LA Teacher's Union demand shut down Charter schools

[Northwoods]

I don't know if this is true or not, but I've seen a few articles stating that the L.A. teachers union says schools can't reopen unless charter schools get shut down and police are defunded.
I'm hoping someone can enlighten me as to how defunding the police will result in schools that are safer from COVID-19.
L.A. Teachers Union: Schools Can’t Reopen Unless Charter Schools Shut Down, Police Defunded | News Break (https://www.newsbreak.com/california/los-angeles/news/0PaXW21q/la-teachers-union-schools-cant-reopen-unless-charter-schools-shut-down-police-defunded)

[Stu from NYC]

Charter schools are doing a better job of teaching our kids and growing rapidly. Some teachers feel threatened so they would like charter schools to go away.

[davem4616]

I don't know if this is true or not, but I've seen a few articles stating that the L.A. teachers union says schools can't reopen unless charter schools get shut down and police are defunded.
I'm hoping someone can enlighten me as to how defunding the police will result in schools that are safer from COVID-19.
L.A. Teachers Union: Schools Can’t Reopen Unless Charter Schools Shut Down, Police Defunded | News Break (https://www.newsbreak.com/california/los-angeles/news/0PaXW21q/la-teachers-union-schools-cant-reopen-unless-charter-schools-shut-down-police-defunded)


Just read the link in the OP....wow, huge list of demands according to the article

IMHO it just doesn't seem plausible to me

yes, public schools aren't happy that funding that could have gone to them goes to Charter schools...and there are a lot of big cities looking to defund the men in blue

but a teacher's union basically threating a work stoppage for these reasons?....I tend to think not..

this is one of those things that I'd check out on 'snopes.com' before spreading it around

[JoMar]

It's CA :)

[Stu from NYC]

It's CA :)

?????

[anothersteve]

Just read the link in the OP....wow, huge list of demands according to the article

IMHO it just doesn't seem plausible to me

yes, public schools aren't happy that funding that could have gone to them goes to Charter schools...and there are a lot of big cities looking to defund the men in blue

but a teacher's union basically threating a work stoppage for these reasons?....I tend to think not..

this is one of those things that I'd check out on 'snopes.com' before spreading it around

Fox, LA Times, NY Post, ABC and more.......all carrying the story. No need for snoops

Steve

[Stu from NYC]

Fox, LA Times, NY Post, ABC and more.......all carrying the story. No need for snoops

Steve

They have a reason to want distance learning due to the virus, for charter schools no way jose

[davem4616]

Fox, LA Times, NY Post, ABC and more.......all carrying the story. No need for snoops

Steve

wow...so this is real....unreal!!!!

[TexaninVA]

I don't know if this is true or not, but I've seen a few articles stating that the L.A. teachers union says schools can't reopen unless charter schools get shut down and police are defunded.
I'm hoping someone can enlighten me as to how defunding the police will result in schools that are safer from COVID-19.
L.A. Teachers Union: Schools Can’t Reopen Unless Charter Schools Shut Down, Police Defunded | News Break (https://www.newsbreak.com/california/los-angeles/news/0PaXW21q/la-teachers-union-schools-cant-reopen-unless-charter-schools-shut-down-police-defunded)

All that achieves, in practice, is to deny black kids a shot at a quality education. Black lives end up not mattering here thanks to teachers unions.

..

[Northwoods]

All that achieves, in practice, is to deny black kids a shot at a quality education. Black lives end up not mattering here thanks to teachers unions.

..

I wish it was that black and white (seriously... no pun intended.). I don't think the Teacher's Union is slighting any race or nationality. They have their own agenda. And I don't think their #1 priority is children. That's really sad.
I do have a lot of respect for the many teachers I know. But I have no respect for the Teacher's Unions.

[Topspinmo]

Time to bust the teachers unions like the federal government did to air traffic controllers union.

[Stu from NYC]

Time to bust the teachers unions like the federal government did to air traffic controllers union.

