1/ A most insightful article from the Times - read the first three paragraphs and you might have an epiphany about the whole teacher debate.....
Excellent, excellent story......
WHEN we don’t get the results we want in our military endeavors, we don’t blame the soldiers. We don’t say, “It’s these lazy soldiers and their bloated benefits plans! That’s why we haven’t done better in Afghanistan!” No, if the results aren’t there, we blame the planners. We blame the generals, the secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No one contemplates blaming the men and women fighting every day in the trenches for little pay and scant recognition.
And yet in education we do just that. When we don’t like the way our students score on international standardized tests, we blame the teachers. When we don’t like the way particular schools perform, we blame the teachers and restrict their resources.
Compare this with our approach to our military: when results on the ground are not what we hoped, we think of ways to better support soldiers. We try to give them better tools, better weapons, better protection, better training. And when recruiting is down, we offer incentives.
We have a rare chance now, with many teachers near retirement, to prove we’re serious about education. The first step is to make the teaching profession more attractive to college graduates. This will take some doing.
At the moment, the average teacher’s pay is on par with that of a toll taker or bartender. Teachers make 14 percent less than professionals in other occupations that require similar levels of education. In real terms, teachers’ salaries have declined for 30 years. The average starting salary is $39,000; the average ending salary — after 25 years in the profession — is $67,000. This prices teachers out of home ownership in 32 metropolitan areas, and makes raising a family on one salary near impossible.
So how do teachers cope? Sixty-two percent work outside the classroom to make ends meet. For Erik Benner, an award-winning history teacher in Keller, Tex., money has been a constant struggle. He has two children, and for 15 years has been unable to support them on his salary. Every weekday, he goes directly from Trinity Springs Middle School to drive a forklift at Floor and Décor. He works until 11 every night, then gets up and starts all over again. Does this look like “A Plan,” either on the state or federal level?
We’ve been working with public school teachers for 10 years; every spring, we see many of the best teachers leave the profession. They’re mowed down by the long hours, low pay, the lack of support and respect.
Imagine a novice teacher, thrown into an urban school, told to teach five classes a day, with up to 40 students each. At the year’s end, if test scores haven’t risen enough, he or she is called a bad teacher. For college graduates who have other options, this kind of pressure, for such low pay, doesn’t make much sense. So every year 20 percent of teachers in urban districts quit. Nationwide, 46 percent of teachers quit before their fifth year. The turnover costs the United States $7.34 billion yearly. The effect within schools — especially those in urban communities where turnover is highest — is devastating.
But we can reverse course. In the next 10 years, over half of the nation’s nearly 3.2 million public school teachers will become eligible for retirement. Who will replace them? How do we attract and keep the best minds in the profession?
People talk about accountability, measurements, tenure, test scores and pay for performance. These questions are worthy of debate, but are secondary to recruiting and training teachers and treating them fairly. There is no silver bullet that will fix every last school in America, but until we solve the problem of teacher turnover, we don’t have a chance.
Can we do better? Can we generate “A Plan”? Of course.
The consulting firm McKinsey recently examined how we might attract and retain a talented teaching force. The study compared the treatment of teachers here and in the three countries that perform best on standardized tests: Finland, Singapore and South Korea.
Turns out these countries have an entirely different approach to the profession. First, the governments in these countries recruit top graduates to the profession. (We don’t.) In Finland and Singapore they pay for training. (We don’t.) In terms of purchasing power, South Korea pays teachers on average 250 percent of what we do.
And most of all, they trust their teachers. They are rightly seen as the solution, not the problem, and when improvement is needed, the school receives support and development, not punishment. Accordingly, turnover in these countries is startlingly low: In South Korea, it’s 1 percent per year. In Finland, it’s 2 percent. In Singapore, 3 percent.
McKinsey polled 900 top-tier American college students and found that 68 percent would consider teaching if salaries started at $65,000 and rose to a minimum of $150,000. Could we do this? If we’re committed to “winning the future,” we should. If any administration is capable of tackling this, it’s the current one. President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncanunderstand the centrality of teachers and have said that improving our education system begins and ends with great teachers. But world-class education costs money.
For those who say, “How do we pay for this?” — well, how are we paying for three concurrent wars? How did we pay for the interstate highway system? Or the bailout of the savings and loans in 1989 and that of the investment banks in 2008? How did we pay for the equally ambitious project of sending Americans to the moon? We had the vision and we had the will and we found a way.
2/ Yeay, the bastards dead!!!
For the last week it's been "All Osama, All the Time" on the news media, but as usual Rachael Maddow has her unique take on this story, one you you might not want to hear.
Her perspective is that Osama's main intention was economic disruption of our economy when they hit the towers in 2001, and when you think about it and add up the expenditures that we have made since 9/11 - he succeeded. She totals the expenses of the Iraq and Afghan wars, the expansion of the military/industrial complex, the Pentagon budget and the changes made in our daily lives caused by this attack 10 years ago.
It's a sobering story, and depressing, but excellent TV journalism.
And on the same subject - a compilation of media bloopers mixing up Osama/Obama. Hmmm.....professional broadcasters? Three minutes.....
