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PeakTrader said...

Teachers' union is the biggest obstacle to school reform
February 11, 2011
by Liv Finne

Results show student learning is down, not up.

I got the strongest reaction when I pointed out that our research consistently shows that the teachers’ union is the biggest obstacle to achieving change in our public schools.

Stung by my challenge, union executives surrounded me after the program, loudly objecting to my comments.

My comment: The teachers union is in denial:

Teaching for America
November 20, 2010

Report: 75 percent of young Americans, between the ages of 17 to 24, are unable to enlist in the military today because they have failed to graduate from high school, have a criminal record, or are physically unfit.”

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PeakTrader said...

Morganovich, the achievement gap may be even larger:

Hispanic students now majority in state’s public schools
November 13, 2010

New numbers released Friday by the state Department of Education shows that almost 50.4 percent of the state’s students in the 2009-10 school year identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino.

In comparison, 27 percent of California’s 6.2 million students identified themselves as white, 9 percent as Asian and 7 percent as black. Students calling themselves Filipino, Pacific Islander, Native American or other total almost 7 percent.

Morganovich, it seems, english proficiency is still a big problem in California:

Big lag in test scores for blacks, Hispanics
August 19, 2009

Statewide, only 37 percent of African American and Hispanic students were proficient or above in English - 31 points behind white students and 36 points behind Asian students.

"The lack of progress in truly closing these gaps is appalling," said Linda Murray, acting executive director of the Education Trust-West.

For years, even decades, educators and policymakers have vowed to conquer the achievement gap and they have spent billions of dollars trying to do so - money spent on class-size reduction, teacher training, summer school, after-school programs, mentoring, tutoring and technology, among a long spending list.

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Ron H. said...

Maybe none of these things have much influence on english proficiency. I wonder if educators and administrators have considered contacting the parents.

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PeakTrader said...

Ron, I'm sure they did, and discovered the parents need more teaching than their children

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