Dennis Alvarez2 said:The idea of "scanning a teacher to figure out who they are" is really about having sharp perception. I wouldn't go as far as labeling kids unintelligent just because they haven't mastered reading their instructors yet or haven't developed that specific type of intuition. I don't see the point in doing that. 😕 Surely the goal is to learn, acquire knowledge, and understand the curriculum, rather than "scanning teachers" just to coast toward an A. When you focus on "scanning," aren't you just looking for the highest output—the grade—with the minimum input, relying on cleverness rather than actual knowledge? 😕 You're conflating intelligence with being well-educated.
And regarding the whole "everything is in the books" point: are we talking about standard school textbooks? Most textbooks from 2019 are absolute disasters; I've often found myself staring at a page wondering how the authors could possibly understand the subject matter when they write so incoherently. Even when I talk to teachers, they confirm this and explain exactly why the quality is so low. Not to mention how disappointing it is that students are constantly told to just look things up online. Both teachers and textbook authors push them toward the internet. The web—even random sites—is treated as a gold mine of ultimate truth. Wikipedia becomes the beginning and end of all research. You actually need highly developed research skills and foreign language proficiency because, in the US, much of the high-quality material isn't available in plain English or local contexts, requiring you to filter through sources to find what's actually good. Finding and selecting the right, high-quality sources is a massive challenge for adults, let alone children. And besides, premium educational websites and databases aren't exactly free.
Your post comes across as quite arrogant, almost dismissive.
While "finding better study strategies" sounds like a fine sentiment, and I agree with it, I wouldn't write off a child just because they haven't naturally developed the ability to find those strategies or overcome their weaknesses yet. I wouldn't predict a dark academic future for them right out of the gate.
Maybe in some utopia that's true, but in America, the objective is to grab an A by any means necessary because that's the only thing that guarantees a future. As we all know, anything less than an A is a massive risk; a C is barely better than a zero. No intelligent person wastes time studying for "knowledge" alone, because nobody actually cares about what you know.
It's like when Joe was playing poker and realized everyone else was playing fair—that's exactly when he started losing his shirt.
He’s caught off guard. Usually, nobody breathes a word about how he handles things, but now people are actually vocalizing their complaints. It’s clearly a shock to him.
Look, you have to see where he's coming from, too. At the end of the day, he's a veterinarian.
At best, this whole mess wraps up by June 2024, and then everyone just moves on. Unfortunately, we’re looking at another generation of kids getting screwed over, but I guess that’s a small price to pay for the Department of Energy's ego.
Jason Morgan said:Oh, absolutely. That is exactly the playbook being used in my district. It’s quite easy to spot who is being driven by political agendas here; frankly, any rational person with even a shred of common sense wouldn't be swayed by such transparent tactics.
No rational person thinks this is a good, desirable, or acceptable idea. The rest of them are just members of the Republican Party.
Lisa Parker34 said:And maybe B2 if anyone actually wants to work... I think the goal here is just to make it look like math teachers in elementary schools are "earning" more than everyone else. It's a way to lure young mathematicians into the Department. But they won't mention the catch—the increased teaching hours and contact time. Where does the rest of the workload go? Realistically, this might bump up some salaries, but it saves the Department money because a whole bunch of people will just end up unemployed... some win, some lose. A smart move... on their part... at our expense.
Mathematicians are supposed to be smart people. They should see right through this intention.
Bryan Wells11 said:Absolutely disgraceful. Based on such low-level remarks alone, this "highly esteemed" special advisor to the Department should be forced to resign. Watch this guy—he was actually checking who participated in the public forum, apparently? Is he trying to import some old-school habits from his hometown into America? Or is this just the standard operating procedure for the Republican Party?
Does he even realize what he just said? Does he understand there's enough material here for a criminal complaint?
jadetinker85 said:Nothing's been decided at Springfield Elementary School yet; they're holding another meeting.
They can decide just about anything there.
mellowskipper said:Only 17? They’re out here asking for 50... what an absolute disaster
Let's hope that won't be enough. I was watching The New York Times today, and Fuch basically said, "Just let me run an experiment next year, then we'll see how it goes."
I’ve been submitting my comments during public hearings, not just posting them here.
Claiming these kids are essentially prisoners might be a slight exaggeration, but we aren't far off. Forcing them to sit in a classroom all day is excessive, harmful, and completely unnecessary.
