Balm'r Educashun

[NorthBeachPerso]

If they could do the math they would know that the odds are not in their favor in sports or music! Having a dream to play in the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB is a great thing to aspire to but having realistic goals usually pays better!

You know that, and I know that, but there's a lot of magical thinking that occurs.

I had a kid one year who couldn't even make the high school team, too short, bad grades (1.0), little ability. Yet he was convinced he was going to be a walk on at Georgetown. His parents, yes 2 of them, encouraged and supported him in that belief.

Since that was going to happen there was no reason to do anything in school. He'd make the team and his future was set.

That's just one example out of hundreds I saw in a 30+ plus year career in a middle/upper middle class high school.

As a note, in that time we had exactly two kids go to the NFL and one who made it to either AA or AAA baseball. None to the NBA although we did have a girl who played in the European women's basketball league.

 

[Baker12]

how was he going to get into Georgetown with a 1.0?

 

[NorthBeachPerso]

how was he going to get into Georgetown with a 1.0?

His skillz.

 

[BernieP]

What a conundrum. How do you teach the disinterested and unwilling to learn? Their answer will to be throw more money at it but we know that will not work. They do not care. Their is no measurable and distinct circumstance to the student who doesn't become proficient in math yet there is a significant downside when that group is used to measure effectiveness.

It starts in the community, at home. Education is not a priority, in fact in some communities it's frowned upon as being "one of them".
Better to be a member of a gang, Snoop can show em how it is.

 

[slowlane]

How can there be thirty-nine high schools just in Baltimore City??

That's more than 2 times the number in D.C., (public, private, and charter) which has a similar size population.

 

[spr1975wshs]

How can there be thirty-nine high schools just in Baltimore City??

That's more than 2 times the number in D.C., (public, private, and charter) which has a similar size population.

Union Jobs = Party in Power votes

 

[NorthBeachPerso]

Union Jobs = Party in Power votes

Teacher's unions, or rather associations, in Maryland are worthless. Baltimore City schools have shed hundreds of staff members the last few years, mostly classroom and school based.

Those schools are open with under enrollment because the communities go bat #### crazy if someone suggests they be closed and the students consolidated.

Anne Arundel has the same problem, they've needed to redistrict for 15 or 20 years to relieve overcrowding but any time someone suggests the people go crazy. The result is some schools there are at nearly twice capacity while others are at 25%.

 

[spr1975wshs]

Teacher's unions, or rather associations, in Maryland are worthless. Baltimore City schools have shed hundreds of staff members the last few years, mostly classroom and school based.

Those schools are open with under enrollment because the communities go bat #### crazy if someone suggests they be closed and the students consolidated.

Anne Arundel has the same problem, they've needed to redistrict for 15 or 20 years to relieve overcrowding but any time someone suggests the people go crazy. The result is some schools there are at nearly twice capacity while others are at 25%.

Thank you for the explanation.

 

[Clem72]

Teacher's unions, or rather associations, in Maryland are worthless. Baltimore City schools have shed hundreds of staff members the last few years, mostly classroom and school based.

Those schools are open with under enrollment because the communities go bat #### crazy if someone suggests they be closed and the students consolidated.

Anne Arundel has the same problem, they've needed to redistrict for 15 or 20 years to relieve overcrowding but any time someone suggests the people go crazy. The result is some schools there are at nearly twice capacity while others are at 25%.

Is that part of the reason why B-City has the second highest per-student funding in the country? And why are all 13 of the schools with zero proficient students Charter schools?

 

[NorthBeachPerso]

Is that part of the reason why B-City has the second highest per-student funding in the country? And why are all 13 of the schools with zero proficient students Charter schools?

A big chunk of the reason Baltimore has such high per pupil numbers is the number of kids with various special needs. Those which are mandated by various federal and state laws and have to be dealt with and paid for.

I can't answer the charter school question, but typically they skim off the top students.

Which should give you an indication of what schools have to work with there.

The typical 5 year old entering kindergarten has a vocabulary of around 5000 words. Baltimore City is less than 2000.

You have kids going to kindergarten who aren't yet toilet trained and who don't know their real names.

 

[Baker12]

does special needs include propensity towards violence, pregnancy, and stupidity?

 

[BernieP]

does special needs include propensity towards violence, pregnancy, and stupidity?

Zero value added. To answer the question, I believe the "special needs" falls under the Title 1 program. No to be confused with those that have a true, medically diagnosed, learning disability.
This is meals, tutoring, etc. to compensate for the problems in the community.

Until the community addresses the problem and stops placing the blame on others nothing will improve. Blame the system, the police, the schools, but at the end of the day it's about personal decisions. Until the community says stop the violence, stop the pregnancy, education is important, it's not going to change no matter how many billions of dollars are pissed down the hole.

 

[littlelady]

Zero value added. To answer the question, I believe the "special needs" falls under the Title 1 program. No to be confused with those that have a true, medically diagnosed, learning disability.
This is meals, tutoring, etc. to compensate for the problems in the community.

Until the community addresses the problem and stops placing the blame on others nothing will improve. Blame the system, the police, the schools, but at the end of the day it's about personal decisions. Until the community says stop the violence, stop the pregnancy, education is important, it's not going to change no matter how many billions of dollars are pissed down the hole.

 

[Baker12]

Since the community will never clean itself up; we have history and 1,000s of examples of negative outcomes by these communities throughout the world, with zero examples of a success story, why not just wall it off and spend the money where it will actually do some good?

 

[black dog]

Teacher's unions, or rather associations, in Maryland are worthless. Baltimore City schools have shed hundreds of staff members the last few years, mostly classroom and school based.

Those schools are open with under enrollment because the communities go bat #### crazy if someone suggests they be closed and the students consolidated.

Anne Arundel has the same problem, they've needed to redistrict for 15 or 20 years to relieve overcrowding but any time someone suggests the people go crazy. The result is some schools there are at nearly twice capacity while others are at 25%.

My oldest sister lived her HS school years with our mother in Arnold, She went to Severna Park HS and graduated in 73, it had two shifts ( morning & afternoon ) of students then.