MORE OF THE SAME BAD IDEAS DEMOCRATS HAVE 'INNOVATIVE AGENDA?'
- From: "jose" <josefsoplar@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 8 Dec 2005 13:43:54 -0800
MORE OF THE SAME BAD IDEAS DEMOCRATS HAVE 'INNOVATIVE AGENDA?'
By: Jeff Adams
Recently, the Democrat Party came out with a 'new agenda,' which
they claim helps to address the U.S.'s declining lead in the
high-tech industry. Much of their agenda is the typical political
stuff, basically attempts to lure high-tech companies into funneling
money into their party. Parts of their agenda are no different than the
agenda of Republicans in that it attempts to coerce businesses to
function in specific ways, rather than allowing the free market to
influence business behavior.
However, there was one part of their 'initiative' that really
caught my eye. Democrats claim that since there aren't enough
students excelling in science and math, an incentive needs to be put in
place. Some 'genius' came up with the brilliant idea, as part of
the overall effort to influence people's actions and get more folks
into high-tech industry, to offer tuition assistance and raise the
salaries of math and science teachers.
There are several things wrong with this short sighted 'solution.'
First, providing tuition assistance for specific studies will unduly
influence people to enter these fields. I know that's what Democrats
want to do, but the odds are that people who really shouldn't be in
the fields of science and math will gravitate towards those studies
just to get the money. We could see growth in the number of students
and teachers in these areas, but they likely will have less than the
desired abilities for math and science, thus giving us a large supply
of unqualified math and science teachers. This won't address the
concerns of the high-tech industry.
Second, giving raises to the math and science teachers who are
currently not producing the improvements in student performance that
are desired is beyond idiotic. What company could stay in business if
it kept giving raises and bonuses to employees who didn't produce the
desired results? Why reward failure?
As is so often the case, politicians want to apply a band-aid to an
injury that requires major surgery. Throwing money at people won't
solve the problem of American students performing poorly in math and
science compared to other industrialized nations. If we want to see
solid results, a major overhaul is needed.
For starters, the feds have got to get out of the way. This means
abolishing the Department of Education, which is nothing more than a
boat anchor around the neck of state and local educators, not to
mention an unconstitutional federal agency spending billions they
shouldn't have access to. Once the federal bureaucrats are out of the
way, then it will be up to the states to take on their own entrenched
PC administrators who are more interested in 'teaching to the test'
to look good, rather than producing true results.
You want kids that excel at math and science? How about setting strict
standards and enforcing them? Not just PC testing goals, but strict
standards on classroom behavior, demands for homework, lots of it, and
aggressive pursuit of the basics in math and science. Throw calculators
out of the classroom and demand the kids actually memorize addition and
multiplication tables, as well as all the formulas needed in geometry,
trig, etc.
Set expectations high for teachers engaging students and students
complying, and quit cutting students slack concerning their
performance. Don't worry about their precious self-esteem. True
self-esteem is born out of taking on a challenge, working hard, and
achieving a level of success. False self-esteem is this '2 plus 2
equals 5 if it makes you feel good' stuff. That's what our
educational systems have been doing for years, and look where it's
gotten us. The U.S. put men on the moon with math and science experts
that grew up doing the basics and learning self-esteem from doing a
challenging job well. What have we gotten since embracing the PC
approach to education?
Instead of doing the same dumb thing over and over (throwing money at
the problem), how about taking a look at the countries that are leading
the way, educationally, in math and science? Look at South Korea,
Japan, and other industrialized nations that rank at or near the top in
educating their kids in math and science. What are their techniques? We
should analyze and borrow what we can in how they approach education in
these areas. This should appeal to the multiculturalists; embracing the
methodologies of other cultures. This should also appeal to people who
really care about our kids getting a good education: the results!
If the Democrats get their way, they'll be doing what government
always does: throwing good money after bad down a pit. Government (at
all levels) needs to get off the backs of teachers and let them teach
their subjects, not taking up all their time with PC clap-trap.
Administrators need to set clear, legitimate expectations on the
qualifications of teachers and then back their teachers up in the
performance of their duties, which is to educate students. That
education should be in math, science, history, literature, and maybe
one or two other topics. Teaching tolerance, diversity, use of a
condom, and all the other non-academic things schools waste their time
on should be reserved to parents, churches, and other outside sources.
Financial incentives are not in themselves a bad thing, but they should
be paid out on the back end. Enticements given to lure people into
teaching have proven to not draw the best and brightest to teaching,
and have a track record of failure in bringing about the desired
results. Quality teaching and longevity in the career field, in
combination, should be rewarded. Let someone prove they are worthy of
the financial incentive first.
"Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with
this notice and hyperlink intact."
.
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