Very true and so sad that teachers union only cares about its members not the kids they are supposed to be giving an education to/

[mtdjed]

Teachers union pressing to defund Police and ending Charter Schools as a condition for reopening is an indication of their lack of integrity or their belief that in California, that line of thinking works.

The issue of schools reopening relates to COVID-19 which is the reason they are closed. Local taxes (Not the federal government or even the state) pays for public schools. If the Federal Government or State Government provide funds, they set conditions.

If the local government chooses not to open schools, then it is possible that state and US funds may not be available. ie if Federal money is allocated for lunch programs and local government is not opening schools , then that money should not be expected.

If Teachers choose not to work, they should not expect to be paid. Find a new profession, just like Police or anyone else. That is what happens if someone does not want to work where they could be exposed. We should not be expected to pay local taxes to pay salaries of people choosing not to work.

[TexaninVA]

Teachers union pressing to defund Police and ending Charter Schools as a condition for reopening is an indication of their lack of integrity or their belief that in California, that line of thinking works.

The issue of schools reopening relates to COVID-19 which is the reason they are closed. Local taxes (Not the federal government or even the state) pays for public schools. If the Federal Government or State Government provide funds, they set conditions.

If the local government chooses not to open schools, then it is possible that state and US funds may not be available. ie if Federal money is allocated for lunch programs and local government is not opening schools , then that money should not be expected.

If Teachers choose not to work, they should not expect to be paid. Find a new profession, just like Police or anyone else. That is what happens if someone does not want to work where they could be exposed. We should not be expected to pay local taxes to pay salaries of people choosing not to work.

For sure .... no work, no pay.


...

[MandoMan]

I don't know if this is true or not, but I've seen a few articles stating that the L.A. teachers union says schools can't reopen unless charter schools get shut down and police are defunded.
I'm hoping someone can enlighten me as to how defunding the police will result in schools that are safer from COVID-19.
L.A. Teachers Union: Schools Can’t Reopen Unless Charter Schools Shut Down, Police Defunded | News Break (https://www.newsbreak.com/california/los-angeles/news/0PaXW21q/la-teachers-union-schools-cant-reopen-unless-charter-schools-shut-down-police-defunded)

This is being reported by several right wing alarmist web sites (as differing from those that do more research and try to play fair), but it seems that most are simply copying whoever wrote first. One web page says the demands are from the National Education Association, but I’ve just checked and found none of these supposed demands. Another says the supposed demands come from UTLA, the United Teachers of Los Angeles, the teachers union. But I can’t find demands of the sort on their web site. They don’t think it’s safe to reopen schools yet, but I find no demands. Their conclusion is based on a research paper they funded. Here is their link to a summary of that paper. The summary doesn’t mention those demands.
https://www.utla.net/sites/default/files/summary1_page_.pdf
Here is their web site: UTLA recommends keeping LAUSD school campuses closed; refocus on robust distance learning practices for Fall | UTLA (https://www.utla.net/news/utla-recommends-keeping-school-campuses-closed)

The L.A. Times and the N.Y. Times are not reporting these supposed demands in their article about the school district choosing to not reopen this morning.

I conclude, therefore, that the article in your link is not true but is attempting to divide us. I wonder if it is even an American source, but is instead a Russian disinformation source. Russia longs to see us at each other’s throats. United we stand! (I remember being on a train from Moscow to Helsinki in July of 1984. There was a copy of “Pravda” (“Truth” in Russian) in a newspaper rack with a big photo of well-dressed Americans in New York at a taxi stand waiting for a cab. I asked an army officer who spoke English to translate the caption for me. It said, essentially, “Once-prosperous Americans in New York standing in line at a soup kitchen waiting for free food.” So much for truth!)

Thanks for sharing this so we could study it more carefully. This sort of lie spreads like wildfire and makes us hate each other. Put America first and hesitate to believe the lie. Thanks for doing that.

[#1bulldog]

This is just my opinion after 36 years as an educator. I've been a teacher and assistant principal in both settings and I've seen how the charters are pushing many more kids through to graduation. The charters have an edge in parental involvement. Parents go to great lengths to get their kids admitted to charters even though there's often a lottery system used for admission. Check the data across the country. Graduation rates are higher in charter schools and kids are more likely to complete at least 2 years of college, but standards are often not as high as in the public school despite the fact that both must follow state guidelines, no child left behind standards and common-core standards.

