No Child Left Behind is lost

I agree with many, or most, when it comes to No Child Left Behind law. It definitely needs an overhaul. BUT, doing away with the law is a mistake. I have said before that many teachers now are "teaching the test" instead of teaching the curriculum because of this law but doing away with the law or allowing states and/or districts to apply to "opt out" of it is a serious injustice to our children and gives many teachers an reason to not do their jobs. Not all teachers, but many.

I think many aspects of this law need to change and when budgets are continually slashed it becomes extremely difficult for teachers to meet the requirements of this law. Teachers are laid off and class sizes are reaching over 30 children for one teacher. (this also is something that has become a hot topic amongst parents) I find it funny sometimes that only the parents who actually stay on top of their kids by checking homework and attending conferences are the ones who question the School Boards and hold their children's teachers accountable for the way the school and their kids perform.

"Since President Barack Obama announced last month that he would sign an executive order allowing states to request waivers from mandatory participation in the program, at least 27 have signaled that they will ask to opt out, and most others are reviewing their options."..... WHAT?! There better be a whole lot of requirements that they have to meet in order to be approved for that waiver..

"Critics — including many educators — have long said No Child Left Behind locked states into inflexible standards focused solely on reading and math, neglecting subjects like social studies, the arts, health and physical education."... Ok, first of all let me say that this law is not the reason children are lagging behind in Social Studies, Arts, Health and Phys Ed..Budget cuts is the number one reason because when a district needs to shave $250k off their yearly plan, the first thing that gets it is the Arts programs, we all know that so dont blame this law. Second, Health and Phys Ed is not really neglected. I think its hard to assess this when obesity is such a huge epidemic amongst young children due a lot to lazy kids and their parents (i know that will be an argument for a lot). You can't tell me that kids now a days aren't lazy, due mostly in part to their parents. I will totally agree though that Social Studies is neglected. Go to the bus stop in the morning with your kid and ask other kids there to name some state capitols or all the continents or the oceans. I am willing to bet some a lot of them cant do it.

Here is a link to check out the outline for changes. Read and see what you think. I agree with a lot but defintely not allowing states to apply for a waiver to opt out.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/z_Personal/AJohnson/110930_NCLB_Outline.pdf

How do you feel? I'd like to hear someone else's thoughts and not just my own lol...

Our childrens future

So recently i read an article where a Superintendant of a school district in California who gave up $800k of his salary. He will run 325 schools and 35 school districts with 195,000 students for less then a starting salary 1st year teacher...did i also mention he wont get benefits either?? And all to help save his school's budget. How bout that?!

Our glorious Governor here in PA made a choice to balance the states budget by slashing education funding by billions of dollars. My children attend BASD. They're budget was hit hard as well as ASD and many others. The first thing that happens of course is to lay teachers off, which is illegal I've been told to lay teachers off due to budget cuts, which is why when there are budget cuts the first thing a Superintendant will do is try to present a restructuring of things, if you will, so they can get rid of teachers to balance the budget. Ridiculousness if you ask me.

You will NEVER see that happen around here, let me tell ya! The superintendant of ASD not only made a complete mess over there and then quit, but he gets paid still to do absolutely nothing! And of course here in BASD, they lay teachers off too but never once do the members of the Board take a pay but to save not even one teacher or a pay freeze or something, anything! Everyones first response to a budget cut is to do away with teachers. I am perfectly fine with getting rid of some teachers, because personally i think some of them shouldn't be teaching, but there are some really good ones out there too. My oldest child's 5th grade teacher emailed me when he started middle school asking me how he was doing and how he liked it. Now my youngest, some of her teachers were there to collect a paycheck and nothing more and that is where our kids are being wronged.

I could go on and on about BASD i really could but Im sure at some point I will run out of character space. Dont think either for one second this is the last post I will do on the BASD, I am NOT a fan of them and I pick on them frequently. Cheers!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44305388/ns/us_news-giving/t/school-superintendent-gives-pay/#.TluOaLKRyII.email

Hurricane "family time"

With a Category 1 hurricane on its way..this is a warped way to spend quality time with the fam..I had the kids help me pick up the yard, put the chairs up, move everything under the porch, etc...They actually had fun looking for all the flashlights and letting me know they dont work and that we need batteries (did i mention ive already gone to the store and this bitch Irene is set to hit in a few hours) awesome, no batteries BUT we have candles. Theyre outside playing right now bcuz it hasnt started raining, yet, they need to burn some energy before they will be stuck inside, with me. Why does a natural disaster always have a way of bringing the family together, its not funny but i cant help but chuckle. So to all my friends and family, ones evacuated and ones riding it out, be safe and no wind surfing, its prob not safe. Cheers!

Cant Catch a Break

How come bad things happen to good people? Let me rephrase..How come shitty things happen to decent people? There is a difference between the two..Bad things happening to good people is like a kid who is a 19 yr old citizen born to foreign parents, enlists in the army, comes home from deployment and dies in a car crash..Shitty things happening to decent people is like my rotors needing to be replaced after I just put brand new brake pads on the friggin things and the ass who installed them never said a word..See the difference? I don't consider myself to be a good person lol but decent. ANYWAY..I am sure there are tons of areas in my personal make up that could use a face lift..But I try to do the right thing most of the time and I make sure my kids dont follow my footsteps (lol). But its hard to stay decent when you constantly have a rain cloud, not even more like a tornado cloud, over your head (you can ask my mom, she will agree) Now I am sure there are people that will say I should go to church (my mother is cracking up at this i bet as she reads it) or pray or whatever, thats a whole other topic i dont want to get on right now, BUT i dont see how praying is gonna get me good luck. I do agree like i said before i need to change some things about myself. Maybe i should learn how to meditate....but then when the hell would i get the time to myself to get this accomplished....exactly

Expectations

Why are we expected as moms, stay at home unemployed ones, to do it all...on rainy days like this why they hell cant i lay around all day and watch sports with the remote on my stomach and my feet hanging off the back of the couch?? Instead, as exciting as this is going to sound, i get to wash my sheets, again, because my son peed on them, thank you so much for that by the way. I get to dust and vaccuum bedrooms and clean toilets! Awesome...All while running after my not yet 2 yr old who cant keep his friggin diaper on...Oh then the best part is cooking dinner for 4 people who all want different things...2 of my kids are coming home today after being away for the weekend and I usually leave the toilets for them because, hey I am a wonderful mom and want them to do fun things too but because I have a bad case of OCD, i had to do it. Wonderful, thank you very much for that too...Why do we as women, stay at home or unemployed ones, take on the burden of cleaning, cooking, raising children, etc., like it is expected of us because we arent bringing money home?? WELL LET ME TELL YA i am not one of those women. I dont care how much money you bring into this house, your ass better clean something cuz i am going to go lay on the couch with the remote, or almost 2 yr old son, on my stomach and watch Nick Jr all day! (If i could i would watch sports but lets face it, its not going to work out that way)

Under Construction

Please pardon the appearance. I am in the middle of completing this page so it will look like basic shit for a couple of days. You are now following a stay at home, unemployed mom of 3 kids who vary in ages..obviously. I am sure at some point i will offend you, make you laugh, make you cry but hopefully not make you stop reading. Till next time....