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OK, ellem, how do you substantiate your "not true"?

I just googled for "class size value" which seems like a relatively neutral term, I found that in the first three pages of results every reference to academic class size came in agreeing that smaller classes are better, except for one page citing the general opinion of citizens unrelated to any research.

I can't believe it hasn't been solved by now...that was one whole president ago! Here's the old news.

From Edweek:
Starting Maine salary average (in 2000): $24k
Average Maine teacher salary (in 2000): $37k

And also (from the Google cache):

2001 starting salary average: $23.8k
2001 average salary: $36.6k

Not $47k.

-T

California public schools spent $9,267.00 per student for the education of its kindergarten through high school.

Double bullshit. Where did you get that number? Care to provide a credible link?

According to Education Week, California spent an Average of $5,603 per pupil: 49th lowest average out of 50 states (Highest: NJ at $9,362, lowest Arizona at $5,006), and our students were the had some of the lowest scores in the nation.

Low funding == bad education.

California public schools spent $9,267.00 per student for the education of its kindergarten through high school.

Double bullshit. Where did you get that number? Care to provide a credible link?

According to Education Week, California spent an Average of $5,603 per pupil: 49th lowest average out of 50 states (Highest: NJ at $9,362, lowest Arizona at $5,006), and our students were the had some of the lowest scores in the nation.

Low funding == bad education.

You've never been to an American high school science class, I take it.

No, I went to school in Australia, where the teachers did a good job of describing the scientific method in the way I said.

The whole system is built on and depends on the students not questioning the teachers.

Perhaps this is why America is far worse than every other western country in belief in the more ridiculous religious doctrines? I seem to remember a recent NAS survey finding that something like 40% of Americans believed in creation along the lines of the Genesis myth within the past 6000 years.

(Instead of "we all evolved randomly", a thought of "what would it take for intelligent design".)

Well, there is basically no credible evidence for "Intelligent Design". It's just a few kooks and a larger number of credulous followers. As I point out elsewhere, none of them have any kind of explanation of *how* it might have occurred. The National Academy of Sciences recently released a statement to this effect. So it's not bad to occasionally discuss wrong or unfounded theories in science classes, but there are so many that you can't cover all of them. I think my chemistry teacher talked about phlogiston, for example.

There is no religious bias in science. It proceeds merely by examining the evidence and comparing theories. If it should happen that people's previous beliefs are proved wrong, that's just tough.

Teaching superstition in schools is incredibly harmful to the development of rational thought. "Perhaps a god created the universe?" "Perhaps sickness is caused by the Evil Eye, or impure thoughts?" "Perhaps food poisoning occurs when it's prepared by a menstruating woman?" The problem with all these ideas is not merely that they are factually incorrect, but that teaching them encourages children to believe doctrine rather than to enquire after truth.

The rocks roll down the hill because of gravity as opposed to the will of angry-godling, but that doesn't mean that angry-godling could not have started them rolling.

Actually, yes, it does mean that the godling didn't start them rolling. Once we understand the naturalistic explanation about erosion, soil mechanics, catastrophe theory and so on, there is simply no need for the angry godling any more, and in the absence of other evidence sensible people delete him from their beliefs.

Oh, and as the Universe has no real center, we can place the center wherever it's most convenient for us.

A few years ago, people used biblical arguments to "prove" that the Earth was absolutely stationary, and the rest of the universe rotated around it. Indeed, the whole weight of the "infallible(tm)" Catholic church was on this doctrine. Of course now it's ridiculous.

Creationism is already seen as pretty similar by most educated people and eventually even the southern US will catch up.

What happened last time? Well, Boston just had a huge flap over whether to conduct classes in Spanish. The answer? None yet but here's more background. And ebonics. Everybody remember ebonics?

Not only is the question evolving, but so is the answer. We recognise that not everyone speaks- or writes- the same language. But people are bilingual without meaning to be. How many people have included an HTML tag in a document? Raise your hands. Be honest. How many people have tried to use tags in a limited-to-plain-text format? Because that's what school english is: it's no smileys, no phone text, use the language and get graded on how well you do with it. No shortcuts, no abbreviations, no shorthand notes. (Remember shorthand?)

