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Zuckerberg throws $100M at Newark public ed

Has not every state that has voted in an "education lottery" had a similar windfall that was wasted or diverted? Are not both political parties guilty of this? Doesn't the fact that this has happened so many times by so many different people and parties indicate that the issue is more cultural than political?
 
Doesn't sound like he thinks the money given to Newark schools was a waste:

The investments we've made are a drop in the bucket compared to the challenges schools face. But we've seen that targeted investments can be catalysts for much bigger changes in communities, and give vital support to leaders and organizations. In Newark, a lot of the work we started is still underway, but we've already seen some good results. Newark now has the leading teacher contract in the country that was developed with teachers to reward good performance. New district and charter schools run by organizations with a track record of success have started, as well as 50 new principals. Across the district, the graduation rate has grown by 10%. It's still too early to see the full results in Newark, but we're making progress and have learned a lot about what makes a successful effort.
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California judge strikes down tenure
http://news.yahoo.com/judge-strikes-down-california-teacher-tenure-195517563.html

Siding with the nine students who brought the lawsuit, he ruled that California's laws on hiring and firing in schools have resulted in "a significant number of grossly ineffective teachers currently active in California classrooms."

He agreed, too, that a disproportionate number of these teachers are in schools that have mostly minority and low-income students.
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The lawsuit contended that incompetent teachers are so heavily protected by tenure laws that they are almost impossible to fire. The plaintiffs also charged that schools in poor neighborhoods are used as dumping grounds for bad teachers.
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No, I don't. Just came across the article in the news today.

I did find it curious that we've stated on this thread that American education is on par with the world except in the education of our poor, and they are the ones getting the bad tenured teachers.
 
awaken said:
No, I don't. Just came across the article in the news today.

I did find it curious that we've stated on this thread that American education is on par with the world except in the education of our poor, and they are the ones getting the bad tenured teachers.
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...while bearing the brunt of the do-called reform movement. We treat poor students like lab rats and we are surprised that there is a vast achievement gap?

I'm on my phone, but there is an awesome Onion op-ed that critiques this situation if somebody can find it.
 
I know some evil OWGs in my hometown who started a scholarship program for kids in Newark to get SAT tutoring from top prep places in NYC/NJ. I thought that was a pretty good idea. The SAT prep place works with them on the price too so they get a really good deal. It's tough to raise enough money to pay for a lot of college scholarships but its not that hard to come up with the cash to pay for SAT courses for some deserving kids. I think it's a great way to help someone without having to donate $50k plus.
 
Instead of fixing the problem of standardized testing, they pick a few kids to game the system.
 
I'm going to let all my teachers friends know that they are unfireable, or will be soon, i'm guessing they werent made aware of that benefit when they were hired.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
I'm going to let all my teachers friends know that they are unfireable, or will be soon, i'm guessing they werent made aware of that benefit when they were hired.
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Are they in CA? I'm guessing what tenure means varies greatly from state to state.
 
It means the same thing in NC and California apparently, and so does "teachers union".
 
PhDeac said:
Instead of fixing the problem of standardized testing, they pick a few kids to game the system.
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I'll let them know that a college professor opposes their efforts to help out a few kids. I'm sure they'll appreciate it. They also picked this system since it allows people who donate money to feel like they're really apart of something tangible and can develop a real relationship with the kid who received the scholarship. If you donate $500 to a scholarship fund it's hard to feel like you've helped all that much when tuition is $50,000 but if you donate $500 to an individual student for SAT tutoring that costs $500 then you have a real connection. The recipients are grateful and develop relationships with the families who helped them. The SAT is flawed and sometimes the kids don't improve tremendously but every time a kid has struggled the donors have gladly ponied up to help out with more tutoring, recommendations or whatever.

I suppose you have a better solution though.
 
Caturdayredux said:
Go fuck yourself Ph. What's your solution big man?
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I've posted plenty of solutions to problems in our education system plenty of times including on this very thread. Go look them up. If you want to have a real discussion, come back here after you've read them and we can talk.
 
PhDeac said:
I've posted plenty of solutions to problems in our education system plenty of times. Go look them up.
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So a bunch of guys trying involve their community to help poor kids through scholarship and mentor ship isn't one? Interesting.
 
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