abraham's proposal to raise the cap on
> > visas for high-skilled immigrants. The question is: Apart from the
> > short-term policy of bringing in more temporary high-skilled workers,
> > doesn't the United States have a role in the global economic conditions
> > driving people to migrate in search of better opportunities? What are
> > the moral implications of spending over $3 billion on an increasingly
> > abusive immigration police force that selectively targets Latinos and
> > Asians working in low-wage service-sector industries, while at the same
> > time increasing the numbers of immigrant workers who directly benefit
> > high-tech industry? Comments?
Thanks, chalk up at least one more person against Matloff. He really
believes nearly all Asians think he's a good guy. It really burns me
up when you guys burn up all your political capital on stupid gaffes
like America Beats Kwan and Chine Oba 20's pictures when they don't
do any real harm -
Meanwhile, Matloff slips by completely undetected
even when he's ranting against immigrants in the EE times, NY Times,
San Jose Mercury News, and all you guys are completey silent
instead of jumping all over his case when he completely denies and
defames the achievements and abilities of the Chinese and
Indo-Americans. Honest to god, he says that the Chinese earn less,
are less innovative, and have made no important contributions to
US high tech.
Everybody scream about the evil republicans
when it comes to kicking helpless elderly off of SSI when it's
a Jewish Democrat that got the ball rolling - Matloff. His
study is on the internet, and is the basis for the whole thing.
33>>
From: "Bob & Barbara Tennison"
To: "Fred Battey"
Subject: Sex-Ed in Oregon
Date sent: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 18:43:08 -0800
Dear All,
WARNING - WARNING - WARNING Some of the material in the following post may
be offensive to some but you must remember, the first incident actually
occurred in an Oregon classroom of minor children and the second incident
was intended for all 6th grade students in an Oregon School. This is an
example of the rigorous academics with high world class standards we are
dealing with.
On February 19th, as I got in my car to head home for lunch I caught just
the tail end of a news report about a teacher in an Oregon School who had
held classes on the "F" word. I got the teachers name but missed what
school she taught in. I did not post anything about this at the time as I
wanted to verify that what I thought I had heard was true and had indeed
happened. I have now verified that what I thought I had heard, I did hear
correctly.
The first incident involved a high school teacher in the Beaverton School
District 3ho allowed at least two of her language arts classes to explore
the origin and use of the "F" word. One of the students in her class
complained to her parents and the parents went public with the information.
The students were apparently allowed to spend 50 minutes of valuable class
time writing about the "F" word and we allowed to use it freely in any way
they chose.
When the teacher was asked why she had done this, she allegedly said she was
tired of hearing kids use the word and decided if they were going to use the
"F" word, then they had better understand what it meant.
***********
The second incident occurred when a parent from, guess where? Beaverton
School District called me to tell me about the planned new 6th grade health
curriculum. She said as part of the health class the students were to be
involved in a class project where the students would construct a penis and a
vagina out of modeling clay and then they would decorate the penis and
vagina with beads and feathers. This was in the 6th GRADE!!!!
After talking to the parent, I called a Beaverton School Board member with
whom I am aquatinted and asked her if this was true. She yes, it was the
planned curriculum but that it would not be used. She said when the teacher
was asked why he would even consider such a curriculum he allegedly said it
was given to him and he was directed to teach it. She did not say who might
have given the teacher such a direction.
The teacher also allegedly said that he had taught the same curriculum in
the 4th grade last year or the year before and 'NOBODY COMPLAINED THEN."
This school board member has the curriculum, including the overheads and
will make it available to me in the near future.
***********
Now the good part, if there is ever anything good about these situations.
The Beaverton School District is named in our lawsuit, yet they continue to
do such stupid things without parental knowledge or permission. The
Beaverton School Board member who has the curriculum is a Plaintiff in the
lawsuit, so guess who else has this curriculum? You can bet our attorneys
are very interested in this material.
I don't think school districts will ever learn. Their arrogance simply
astounds me.
Barbara
Bob & Barbara Tennison
78612 Halderman Rd.
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
(541)942-0703
http://www.jb.com/~btennison
34>>
(to cc'ers - Norman Matloff has stated that I (arthur hu) am
not chinese because I don't speak the language, and don't
choose to retain all Chinese culture in favor of assimilating -
what do you folks think of a man who thinks he can judge
whether or not you are Chinese???)