Our charter schools in Pennsylvania just don't stack up to the public schools in standardized testing in math literacy and science. There are sometimes uncertified teachers in those areas in the charters. They are well-intentioned, but may lack the depth of knowledge and experience to convey concepts and learning strategies to our youth.

And just try to expel unruly students from the public schools. There are usually disciplinary schools for those "who don't fit in." The charters tend to dismiss their difficult children with great ease, right back to the neighborhood public school. Believe me, I've seen it.

[Dana1963]

Yes I read the same on Brietbart and w other Wired news conservative sites. Actually from union website
California teachers union pushes back on reopening schools as coronavirus cases continue to rise

“Simply said, California cannot reopen schools unless they are safe,” the state's largest teachers union wrote in a letter to state officials this week. July 9 2020

[Sweet Caroline]

I don't trust snopes for anything close to the real truth.

[bp243]

Thanks for providing the research to back up your comments. It’s so much more meaningful than random rumors!

[Bay Kid]

For sure .... no work, no pay.


...

For sure they will be paid even if no schools. That's why they have unions. In VA the teachers didn't have to teach, got paid and lots are selling real estate while they should be teaching. Double dipping.

[RichS$]

Very true and so sad that teachers union only cares about its members not the kids they are supposed to be giving an education to/
The worst union is the government workers...or commonly referred to as the deep state.

[fastboat]

It's CA :)
Beat me to it.

[anothersteve]

All the info:

https://www.utla.net/sites/default/files/samestormdiffboats_final.pdf



"1. Defund Police: Police violence is a leading cause of death and trauma for Black people, and is a
serious public health and moral issue.65 We must shift the astronomical amount of money devoted to
policing, to education and other essential needs such as housing and public health."

"4. Charter Moratorium: Privately operated, publicly funded charter schools drain resources from district
schools — and many have “double-dipped” during this crisis by taking federal small business bailout
loans even though state funding did not decline this school year. 70 In addition, colocation adds
students to campuses when we need to reduce the number of students to allow for physical distancing."

Steve

[Rosie1950]

This is being reported by several right wing alarmist web sites (as differing from those that do more research and try to play fair), but it seems that most are simply copying whoever wrote first. One web page says the demands are from the National Education Association, but I’ve just checked and found none of these supposed demands. Another says the supposed demands come from UTLA, the United Teachers of Los Angeles, the teachers union. But I can’t find demands of the sort on their web site. They don’t think it’s safe to reopen schools yet, but I find no demands. Their conclusion is based on a research paper they funded. Here is their link to a summary of that paper. The summary doesn’t mention those demands.
https://www.utla.net/sites/default/files/summary1_page_.pdf
Here is their web site: UTLA recommends keeping LAUSD school campuses closed; refocus on robust distance learning practices for Fall | UTLA (https://www.utla.net/news/utla-recommends-keeping-school-campuses-closed)

The L.A. Times and the N.Y. Times are not reporting these supposed demands in their article about the school district choosing to not reopen this morning.

I conclude, therefore, that the article in your link is not true but is attempting to divide us. I wonder if it is even an American source, but is instead a Russian disinformation source. Russia longs to see us at each other’s throats. United we stand! (I remember being on a train from Moscow to Helsinki in July of 1984. There was a copy of “Pravda” (“Truth” in Russian) in a newspaper rack with a big photo of well-dressed Americans in New York at a taxi stand waiting for a cab. I asked an army officer who spoke English to translate the caption for me. It said, essentially, “Once-prosperous Americans in New York standing in line at a soup kitchen waiting for free food.” So much for truth!)