Susan James said:What exactly is "inevitable"? They have plenty of funding for this little experiment right now, which they'll just split up among themselves. And later on, everyone is just going to complain about it being... you know, yet another reform in a long line of them.
I honestly feel bad for the kids who are going to be caught up in this. They're going to spend four years just spinning their wheels. It might be okay for the current Registered Nurses, but for the future fifth graders? Not so much.🙂
Exactly. We had the strike generation, the Apple generation, and now we're heading toward an entire generation stuck in limbo. What they all have in common is that they were—or will be—victims of the system. In the end, every single generation takes a hit. Even if I stay away from conspiracy theories, it feels like the most likely outcome, maybe even the goal. Someone ordered this experiment, and now they're just waiting for the results.
Melissa Sanchez8 said:How can you buy someone off with classroom supplies when that doesn't even fix the actual problems? It certainly doesn't solve anything. These people weren't even ready to stand up and fight, and they clearly aren't looking at the big picture...
Is federal funding being funneled into this reform? There has to be some kind of incentive driving them to lie and try to turn schooling into a prison sentence instead of actual learning. No one can stay focused through 8 or 9 hours of instruction, let alone kids. It’s pure torture...
That's exactly the issue. Eunice is pouring money into this "reform," and our officials will do whatever it takes to push it through. They'll crush any resistance using every resource available, which means the lies we're hearing now are actually the mildest version of what's coming. This plan is flawed in a hundred different ways; there are more downsides than upsides. Unless this turns out to be some last-minute pre-election stunt—since we've only got about a year until the next election, and we all know how these projects die when the administration changes—the opposition is going to have to step up significantly if they want to stop this.
There are plenty of them—articulate, well-spoken, and making actual sense. If they actually look at the facts instead of just doing whatever the Secretary dictates, they’ll have something worth considering.
Sarah Hall53 said:The public comment period wrapped up at midnight. We ended up with 2,761 comments.
Jose Wells3 said:I’d really love to see everyone weigh in on the public comment period. There are some seriously influential voices out there—why not take advantage of the chance to make yours heard where it actually counts?
Of course I posted over there too. Out of that total comment count, three of them were mine.
Jose Wells3 said:Beyond that? It creates a psychological barrier against harassment and attacks.
Authority? What authority? We don't have any.
This is a fundamental failure to understand the law—honestly, it’s a failure to understand the job itself. The Education Act and its various regulations clearly outline what a teacher can and cannot do, along with student rights and obligations. It explicitly defines powers, duties, and responsibilities. You just have to be able to read.
Jose Wells3 said:Making anything less than $2,200 a month after taxes—while being tied down by strict government regulations—is basically being underpaid given the current economy.
We can talk about the money. We cannot talk about the official civil servant status. You don't even know what you'd do with those powers if you actually had them. But that's the problem—that status.
Sarah Hall53 said:Nah, the way we do things, kids go to school where the whole point is getting them ready for college, and then they head off to university looking for specialized knowledge that was never actually taught—because they were too busy in vocational schools designed specifically for training them for a specific trade. It’s just brilliant, really. Makes perfect sense if you don't think about it at all.
Anyway, you should really look into how they handle education over in places like France, Germany, or Switzerland—you know, those high-standard Western systems. Everywhere else, it’s standard practice to have vocational students spend a year or two catching up on core subjects so they can qualify for their high school equivalency exams or whatever the local term is. Here? We call this "great vertical mobility." Total joke.
"Academic prep" is just code for forcing kids to study everything for four years because nobody knows what they want to do yet. Then, once they graduate, that kid ends up being the boss of someone who has been doing the actual job for four or more years. Suddenly, the degree holder thinks they're some bigger expert than the person with real experience.
Sarah Hall53 said:Nah, the way we do things, kids go to school where the whole point is getting them ready for college, and then they head off to university looking for specialized knowledge that was never actually taught—because they were too busy in vocational schools designed specifically for training them for a specific trade. It’s just brilliant, really. Makes perfect sense if you don't think about it at all.
Anyway, you should really look into how they handle education over in places like France, Germany, or Switzerland—you know, those high-standard Western systems. Everywhere else, it’s standard practice to have vocational students spend a year or two catching up on core subjects so they can qualify for their high school equivalency exams or whatever the local term is. Here? We call this "great vertical mobility." Total joke.
I know exactly what you were getting at. That's a different issue entirely, born from different circumstances. Just because we don't deal with that specific problem doesn't mean our system is superior or theirs is broken. It's not that simple.