Well, what do you think of people who wear skull caps, keep
strictly kosher, won't turn on the lights on saturday? You my
friend are far less Jewish than I am Chinese, yet ask any KKKer
what you are.
You, sir, are an unbelievable racist. Do you think Kristi
Yamaguchi is Japanese? Do you think the Andrew Grove
is Jewish? Is Michelle Kwan Chinese? What if she doesn't
speak mandarin (and I give odds 2 to 1 that she doesn't!)
You have abosolutely no say in what is ethnically offensive.
I'm a software engineer that plays violin, took 1 year
of mandarin, didn't have sex in high school or college, didn't
date until college, knows a
dozen characters, can fold a paper crane, add on an abacus, eats rice
6 times a week, can stir fry, and am a person offended by the man who
is the #1 enemy of the Chinese Americans. And you have the
audacity to say that I am not Chinese??? Do you want
to tell my parents that????
At least I'm not the one that tell congress that the Chinese
are of absolutely no value to the US high tech, that they
are a race of welfare cheats, and seek to deny benefits
even to naturalized citizens. You are the one who pretends to
be chinese, but then attacks them in the New York Times.
> Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 19:13:33 -0800
> From: Norm Matloff
> To: arthurhu@halcyon.com, jackpeng@juno.com, pjherz@siu.edu,
> matloff@cs.ucdavis.edu, sdraoul@aol.com, dchiang@juno.com,
> dalewarner@aol.com, preacher@earthlink.net, wyll@gr.cc.wa.us,
> PLAUT@HAAS.BERKELEY.EDU
> Subject: Re: (Fwd) "American beats Kwan"
>
> On Fri, Mar 06, 1998 at 06:27:49PM +0000, arthurhu@halcyon.com wrote:
>
> > OK, let's see, this means if Arthur Hu can't speak the language, then
> > he's not chinese, but that's not true in general of persons of
> > Chinese ancestry, regardless of other cultural Chinese markers????
>
> It's not just language, Arthur. Your pride in rejecting the "silly"
> Chinese culture (this is the word you used) makes it very difficult
> for me to think of you as "Chinese."
>
> Well, what about it, Arthur? Am I "Lithuanian"?
>
> Norm
>
>
35>>
From: "Glen Moody"
To: "Nlgriswold" , ,
Subject: Re: Education Edge
Date sent: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 01:08:31 -0500
Nelson, you wrote.....
>
> I also predict that, especially in districts with block scheduling, the
Ed
> Edge program just won't work because of time limitations and the
logistics of
> getting kids to an internship and back to school for the next class. 30
minutes before
> they have to race back to school? 45 minutes? teachers with too little
classroom time with their students, > will revolt when they begin to see
kids shuttled off to some workplace in the
> middle of the school day when they should be in class learning.
SORRY TO DISAPPOINT YOU, but my daughter is doing a 2 hour per day (1-3pm)
criminal justice internship at the police department. She is a junior at a
school where block scheduling
is in its 4th year. The internship program requires 100 hours of
participation.
Incidentally, she doesn't do well in Chicago Math (big shock I'm sure).
But she does get to practice with the softball team for 2.5 hours per day,
7 days per week. Make that 6 days for her (I eliminated her Sunday
practices). I figure the less time spent in OBE classes the better. She
is also taking OBE chemistry--called ChemCom (Chemistry in the Community.)
My son also did job shadowing and community service (health care
organizations) two years ago at the same school. Both their programs are
scheduled last period. Although I don't hear any discussion about it at
school board meetings or elsewhere, I get the impression from the STW
(excuse me, ED EDGE) folks that this is a quiet but rapidly growing
program. My point is that internships and job shadowing are automatically
scheduled last period and most jrs and srs have their own transportation.
Our (?) STW appointed committee is (1) the superintendent of schools, (2)
the chamber of commerce CEO, and (3) the president of the state's largest
private employer. So, sorry to spoil your optimism, but I think block
scheduling aids STW rather than hinders its progress.
BTW, when our HS principal was hired, the local paper referred to him as
the " father of block scheduling in Oklahoma," but my discussions with his
constituents in OK confirmed that block scheduling was NOT approved at
either school where he was principal there. So much for disinformation.
Sign me cynical.
