Comments for Choice in Education

Comment on On-Line Education, Right Or Wrong? by Scott Nicholson

Scott Nicholson — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:49:20 +0000

This is ludicrus. Whoever wrote this per-supposes the reason why the ill-named Students Come First legislation is being rejected. My wife is a teacher, I’ve discussed this issue with a lot of teachers, and I’ve followed this issue from the start to now. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an educator reject technology as a learning tool. Quite the opposite, all educators I have spoken with have embraced technology. So why have you chosen to slant your perspective? Show me the data that supports your proposition.

Now, what has been rejected is – from what I’ve been able to discern – another political program that has not been adequately discussed and debated forced down the collective throats of our educators. They screamed when No Child Left Behind was forced down their throats & we didn’t listen. Here comes yet another politician who has his own thoughts on what needs to be done & does not foster buy-in from the very people who care the most about our children’s education. I believe he referred to this group as Union Thugs. I’d love to see a new CEO of a private enterprise refer to the workforce in that manner.

Ok, so what I have heard from educators is that they do in fact love technology, but there is some call the people in the field need to make. There may be some students who are capable and you just need to point them in the right direction. There are also children without a good home support and who are not ready or capable of pursuing that course of action. The teacher needs to be empowered to make a decision – in consultation with her administrators & parents, but to force a one size fits all program onto the system, that’s wrong.

I’m going to wade into your anti-union tone. I’m not a fan of unions, not at all. In the private sector with over a hundred employees, I always had one or two employees who would occasionally bring up the union issue. You know what? I worked at keeping open communications with the employees – there were ups and downs, like any relationship – but in the end, the few unionization efforts I saw were always rejected and my belief is that we communicated, we paid them well, we didn’t insist on major overhauls without some level of buy-in or at the very least, an open dialog on why the change was necessary. It’s called communication & respect.

Supt Tom Luna showed no respect and I suggest he showed his willingness to shove yet another political program down our collective throats on the back of those most capable of giving him constructive feedback. Based on political leadership and their continual efforts to force new programs on educators – and then holding them accountable for those programs – I’ll support their unionization efforts. They should have walked off the job, in my opinion when confronted with the likes of the thug Luna.

Comment on Some Time With Becky Stallcop – interview continued by Cindy Omlin, Northwest Professional Educators

Cindy Omlin, Northwest Professional Educators — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:36:51 +0000

Congratulations to Becky Stallcop, a true hero in education. Thank you for your stalwart dedication to ensuring children experience a safe and secure school environment where they can concentrate on wondering, exploring, learning, and achieving. Continued success to you and your staff!

Comment on Some Time With Becky Stallop by Muriel Mauldin

Muriel Mauldin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:06:19 +0000

When did people decide that rote learning was unacceptible in teaching? How do children internalize certain concepts without repetition? What does it do to them if the teacher hurries from one concept to the other? Makes them feel that they cannot learn the concept. Thank you Becky Stallcop for understanding the child’s learning abililties.

Comment on Some Time With Becky Stallop by Orval Mauldin

Orval Mauldin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:05:03 +0000

The comments by Beck Stallcop and the information on the Harbor Method illustrate the true meaning of “getting back to the basics in education.” And obviously it works, as the results show.

Comment on Some Time With Becky Stallop by Caroline Myrick

Caroline Myrick — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:43:58 +0000

Wow! Do you think we could clone Becky Stallcop several thousand times, and spread her all around the state! Oh, I wish charter schools had been around when my girls were in school.

Comment on Selective Outrage Regarding School Spending by veterinary technician

veterinary technician — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:21:42 +0000

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Comment on Closing a School is Not Necessarily a Bad Thing! by school grants

school grants — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 03:28:44 +0000

What a great resource!

Comment on A Short Course In Idaho Public School Finance by Gotoloows

Gotoloows — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 20:00:55 +0000

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Comment on Time to Act by Emma Roemhildt

Emma Roemhildt — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:24:45 +0000

For myself and for many students high school is too easy. My own experience was that I was never challenged in my high school curriculum. Although I am speaking on my experience as a recent high school graduate from a small school in rural Alaska, my situation is not unlike many in small Idaho schools. In order to challenge myself, I enrolled in dual-credit classes at my community college yet these classes were taught down to the high school level.
My state’s standards and my school’s curriculum neglected my needs as a student and the needs of others like me who aren’t geniouses, just slightly above average. We cannot neglect these students. Just in my small class, I saw a number of different things when my classmates’ and my needs were not being met. Some found other ways to try and make school more challenging as I tried. Some found ways to get through school faster. Most simply settled for mediocrity. Some were fed up and even dropped out. Here is the problem with our standards: in our good efforts to assure that we do not neglect the lower percentiles of our classes, we consistently end up neglecting the middle and upper percentiles.
Students need to be challenged. We’re willing to learn, wanting to learn and waiting to learn. The Mastery Advancement Pilot Program is a great first step in reaching out to those who had great potential that was never actualized.

Comment on When Cutting Education Costs, Why Does It Always Have To Be At The Expense Of Kids? by Emily

Emily — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:23:01 +0000

Wow, what a strange post for a blog that advocates for “choice” in education. Are you really advocating that school districts should just make these huge cuts without any input from parents, employees, students and patrons? As a parent, taxpayer, and patron, I want to have a say on these “choices.” I want to know what is happening. I guess given this blog’s advocacy for top down “state run” charter schools that “father-knows-best” argument makes sense. Thank goodness for my locally elected school boards that cares what I think and gives me a choice and a voice.