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Politics : FREE AMERICA -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (253)	3/22/2006 10:00:01 AM
From: michael97123	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

What i posted to karen applies to you as well. Sorry for the name calling last night. I will view you both as good folks but imho as hopelessly naive. Next time either of you says something that would typically set me off, i will do what i do with my daughter and concentrate on the good people part. I am not saying this to be demeaning to you or karen or my daughter in any way. Its just stupid for me to concentrate my anger on good folks, albeit naive when there are so many bad folks out there for me to hate. Again, sorry for the temper last night. If you read my reprinted post from Lindy Bills thread, you will get a sense of the frustration i feel over iraq and perhaps my too-blind following of bush for far too long. I repeated an error i made in vietnam with LBJ. Thats inexcusable for me to be fooled twice--in this case about competence more than ideology. Mike

To: epicure who wrote (253)	3/22/2006 4:01:41 PM
From: goldworldnet	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

Teachers spurn talented rivals Tue Mar 21, 6:42 AM ET news.yahoo.com Earlier this month, two top Army scientists from the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland sat down with teachers from the nearby public high school to advise them on setting up a robotics course. Aberdeen scientists will also co-teach classes, mentor students and appear at school career days. This sort of collaboration might sound non-controversial, but it's not. Teachers' union leaders are resisting a plan by President Bush to build an "adjunct teacher corps" of 30,000 experienced scientists and mathematicians, like those at Aberdeen, to assist in the nation's schools. The union leaders say raising teacher pay and improving working conditions, not bring in outside experts, is the way to enhance math and science teaching. Those objections miss the larger point. The USA faces a challenge to its technology leadership that can't be ignored. Although this country was built on innovation, it now risks passing that mantle to international competitors, according to several recent credible reports. Business and government leaders say retaining a creative edge requires doubling the number of math and technology majors by the year 2015. Meeting that goal requires reaching students early with instruction that is both competent and inspirational. As it is now, fewer than a third of U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students score at the proficient level in math. And U.S. students score below the international average on tests of math and science knowledge. Inadequate instruction is at least part of the reason for those scores. An estimated 38% of math teachers in grades 7-12 lack either a major or minor in math. A child who receives mediocre math and science instruction in elementary school is unlikely to complete algebra by eighth-grade. Completing algebra by that grade is a key predictor for who will pursue a college degree in science or math. Here's where Bush's $25 million adjunct teacher plan, being considered by Congress, could prove invaluable. Some of these volunteer experts might advise teachers and mentor students, as the Aberdeen scientists are doing. Other scientists might become certified to try teaching as a full-time second career. The private sector can support this. IBM already offers $15,000 in tuition and stipends to company scientists in New York and North Carolina who are interested in post-retirement teaching careers. The American Electric Power utility runs teacher workshops to improve math and science education. Real-world experts know how to make their subjects interesting to students. Former Lockheed Martin chairman Norman Augustine, who chaired a National Academy of Sciences report on science education, recalls a recent visit he made to his grandson's preschool. After Augustine used the floor to lay out paper models of the planets, the students asked about Pluto. Because of rotational patterns, Pluto isn't always the outermost planet, he told them. And there's evidence of planets beyond Pluto, he said. The students were fascinated. Augustine and other private scientists bring detailed knowledge that can capture students' imaginations. Teachers should see them as educational partners, not as a threat to their livelihoods. * * *