Glen Moody
EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE
36>>
Date sent: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 01:19:38 -0500
From: "M. Fields"
To: "Grimm, Karen NE"
Subject: Follow up: Tyranny by EO
Loopies, Berit wrote after I posted that list of EO's and
reminded me of this EO. She has done an excellent review of
it. Melanie
http://www.beritkjos.com/text/articles/nis1196.html
A NATIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEM:
Executive Order #13011
by Berit Kjos
On July 16, President Clinton signed Executive Order
#13011, creating a massive new
bureaucracy with authority to manage "Federal
Information Technology." It links the
data gathered by the health, education, and labor
departments to the data accessible to
the FBI, CIA, EPA, and other federal agencies. And it
apparently gives this unified
information system unspecified power to:
Propagandize the public by disseminating
politically correct information
everywhere
Control people through a vast federal data bank
and monitoring system.
Yet, at first glance, this new order sounds practical
enough to silence most critics. Section
1 begins,
"It shall be the policy of the United States Government
that executive agencies shall:
a) significantly improve the management of their
information systems....
b) refocus information technology management to
support... strategic missions....
c) establish clear accountability for information
resources management activities by
creating agency Chief Information Officers (CIOs)....
d) ... promote a coordinated, interoperable, secure,
and shared Government-wide
infrastructure that is provided and supported by a
diversity of private sector suppliers...."
The CIOs are selected by the heads of participating
executive agencies. These include
most of the agencies represented in the President's
Commission on Critical Infrastructure
Protection (Executive Order 13010): the CIA, FEMA, FBI
as well as the Departments of
Defense, Commerce, Transportation, Energy, etc.
Executive Order 13011 expands that
network by adding the EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency), the Departments of
Interior, Education, Health and Human Services, Labor,
HUD, Army, Navy, and Air
Force along with NASA, the Agency for International
Development, and others.
To grasp the extent of its reach, remember that the
controversial "Careers Act" (HR1617)
would have linked only three agencies-the Departments
of Education, Labor and Health
and Human Services-in an effort to create a national
employment agency and a "National
Electronic Data Base," part of a massive "National
Labor Market Information System."
The Chief Information Officers make up the CIO Council,
which shall "develop... federal
information technology management policy" and "sponsor
cooperation in using
information resources, procedures, and standards...."
It still sounds like good business
practice, doesn't it?
Section 4 establishes Government Information Technology
Services that encourages
"cross-agency cooperation" and develops "shared
governmentwide information
infrastructure services." Its "major government mission
areas" include electronic
commerce, law enforcement, environmental protection,
national defense, and health care.
In the name of national security and protection from
terrorists, polluters, extremists, and
other enemies to the global village, the all-seeing
eyes of the State will have power to
search everywhere and to monitor everyone.
Section 7 links the Federal information management
system to "State and local
governments" and "nongovernmental international
organizations" and
"intergovernmental organizations."
Section 9 deals with "liaison, consultation, and
negotiation with foreign governments
and intergovernmenal organizations on all matters
related to information resources
management" and ensures "that the United States is
represented in the development of
international standards.... affecting information
technology." Do you see the bigger
picture?
Standing alone, this executive order might raise little
alarm. But examined in the light of
the United Nations agenda and stated government
intentions, it looks ominous. The UN
has called for a sophisticated international
computerized information system that would
disseminate its politically correct data and
pseudo-scientific risk assessments into every
community, build consensus based on its visions, goals,
values, and choices, then
monitor individual and collective compliance
everywhere-in homes, schools, offices....
"Develop gender-sensitive databases, information and
monitoring systems," states the
Beijing Platform for Action (#258). It calls for the
"consistent flow of information" among
"national, subregional/regional and international
institutions." (#288) -all under the
watchful guidance of the UN's Social and Economic
Council. (#314)
The UN plan matches the Clinton plan for social
transformation through a vast
government-controlled information and surveillance
system. The President's Council on
Sustainable Development (PCSD)-the US counterpart to
the UN Commission on
Sustainable Development-issued a report that echoes the
UN agenda. Called, Sustainable
America: A New Consensus, it states in Chapter 3 which
deals with "Information and
Education," "Citizens... depend on the quality and
timeliness of information to alert them
to hazards and to make informed decisions.... As
sustainable development focuses
attention on new environmental, social, or economic
concerns, government must perform
this critical management function more effectively to
ensure the quality and timely
availability of new kinds of information...."
