Contemporary Issues, Pt.

II, or,
If you think teaching is easy, you are in for a big surprise!

School Choice, Facts:

Private & parochial schools have always been a choice to public education, cost kept out the poor New choices: charter schools (independent or district sponsored), alternative, magnet, open enrollment, home schools, internet, and distance learning Arizona, Cal., Mich., Texas, & Fla. lead, but about 2/3 of states have charter schools Study results are mixed as to whether charter schools are superior to traditional ones, it seems to have more to do with the characteristics of the students and families than the type of school

 Conservative View
Competition is good, monopoly bad Milton Friedman: father of choice movement Libertarians: NO govt. control of education Privatization: allocating some or all of ed. functions to private industry. America spends more and gets less for public education than any other nation.

Liberal View
Public education is the American Dream, its about every school being excellent Access to all, equal opportunity Charter schools, vouchers, and credits are sometimes backdoor schemes to bring back religion or racism. What the conservatives really want is one system for the privileged and another for the poor, handicapped, & disadvantaged. Is it improved instruction or white flight?

Consensus:
Parents have the right to choose NCLB, standards, & School choice have been major forces in school reform More changes are coming Idahos Constitution strictly prohibits use of public $ for sectarian purposes so vouchers & tax credits are unlikely in Idaho Charter schools are here to stay, the debate is how many and what kind

Separation and Inclusion (vocabulary)

Separation: placing students in ed. settings based on ability or needs Inclusion: putting all children in similar settings LRE: Least restrictive environment ELL: English Language Learners LEP: Limited English proficiency GATE: Gifted and talented education IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act FAPE: free and appropriate public education IEP: Individualized Education Plan (required for all sp. ed. students)

 Facts
Almost nothing is so hotly debated among professionals and the public Liberal and Conservative labels dont really apply Different studies have reached dramatically different conclusions Special education is VERY expensive (double or more) More and more children are being diagnosed as special needs

Positives
Children today are much more accepting and supportive of special needs children Special needs children have made impressive gains by being included. FAPE, IDEA and LRE are the law!

Negatives
Special needs children in reg. classrooms require extra attention, skills, time, and planning. Inappropriately placed children can hurt others and themselves pulling up the bottom can mean pushing down the top.

Consensus
Special needs children will demand much of your time and energy Focus on every child, not just the special needs ones Never compromise or water down curriculum, but think carefully about what you teach that really matters Enrich, enrich, enrich: your skill as a teacher is crucial Common sense is sometimes lacking in the debate Dont enable or encourage a sense of entitlement by singling out special needs children for preferential treatment Severely handicapped or dangerous children should be isolated Alternative settings work, but the goal must always be eventual inclusion, the real world isnt about special treatment

Your Job as an educator in the New America

Multiculturalism isnt a debate, its a fact Teaching is not a career for the lazy, poorly adjusted, or bigoted. Change is the new same old thing Learn good personal habits (money and morality) Separation & segregation is still a problem (de facto vs. de jure) America is aging, Baby Boomers are retiring If only old people vote, and young people dont, guess who is going to win the policy wars? Technology will be a key to future education You will be preparing children for jobs that dont even exist yet. If you never learned the work ethic, learn it now Collaboration and team play mean more now than ever, and finally, Learn it and teach it!

The Bridge By: Will Allen Dromgoole

Your journey will end with the ending day, You never again will pass this way, You've crossed the chasm deep and wide, Why build you this bridge at eventide?" The builder lifted his old gray head, "Good friend, in the path I have come," he said, "There followeth after me today, A youth whose feet must pass this way. The chasm that was as naught to me, To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be, He, too, must cross in twilight dim, Good friend, I am building this bridge for him."

An old man going a long, high way, Came, at the evening cold and gray, To a chasm vast and wide and steep, With water rolling cold and deep. The old man crossed in the twilight dim, The sullen stream had no fears for him, But he turned, when safe on the other side, And built a bridge to span the tide. "Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near, "You are wasting your strength with building here,