Yes, I agree, blasting pub. ed is not what we need to do. Most of the people on here are educated in the public system. Maybe.

However, if the private schools had to deal with the number of problem students and special needs students that we do, they would have just as many issues to deal with. The Catholic school here sends any kids with issues to the public school.

I agree, with Gisky, there is a need for public educational reform. There is just too many poorly trained and under qualified teachers in public education. For Gocke Stock and Barrel to use the lame excuse that there are too many special needs/problem kids that they have to work with as justification for poor schooling, he must be a prime example of the 40K coaster that was mentioned above. The reality is that every child in school is special needs. Not one child is the same and they all have differentiated learning needs!

What we have is a teacher system that keeps training and teaching to the middle and they do a poor job of that. For the past 10 years, reading scores have been stagnant. There has been no gain! As per the National Reading Panel.

If you want real educational reform, then you must make the teaching profession accountable for their actions. Eliminate tenure. If a teacher is failing, fire that person. It does not matter if they have 1 or 30 years of service. There needs to be an evaluation process that includes many factors, but all point back to the teacher being held accountable. Now I realize that once we have professional standards for teachers, we should pay them well. But until there is an accountability system in place, teachers are lucky for what they get paid now. Quality daycare does not cost 40 K a year.

NCLB has started to make schools and districts accountable. Look at the legislation that identifies quality teaching. Title II, this is a good place to start. Once some schools are reconstituted and teachers realize the days of poor lesson planning, sitting behind the desk and coffee drinking will not cut it, they will start to do their jobs!
NQEIAB
Need Quality Educators In America Badly!

The quality of educators in the U.S. is directly related to their salaries. Teacher salaries are low and therefore the profession does not attract a good number of elete brains. Not to say that about all, because some teachers get into the profession because they really want to make a difference not just because of the money. I say if we want higher quality educators then the salaries offered must match that need. Any good human resource manager does a wage analysis to see what it will take to compete for the best talent around.

NQ2913028laskalsk;j
what ever your name is...yes i agree we are nowhere near perfect. There are many teachers who 'coast'. I agree. I agree. I agree.

However, I would challenge any 'private' school to compare numbers on these test scores, after having taken in a proportionate number of special needs kids, and mainstreaming them.

On the other hand, I don't think you can blame salary for the problems either. Private school teachers make less...and if you are in it for the paycheck, then you aren't really in it, and might as well get out, because the paycheck is never going to be there.

however, I do not agree that you fire a failing teacher. YOu take steps to make them better, and then if improvement is not made you get rid of or reassign them. There just not enough teachers to replace everyone who cannot live up to your standards. If there were, we would not be in this predicament in the first place.

You all think you got it so bad! You all ought to try some inner city stuff where I am originally from. In Cincy, the schools are really rough and the family kickin all the smack might have somethin to raz. But in Nebraska, you all got it good. LOve the wrestlin and the education. you all should be happy.

In other news, NCLB is a joke at best.
It provides no means of measuring any achievement, it is not universal, it provides no funds to give these extra tests, and has standards well above anything which is realistic. In just seven years, every school is to be at 100% passing scores for all students or that School is considered failing.

JOKE.

George said it best when he said something like
Im going to do for education in America what I did for it in Texas.
Yep, kill it...thats what.

I agree NAACP, we do have it easy here. That is why I never complain when I here we are 45th in salary.

Now, lets get back to the homeschool participation issue.

OK Huenefelds, for what it is worth, here is a suggestion from someone that has gone up against a "good il boy" school board & prevailed- there are a number of steps you need to take IN ORDER to get some satisfaction:

1st-get an attorney! I hated it too but you MUST!
2nd-present Caden's request for participation as an AGENDA ITEM at a regular school board meeting causing a vote to be taken on the record.
3rd-after the school board votes against you, request an ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING on the matter. This hearing will be set up at your school & will be presided over by a hearing officer representing the State Board of Education. If the hearing officer finds in your favor, the Aurora School Board will have to comply with his order or face a decertification hearing!
4th If you do not get a satisfactory result from the hearing then you may sue the school board in District Court.

This sounds like a lot of stuff to go through & it is, but, if you are determined, you must follow through!
Also, your attorney will have subpoena power to look at any & all school documents that have any connection to the case-----that is HUGE!
Like I said, it sounds like a lot of stuff to go through, but if you belive in what you are doing, it will be worth it!

Good Luck!

My brother, Marty McCurdy, asked me to read this thread and post a response. I live in Spokane, WA. I have four children, the oldest being 14, and we have taught them at home from the beginning. We chose to homeschool in part because my husband is a chef and works nights and weekends. My children would rarely see him if they were in school all day. We also wanted to be able to integrate God and His perspective into the subject matter and be the primary influences on our children's lives. We do not believe the public schools are inferior or, as someone said, "not good enough" for our children. If you know my brother, you can probably also guess that we strongly believe in the benefits of sports and the positive impact they can have on a child's life. Washington is very friendly to homeschoolers, and my son participated in wrestling and track in middle school while still being homeschooled. We appreciated this immensely because my son is very energetic and athletic, and we felt we were not meeting those needs at home. I truly believe it was a positive experience for all involved. (He is now enrolled in public high school, and the sports involvement provided an excellent transition.) I am all for choices. I don't think homeschooling is right for everyone, but I believe it is definitely the parents' responsibility to decide what is best for their children; and I think as taxpayers we should have access to any or all of what the public schools provide. My only contribution to this thread would be that the solution lies in mutual respect and minimal suspicion. As example, I am a Republican, but when the Republican Party calls me and plays inflammatory messages about the Democratic Party, I get angry. That is counter-productive to intelligent debate. The same applies here. Some homeschoolers paint the public schools as the enemy. Some public school advocates paint all homeschoolers as wackos. Neither position is true or profitable.

back in 2000 at Med. Valley our stud center was home schooled and took part time classes. He was just a great guy, awsome personallity. I would bet they would do it again in a heart beat.

I read in one of these messages that homeschoolers would have behavioral and discipline problems and have a negative impact on other public school students. Well, I would disagree with that statement.
I just happened to be a sponsor at the Central City Homecoming Dance last Saturday night and Caden was there. He and his friend attended the dance and they were not from our school district. I watched him interact with other students. He was very well mannered and didn't have any negative impact on any students. The other students accepted him and his friend. They were not treated as outsiders.
This is not a structured environment and kids will show their true colors. Caden had no idea that I was paying attention to his actions or would write about him on this message board. I think that he acted just the way he would normally.
I have never met him before and he doesn't know who I am. The only reason I know who he was is because he danced with my daughter and she asked him his name.
I don't think that homeschoolers would have behavioral and discipline problems or negatively impact other students in the public schools just because they have been homeschooled.
Good Luck to you Caden! Hope to see you wrestle in Aurora this year.
Ann Herbig
Central City