Texas Gives an Education

[level_head]

I mentioned this yesterday (actually early this morning), but did not get the link in correctly.

Texas and Wisconsin education rankings have been compared, with the Wisconsin union teachers blasting Texas for not having union teachers. Wisconsin’s rank on the National Report Card is #2, they noted, compared to #47 for Texas.

But in fact, Texas

Comments

[kharmii]

That's the problem with a lot of studies. A conclusion is made without considering all the variables. The situations are different.

OT, but kids in Texas attend 100 more days of school than kids in my state of Illinois. We're always getting half-days, Fridays off for teacher's institutes and holidays. I joke that we need to curb the unions here before we get to three day school weeks with 10 student classrooms.

[level_head]

I attended school in Tampa; the classroom size was 500 students, 25 seats deep by 20 seats across. The teacher had a microphone, and two helpers who delivered and picked up papers to the fronts of the rows (who then did overhead passes front and back).

There were TV screens mounted to pillars, and the effect was a bit like the video screens on aircraft; everyone had a screen fairly close by.

It worked surprisingly well. You had to do the work, to stay out of trouble. There wasn't a lot of analysis of individual writing styles, but that seems to be just as true in 25-student classes.

Class size is not the problem, I think. But, as you suggest, unions are.

===|==============/ Keith DeHavelle

[rowyn]

I keep hoping the race/education gap will close, but it's still here. :( At least it's not quite as bad in Texas.

[level_head]

I agree completely. There is a certain genetic aspect going on, but the majority of the disparity seems to be self-inflicted handicaps ranging from an attitude that considers getting a good education to be "falling into the white man's world" to voting for teachers and policies known to produce poor students.

It is unfortunate that one of the people who railed against "succumbing to the temptation of being successful in the white man's world" is very influential these days. He is currently president.

===|==============/ Keith DeHavelle