In communities across America, education voters have been fighting to make sure that elected officials don’t short-change our children. We’re demanding that our leaders do whatever it takes to provide America’s children with the skills they need to meet tomorrow’s challenges. And in 2010, our impact will be greater than ever.
We want to know what you think is important, and let you know how important education – and education voters like you – will be in 2010. Working with activists, community leaders, and elected officials all across the country, you can make 2010 the year of education.
We’d like you to know our goals for 2010. In the coming year, Education Voters will:
- Support President Obama’s pledge to transform public education in America.
- Fight to reform the so-called “No Child Left Behind” law so that teachers don’t have to spend all their time teaching to the test.
- Persuade elected officials at every level to put kids first, and hold them accountable when they don’t. Cutting school funding to plug a short-term hole in a state budget is simply not acceptable.
- Advocate for policies that will prepare every child to succeed in the 21st century. That means making sure that every child who graduates is ready for college, and is ready to face tomorrow’s job market.
- Listen to you, and make sure your voices are heard by elected officials from City Hall to the State House to the White House. There are thousands of education voters from all walks of life. This is a community issue, and all deserve to have our voices heard.
We’ll be asking for your help every step of the way, and we’re going to start by asking for your input. Tell us what education issue is a priority in your community. Tell us what a dedicated group of activists could do in 2010 to help.
we must pay our teachers properly. you get what you pay for and it helps them stick around. that consistency is so important.
The State of Delaware allows children to drop out of school at the age of 16 with no legal obligation to be in school after that. I think it is imperative to change the laws in Delaware and make school mandatory until the age of 18.
As the director of an English as a Second Language Program for adult learners which is part of an Adult Literacy Program that also serves students who are struggling to improve their skills in reading and writing in order to pass their GED’s I have seen too many adult who crashed and burned in the public school system. If these adults can’t function and become meaningful contributors to society and better parents then we have failed miserably. Literacy begins in K-12 sector and in the home. Please fund programs that create literate parents.
As a retired, Delaware educator of 32 years, my main concern is what’s being taught in the classroom. When I retired 4 years ago, teachers were teaching only to the test; this did not include some other knowledge that students should know. I taught high school English; we no longer how to do a research paper nor read & discussed novels. This really bothers me.
Another issue is that our governor, Jack Markell, seems to be getting his deficit money from state employees; this is not an even balance. This deficit should affect the entire state, not just the state employees, especially teachers who are paid that much anyway.
As a member of DSEA-Retired and the Coalition of state retirees, we’re fighting Markell & his cronies on every front we can. Perhaps you can help us lobby the Legislature (many who are against Markell’s ideas).
R. Phillips
I now it was the fear of many children, but physical education needs to be a daily activity and 4 years of credit for all high schoolers.
We need help in reducing the cost of higher education and more help for undergraduates and graduates who are struggling with large student loan debts.
forgivestudentloandebt.com
studentloanjustice.org
The defunding of public education is the most important issue in my community. A dedicated group of activists could work to elect politicians who will raise taxes on the rich to fund education.
New Mexico students need smaller classes, smaller schools, more individual focus on each student, and more creative things for teens to do to keep them out of gangs. Teachers should be paid more and be encouraged to be creative, help their students develop critical thinking and social skills, and get their kids outside, rather than teaching to the test. We should be increasing income and property taxes on the most wealthy in order to give all our students a fair chance. New Mexico public high school graduation rates are a statewide embarrassment and need to increase dramatically. Almost all students in South Korea go on to college and beyond, and we should be able to provide the same foundation for our students here.
I supported President Obama and still do. But he and Secretary of education Duncan are heading the wrong way. They will destroy public education unless they are better informed and dump No Child. It is not fixable.
I believe families should recieve vouchers so they can have a choice of where their children can go to school. Children should not have only one choice (public school), when public schools are often not meeting the needs of the children. I also feel that teacher’s unions are hurtful to children. The children need a union, not the teachers. I was a teacher and know from experience how hurtful unions can be.
Fight to reform the so-called “No Child Left Behind” law so that teachers don’t have to spend all their time teaching to the test.
Persuade elected officials at every level to put kids first, and hold them accountable when they don’t. Cutting school funding to plug a short-term hole in a state budget is simply not acceptable.