"The federal government is already participating in
collaborative efforts with the public,
the private sector, and intergovernmental organizations
to improve information
management. These efforts should be expanded to include
priority setting for data
collection and analysis, identification of the most
useful formats for dissemination, and
additional mechanisms...." (p. 59)
The report calls for "international cooperation" and
broad governmental networks to
coordinate "comprehensive regional inventories and
assessments of environmental,
economic, and social indicators of progress." The
public would be warned about "risk
assessment" and taught "accurate information built on
basic scientific research... needed
for sound decisionmaking." (p.61)
The truthfulness of this "accurate information" would
depend on political expedience. As
Stanford environmentalist Stephen Schneider said, "We'd
like to see the world a better
place... to get some broad-based support, to capture
the public's imagination. That, of
course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we
have to offer up scary scenarios,
make simplified, dramatic statements and make little
mention of any doubts we might
have...." (See Brave New Schools, chapter 5)
The PCSD report calls for "policies that increase
access to public information for all
segments of society and encourage the development of
the National Information
Infrastructure."(p. 64) It wants "better tools for
measuring the public value"-the
community consensus and solidarity based on common
goals and values called "social
capital" by UN and World Bank leaders.
To the PCSD, "information is useful only if citizens
can put it into a framework of
knowledge and use it to solve problems, form values,
and make choices"-the right
choices. For this "framework of knowledge" is the new
global paradigm-the new way of
thinking, believing, and deciding that turns
traditional values, facts, and logic upside
down. It's the bridge to the 21st Century and it burns
the bridges to the past.
This monstrous information management system is part of
a global phenomenon.
Already, "more than 100 nations have established
national councils on sustainable
development similar to the US President's Council on
Sustainable Development." (p.160)
Following UN guidelines for "information management,"
each nation guides its
unsuspecting public toward global controls through
deceptive propaganda in the name
of "scientific research."
The PCSD report was sent to me from the US Department
of Education with a letter that
stated, "The PCSD is now entering its implementation
phase." Apparently, Executive
Order 13011 is part that phase.
As you ponder the significance of Executive Orders
13010 and 13011, remember what Al
Gore wrote in Earth in the Balance: "Adopting a central
organizing principle [saving the
earth] means embarking on an all-out effort to use
every policy and program, every law
and institution, every treaty and alliance, every
tactic and strategy to halt the destruction
of the environment.... Minor shifts in policy...
rhetoric offered in lieu of genuine
change-these are all forms of appeasement, designed to
satisfy the public's desire to
believe that sacrifice, struggle and a wrenching
transformation of society will not be
necessary." (p. 274, Emphasis added)
The world is changing fast. If our globalist leaders
win this battle, they will end the
freedoms Americans have taken for granted. It's time to
awaken our neighbors, pray to
the only God who can reverse these trends, seek His
guidance, and stand together
against the forces that would mold our minds and
control our lives. When we trust and
follow Him, He makes us "more than conquerors." (Romans
8:37)
For practical information about the new education
system designed to mold and monitor
the minds of both children and parents, read Brave New
Schools (Harvest House
Publishers) by Berit Kjos. Available through Christian
bookstores
or call 800-829-5646.
| Home | Armor of God | Christian Persecution | His
Word | Our Articles | Speaking Schedule |
| Books / Videos | Links |
37>>
From: SDRAOUL
Date sent: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 02:03:25 EST
To: matloff@cs.ucdavis.edu, arthurhu@halcyon.com, dchiang@juno.com
Copies to: DNSBNA@aol.com, chavezi@oxy.edu, pjherz@siu.edu, msk@cis.org,
Ekent@brooklyn.cuny.edu, 74242.2223@compuserve.com,
plaut@haas.berkeley.edu, DaleWarner@aol.com, benny.wong@utoronto.ca,
jleo@usnews.com, zwang@suffolk.lib.ny.us
Subject: Re: TIMSS International Study
Gentlemen:
The question is, does the U.S. have more brighter, better educated,
accomplished people than other countries? If only 10% of our population
excels, that's 26-million plus people. If another 10% come close, that's
another 26-million. That's 52-million plus accomplished, bright people, some
of whom are geniuses. The entire population of Germany is not much larger.
Only China can potentially produce such numbers, but only when they have a
free society.
