I am not sure about the academics performace of public schools, but the common sense level appears to be dropping rapidly. At least it is here in Georgia.
Below is an excerpt from Todayâ??s Neal Boortz. Are you getting things like this where you live? Is stupidity on the rise or only the reporting of it? What are your views?
NOT A GOOD WEEK FOR GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS ....
... but then, what week IS a good week for turning your child over to the government to be educated?
Dacula High School, Gwinnett County, Georgia
You heard about this last week on the show, and you saw Larry Nease on CNN this morning. "Doc" Nease is a science teacher at Dacula High School. For the past 10 years or more Doc has had a policy in his classrooms that if you fall asleep or disrupt the class you will get a zero for your class work for that day, or your grade will be cut drastically. Little Wesley, the football player, fell asleep in class. In fact, after an assignment was handed out Wesley the Football Player just put his head down on his desk and went to sleep. He did his assignment that night and handed it in the next day, as was allowed. But he got his zero. Wesley the Football Player's Daddy came to school to complain. Did the principal stand by the teacher? Nope. Did the Gwinnett County School Board stand by the teacher? Nope. Doc Nease was fired. Twenty-three years teaching, and he was fired because he fulfilled a promise he made to his class -- in writing -- that if you fall asleep in class you can get a zero for that day's work. The dictate from the teacher was included in a class syllabus that all students had to sign. I'm told that our football player's parents also signed the syllabus. No matter. You just don't screw with high school football players.
Spencer High School, Columbus, Georgia
You've heard about this one too. Spencer High School. Columbus, Georgia is a heavy-military area, home to Ft. Benning. Kevin's mother is an Army Sergeant. She's in Iraq. Kevin is in Spencer High School. Kevin's mom calls him on his cell phone ... from Iraq. It's lunch break at the high school, so Kevin goes outside to take the call. One of our wonderful government teachers sees him and demands he hang up. He explains that his mom has called from Iraq. This matters none to the teacher. She demands he hang up and tries to grab the phone. In the tussle the call is disconnected. The teacher starts marching Kevin to the principal's office. His mother calls back. They refuse to allow him to take the call. He gets belligerent. Who the hell wouldn't? He knows his mom is in dangerous territory. She could die that afternoon in an insurgent attack. He wants to talk to her ... they won't allow him to answer the phone. End result? He gets suspended for 10 days. That suspension has now been reduced to three days ... all due to public outrage.
Bow High School, Bow, New Hampshire
Isabel Gottlieb is a great student. She plays in the school band. She is taking advanced placement classes. Things like calculus and biology. She isn't going to be allowed to graduate with her class. Why? Because she didn't take a required PE class. Physical Education. She holds varsity letters in three sports at Bow High School, but she didn't take this particular PE class. She was told that in order to graduate she would have to drop one of her advanced placement classes and replace it with the PE class. She said no. Now she isn't going to get her diploma. There is no PE class offered during summer school, so that means she might not be able to go to college next Fall. Trinity College in Hartford, CT comes to the rescue. She will take her GED test over the summer and Trinity has accepted her for the Fall semester.
), but I still have zero regrets about having gone. Hell, those "Dangerous" moments were awesome.
), and while my high school didn't have as large a selection of courses or as many extracurricular activities as the public schools did, I still feel like I came out much better based on what I've heard of the actual teaching quality and learning environment in our local public schools. Just about every one of my teachers over the years was very dedicated and hardworking; they definitely weren't in it for the money, they were in it because they loved what they did. It's not about how nice your building looks, how expensive your athletic facilities are, or how many computer labs you have, it all comes down to the actual teachers themselves. If I had to start over and had the choice, I'd do things the exact same way.