Provide adequate teacher to special needs children coverage so that non-special needs kids are not held back by attention geared to the special needs kids. Special needs means special needs – not maintreaming them without special teaching assistance in the classroom.
Provide enough gifted programs at all levels of education – elementary through high school.
Better reward our teachers for the tremendous jobs they do and implement an objective-as-possible merit-based reward system.
I live in a small mile square boro (Morrisville,PA) which is attemptimg to support our public schools at the expense of the children. We really have no tax base other than home owners. We are surrounded by a large district (Pennsbury) which refuses to take us into their district. I believe our kids are being short changed by this devisivness. I am also concerned about inner city kids who are being deprived of an equal education. It is inexcusable. Education is a lot less expensive than building jail cells to house the nations neglected kids turned adults.
We have Major issues with our Administrators not telling us the truth about the schools finances. Since the new Superintendent has been here for the past three years, they have managed to spend 9 MILLION out of the general fund reserves. Past superintendent was able to put 1-2 MILLION into the reserves.
Our issue is financial accountability or lack of. They continue to come to us for more and more money and they ALWAYS get what they want. They continue to put levies and bonds on the ballot till they pass. We have a web site filled with only the facts of how the school officials are spending our money. MSBGWATCH.COM check it out sometime.
Thank you
How about applying more sex education and I mean practical and apolitical sex education similar to the model in the Scandinavian countries where it is so successful the rate of teen pregnancies is almost non-existent.
Also, there should be more civics classes in the high schools and colleges so the students can get more acclimated with their system of government, how it works, what they can do to be citizen activists. It will help to decrease the stupidly ignorant choices these American citizens make when they go to the voting booths on Election Day.
As a teacher, I can tell you my number one priority is being able to TEACH, not counsel, not monitor, not do paperwork, not jump through hoops, but to have quality instruction time with children. However, a major factor impairing my teaching is students who come to school unready to learn. When children come to school tired from being up all night, hungry, worried about covering the fact that they don’t actually live in the district, they can’t learn. When children come to school without a clue as to how to respect adults, they can’t learn. When children have everything at home done for them by helicopter parents who blame the teachers when the children misbehave, they can’t learn. Parents have to get serious about education so their children can learn.
I believe hiring qualified teachers is a priority. Teachers are required to get their master’s degrees in Ohio, but then are too expensive to be hired. The only teachers getting hired are brand new teachers right out of college no experience, no master’s degree because they are cheaper because the schools have no funding!!.. I guess changing the way schools are funded would correct this problem!.. Schools should NOT be funded using property taxes!!
1)I believe that maths and science are not taught properly, let’s face it, our high school students are not getting to the required levels to graduate except in small numbers. Maybe the tests are hurting the teachers, but I believe the teaching level is not up to snuff. So, put more emphasis on better maths and science teachers. There are way too many classes that are available to students, classes that have very little bearing on a good education.
2)Take a look at what the Europeans teach their students, and also take a look at extending a) the school day, and b) the school year. If we can’t get the blighters up to snuff in the current school day and year, have them go to school longer, it will not hurt them.
3)Change the start times for high school and elementary students. The high school students need more sleep than they get and the little ones are up early anyway. And don’t give me any of that baloney about the older students need to get out of school early so they can work on the farms or go to work flipping burgers so they can buy beer and cigarettes.
“It seems that Academics + Food = Achievement.” That’s the view of one teacher at Roll Hill elementary school where Childhood Food Solutions has provided a food safety net for 600 low-income students, ON NON-SCHOOL DAYS, for over a year. And food seems to be making a difference.
During this year, students had “above expected growth” on 8 of 10 Ohio “Value-Added” academic measures. As part of this gain, Fourth Grade Reading Proficiency increased by 85% and Math Proficiency increased by 98%. Many consider that fourth-grade proficiency results predict future success or failure in life.
We want to know if something as simple as providing food on non-school days is leading to changed lives. Childhood Food Solutions plans to continue its Roll Hill (Pre-K to 8th grade) program to verify the value of providing food to children for non-school days. You can see how we do it by clicking on the short video at http://www.kidsfed.org. We provide children with food for the 187 days they are not in school.
legislation to prohibit teacher strikes
If we support Obama’s policies, there wil be no job market when my kids graduate. Ther is no job market with Obama’s policy.
I think the biggest thing that needs to be fixed, changed, eliminated is No Child Left Behind.
