CHEAT TO SURVIVE

The latest cheating scandal in the Atlanta school system once again screams that the insane education system based on massive testing programs is a gigantic failure.  In Atlanta administrates and teachers have been tried and convicted of falsifying test  score to save their jobs and get promotions.   The testing craze has been going on for far too many years when it is common knowledge that this process does not function as intended.  Concentrating  on math and science has led to less instruction in other equally important areas of education.  Less civics, less gym, less art, less music.  Less of everything deemed unimportant to the likes of Arnie Duncan.  The total failure of his Chicago school plan was proof enough that his theme did't work.

In an effort to make teachers accountable for the scores attained by their students sounds good on the  surface ,but every attempt to establish an honest evaluation system for teachers has failed.  Using test scores as the basis for said evaluation and then trying to supplement those with other unrealistic measuring devices brought fervent opposition from teachers unions.

The huge amount of money in each district set aside for buying tests has detracted from all other programs in the system.  If your performance is not tested then you can figure out how to fund your class on your own.

One has to wonder how the current thinking the quality of teachers is not up to snuff.  One has to ask why does the average teacher lasts but 5 years.  Having an inside track to this information leaves me with little wonder why they would leave so soon. In this day and age where good paying jobs are few and far between things inside have to be pretty unbearable to make them leave. But leave they do.

Since the mid sixties when they started messing with a system that was working well for the country up till then but change had to happen..  I remember going to PTA meetings when the new math was being pushed as the new trick thing.  I did not have a lot of company when I objected to the abandonment of good ole math that one needed for everyday living.   At the same time a new reading program was brought into service and proved pretty early on this was going to be another failure.  It was based on a self guided tour of some damn uninteresting books.  Some kids were said to not being reading at grade when an examination of what they were supposed to read were pretty damn boring.

Change after change has led to less and less performance.  Longer days, way to many hours of homework , back packs, crappy lunches and downtrodden teachers leads us to where we are today.If what I'm told is correct high schooler's of all ages cannot follow a simple 10 step outline to accomplish a task.. They hate to read and generally won't unless pressed.  A general lack of knowledge about most things and sent into the world unprepared for what faces them.

Even though the changes in education system has not worked on we go to doctors and Medicare.  They want to apply the same kind of nonsense to health care cannot have any different outcome than achieved in education.  They say they want to measure the quality of care being administered by doctors and hospitals by checking on the repeated returns to hospital soon after being released. Damn little has been put out to the patient on these changes.  Doctors are already refusing to take Medicare patients that can only get worse under the proposed system..  A doctor would be reluctant to take on patients with complex problems, hell it's going to affect his pay.  I can see where a hospital would hold on to patients longer (not a minus) so they don't have to readmit them too soon.

Take a hard look the next time you hear someone say for instance "crime rates are down"  what you  might find is the only change has been a reclassification of a crime to a lower level.  The next time you hear a new low unemployment number just scream "bullshit"  and go over to shadowstats and get the real number.  The next time we are asked to go to war better ask"why in the hell would we want to do that?

It's getting harder and harder to be a good citizen. We are over policed  by what appears to be a bunch of bullies with guns and badges.  All the news we are handed through our MSM is propaganda instead of news.  We are being led to wars for reasons that are less than true.  We watch our government pull false flag operations to topple regimes we don't like.  We see our leaders talk of a first strike nuclear attack being doable (it isn't) .  Leadership in program after program are caught cheating to make themselves look good.

Maybe it's time to have and evaluation of our government officials at all levels.  Hopefully we would be able to put together a system that would be fair and allow us to weed out the deadwood.
How we get back to a country that works in a system controlled by corporations and the money they buy the things they want from government.  How do we elect a congress not beholden to the moneymen?  How do we return to a workforce that gives and honest days labor for an honest days pay?  How do we keep from slipping further into a third class nation?