In the final analysis, we obviously have more that 10-20% bright accomplished
people, thus we have more of the best and the brightest in absolute numbers
than all other countries and in proportion to our whole population, probably.
Consider, if you will, the bonehead Ross Perot and what he did with a degree
from the Naval academy. Only in America....
Raoul LOwery Contreras
38>>
From: "Bob & Barbara Tennison"
To: "Fred Battey"
Subject: If you were born before 1945
Date sent: Sat, 7 Mar 1998 22:39:54 -0800
FOR THOSE BORN BEFORE 1945
We are survivors! Consider the changes we have witnessed!
We were born before television, before penicillin, before polio shots,
frozen foods, Xerox. Plastic, contact lenses Frisbees and the PILL.
We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and
ballpoint pens, before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers,
electric blankets, air conditioners, drip dry clothes and before man
walked on the moon.
We got married first, then lived together. How quaint can you be!
In our time, closets were for clothes, not for coming out of.
Bunnies were small rabbits, and rabbits were not Volkswagons.
Designer Jeans were scheming girls named Jean or Jeanne, and having a
meaningful relationship meant getting along well with our cousins.
We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and Outer Space
was the back of the Riviera Theater. We were before house-husbands,
gay rights, computer dating, dual careers and commuter marriages. We
were before day-care centers, group therapy and nursing homes. We
never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial
hearts, word processors, yogurt, and guys wearing earrings. For us,
time sharing meant togetherness, not computers or condominiums; a
"chip" was a piece of wood; hardware meant hardware and softwear
wasn't even a word.
In 1940, "Made in Japan" meant junk. and the term "making out"
referred to how you did on your exam. Pizzas, McDonalds, and instant
coffee were unheard of. We hit the scene when there were 5 and 10
cent stores. Sander's or Wilson's sold ice cream cones for a nickle
or a dime. For a nickle you could ride a street car, make a phone
call, buy a Pepsi, or enough stamps to mail one letter and two
postcards. You could buy a new Chevy Coup for $600, but who could
afford one? That was a pity too, because gas was $.11 a gallon.
In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, GRASS was something
that you mowed, COKE as a cold drink, and POT was something that you
used for cooking in. ROCK MUSIC was a grandma's lullaby, and AIDS
were helpers in the principal's office. We were certainly not before
the difference in sexes was discovered, but we were surely before the
sex change! We had to make do with what we had! And we were the
last generation that was so dumb as to think you needed a husband to
have a baby!
No wonder we are so confused, and there is such a generation gap
today!
29>>
Date sent: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 08:44:12 -0500 (EST)
To: arthurhu@halcyon.com
From: msk@cis.org (Mark Krikorian)
Subject: Re: Immigration in suburban Washington
Copies to: pjherz@siu.edu, matloff@heather.cs.ucdavis.edu, sdraoul@aol.com,
dchiang@juno.com, dalewarner@aol.com, preacher@earthlink.net,
pravdanyet@aol.com
>The Washington Times is known to be a far-right newspaper, that they
>are anti-immigrant shows the true political leanings of Norman
>Matloff, and others who call themselves liberal, but oppose
>immigration.
========
RTFM, Arthur. The Times is a flamboyantly HIGH-immigration newspaper, its
editorial and op-ed pages consistently mocking anyone who questions the
absurdities of today's immigration policy. This story is quite a departure
for them. -- Mark Krikorian
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Krikorian, executive director
Center for Immigration Studies
1522 K St. N.W., Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005-1202
(202) 466-8185 (phone); (202) 466-8076 (fax)
msk@cis.org http://www.cis.org/cis
------------------------------------------------------------------------
31>>
Date sent: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 10:38:59 +0000
To: jimmyk5@swbell.net
From: Jimmy Kilpatrick
Subject: Even more damaging news: More of Colorado...Re: Urgent:
Colorado contacts?
In the news clips I sent out today is an article showing 40% of the fourth
grade Colorado students not passing the reading test. These students took
the test last spring and have been passed onto fifth grade. Of course the
test results were not released until November. This is another state that
is tossing out any accountability in favor of "muss testing." Same old
game the states play, kids don't pass just change the test. Jimmy
I now have the full bill and it is very bizarre. It is an
accreditation bill that says phonics should be taught, then says use the
standards-based test that doesn't measure phonics skills and dump the
norm-referenced tests that do measure the skills. And all of this is in a
HIGH school accreditation bill. It also expands the standards-based
testing without going to bid. The program started as a $1 million program
and would hit $15 million without a competitive bid...and guess who has
it....Terra Nova...the fuzziest of all tests!