Here is the way the corruption in our politics reveals itself - the moment an oligarchy is threatened they throw money at the entity trying to get at them, and almost always succeed.....here's an example....
A hilarious report has come out courtesy of the National Institute of Money in State Politics, showing that Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller – who is coordinating the investigation into the banks’ improper mortgage dealings – increased his campaign contributions from the finance sector this year by a factor of 88! He has raised $261,445 from finance, insurance and real estate contributors since he announced that he was going to be coordinating the investigation into improper foreclosure practices. That is 88 times as much as they gave him not over last year, but over the previous decade.
This is about as perfect an example of how American politics works as you’ll ever see. This foreclosure issue is a monstrous story that is somehow escaping national headlines; essentially, all of the largest banks in the country have been engaged in an ongoing fraud and tax evasion scheme that among other things has resulted in many hundreds of billions in investor losses, and hundreds of thousands of improper foreclosures. Last week, the 14 largest mortgage lenders a group that includes bailout all-stars like Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, managed to negotiate a settlement with the federal government that will mandate some financial relief to homeowners who have been victims of improper foreclosure practices. It’s unclear yet exactly what damages and fines will be involved in the federal settlement, or how many homeowners will be affected. But certainly there are some who believe the federal settlement was a political end-run around the states’ efforts to extract their own deal from the banks.
The ultimate boathouse, with wonderful old wooden boats in storage, owned by a really rich old guy who has the money to indulge his dream....wow.....2 minutes.....
Monsanto, one of the most evil corporations in the world, is at it again. One of their new products uses glyphosate, and a respected scientist is pointing out the long term dangers to our food supply, but since Monsanto owns the USDA nothing is getting done.....
There are real issues coming with our food supply, a lot of them to do with the genetically engineered crops farmers are being forced to use - by Monsanto.....
Why Is Damning New Evidence About Monsanto's Most Widely Used Herbicide Being Silenced?
It turns out that Monsanto's Roundup herbicide might not be nearly as safe as people have thought, but the media is staying mum on the revelation.
April 27, 2011 |
Huber was unavailable to respond to media inquiries in the weeks following the leak, and thus unable to defend himself when several colleagues from Purdue publicly claiming to refute his accusations about Monsanto's widely used herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) and Roundup Ready crops. When his letter was finally acknowledged by the mainstream media, it was with titles like "Scientists Question Claims in Biotech Letter," noting that the letter's popularity on the internet "has raised concern among scientists that the public will believe his unsupported claim is true."Dr. Don Huber did not seek fame when he quietly penned a confidential letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in January of this year, warning Vilsack of preliminary evidence of a microscopic organism that appears in high concentrations in genetically modified Roundup Ready corn and soybeans and "appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals and probably human beings." Huber, a retired Purdue University professor of plant pathology and U.S. Army colonel, requested the USDA's help in researching the matter and suggested Vilsack wait until the research was concluded before deregulating Roundup Ready alfalfa. But about a month after it was sent, the letter was leaked, soon becoming an internet phenomenon.
Tom Tomorrow on how language shapes our politics.......
The Everglades......huge, vast but still vulnerable to pollution, and now there is a new threat that's affecting birds and animals caused by runoff from agriculture......
But don't look for solutions from Rick Scott......
he use of sulfate in agricultural areas near the Florida Everglades is creating an enormous mercury problem — with seemingly no end in sight.
The Florida Everglades are often thought of as the state’s wildest and most untamed area, well-protected and far from the grind of urban civilization, a lush wetland with a folkloric reputation that separates it from the hustle and bustle of nearby Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
Some of the state’s most ubiquitous creatures call the area home: manatees, alligators, wading birds. But lurking below the surface, amid the highly diverse flora and fauna, is a surprisingly large amount of a notoriously toxic substance: Methylmercury.
According to scientists, the Methylmercury issue rivals other better-known ecological issues in the state, like nutrient overload in Florida waterways. Nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen have long been thought of as villains in Florida waterways, due to their capacity to breed toxic algal blooms that lead to fish and dolphin kills.
Sulfate is often used as a means to kill those noxious algal blooms. In this process, sulfate (sulfur combined with oxygen) is added directly to water, eventually finding its way into Stormwater Treatment Areas, manmade wetlands that are specifically designed to filter pollution before it enters the Everglades.
Sea levels are rising, there's no dispute on this. But a new report out this week says the levels that can be expected are five times the 2007 UN report that has been the benchmark for the last four years.
So....by 2010 the sea could be as much as 63 inches higher - yup, five feet....live in South Florida? New York? London? Hmmmm.....
The cover of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean, for example, is shrinking faster than projected by the U.N. panel. The level of summer ice coverage has been at or near record lows every year since 2001, AMAP said, predicting that the Arctic Ocean will be nearly ice free in summer within 30-40 years.
AMAP also said the U.N. panel was too conservative in estimating how much sea levels will rise – one of the most closely watched aspects of global warming because of the potentially catastrophic impact on coastal cities and island nations.
The melting of Arctic glaciers and ice caps, including Greenland's massive ice sheet, are projected to help raise global sea levels by 35 to 63 inches (90-160 centimeters) by 2100, AMAP said, though it noted that the estimate was highly uncertain.
