April 30, 2018
Apr 30 03:55 Follow the money—again (Written by Rambling Rose) Apr 30 04:37 Cautious optimism spreading Apr 30 20:57 Turnabout is fair play Apr 30 21:37 Elizabeth Warren helps Jon Tester
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Follow the money—again (Written by Rambling Rose)
Follow the money - again!!
Written by Rambling Rose
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the investment (current years/dollars as reported) in K-12 education with state and federal tax dollars:
Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools in the United States in 2013-14 amounted to $634 billion, or $12,509 per public school student enrolled in the fall (in constant 2015-16 dollars).One would expect good returns on such investments, but the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as The Nation's Report Card, released earlier in April, gives the nation's schools a failing grade. Only 37% of the high school seniors tested as proficient or better in reading, and only 25% in math. Among the black students, the results were even lower: 17% proficient or better in reading, 7% 'at least proficient' in math.
It gets worse. Nationally, the graduation rate is over 80%. That means that the high school diploma has lost its meaning. With the high school diploma in hand, 63% of the graduates are declared proficient in reading at the 12th grade level when the test scores reveal the opposite. Likewise, 75% of high school graduates are deemed proficient in math skills when they are not. For black students, the numbers are even lower as noted by the test scores in the previous paragraph.
What does that diploma certify? Attendance? Are those young people ready to continue their postsecondary education?
Apparently. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that '70 percent of white high school graduates in 2016 enrolled in college, and 58 percent of black high school graduates enrolled in college.' Studies report that two-thirds of community college students enroll in at least one remedial course as do 40% of those in a four-year institution. Many universities hire special tutors to assist their athletes, many who read at the fourth- to eighth-grade levels .
College professors admit that they have had to "dumb down their classes" in order to teach their inadequately-prepared students. Others have removed the analytical components of the programs. Majors have become "studies" with the emphasis on social issues. Sadly, the cycle continues. Many of the least prepared enter education, as revealed by their intended majors reported by SAT scores - 26th of 38 options.
The executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, the organization that represents every state's top education official, Carissa Moffat Miller, stated "Today's release of The Nation's Report Card confirms that there is still much work to be done to close achievement gaps and ensure that our young people are ready for success in college, careers and life."
Yes, there is much work to be done - by teachers, administrators, politicians, students and PARENTS. Parental involvement and schools with a focus on academics and not 'justice' issues would be a start.
It appears that dollars alone are not the answer.
Posted Monday, April 30, 2018 3:55 AM
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Cautious optimism spreading
While it's still best to be cautiously optimistic about achieving a lasting peace between North Korea and South Korea, it's indisputable that optimistic signals keep getting sent from the Korean Peninsula . This time, the signal comes in the form of "the South Korean government said on Sunday that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, had told President Moon Jae-in that he would abandon his nuclear weapons if the United States agreed to formally end the Korean War and promise not to invade his country."
It's best not to get too giddy until this initiative gets fleshed out more. The devil is still in the details. Still, it's another hopeful development in negotiations between North Korean President Kim Jung-Un and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea.
Further, "In Washington, Trump officials spoke cautiously about the chances of reaching a deal and laid out a plan for the dismantling of the North's nuclear program, perhaps over a two-year period. That would be accompanied by a 'full, complete, total disclosure of everything related to their nuclear program with a full international verification,' said John R. Bolton, Mr. Trump's new national security adviser."
Pundits have questioned whether President Trump would get hoodwinked by Kim Jung-Un, possibly because they still don't think he's capable of being president. If there's anything I trust about President Trump, it's negotiating abilities. If that's what the left is worried about, they don't have to worry. The thing that they're forgetting is the fact that Trump studied the deals past presidents have made. That's led to a different negotiating style this time. That's what's led to this:
This is still the best protocol when negotiating life-changing treaties:
[Video no longer available]
I trust that President Trump and National Security Adviser Bolton will verify that North Korea is living up to its obligations.
UPDATE: Moon Jae-In, South Korea's president, thinks that President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize "for his role in talks to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and end the decades-long war between the North and South."
If that happened, journalists' heads would explode. Here's hoping it happens.
Posted Monday, April 30, 2018 9:45 AM
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Turnabout is fair play
Turnabout is Fair Play!
by Silence Dogood
Last Thursday, the HR director sent out an email to the campus community indicating the vice presidents and president recommended not allowing alternate summer schedules for staff.
Since all of Saint Cloud State's administrators are state employees, what about having each administrator voluntarily report their hours on campus for each of the Fridays during the summer? The expectation, of course, is that they should be available on campus for eight hours each Friday. Where appropriate, they could indicate that they used vacation time to allow them to be off campus. Just to be helpful, they could use the form reproduced below.
In this way, the campus community could see that the campus is appropriately staffed on Fridays with senior administration leaders and it would also provide a higher level of accountability. Clearly, if the clerical staff need to be on campus on Fridays, it seems only logical that members of the senior administration would be willing to do so as well. Remember leaders lead!
Don't hold your breath!
Posted Monday, April 30, 2018 8:57 PM
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Elizabeth Warren helps Jon Tester
Say what you want about Elizabeth Warren, aka Pocahontas. She's nothing if not politically flexible. It wasn't that long ago that Sen. Warren " trashed the politically vulnerable Montana Democrat for supporting a landmark bank deregulation bill." This week, Elizabeth Warren "is coming to the rescue of Sen. Jon Tester in the face of escalating attacks by President Donald Trump."
In her fundraising letter, Sen. Warren said "Jon and I don't agree on everything - but I know that Jon makes every decision with the working people of Montana and all across this country in his mind. He's a good and decent man, and right now he needs our help."
Rather than calling her Pocahontas, I'd argue that it's more appropriate to call her Pinocchio. What "good and decent man" throws a military veteran under the proverbial bus for purely partisan gain? That isn't what I'd consider the actions of a good and decent man. Listen to what Sen. Tester said in this press availability:
[Video no longer available]
Less than 30 seconds into the availability, when asked to confirm Sen. Tester's statements, Sen. Tester said "I just can't confirm it at this moment in time." If that's the case, Sen. Tester, why didn't you just do your due diligence rather than leak this information to the press? I'm betting that Sen. Tester wouldn't have followed this path had Adm. Jackson been appointed by President Obama. I'm betting that Sen. Tester would've quietly checked into the allegations rather than leaking it to the press. In fact, I'm betting that had Jackson a) been nominated by President Obama and b) had been guilty of the charges, Sen. Tester would've swept that information under the rug.
Later in the video, the MSNBC anchor and the MSNBC correspondent admit that they don't know if the allegations were true or false. Since then, however, we've found out that the Secret Service has issued a statement that emphatically said Adm. Jackson wasn't guilty of the accusations leveled against him.
Meanwhile, Sen. Warren has defended Sen. Tester, saying "Jon's a man of integrity and courage, and I know he's not going to back down or change his votes because of a television commercial or a tweet. But he needs our help to build the sort of grassroots campaign that can go town-to-town, person-to-person, to talk about what this election is really about."
Finally, Sen. Tester defended himself, saying "It's my duty to make sure Montana veterans get what they need and have earned, and I'll never stop fighting for them as their senator." What a crock. Sen. Tester has less integrity than the witch that 'entertained' the media at this weekend's White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Posted Monday, April 30, 2018 9:37 PM
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