FRANKSMITHSAYSNB EDITORIAL:
A Herald on-line article last week regarding a conference that was held at CCSU recently; the conference brought together politicians and educators from Connecticut; some people from NB attended, namely, BOE President Beloin-Saavedra and Merrill Gay. The subject discussed was how to raise the reading level scores of 3rd graders in urban public schools. Most of what was reported in the Herald article appeared to be the "same old, same old." Lou Salvio commented on the article and wrote:
Someone once said that doing the same thing over and over again, the same way (s) and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
Mr. Merrill Gay and public school officials have been around for a long time saying the same things, year in and year out and doing the same things, result? Reading scores for our NB 3rd graders are at or near the lowest in the state practically every year; put another way, "insanity." Also, "parents need to be more involved and, there are too many absences, etc., etc." And this is new stuff? Are you kidding!
One can go to grocery stores, WalMart or other stores on any day of the week (Monday-Friday) and see parents shopping with school-age children; saying there are too many absences does nothing about the problem. Why aren't school age children in school when they should be? Is it a culture thing? Apparently, many parents must feel that someone else will take care of teaching their kids something. Yes, it's important for parents or guardians be involved in schooling their children. But someone must come up with a workable plan to accomplish this, a plan with measurable objectives. So far, parents have shown that they can't do it and the professionals just wring their hands and talk about it. Just throwing more money at the problem has proven to be un successful.
Give credit to Albert Einstein for the quote on the definition of insanity. The problem is the role of the parents not understanding the importance of education and reading. They were raised in the same kind of family. It becomes a Catch 22 position.
ReplyDeleteO'Brien's appointment of Jerri Brown Springer to be Chairman of the Finance Committee is a real disappointment. Who, in their right mind, would appoint a former principal to that position unless he plans to give the BOE every dime they want! O'Brien will put the blame on Springer whose husband was a radical teachers' union man. He is advancing his own cause. Watch your property taxes go up.
As you say, more money does not make for a better education. The third graders have been failing for years. This is not new.
Good thing most Democrats are graduates of seriously inferior public schools run by unions. I doubt too many of them can read this!
ReplyDelete"We have a “progressive” and broken education system."
ReplyDeleteSchool vouchers are the answer!
ReplyDeleteGive the parents the choice of what school they want their children to attend.
Mr. Gay is a product of PBS. Need I say more?
ReplyDeletePBS should simply be eliminated. In a free enterprise system, it they can't compete in the open market, then they are not worthy of existence.
ReplyDelete