Day: May 7, 2014

It’s All Michelle’s Fault!

Keeping with the subject of the day, education, I want to talk about my fave part of the school day….lunch.

Well we know that there are those that just cannot resist blaming Obama for everything from terrorism to the rapid increase in hemorrhoids…..in the past many millionaires have jumped on the bandwagon about what our children eat and drink….they spend hours condemning parents for their choices of food for the family…..the problem is that not one of them works for minimum wage and have to prepare food on a budget….they simply piss and moan……but they do have a valid point.

The Prez and his wife started a White House garden trying to bring a new understanding to nutrition……..the act has been praised and condemned, depending on where you stand politically…that in itself is the height of stupidity…….the government set standards that school lunches most adhere to and of course there is a blow back……..this one is one of my fave pieces on the school lunch nutrition program……..

Schools are struggling to adhere to new government rules on healthy lunches, and school officials are asking Washington to step back. “The regulations are so prescriptive, so it’s difficult to manage not only the nutrition side of your businesses but the business side of your business,” a school nutrition director says. Among the concerns are a requirement that grain products like pasta be whole-grain rich by next school year—a rule kids don’t find particularly appetizing, officials say.

The School Nutrition Association is asking Congress and the USDA to lower the whole-grain requirement so that it only applies to 50% of offerings, the AP reports. The association would also like to suspend new sodium limits and ditch the requirement that all meals come with a fruit or vegetable. “If the kids don’t eat the food, then all I have is healthy trash cans,” says another nutrition director. Teenagers, the Wire reports, have found a target for their food frustration: “I blame Michelle Obama,” says one, while another says “it’s gotta be a combination of Michelle and the servers at the school.” Obama did back the law that implemented the changes. But according to a nutrition advocate, Obama is a “cheerleader” for the program, while the USDA actually makes the rules.

How dare the Prez and the first lady support our children eating more healthy….the audacity….the arrogance….civilization is DOOMED!  Did you hear me……DOOMED!

God I love these people!  For without them I would have a lot less to write about.  Please keep them talking!

Charter Schools Gone Wild: Study Finds Widespread Fraud, Mismanagement And Waste | Crooks and Liars

It is no secret that I think charter schools are a colossal con job at best.  To me they are only a way to maximize corporate profits at the sake of our children……both repubs and dems are doing all they can to make public schools a thing of the past and leave the education of our children in the hands of money hungry capitalists……it is not a solution but a growing problem that will take decades to rectify….that is if we as a country finally come to our collective senses…..

 

Charter Schools Gone Wild: Study Finds Widespread Fraud, Mismanagement And Waste | Crooks and Liars.

Is It Education?

Today let’s talk education, shall we?

No secret that I think American education sucks the big one.  It has been in decline for decades and gets NO better…..no matter how much we talk and debate….it just keeps in decline.

We have ll heard, well those of us that are interested in education, about the many attempts by state’s and school districts to re-write history to their liking……never mind that it is false….some attempts are successful and others are being dragged through the courts or the election process.

I read apiece the other day that made me think……..

A California school district is scrapping a lesson plan that allowed middle school students to deny the existence of the Holocaust, Fox News reports. After a wave of criticism and a reported death threat, Southern California’s Rialto Unified School District backpedaled on its unusual method of teaching eighth-graders about propaganda. The lesson plan (part of a “Diary of Anne Frank” unit, the Daily Bulletin notes) asked students to write an essay for or against the belief that the Holocaust occurred—which would help them “develop critical thinking skills,” a school board member said.

Among the critics was the Anti-Defamation League, which expressed its concerns to district Interim Superintendent Mohammad Islam, saying the lesson plan “gives legitimacy to the hateful and anti-Semitic promoters of Holocaust denial,” reports another Daily Bulletin article. Today the district canceled the plan and promised to strike “any reference to the Holocaust ‘not occurring'” from school assignments. Meanwhile, Rialto police said they received several calls from someone who made death threats against Islam and a district spokeswoman. Authorities are investigating, and two officers were stationed today on campus.

After reading the piece I had to think awhile before I came to a conclusion…….it think that to teach students just how propaganda works is not a bad thing and would help them see the lies that are fed to them daily……..First, the stupidity of some just amazes me at times before i realize that it is not their fault……education or the lack thereof is to blame…..second, as a political historian I can understand where they were coming from…..the critical thinking thing, that is…….there is very little of that in society today and teaching students to think out issues is vital….however I do think that some other subject would have made a better test of their thinking skills…….

We need students to be able to think outside of the box……not being capable of such thinking is what has turned our system into the world joke it is today.

I have weighed in….would anyone else like to jump on this wagon?