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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe NYC who wrote (369920)	2/5/2008 6:37:41 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 1571935

The one about education was the most disappointing - because he doesn't get it, he does not know what ails the US education, and second of all, he is scared $hitless to cross his sponsors at NEA. So he did not show an ounce of leadership. I'm in education and let me tell you, he gets it. He gets it loud and clear. Teachers are underpaid and their workload has trebled over the past 10-15 years. Some schools are so financially strapped teachers have to pay for some materials out of pocket. One of the guys in my cohort has a wife about to give birth.....she hasn't work for the past three months. He had to take a second on his house to get through it financially because teacher pay is scheisse. Making matters worse is the fact that the attitude of kids has become more indifferent to learning over the past ten years. With both parents working, kids get little educational encouragement at home. Teachers are expected to parent as well as teach. Some of the younger guys in my cohort who graduated as recently as 5-6 years ago are saying they can not believe the attitude of the current crop of kids. They don't want to do the work in class and refuse to do homework, believing they have an sense of entitlement. Here in WA state we are being told that we are not turning out enough scientists and engineers for local industry in WA state schools so outsiders/foreigners will have to fill those jobs as natives do the lesser work. Add to all that, gangs, school violence, deteriorating physical plants and huge numbers of English-as-a-second-language learners and you have a real mess. And it doesn't help that the GOP has made public schools and teachers public enemies #s 1 and 2. Your leaders have done everything they can to cutback on public school spending while promoting programs such as vouchers with the ultimate goal of dismantling the public school system in this country. Hopefully, with a new administration and the demonization of the GOP party, there will be a more positive approach to education in this country. But one thing for sure, Barack Obama gets big time what is wrong with education in this country!