State of the Union Options

[impala454]

have you even educated yourself on nclb? it is just like robin hood act, but with sprinkles.

No I don't know what NCLB is. All I know is the robin hood act took money from some schools and gave it to poor schools. There was zero money getting back to the taxpayer's hands. In fact, it was money taken from the taxpayer's hands and spent on a school other than the district where they paid the taxes! Which is major BS IMHO.

[impala454]

counselors and teachers in the lower income school districts tell students to go get jobs rather than try for higher education.

So did you go to college because some counselor told you you should? Or did you go because you had the ambition and desire to go to college? And where did you get that ambition? Was it because you had a nice locker and a shiny new book in school?

[Melanie]

i went to college becausei grew up with the mentality that i had to go to college. but if i had stayed in the barrio like my parents did growing up, i definitely would have had a different outlook on my future. everyone would be different though if they jad a drastically different upbringing. i guess i am "blessed" that i grew up for the first 10 years of my life in the barrio of west side san antonio, gang lines and all. my parents moved us out of the ghetto, struggled to do so but knew they didn't want my brother and i growing up like that and moved us to thr more ipscale area where going to college is emphasized. we never had that to look up to in the barrio.

[Mommy]

ya and i grew up in el paso in el barrio. i love you melanie, but i completely disagree with you. doesnt matter where you grew up, you can still be motivated to go to school and get a degree.

[Melanie]

jessica honey, it's different. you went to a decent high school. o have done research on the high schools in el pso while working for congressman rodriguez and it wasn't that bad as compared to a houston westfield or san antonio lanier or fox tech.

i know i am in the minority here on techsans. so i guess i will just top beating a dead horse

[impala454]

i went to college becausei grew up with the mentality that i had to go to college. but if i had stayed in the barrio like my parents did growing up, i definitely would have had a different outlook on my future.

Bingo, so how would throwing hordes of taxpayer money at your school have changed this situation?

[FORSAKENR320]

i went to college becausei grew up with the mentality that i had to go to college. but if i had stayed in the barrio like my parents did growing up, i definitely would have had a different outlook on my future. everyone would be different though if they jad a drastically different upbringing. i guess i am "blessed" that i grew up for the first 10 years of my life in the barrio of west side san antonio, gang lines and all. my parents moved us out of the ghetto, struggled to do so but knew they didn't want my brother and i growing up like that and moved us to thr more ipscale area where going to college is emphasized. we never had that to look up to in the barrio.

agreed. same thing that happened to me, except i was in the laotian gang wars in amarillo

[FORSAKENR320]

Bingo, so how would throwing hordes of taxpayer money at your school have changed this situation?

it really is odd being on the same side as you, just so you know.

but i agree, it's not the finances, it's the motivation

[pebkac]

it really is odd being on the same side as you, just so you know.

but i agree, it's not the finances, it's the motivation

Which begs the next question: Why is there no motivation in low-income areas?

[FORSAKENR320]

Which begs the next question: Why is there no motivation in low-income areas?

parent taught. if your family is bitter about "failing" at their higher goals, what positive example will they set for the children?

i feel the situation is completely opposite from what early Britain peasents faced. they lacked the opportunity to excel, when you have no chance, you sorta just accept your place in life. (until all hell breaks loose and a riot happens) but how can you ever expect a child to reach for the stars if you never teach them to look up?



i firmly believe that all americans are given equal opportunity. but you have to have the initiative to take advantage of that opportunity

[Melanie]

what was more boring than this was the love fest last night. the republican debates had more fireworks

[Hartmann]

Which begs the next question: Why is there no motivation in low-income areas?

Who's to say there is no motivation?

Plenty of successful (need to define that one) people have come of out low income areas. My girlfriend teaches at a school with plenty of rich white kids but she also has classes with an overwhelming number of latino and black students all from low income families. Two of her poorest students (it's listed as a modification for her ) are two of her best students. They have this drive to get away from where they grew up and make something of themselves. I think the motivation is the poverty itself.

what was more boring than this was the love fest last night. the republican debates had more fireworks

Hillary was making herself "likable"... Her diatribe on healthcare probably put the most socialist liberal to sleep.

[Melanie]

i just didn't like the pr-ness feel

[Spectatrix]

The drive to go to college is (almost unarguably) a motivation issue. That motivation can be generated internally (a drive to get out poverty, for instance) or externally (parents, teachers, coaches, etc.) The more positive factors a student has around them, I think the better a chance they have at doing well and going on to college or at least trade school, but the poorest students in the crappiest areas with the crappiest influences can still get up that drive, just as a rich white kid from an encouraging, college-educated family can fail to succeed.

Case in point: my step-brother is a year older than me, has gone to Tech and withdrawn several times (I think he got on academic suspension last time around), is in massive credit card debt, and has changed jobs twice in the last six months. Granted, he's doing better work than flipping burgers, but until this latest job, he was working in places with little advancement potential. Whether his latest job will be better remains to be seen, but I think probably so. He's very smart, as much as I am (he was doing mechanical engineering too, actually started before I did) but just didn't want to do the college thing. Maybe eventually, but not now.

Anywho, funneling money into poor-performing schools seems like a noble, but I think it's usually an exercise in futility. It can help attract better teachers, but the really good ones are still going to want to go to nicer schools, even if the pay is a little lower (there are exceptions, of course). And even if the school gets staffed by superb teachers, you still have the problem of down-and-out students de-motivating each other and reinforcing each others' shortcomings. Yeah, some will rise above that, but not most.

I would much rather give parents the opportunity to move their children to a better school without breaking the bank. Whether than means providing "grants" to parents of school age children who want to move them, or putting ALL schools under private control with grants, vouchers, or tax breaks for parents to put their kids wherever they want, or some other solution I've not yet thought of... I dunno. I just know that the public school system is largely failing our youth and I would never place a child of mine in one. Of course I'm probably going to homeschool them, so the whole thing is moot for me.

[Mommy]

jessica honey, it's different. you went to a decent high school. o have done research on the high schools in el pso while working for congressman rodriguez and it wasn't that bad as compared to a houston westfield or san antonio lanier or fox tech.

i know i am in the minority here on techsans. so i guess i will just top beating a dead horse

I dont care what congressman you worked for. Bowie High School was rough shit. So was Parkland, Andres, Irvin (had the high pregnancy rate out of any high school in the nation for a few years)... You can make yourself out to be a victim like anyone in a rough spot, but rough is rough is rough. People get past the rough and move on up. I worked for low-income school districts. I know how it goes. I know that if they don't serve breakfast at the school year round (including in summers) the kids won't eat. There is a point when you stop the WAHHHHH and get with the program. Kids in rough schools and from rough backgrounds have gone places before.