As a mentor in an inner-city middle school, the inequity
of our educational system was unmistakable. In the same
county, there were brand new auditoriums built, better
curriculum taught and the children who benefited from
those resources had an advantage over the children who
attended the school where I was mentor. There may be a
difference in income status, BUT there is no child lower
or higher or one child who deserves better or worse
education than another; this has got to stop! Equal
opportunity for ALL!!!!!!
Provide the necessary resources to pay for all day kindergarten and all other unfunded mandates, such as the staffing positions found throughout the OEBM.
Ask the teachers what they need/want!
(lower teacher to student ratio? More involved parents? More involved communities? More classroom funds?
My only concern to share is that everyone needs to know that expensive computers ARE NOT the answer to every educational problem! Sometimes its pencil and paper, sometimes its one on one time with an adult educator, sometimes a mnemonic song to help with memorization, sometimes its a meal/snack, sometimes its a quiet nap…etc.
Thank you.
Local school control with national and regional accountability.
Money to modernize, and in many cases, to make schools habitable.
Curriculum to prepare kids for working world and college.
Teacher salary needs to reflect the professionalism and importance in society. We get what we pay for.
In my community, a well-rounded education has been sacrificed for a focus on test preparation. As a parent and teacher, I am sick of it. I want my children to learn art, science, social studies, music, and physical education. Right now, these subjects are being pushed aside so that teachers can drill reading, writing, and math skills just to increase the schools’ API scores. It is unfair to both the students and teachers, and it has got to stop!
Here is Sumter South Carolina, the drop out rate is horriffic. We need progams in place the reach out to lower achieving and low income students to make sure that they stay in school and either move on to college, technical school or an apprenticeship in a trade.
Our school has a good AP program and an IB program and even good programs for special education, but not enough is being done for the majority of the kids who fall in the middle.
Not everyone is bound for college and we need to make sure that those kids who know they are not, also know that there are other educational and career options open to them so that they can be a success.
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SECONDARY SCHOOL AND FURTHER TRAINING/EDUCATION THROUGH PROGRAMS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES WILL ENABLE YOUNG PEOPLE TO BE BOTH EDUCATED AND TRAINED FOR HIGHLY SKILLED, VITALLY NEEDED OCCUPATIONS IN SAFETY, ENGINEERING, HEALTH FIELDS, COMMUNICATION, AND SUPPORTING SOCIETY/ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS.
THE USA NEEDS ITS DEDICATED YOUNG PEOPLE TO HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN ITS HEALTH, WELFARE, AND SOCIALLY SUPPORTIVE PROGRAMS. EDUCATION HAS BECOME MORE ABOUT COST AND MUCH LESS ABOUT HAVING AN INFORMED ELECTORATE WITH THE POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE/CHANGE.
Hi. My request is fairly simple.
It seems that there is always a strong desire on the part of leadership to do something big and dramatic. My request is for leadership to propose a policy that all schools try initiatives on a small scale first, measure their effectiveness, and then ramp them up if they prove cost-effective.
Our children take far too many standardized tests. For about 8 weeks each year teachers are teaching students to prepare them for the PSSA exams or Forsyte tests. This causes undue stress to our children and I feel it takes away time that could be better used teaching actual curriculum.
A big priority is to dunp No Child and replace it with grants to the state with out micomanaging from Washington.
No Child will be wonderful once Secretary of Education Duncan makes his recommended changes!
Repealing Prop 13 in California and completely reforming the education funding structure would be a huge help here.
Present federal mandates are compromising students ability to compete on a global level. Deadbeat teachers in this area of Pennsylvania are protected by a strong union that pays good and bad teachers alike…this short changes the students who are stuck with a “deadbeat”.
We must do a better job of getting government, community members (includes large and grass roots organizations), and schools working together to address the academic and social needs of our children. Until EVERYONE sees their role in solving the problems and is willing to DO SOMETHING to address the problems, we will continue to TALK about what needs to be done.
As you know, it is time for ACTION…ALL ADULTS ACCOUNTABLE, ALL OF THE TIME, NO EXCUSES!!! Thank you for your continued commitment to the education of our children.
