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• Tom's friend March 18, 2005 10:02 pm

  

  “No Fear Education”
  There are many who say
  That the Bible today,
  Is ‘old fashioned’
  And couldn’t be true.
  A collection of tales,
  Of blood, floods and whales,
  That was written by men with ‘no clue’.
  Just a weird book of fable….
  It’s writers? Unstable.
  (And besides……today things have all changed.)
  We’ve no need for a story,
  That’s so bloody and gory,
  Which was penned by some guys,
  Quite deranged.
  We need facts that are real,…
  That we can measure and “feel”.
  (Give us nebulae, black holes and quarks.)
  No more mythical stories,
  And vague allegories,
  With “miracles”, crosses and Arks.
  We’ve moved way beyond those…..
  (And our wisdom still grows!)
  Soon all of our woes will be solved….
  And the world we can save!
  Mankind? Well-behaved!
  (Ain’t it swell to be highly evolved?)
  If we could just see,
  How good we can be,
  Then this world would be nifty and keen.
  No more war or starvation.
  The “Fix”?…..Education!
  Just teach children how not to be mean!
  You see, school should be fun—–
  (“Make Nice 101”)
  Where each one is part of “The Team”.
  All A’s? We’ll give freely……
  Pass/Fail…..”Touchy-Feely”.
  Our goal? (Not Truth)……Self-Esteem.
  In these schools where all’s fun,
  Where each child’s “Number 1”,
  We’ll mold minds of the next generation.
  They’ll be Proud….Standing Tall!
  Pumped up and installed,
  With confident “Ego-Inflation”.
  We’ll rebuild this tired nation,
  Teaching “Pride Education”,
  To the children in grades K through 4.
  We must touch them while small,
  So the seed of Pride falls,
  In a soil that’s unspoiled at the core.
  We must reach the kids fast,
  Or The Word from the past,
  Might scuttle this scheme we’ve devised.
  Just don’t let them hear it!
  (“Blest are those poor in spirit…”)
  Hearing some things is just ill-advised!
  We’ll push cyberspace/ lasers,
  (Also “crystals” / stargazers)
  Meditation and yoga, we’ll use.
  We could even get fancy…..
  And try necromancy!
  Like, hey man, you know….
  What’s to lose!?
  Learning’s got to be “groovy”,
  (Like watching a movie)
  For our young to be reached now in school.
  It’s the only way, man!
  This pedagogical plan,
  Forged at Woodstock is radically ‘cool’.
  Our country is sinking….
  (Where is critical thinking?)
  Why, today we just “go with the flow”…
  “Get in touch with your ‘feelings’!”
  (Relativity’s dealing
  A hand from a realm far below.)
  The Words of our Savior,
  Don’t guide our behavior.
  Today new goals we do swallow.
  We hunger and thirst,
  At the trough where “Me”‘s first;
  In the mud we consistently wallow.
  The conscience is seared,
  When the Lord is not feared,
  In the heart of each generation.
  If Truth is not sought,
  Satan’s Lie will be bought,
  In the guise of “New Age” education.
  ~ Tom Graffagnino

• Ann March 18, 2005 1:23 pm

  

  I totally agree with you Steve about test scores. And, by the way, I’m a democrat, and can’t stand Bush! I guess I have some Republican views when it comes to fiscal policies.

• steve March 18, 2005 10:35 am

  

  Well I’ll be a Republican’s uncle! I guess Nathan and Ann are correct about the Teaching positions – at least in their states. I suppose some other states may need more.
  So, Ann, No, I don’t think they are too high. I guess the salaries are where they’re supposed to be if there’s a good demand to become a teacher. I think that’s a good thing. Maybe they should open up more teaching positions, lower the class size. I know Dept of Education is usually the first one on the chopping block for budget cuts.
  OR MAYBE it’s so hard to find a job nowadays that all the teaching positions are filling up . . . how does that theory grab you?
  My problem with this whole NCLB thing is that it tries to hold teachers avccountable by test scores alone. I don’t believe that it’s fair to teachers, and I think it winds up hurting the quality of the education our children receive.

• Ann March 17, 2005 3:38 pm

  

  Thanks Nathan. In the Chicago suburbs there is no shortage of teachers – there are a lot of teachers with experience waiting to get in. I still say $36k is a really good starting salary. I looked up other entry-level salaries and found that accountants, architects, insurance agents, financial analysts, consumer loan officers and paralegals, to name a few, start around the mid $30k. And you’re right Nathan, a lot of teachers make a lot more. Their raises are good, and I don’t believe there’s a cap of any kind. We have teachers in our district that make well into six figures.
  Ann

• Nathan March 17, 2005 12:09 pm

  

  Steve,
  I actually don’t see the shortage of teachers. Some of my college friends had to go as far as maryland (to a private school) to find jobs. A few other friends have yet to find teaching jobs, although they are holding out for jobs in Ohio.
  Teachers also make quite a bit more than 36k, at least the ones I know. Granted they’ve been teaching for about 10 years. One guy who was my project manager for awhile went back to teaching and is makign about 65k as a high school teacher.
  I won’t try to apint the rosy picture everywhere, but from my experience here in Ohio teachers are paid well and there is no shortage but an over-saturated market.
  I do think 36k is too low a salary for teachers regardless of summers off, but it’s also safe to say that people knew the salries before choosing to be teachers.
  -Nathan