Thanks for sharing this so we could study it more carefully. This sort of lie spreads like wildfire and makes us hate each other. Put America first and hesitate to believe the lie. Thanks for doing that.
Unfortunately many many people see things on FACEBOOK and repost it as if they were in church listening to the Gospel of whatever friend posted it.I myself never pass on any info until I have vetted it myself. So good for you for doing the digging.
Just like Tucker Carlson, saying last night that we should not judge people for qualities they cannot control. What does that mean? He was addressing his PROVEN racist writer who had to resign in shame.
So I’m not surprised that Fox would spread that spew, and try to put California in a damaging light, they spread misinformation about NY all the time.
Fox also said “you have a better chance of being struck by lightning then catching COVID-19“
Tell that to 135,615 people who have died. I haven’t researched this BUT I don’t think that many people die in one year from lightening strikes.

[allsport]

I don't know if this is true or not, but I've seen a few articles stating that the L.A. teachers union says schools can't reopen unless charter schools get shut down and police are defunded.
I'm hoping someone can enlighten me as to how defunding the police will result in schools that are safer from COVID-19.
L.A. Teachers Union: Schools Can’t Reopen Unless Charter Schools Shut Down, Police Defunded | News Break (https://www.newsbreak.com/california/los-angeles/news/0PaXW21q/la-teachers-union-schools-cant-reopen-unless-charter-schools-shut-down-police-defunded)

This is false and being pushed on right wing non factual websites. Go directly to the CTA website and you will see the facts in the form of a position paper that the association wants accomplished before school can be opened. It is ALL about the safety of the site and the children and lastly the teachers. The right wingnuts are including things that the Union does support about appropriate treatment for minorities and less police violence. They hijacked a photo from the website and the wingnuts told lies. Do a fact check and you will find that teachers unions are a good thing, they have more collective education than anyone doing the lying. They are professional and like other educated, professional people want the best for their students. Do not treat them like thugs because they have a verbal professional organization.

[Vetter]

My research shows that the UTLA does indeed specifically require defunding of police. Their paper titled

The Same Storm, but Different Boats:
The Safe and Equitable Conditions for
Starting LAUSD in 2020-21
UTLA  July 2020

Available at https://www.utla.net/sites/default/files/samestormdiffboats_final.pdf

covers that issue on page 11, items 1 and 4. So they do indeed state these are issues related to reopening the schools and that they must be addressed before the schools can open. Having been personally involved with an LA Times "investigation" many years ago and seeing up close how they manipulated the truth, the fact that they chose not to cover this story does not surprise me at all and does not, IMHO, make it any less true. The paper they posted does not put the union in the best light, or at least the Times may well feel that it does not, so they elected to skip it.

[Stu from NYC]

This is false and being pushed on right wing non factual websites. Go directly to the CTA website and you will see the facts in the form of a position paper that the association wants accomplished before school can be opened. It is ALL about the safety of the site and the children and lastly the teachers. The right wingnuts are including things that the Union does support about appropriate treatment for minorities and less police violence. They hijacked a photo from the website and the wingnuts told lies. Do a fact check and you will find that teachers unions are a good thing, they have more collective education than anyone doing the lying. They are professional and like other educated, professional people want the best for their students. Do not treat them like thugs because they have a verbal professional organization.

Sorry do not buy what you are selling about teachers union. Try firing a teacher in NYC.
Good luck.

They used to have an entire room or perhaps rooms filled with teachers who they did not trust to put in front of students. So they report to this room to sit and read and do whatever and get paid their salary.

Union might have been good once upon a time when working conditions were generally unsafe but these days think they do more harm than good.

[anothersteve]

My research shows that the UTLA does indeed specifically require defunding of police. Their paper titled

The Same Storm, but Different Boats:
The Safe and Equitable Conditions for
Starting LAUSD in 2020-21
UTLA  July 2020

Available at https://www.utla.net/sites/default/files/samestormdiffboats_final.pdf

covers that issue on page 11, items 1 and 4. So they do indeed state these are issues related to reopening the schools and that they must be addressed before the schools can open. Having been personally involved with an LA Times "investigation" many years ago and seeing up close how they manipulated the truth, the fact that they chose not to cover this story does not surprise me at all and does not, IMHO, make it any less true. The paper they posted does not put the union in the best light, or at least the Times may well feel that it does not, so they elected to skip it.