The biggest issues in Cheltenham Township, PA are with the relationship between local government and development contractors. We are in the process of reconstructing an elementary school and a middle school. The elementary school project was supposed to be completed in a year, and is now approaching a fourth year. When complete, the elementary school will no longer have a significant playground or athletic field area. It will simply house more students in an archaic inflexible structure, to learn test taking. Contractors, who could not meet originally bid deadlines, have been rewarded many times over for their incompetence. The middle school project promises to be more of the same.
The conversion of a defunct golf country club for residential use threatens to add to the burden of our schools to service more students, without any new school building construction required on the part of the contractor, at any level. Cheltenham Township is already one of the most heavily taxed municipalities in the Commonwealth, and its performance on standardized tests continues to fall (though still of considerable standing). As The American Prospect recently published in its pages, it is not unreasonable for municipal governments to require some civic effort on the part of contractors, who may be able to command higher prices from on-site day-care and elementary school facilities. It is time for municipal governments to develop and enforce social as well as construction contracts from those who pretend to do business for the public good.
Broaden the base of support for education reform by emphasizing the economic benefits for all. Businesses are retained in the community, new businesses are attracted, standard of living improves, property values increase, talented workforce becomes available, etc. Let local school personnel focus on the kids and on what methods to use, curriculum to follow, hours to operate, etc. They are the educational professionals. Boards of education set the vision and expectations and local school personnel are held accountable for achieving results.
Focus on systemic change, i.e., how public education operates. The U.S. Department of Education has said we must move away from “rules-based governance” (the old bureaucracy) and move toward “performance-based accountability”. The Brookings Institution has stated the power cords must be cut from schools. School Boards, district and state education officials set standards but they must play a less directive and more supportive role with local school administrators who must be properly prepared for their new roles.
Teachers are crucial for success. They are partners in this endeavor and not just employees. Establish a school bonus system whereby every employee (teachers, administrators, secretaries, maintenance workers, etc.) in the school could earn a bonus based on the school’s overall performance. This encourages a “team” mentality and helps to remove “dead wood”.
Eliminate line item budgets, permit surplus funds to be carried over to the next fiscal year, and authorize local administrators to shift approved funds as needed. This would result in less waste and more “bang for the buck”. It will “individualize” the school’s resources to meet unique needs.
The essence of administration is decision making and the mark of a professional is self-direction. More power must be placed in the local school buildings balanced by increased accountability. Recognizing educators as professionals with increased authority and bonuses will help to attract the “best and brightest”.
No Child Left Behind does not include all students. It completely ignores the “Rodney Dangerfields” of the student population who “get no respect”, the gifted and talented. Let’s develop all the talents of every student and make our battle cry, “Max every child”.
When computers were introduced in the late 40’s they performed small calculations using vacuum tubes. How they operated required large rooms, generated a lot of heat, and used tremendous amounts of power. There was little demand for this new invention. Today computers are still doing those small calculations but how they operate has changed to micro chips. Now the computer is indispensable. Education will always include math, reading, etc. but imagine what will happen if we change how education operates. Imagine if we made a systemic change.
Our education system is broken. We need new innovative ways to keep children of the new millenium engaged and we need to do it togethe…. parents, teachers, legislators. College is the new high school and our institutions have not been able to keep up to speed with the changes in our world. Maybe students should learn at home on the computer and then come to school to apply and to extend that learning in a collaborative environment….just like in the real world. The kinds of skills that will be required in the future are of a different nature than they were even 10 years ago. Read Daniel Pink’s book>
The inequality in expenditure per child among rich and poor school districts is enormous in Illinois and many other states due to excessive reliance on local property taxes for funding. State governments, including Illinois, need to put in their share of the funding. Given the huge state fiscal deficit, Illinois and many other states will need to raise the state income tax to do so. The underpaid poorly qualified teachers in the relatively property-poor districts drag the average test scores down, so that the US fares poorly by international standards.
In the Spring most state budgets will be actively debated and education groups (as well as local property tax payers associations,farmers, and parents) need to form the standard coalition to raise state income taxes, lower state property taxes, and get a bit of additional revenue in the process to balance state budgets. This is typical of successful state school finance reform efforts in the past. Even in a recession year a school finance reform effort of this type is better than more regressive sales taxes and expansion of gambling.
i would suggest that more funding be put into afterschool programs and community programs and have them compete against each other , city wide or state wide.
have spelling and history competition .
we need more activities to keep the young people off the streets.