That's up from a 2007 projection of 7 to 23 inches (19-59 centimeters) by the U.N. panel, which didn't consider the dynamics of ice caps in the Arctic and Antarctica.
Katy Perry "Teenage Dream"......average video, but suprisingly subversive lyrics to this song.....amazing the Evangelical Christians haven't been all over this one for promoting teenage sex.....3 minutes.....
Think your waterways are clean in Florida? Well it's all about to change, because Rick thinks those pesky anti-pollution rules are tough on big business, so the rules will be relaxed so 'the boys" don't have to spend money to clean up their effluent - just pump it into the river....
Gov. Rick Scott recently told federal officials they should leave Florida alone and let it set its own water pollution standards. Scott and other state leaders have boasted that Florida's pollution-control laws have put it ahead of other states.
But the Legislature is about to change those laws.
A bill that has passed the House calls for relaxing the standards for how much pollution goes into the state's rivers, streams, lakes and bays. The changes called for by HB 239 will be, says Audubon of Florida's Charles Lee, "devastating," particularly in the Everglades.
"This is what all the polluters are fighting for, the complete overthrow of Florida's water-quality criteria," agreed Linda Young of the Clean Water Network. Struggling to come up with a term for how odious she considers it, she labeled the bill "the mack daddy of bottom of the barrel."
To the businesses that belong to Associated Industries of Florida, however, this is a common-sense move. The current water pollution standards are overly broad, said AIF lobbyist Keyna Cole.
Changing the standards "will really help determine which bodies of water need cleanup first," she said.
The President gave a very good speech at the White House Correspondents dinner, and by tradition a comic follows him - this year it was Seth Meyers from Saturday Night Live, and boy is he great.
If you can follow politics [of course you can, like all DDD readers!] you should find his 28 minute speech very funny indeed and well worth the time. A few in the audience didn't, including the Donald.
One side note - he has the wittiest eyes.....excellent.....
'Saturday Night Live' Weekend Update host Seth Meyers delivered a fiery speech Saturday at the White House Correspondents' dinner, ripping everyone from Washington players like President Barack Obama and members of Congress to media mavens like Katie Couric and Michael Bloomberg.
Donald Trump served as perhaps Meyers' biggest victim of the night. The comedian taunted him for his potential presidential candidacy, saying, "Donald Trump has said he's running for president as a Republican -- which is surprising because I thought he was running as a joke." He also teased Trump for his involvement with the Miss USA pageant, sneaking in a subtle jab at Sarah Palin: "Donald Trump owns the Miss USA pageant, which is great for Republicans because it will streamline their search for a vice president." Trump, needless to say, did not appear to crack a smile.
While complimenting the First Lady on her dashing looks, Meyers blasted the president for appearing to age quickly over the past two years. "If your hair gets any whiter, the Tea Party is going to endorse it," he quipped. Seizing on Obama's sinking approval ratings, Meyers added, "I'll tell you who could beat you: 2008 Barack Obama. You would have loved him."
Todays video - cool under pressure personified......
Todays oldies jokes
The 94-year-old yells back, 'I don't know. I'll come up and see.' She starts up the stairs and pauses, 'Was I going up the stairs or down?
The 92-year-old is sitting at the kitchen table having tea listening to her sisters, she shakes her head and says, 'I sure hope I never get that forgetful, knock on wood.' She then yells, 'I'll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who's at the door'
TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US!!!
Three retirees, each with a hearing loss, were playing golf one fine March day. One remarked to the other, “ Windy, isn't it? ”
“ No, ” the second man replied, “ it's Thursday. ”
A and the third man chimed in, “ So am I. Let's have a beer. ”
TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US!!!
A little old lady was going up and down the halls in a nursing home. A s she walked, she would flip up the hem of her nightgown and say “ Supersex. ”
She walked up to an elderly man in a wheelchair. Flipping her gown at him, she said, “ Supersex. ”
He sat silently for a moment or two and finally answered, “ I'll take the soup. ”
TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US!!!
Now this one is just too Precious....LOL!
Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over the years, they had shared all kinds of activities and adventures. Lately, their activities had been limited to meeting a few times a week to play cards.
One day, they were playing cards when one looked at the other and said, “ Now don't get mad at me. I know we've been friends for a long time, but I just can't think of your name! I've thought and thought, but I can't remember it. Please tell me what your name is. ”
Her friend glared at her for at least three minutes ; she just stared and glared at her. Finally she said, “ How soon do you need to know? ”
TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US!!!
As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang.
Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, “ Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on Interstate 77.
Please be careful! ”
“ Heck, ” said Herman, “ It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them! ”
TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US!!!
Two elderly women were out driving in a large car -- both could barely see over the dashboard. A s they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red, but they just went on through.
The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself 'I must be losing it. I could have sworn we just went through a red light.' A after a few more minutes, they came to another intersection and the light was red. Again, they went right through. The woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it.. She was getting nervous.
At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was red and they went on through. So, she turned to the other woman and said, “ Mildred, did you know that we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us both! ”
Mildred turned to her and said, “ Oh, crap, am I driving? ”
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