Educon "News" A Possibly Satirical Look at Education

From the Dallas Morning News:

The preliminary House budget plan underfunds public schools by about $5 billion a year — the difference between what the plan proposes and what school districts are supposed to receive under current law for such things as enrollment growth, teacher merit pay, technology improvements, pre-kindergarten grants and compensation for losses in local property values...
Moak, Casey and Associates, financial consultants for Dallas and several other large school districts, have estimated that the proposed House cuts could force a loss of 80,000 to 100,000 jobs in school districts across the state. In Dallas, the projected reduction was nearly $239 million under one scenario and $253 million under another.
The NEA report also looked at average teacher salaries, finding that Texas teachers rank 31st with an average salary of $48,261. That is nearly $7,000 less than the national average of $55,202 for the 2009-10 school year. A decade ago, Texas ranked 33rd in the comparison.

From Obama's State of the Union speech:
That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It's family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair. (Applause.) We need to teach them that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline. ..
Let's also remember that after parents, the biggest impact on a child's success comes from the man or woman at the front of the classroom. In South Korea, teachers are known as "nation builders." Here in America, it's time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect. (Applause.) We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones. (Applause.) And over the next 10 years, with so many baby boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science and technology and engineering and math. (Applause.)
In fact, to every young person listening tonight who's contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child -- become a teacher. Your country needs you

Hmm...not on the same page!

Educon "News" A Possibly Satirical Look at Education in Texas

The royal governor of Texas has decided to fast-track legislation related to photo-ids for voting, sanctuary cities, and requiring sonograms for women seeking an abortion while being unwilling to fund education in Texas. The Right-wing Republicans (RWRs) in the legislature refuse to provide funding for the increase of 170,000 new students in Texas and rather choose to cut funding to public education...hmm, they apparently want more Texans born but don't want to educate them, provide health care for them or other basic services...

He would see how terrible this looks if his perfectly coifed head weren't so far up his arse.

Here's the full article:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/19/2022606/texas-budget-draft-cuts-137-billion.html


"Rep. Jim Pitts, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he would explain the proposal to the chamber on Wednesday.

"There are no sacred cows for this next biennium for our introduced bill," Pitts said last week. "So many people said, 'You cannot cut education'. You can't not cut education . . . We will be cutting every article within our budget. We will be cutting health and human, we will be cutting education and we'll be cutting our own budget in the Legislature." "

No sacred cows, eh? How does he account for this?

"While almost every other state agency would see a reduction in employees, the average number of full-time employees in Perry's office over the next two fiscal years would go to 132 from an average of 120."

Sigh...

There are days I am ashamed to admit that I'm a Texan.

Educon "News", A Possibly Satirical Look at Education

The royal governor of Texas has decreed that he will see to it that the state of Texas quickly moves to on-line instruction for every child who cannot afford private schools. His highness stated that instruction with real teachers is "so 20th century and, besides, it requires taxes". He is contracting with the group Schools Handling Instruction with Technology to create regional learning labs run by facilitators who do not need a degree. A single "teacher" can "teach" at least 1000 students a year rather than the financially draining normal load of about 150 students. All grading will be done automatically by computer. "Soon," the governor proclaimed,"We'll be able to have a 1 to 2000 teacher to student ratio. Imagine how many tax dollars that will save! All we will need the school facilities for is to maintain the athletic programs." The parents association representative's only comment was, "As long as my kid is out of the house from 8:00 to 5:00 and being kept out of trouble, it suits me just fine."

Educon "News"The royal governor of Texas pushed through his plan to pay for public education in Texas by charging a $5 fee per person for those who visit adult entertainment-strip clubs-venues. He also added extra education taxes to cigaretts and alcohol, i.e., he is funding education with 'sin' taxes. Texans are encouraged to sin freely and often. In response to the new legislation, schools have begun selling cigarettes and alcohol in their vending machines and created smoking lounges for students. School calendars which advertise local businesses that support the schools have replaced their common advertisers with ads from "Bably Dolls" and "Ricks" plus "Bud Light" and "Malboro". Dozens of schools have changed their mascots to camels. Selected school sponsors have donated poles to be added to the dance rooms for use by the drill team and dance classes. Schools receive extra funding for these classes now since they are now considered job training classes. Dancers from various clubs have volunteered to help with dance classes and drill team choreography. Attendance at home football games has increased by over 300% as the videos advertising businesses on the scoreboard are now provided by the new sponsors. Representative Com N. Sense suggested an education tax on guns and ammo sold in Texas but this was quickly dropped in response to an impassioned speech by Rep N. R. Aye, who supported a $50 fee for a Texas id card to allow people to vote, as being an unconstitutional and, more importantly, an unTexan tax on a basic human right to own as many guns as one wants. Instead, Rep Aye said that gun owners should get a tax credit for every gun that they buy.

Country club state

The royal govenor of Texas has decreed that he plans to make the state the largest country club in the world by not funding any services to the young, the poor, the elderly, the infirm, or those trying to earn an education or those public servants and others who work in professions that serve these populations. However, the rich will be just fine and able to enjoy their good fortune in a state in which the message to all the others is "You must work to provide for those who do not need aid or you must leave the state". His plan for those in need is to provide bus service to the other side of the state line along with a piece of a cardboard box and a "brand new sharpie pen" so they can "fend for themselves if they can find people who care". At this point, hope is not warranted in the state in which the state motto of "Friendship" has been dropped.

Educon "News"

defintions:
data-driven decisions-(1)use of selective information chosen to support decisions made by those in authority who have no experience in the field in which their decision applies and who are not impacted by the decision but which creates extra unnecessary work for those who actually do the work and have experience in field, (2) devotion to selected information contrary to common sense and experience but which supports administrative agendas

Semester Two

It's the first day of the second semester. Yeah!

"The United States Congress, acting with large bipartisan majorities, at the urging of the President, enacted as the law of the land that all children are to be above average." ~ Charles Murray on No Child Left Behind

Day One

This is the inaugural post for the Teaching Texans blog. Please be patient and supportive as I learn how to do this.