Thanks

Hey Dr. Pope,

I HAVE ENJOYED OUR DISCUSSIONS AND LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN THE FUTURE AROUND CAMPUS. SORRY I MISSED YOUR "STUDY SESSION" BUT I KNOW EVERYONE HAD A GREAT TIME.
C-YA,
GEORGE

Sorry to skip out on you guys tonight. I am going to the doctor Thursday. They think I might have mono. I was ready to pass out by the time Dr. Pope went to get ice. Anyway, sorry I couldn't add my brilliance to the discussion. lol

Reading articles in the news they discussed the N.C. Association of Educators, which is an association of teachers that acts much like a union and pushes for changes in public policy. Lindsay had asked about Unions and such a couple weeks ago, so I wanted to pass along this link if anyone was interested in taking a look.

http://www.ncae.org/

What's to come of the 2010-2011 school term will be an Education catastophe!

Below is a link to an article out today off the MSN.com news website from The New York Times, warning that teacher cuts are just a "new economic reality" and districts have no choice to cut jobs without any money to pay teachers. It doesn't end with teacher lay-offs, schools are being closed, programs are cut, class sizes enlarged, and school days and weeks are going to be shortened to help save money. Charlotte-Meck's own superintendent, Peter Gorman is even interviewed and quoted for the article stating, "We are doing things and considering options I never thought I'd have to consider." What other options can he possibly be considering? Having teacher's volunteer their time, oh wait! They already work furlough days! Gorman and the Char-Meck school system is expected to cut 600 of the district's 9,4000 teachers, when they had already laid off 120 teachers last year. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is right this is an "education catastrophe!"

This is a state of emergency for our country, and like we discussed last week, Americans can raise millions of dollars for Haiti relief (not that I am knocking that), but what about raising money for our children's school systems? To keep their teachers in the classrooms? Where is the $100 billion in emergency education financing that was passed in the economic stimulus bill from February of 2009? Have we already gone through that money, or are they saving it for a rainy day? Look outside America, it's POURING! I'm with Senator Tom Harkin from Iowa, he proposed a $23 billion school bail out bill last week to help with holding off the lay-offs. I don't believe that districts need to "learn to live with less" like Mr. Petrilli states in this article, the government needs to bail us out and help until districts are well enough to stand on their own two feet. I do believe that raising the excise tax on beer, wine and cigarettes might be the way to go, but only time will tell what ideas lawmakers will come up with to save our schools.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36674830

Yes, Another Video

I know there have been a lot of videos posted recently, but i just wanted to inform yall of this. I know a group did their presentation on how much access you can recieve on students. And this little video talks about how a student in CMS was contacted by a stranger in his school. The person just showed up with a picture, and was given access to the student. Something is wrong with that!

Supposedly, the rest of the story was on the news tonight at 6pm. I was unable to watch it because we were in class, but did anyone hear about this? Do you know any details!? I just want to know exactly how did some stranger just walk into a school, and recieve all of this access. I know, personally, that would not be ok with me as a teacher or just in general. I would have major issues with some stranger coming in my classroom.

Here is the link. let me know your thoughts!

The best acting, is no acting at all! Drop the act and Teach!

Frank McCourt author of Angela's Ashes, was a teacher in the New York schools long before he was an author. This clip describes his take on teaching...His book, "Teacher Man" documents his 30 years in the classroom, to live out his "American Dream" to be a teacher. Is this our "American Dream"?

Frank McCourt states in "Teacher Man"... ""the further away from the classroom a person in education goes, the more he gets in pay, prestige, and perks." Is this true?

Is scapegoating teachers the answer?

Attached is an article I came across in Newsweek magazine a few weeks back and just found it again. It speaks of the decline of the American Education at the hands of the teachers...but what about parents, administrators, school boards and the community? The article discusses how the quality of teachers to some degree is not there. It is stated in the article that "most schoolteachers are recruited from the bottom third of college-bound high-school students." As future teachers, and people who have degrees in studies other than education, how do you feel about this statement?


http://www.newsweek.com/id/234590