How many people can go from writing a full document in HTML to having a verbal conversation in regular speech?

We are already doing it, folks. And we should require of the kids that they live up to the standard: don't mix codes unless they're compatible. Is school english the same as street english? NO! Do we sound different when we call home than when we answer the phone at work? Yes, if we're in an old-school business environment- and if we do, we frequently get recognised for it, no matter what our middle managers can't spell. What's happening is that excellence is having an even greater field for visibility: the more they can't spell or speak in one coherent language at a time, the more those of us who are multilingual and fluent in our many fields look great by comparison.

YES. Grade them accroding to what's required. And acknowledge that there are places where this is acceptable, and that if they don't even know what they're writing, they aren't paying enough attention. They need to know what language they're using, and they need to know how to keep their codes clean. (by the way, this coment is being written by someone whose code is awful, and i'm having to clean it up, too.)

And here is an article to really bend your brain over just how much argument has existed just within the 'what's plain english?' bracket over the years.

For the record, i found a way to keep my Handheld/PDA graffiti out of my handwriting. I use my left hand for their writing system, and my right for regular script. This would probably be more difficult for someone who isn't ambidextrous, but with a little practice works just fine. Picked up the tip from a neuropsych buddy with whom I had a long debate over brain centers and speech.

But a teaching credential is different. Basically, a teaching credential means taking some classes on "how to teach," and on subjects like how to deal with the needs of minor students, and the legal obligations of teachers (e.g. reporting knowledge of molestation). The requirements for a teaching credential differ for the age group being taught, in a fairly logical way, at least in California. (See the links, below.)

I have a B.A. degree in journalism, plus a J.D. (law) degree, plus a number of years of respectable work experience. I'm confident that I could probably get a job teaching college classes if I wanted, and for a couple years I even taught a class in the local school district's "adult education" program. But I absolutely believe that I would need special training to be qualified to teach to children.

What is disturbing to me, is that school districts are permitted to hire uncertified teachers, who can continue employment for up to five years while making NO effort toward certification. Until recently, these 'teachers' could be dropped into classrooms without ANY training (some were even permitted to skip orientation sessions), and when they "timed out" in one school district they could simply start the clock again in another school district.

And where did this happen most often? In inner-city schools, where the obstacles are so plentiful that we need the very best-trained teachers.

What is involved in getting a teaching certification? Spend one summer at a local college's intense program, or night school for a couple nights per week for two semesters or three quarters. Read, do the homework, pass the exams.

Nobody pretends that it is difficult to get a teaching certification: the classes can be easy, the exams a breeze. It is only "difficult" for those who want to cut corners and try to teach kids without ever learning "how kids learn" and how to deal with situations that arise in the classroom setting.

I occasionally think that I'd like to teach, but I really don't think I have the energy or stamina. Start my first class at 8am? Teach five 50-minute classes per day, with an average of 35 students per class (175 students!). Deal with career teachers and petty bureaucracy? Survive the intense emotional needs of children? Grade papers and exams while watching TV every night? Maybe I could teach one or two classes per day, or better yet nine to twelve hours per week of classroom teaching time (like a college professor).

Teaching is a very difficult job, and we don't pay teachers very well, hardly even a living wage unless they "play the game" of seeking out a master's degree in education and survive many years in a school district to work up the pay ladder. Yeah, they get 8 to 10 weeks of summer vacation, and maybe they work fewer hours than some of us who've ridden the dot-com roller coaster, but they are doing something we all agree must be done -- and done well -- and it is a job I know that most people couldn't do very well.

Some links:

• Tips for becoming a teacher
• Yahoo:K-12 Education
• Single Subject Teaching Credential (California), program at San Jose State Univ.
• California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, index page
• Education Week article: Teaching as a Profession
• US Dept of Labor summary of typical teaching requirements for K-12
• Becoming a Math or Science Teacher in California
• An Inner City School Teacher's account of the experience

NASA is stepping up their program to put educators in space. As they do this it will be harder to complain about other civilians in space. Their earlier complaints about the Russians putting up a civilian were a bit of a public relations disaster anyway. (IMHO)