See post #23

Steve

[sallybowron]

"yes, public schools aren't happy that funding that could have gone to them goes to Charter schools...and there are a lot of big cities looking to defund the men in blue." These funds are to be used to educate children, it does not say where these children must attend school. Every child in a charter school means one les in public schools, one less for the public schools to have to in effect "Pay" for.

[GoodLife]

This is so entertaining.

Original Post: LA teachers union are making some crazy demands to reopen schools

Denialists: It's a wingnut conspiracy, probably planted by the Russians

Several commenters: Here are the demands on UTLA website

Denialists: Crickets, so far

[GoodLife]

This is false and being pushed on right wing non factual websites. Go directly to the CTA website and you will see the facts in the form of a position paper that the association wants accomplished before school can be opened. It is ALL about the safety of the site and the children and lastly the teachers. The right wingnuts are including things that the Union does support about appropriate treatment for minorities and less police violence. They hijacked a photo from the website and the wingnuts told lies. Do a fact check and you will find that teachers unions are a good thing, they have more collective education than anyone doing the lying. They are professional and like other educated, professional people want the best for their students. Do not treat them like thugs because they have a verbal professional organization.

Whenever I hear "it's for the children" I start checking to see if my wallet is still there.

[Vetter]

Sorry, didn't see #23 that when I wrote mine, but we did find the same site. (Took me more than 9 minutes to find it and write reply -- had to do a lot of editing to keep it civil!!)

[The Mountaineer]

Charter schools are doing a better job of teaching our kids and growing rapidly. Some teachers feel threatened so they would like charter schools to go away.

Charter schools are for-profit schools. In Ohio they are a scam to put money into the pockets of their owners, rich Republican donors. And their test scores are worse than in poor public school neighborhoods! I don't see how you can say that "charter schools are doing a better job of teaching our kids." Charter schools are in it for as much money as they can siphon from public schools. Public schools' teachers certainly aren't in it for the money, but for the students. Big difference! Major difference in incentive, too. Money over a children's education.

[sloanst]

Charter school are for the advantage of the student. Government run union schools are for the advantage of the teacher. Charter school remove money from union teachers and they hate it. Charter schools are known to produce students much more ready for college, trade school and work. Government schools just can't compete, they know they can't compete, that's why they want to get rid of Charter schools. Read Thomas Sowell's latest book.

[sloanst]

Thomas Sowell disagrees and I think I will listen to him.

[Stu from NYC]

Charter schools are for-profit schools. In Ohio they are a scam to put money into the pockets of their owners, rich Republican donors. And their test scores are worse than in poor public school neighborhoods! I don't see how you can say that "charter schools are doing a better job of teaching our kids." Charter schools are in it for as much money as they can siphon from public schools. Public schools' teachers certainly aren't in it for the money, but for the students. Big difference! Major difference in incentive, too. Money over a children's education.

The only experience we have with charter schools are in DC and our grandkids go there.

Quite a few disadvantaged children also go there and they are doing an outstanding job teaching kids.

[TexaninVA]

I conclude, therefore, that the article in your link is not true but is attempting to divide us. I wonder if it is even an American source, but is instead a Russian disinformation source.


Unintentionally humorous coupled with an insight into the inner workings of some peoples "thinking" ... talk about conspiracy theories. :shocked:

...

[TexaninVA]

Charter schools are for-profit schools. In Ohio they are a scam to put money into the pockets of their owners, rich Republican donors. And their test scores are worse than in poor public school neighborhoods! I don't see how you can say that "charter schools are doing a better job of teaching our kids." Charter schools are in it for as much money as they can siphon from public schools. Public schools' teachers certainly aren't in it for the money, but for the students. Big difference! Major difference in incentive, too. Money over a children's education.

Public school teachers seem to typically end up reciting the mantra "it's for the children" but ... not really. It's about increasing benefits and never being held accountable for kids who can't read or write when they're pushed out of the pipeline at graduation.

The rich donors stuff is ... pathetically old and shopworn.

