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Education Secretary Arne Duncan Pushes to Aggressively Expand Charter Schools While Admitting Problems
- 23-6-09
- Categorized in: EducationNews Reports
Education Secretary Arne Duncan Pushes to Aggressively Expand Charter Schools While Admitting Problems
The Obama administration has made opening more charter schools one of its top priorities in its plans to improve the nation’s education system. On Monday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke at the annual gathering of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington, DC. His address came on the heels of a new Stanford University report that found that, on average, students in charter schools were not faring as well as students in traditional public schools. [includes rush transcript] continue...
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I have just watched part of a program where Sec. Arne Duncan makes the statement that kids need to spend more time in school. Â I believe he was saying "13 months" might be enough (I understand the statement).
There was a derogatory statement made about the fact that our students have 3 months away from school and tend to forget. Â I can understand the concept of the statement, but it is totally DUMB to say being away for so long is the problem. Â I am sure there are lots of studies. Â One thing I have found about studies is that they tend to prove what the author WANTS them to prove.
To say that TIME IN CLASS is what makes the difference means either that someone is NOT knowledgeable about reality OR they are being dishonest.
Koreans get January and February out of school. Â In addition, they get August out of school. Â Correct me if I am wrong, but that is also 3 months. Â Yet they tend to score at the top. Â Do they have longer school days? Â NO!
Rather than going into all my arguments, the bottom line is that the best schools come from the fact that the PARENT is interested in the education of the student. Â To just say "all parents are interested" is totally false. Â How do I know? Â FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE!
The Korean parent is not only overlooking the student's education, they also spend well over 10% of their income on sending their children to "hagwan" Â which are an after school session. Â In other words, the parent is pushing their kids to excel in school AND spend the family money to insure it.
Maybe the question should also be "Why do Koreans want their children in American schools?" Â If our system is so bad, why would they want the kids in our schools?
It really bothers me when people will overlook the HONEST reasons we have problems in schools and only look at programs that "work", but without being honest as to the reason why they work.
Stop being dishonest! Â Admit that every successful program works because of the PARENT... not the program itself!