Methinks I smell a rat. The phonics must be thrown in to get the
conservatives...but it really will not do anything for skills but erode
them and eliminate any ability to prove how the students are doing if the
state starts playing games with the tests...which they are doing already.
sigh.
31>>
Date sent: Mon, 09 Mar 98 08:56:07 LCL
From: Jolene Clark
Subject: Where Does the Buck Stop?
To: EDUCATION CLEARINGHOUSE
This past weekend I had an interesting conversation with a high school math
teacher in my community. It seems that one of her children has a math
teacher at the middle school that she is less than pleased with. She had dis-
covered that her child's class (upper-level math students) is 3 chapters be-
hind the other math teachers' classes at this school. Not to mention that she
is a little perturbed that her child and other students report that this
teacher hands out dittos everyday then sits in class using her time to paint
her fingernails, eat twinkies, and talk on the phone. When she approached the
principal about this, he indicated that there wasn't much he could do about the
3-chapters-behind situation, and proceeded to defend this teacher with excuses
that she had recently been through a bad divorce (her 4th) and had many health
problems. He could, however, say something to her about painting her nails,
etc. So the high school teacher spoke to the county math supervisor about this
and was told that she could do nothing because the principals at that school
wouldn't do anything about it (I assume she meant document the problems). She
indicated that if you had a child in that school and wanted them to learn math
then you had better home-school them!
I would have been appalled -- probably in shock when I heard this story,
EXCEPT ..... Four years ago, my daughter was in this same teacher's suite.
She had her for upper-level reading. The assignments were disorganized hodge
podge. She was constantly absent and would leave packets of dittoes to occupy
the students. After completing one such packet which was graded in a very
illogical way, my daughter showed me the materials complaining that she did not
understand why her answers were wrong or how the grades had been calculated.
After examining them, neither could I. I asked for a conference and an ex-
planation. She told me that she really wasn't familiar with what was in the
packet so she couldn't answer my questions and that her maid had graded them so
she could not explain the grades! Another instance, she retrieved my daughter
and three other girls from one of their classes the day before report cards
were to go home and informed them that because of their constant class absences
(due to attending Talented and Gifted classes) she had NO grades for them that
six weeks! The girls told her that they had done all of the assignments and
and turned them in, regardless of going to TAG. So the four students stayed
after school that afternoon, went to the teacher's room and sorted through
every stack of papers piled on bookshelves, her desk, cabinets, whatever. Until
they found all of their assignments -- UNGRADED. She constantly made snide
remarks to my daughter about her MOTHER because I did question the assignments
in her class and the total chaos that reigned in the science class in that
suite. Several parents and I reported many instances of this very kind of
conduct and horrendous job performance to the principals and to the middle
school supervisor. Regardless, she had glowing county evaluations that year.
So as you see, I was not appalled nor shocked at the story I heard this
weekend -- only sickened. There oughta be a law!
Still Looking for Answers,
Jolene Clark
EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE
32>>
Date sent: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 22:44:51 -0500
From: "Richard G. Innes" <70224.434@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: STW spy for Western WA
To: ed-consumers main listing
<>
Interesting.
In Kentucky, there are indications of similar goings-on. UPS, one of the
largest industries in the state, is a heavy supporter of our radical
reform. Their middle-level managers and lobbiests are frequently present
at school-related meetings.
A while back, a lot of people thought I worked for UPS. I was even once
asked by one of their lobbiests if I was a UPS pilot. Anyway, I later
heard rumors that pressure was being placed on UPS pilots who spoke out
against the reform. I suspect UPS is still trying to track me down on one
of their employee rosters. The games people play!!
Richard Innes
EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE
33>>
Date sent: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 22:44:45 -0500
From: "Richard G. Innes" <70224.434@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Standards from G. Hoffman
To: ed-consumers main listing
<>
Back in 1971 when I was first introduced to the rigorous standards
development programs for Air Force technical training that were the
forerunners of today's education attempts, I wondered if the process would
be transferable to public education. At the time, I believed that
development