School bus problems

[BuddyLee]

I find it interesting that the teachers top out at around $70K while Admin positions top out at $118K.

Isn't there an admin making close to a quarter of a mil in Calvert?

I recently heard they took out the Tech ed. and culinary arts programs in the middle schools. It was only 7 or so years ago that I was in middle school with these very programs. Why on earth would someone strip the kids of these? lol<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

[hamsterfang]

Isn't there an admin making close to a quarter of a mil in Calvert?

I recently heard they took out the Tech ed. and culinary arts programs in the middle schools. It was only 7 or so years ago that I was in middle school with these very programs. Why on earth would someone strip the kids of these? lol<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

I feel the same way as you do about some schools systems getting rid of tech. ed. and home ec. programs. Some schools systems are even cutting out music and the arts, especially in the costly theatre department. I think that the first thing that people think of when they're trying to cut costs are eliminating the "unnecessary" elements. Rather, the things that they feel are unnecessary. This is just my personal opinion, but I think that there is more in this life to learn than math, science, English, and history. Kids need to discover their talents (carpentry, art, acting) in order to help them discover who they are. Programs like these encourage personal growth.

 

[Railroad]

I feel the same way as you do about some schools systems getting rid of tech. ed. and home ec. programs. Some schools systems are even cutting out music and the arts, especially in the costly theatre department. I think that the first thing that people think of when they're trying to cut costs are eliminating the "unnecessary" elements. Rather, the things that they feel are unnecessary. This is just my personal opinion, but I think that there is more in this life to learn than math, science, English, and history. Kids need to discover their talents (carpentry, art, acting) in order to help them discover who they are. Programs like these encourage personal growth.

First let me tell you that I'm a real turd when it comes to school and education issues. I'm a VERY conservative parent whose kids have made it out of public school and are now in college. I support corporal punishment in the home, in schools, and on school buses. The whole issue of who-sits-where could be solved by assigned seating (we had that when I was going to school in Montgomery and PG county).

I think we can save tons of money by getting rid of gymnasiums and shower rooms and extra lockers that support "physical education." Drama and music are okay but they are extravagances that need to be scaled back. Industrial arts (tech ed) and cooking/sewing, etc. are practical, needed by everyone. Art classes are also a good idea, except that art appreciation should be a bigger component of that instruction.

The purpose of schools as I understand it is to educate the children in preparation for careers or college (or both). That means that attention should be almost undivided in concentrating on Reading, Writing, Arithmetic (and higher math), Science (including Physics), History, and Geography.

Hamsterfang, I want to commend you on a well-written and properly spelled post. (Seriously - many people apparently can't do that).

Before I became semi-retired, I was a supervisor with one of our local DoD contractors. We had a young lady working with us as a clerk typist. She was a Great Mills High School graduate.

She came in to work one day and asked me if there really is a time difference between Lexington Park and Chicago, Ill. I spent 15 minutes or so explaining time zones and Geography.

I know other adults who can't tell you which war happened first: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, or World War I. I've been asked whether or not the Battle of Bull Run happened in the Revolutionary war.

I know a LOT of adults who apparently can't spell and punctuate, let alone compose a grammatically correct sentence.

Yet I also know people from Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany who can speak and write in English better than most of the American adults I was just referring to.

 

[hamsterfang]

Great Mills High is in need of some serious reform. All I ever hear about this school is negative (fights, poor academic performance, teen pregnancy, drug use, etc.). I graduated from Patuxent High in Lusby, Maryland where the teachers are, in my opinion, some of the best that I have ever had in my life. They are dedicated, hardworking, and just seem to love to teach.

I definitely agree with you that nonessential subjects such as art and theatre should not take precedence over essential subjects such as math and English. I do, however, disagree with you on corporal punishment. I have to say that if a teacher ever tried to hit me when I was a fourteen year old freshmen, I would have probably hit them back. Hard.


By the way, I already know I would have lost the fight (so nobody get on me about that).

 

[suzeQ]

Great Mills High is in need of some serious reform. All I ever hear about this school is negative (fights, poor academic performance, teen pregnancy, drug use, etc.). I graduated from Patuxent High in Lusby, Maryland where the teachers are, in my opinion, some of the best that I have ever had in my life. They are dedicated, hardworking, and just seem to love to teach.

There is a GMHS PTSA meeting tomorrow night to address these concerns. It's at 7 p.m. in the Media Center. I'm hoping for a big crowd with lots of suggestions on how to change things. A new principal would make a huge difference.

 

[Bogart]

I have to say that if a teacher ever tried to hit me when I was a fourteen year old freshmen, I would have probably hit them back. Hard.

You are a badass.