[Dave@TV]

Just read the link in the OP....wow, huge list of demands according to the article

IMHO it just doesn't seem plausible to me

yes, public schools aren't happy that funding that could have gone to them goes to Charter schools...and there are a lot of big cities looking to defund the men in blue

but a teacher's union basically threating a work stoppage for these reasons?....I tend to think not..

this is one of those things that I'd check out on 'snopes.com' before spreading it around

Really? You don't realize how radical the teachers' unions have gotten, especially in the bigger cities

[lkagele]

Very true and so sad that teachers union only cares about its members not the kids they are supposed to be giving an education to/

In a sense, they do care about the children. Eliminating charter schools means the public schools can totally control the curriculum our younger generations. That system will indoctrinate rather than educate.

We're seeing those effects now in the form of Antifa and BLM. Founding fathers bad. American bad. Historical symbols bad. Capitalism bad. Religion bad. White privilege bad. After enough time, those students will be in the majority and end up ruling the nation. I think that's what we're seeing now and I fear it is too late to save this great republic.

[MandoMan]

This is just my opinion after 36 years as an educator. I've been a teacher and assistant principal in both settings and I've seen how the charters are pushing many more kids through to graduation. The charters have an edge in parental involvement. Parents go to great lengths to get their kids admitted to charters even though there's often a lottery system used for admission. Check the data across the country. Graduation rates are higher in charter schools and kids are more likely to complete at least 2 years of college, but standards are often not as high as in the public school despite the fact that both must follow state guidelines, no child left behind standards and common-core standards.

Our charter schools in Pennsylvania just don't stack up to the public schools in standardized testing in math literacy and science. There are sometimes uncertified teachers in those areas in the charters. They are well-intentioned, but may lack the depth of knowledge and experience to convey concepts and learning strategies to our youth.

And just try to expel unruly students from the public schools. There are usually disciplinary schools for those "who don't fit in." The charters tend to dismiss their difficult children with great ease, right back to the neighborhood public school. Believe me, I've seen it.

Well said! I say BLAME PARENTS, NOT TEACHERS! It’s not a matter of poverty, or ethnicity, or crowding, even though the problems are worse in poor families and among some ethnicities. If it were, we wouldn’t see some students doing well in the same conditions. Parents need to recognize their moral duty to devote themselves to educating their kids, instilling in them a love of learning, and instilling in them respect for learning and for those who teach.

Kids need to be exposed to interesting adult conversations that are thought-provoking and respectful. The dinner table is a good place for this to happen. Parents should plan interesting conversational gambits based on the days’ events.

Kids need parents to read to them, from infancy, an hour or more a day, and ideally that reading should have vocabularies kids find challenging.

Kids need to see parents reading and figure out that reading and learning are engrossing.

Kids need parents who are respectful, available, and able to answer questions well. Raising kids well isn’t easy, but it’s important.

Kids need time to read and think. They will usually turn to things that are more exciting and require less thought unless those exciting things are restricted so there is time to read. Phones, computers, video games, television, and sports need to be limited.

Parents need to study and prepare and devote themselves to being the best parents possible. They shouldn’t yell. They shouldn’t call their kids names or use bad language. They shouldn’t hit their children. Parents have to sacrifice their time and pleasure to get good outcomes. Bad parents tend not to accept that.

Kids are quite capable of learning to appreciate things like fine art in museums, classical music and opera, great architecture, the nature of beauty. However, it doesn’t come naturally. They need to be taught HOW to see a painting, how to really SEE it, notice and enjoy similarities and differences, color and shape and contrasts. They need to be taught how to hear music and what to enjoy about it. To teach kids these things, parents need to learn it themselves. There are books and websites and videos that teach it. What a wonderful gift to give to children.

I don’t think the worst schools are getting the worst teachers, though many teachers have low morale and are essentially broken and hopeless. The worst schools have the worst-prepared students. Often they have students who are determined not to learn and do everything possible to keep learning from happening in the classroom. They get the education they deserve. The answer is not bussing them to “better schools.” If a lot are bussed in, they just drag down the better schools. Bussing in a handful of average students can work, to some extent. If they are in whole classrooms of good students, they soon learn how to do what they have to do. If they are with a lot of their friends, this doesn’t happen.

The answer starts with parents raising kids to admire learning and want it for themselves. As a college professor, I’d get students determined to come to class late, interrupt classes, not learn. Nearly always there were inner city students at my school with athletic scholarships or some other sort of free education. Some would learn. Most would flunk. My daughter teaches at a university in central Georgia. Most of her students are minority kids. They treat her like garbage and rebel when she tells them to put away their phones and computers. Then they complain when they don’t study or follow directions and get bad grades as a result. These students have been failed by their parents.

[Slevy1]

Dr.Thomas Sowell has written a new book “Charter Schools and Their Enemies” which explains all you need to know about teachers unions and charter schools. A must read.

[Stu from NYC]

Well said! I say BLAME PARENTS, NOT TEACHERS! It’s not a matter of poverty, or ethnicity, or crowding, even though the problems are worse in poor families and among some ethnicities. If it were, we wouldn’t see some students doing well in the same conditions. Parents need to recognize their moral duty to devote themselves to educating their kids, instilling in them a love of learning, and instilling in them respect for learning and for those who teach.

Kids need to be exposed to interesting adult conversations that are thought-provoking and respectful. The dinner table is a good place for this to happen. Parents should plan interesting conversational gambits based on the days’ events.

Kids need parents to read to them, from infancy, an hour or more a day, and ideally that reading should have vocabularies kids find challenging.

Kids need to see parents reading and figure out that reading and learning are engrossing.

Kids need parents who are respectful, available, and able to answer questions well. Raising kids well isn’t easy, but it’s important.

Kids need time to read and think. They will usually turn to things that are more exciting and require less thought unless those exciting things are restricted so there is time to read. Phones, computers, video games, television, and sports need to be limited.

Parents need to study and prepare and devote themselves to being the best parents possible. They shouldn’t yell. They shouldn’t call their kids names or use bad language. They shouldn’t hit their children. Parents have to sacrifice their time and pleasure to get good outcomes. Bad parents tend not to accept that.

Kids are quite capable of learning to appreciate things like fine art in museums, classical music and opera, great architecture, the nature of beauty. However, it doesn’t come naturally. They need to be taught HOW to see a painting, how to really SEE it, notice and enjoy similarities and differences, color and shape and contrasts. They need to be taught how to hear music and what to enjoy about it. To teach kids these things, parents need to learn it themselves. There are books and websites and videos that teach it. What a wonderful gift to give to children.

I don’t think the worst schools are getting the worst teachers, though many teachers have low morale and are essentially broken and hopeless. The worst schools have the worst-prepared students. Often they have students who are determined not to learn and do everything possible to keep learning from happening in the classroom. They get the education they deserve. The answer is not bussing them to “better schools.” If a lot are bussed in, they just drag down the better schools. Bussing in a handful of average students can work, to some extent. If they are in whole classrooms of good students, they soon learn how to do what they have to do. If they are with a lot of their friends, this doesn’t happen.

The answer starts with parents raising kids to admire learning and want it for themselves. As a college professor, I’d get students determined to come to class late, interrupt classes, not learn. Nearly always there were inner city students at my school with athletic scholarships or some other sort of free education. Some would learn. Most would flunk. My daughter teaches at a university in central Georgia. Most of her students are minority kids. They treat her like garbage and rebel when she tells them to put away their phones and computers. Then they complain when they don’t study or follow directions and get bad grades as a result. These students have been failed by their parents.

Well said and think how hard it is for a single parent to do this. One would think society and the black community would push kids to get married and established before having kids to give them something that we should all have.

[ldivens]

Teachers unions may be too political versus interested in education

[Stu from NYC]

Teachers unions may be too political versus interested in education

Not to mention they control the pension fund and wants as many people contributing as possible.

[Bay Kid]

Government and unions. Nothing good is going to happen for children with the fox in the hen house. In VA they are more interested in spending money to change school names than education.

[sipops]

Snopes for an honest answer. I don't think so.

[John41]

Education is about learning different viewpoints. Public schools are intolerant of any opinion but their own.