Im no Conservative but Kasich has courage to commit political suicide. He is honest on why Conservatives are against Common Core. At the same time, he makes supporters of those Politicians look like small minded dweebs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/2 ... 42584.html

"The Common Core was written by state education superintendents and local principals. In my state of Ohio, we want higher standards for our children, and those standards are set and the curriculum is set by local school boards," Kasich said on "Fox News Sunday." "Barack Obama doesn't set it, the state of Ohio doesn't set it. It is local school boards driving better education, higher standards, created by local school boards.

"I've asked the Republican governors who have complained about this to tell me where I'm wrong, and guess what, silence."

"Part of the problem is today politicians are running to try and to get votes ... We run out here trying to solve problems. And we have a problem with our education standards and our children's ability to compete in the world," Kasich said. "We're not gonna turn this over to Washington, or even to Columbus, our state capital. It's local schools with local school boards and high standards.

"I don't know how anybody can disagree with that unless you're running for something."

The average parent wouldn't know the difference between Common Core and common ground.

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A lot of those average parents sure hate it and they dont know why.

Same reason people hated leave no child behind.

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Indeed...

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Perhaps some of you have seen this letter already, but at the beginning of the school year LaSalle-Peru School Superintendent Mark Cross issued this letter to all parents in his school district. I don't live in that community but i do live nearby, and i know that the parents and teachers that i know in our community found it to be a breath of fresh air:



Dear Parents,

Today is the first day of the 2014-15 school year, and I wanted to take the opportunity to share some personal thoughts regarding the current state of education at the national, state and, most importantly, local levels. I am very fortunate to serve as the superintendent of this great district, and we are all very proud of the incredible progress we have made in recent years, building on previous years of excellence. At the end of the day, our kids and their safety and educational growth are all that matters to us. We work hard to keep anything from distracting us from these priorities.

Unfortunately, there are many federal and state education initiatives that can very much be a distraction from what matters most. These initiatives are based on good intentions and are cloaked in the concept of accountability, but unfortunately most do little to actually improve teaching and learning. Most are designed to assess, measure, rank and otherwise place some largely meaningless number on a child or a school or a teacher or a district. That is not to say that student growth data is not important. It is very critical, and it is exactly why we have our own local assessment system in place. It is what our principals and teachers use to help guide instruction and meet the needs of your kids on a daily basis. In other words, it is meaningful data to help us teach your child.

But no more than a number from a bathroom scale can give you a full assessment of your personal wellness, a test score cannot fully assess a student’s academic growth. Does stepping on the scale tell you something? Of course. But does it tell you everything? Absolutely not!

As one specific example, Peru Elementary District 124 puts great value on the fine arts. We believe that music and art enhances cognitive growth, creativity and problem solving. In fact, we know this, and this is exactly why your children have access to an outstanding fine arts program with five music and art teachers from PreK through 8th grade. The state does not assess music or art, or science or social studies for that matter. Only language arts and mathematics are assessed with the state’s new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment.

This is why I wanted to let you know that we will not be talking to you that much about the PARCC assessment or Common Core or other initiatives that have some importance, but they are not what matters most to us. YOUR CHILDREN are what matter most, and we believe that kids should be well-rounded, with an emphasis on a solid foundation for learning across all subjects by the time they get to high school and later college. We believe that kids need to be creative and learn to solve problems. We believe that exposure to music and art, science and social studies, physical education and technology and a wide variety of curricular and extracurricular activities will serve them very well as they grow into young adults.

We further believe that there is no replacement for high expectations, and we must expect our students to achieve to the best of their individual ability. We believe that all children can learn, but not all at the same pace or in the same way. We believe that reading and literacy are the foundations of learning. We believe that children are each unique and have a wide variety of talents and skills, very few of which can be measured on a state assessment.

The state and federal government have failed epically in their misguided attempts at “reforming” public education. Public education does not need reformed. It may need intervention in school districts that are not meeting the needs of students on a grand scale, but it needs to be accountable to and controlled by our citizens at the local level. And in Peru Schools, this will continue to be very much the case.

So, I wanted to let you know that we will not let these other things serve as a distraction from educating your children in Peru Schools. When appropriate, we will use these opportunities as a chance to improve but we will not let political nonsense distract us from our true mission, which is to keep your kids safe and to provide them with a world class education. One of my favorite quotes is, “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” And the “things” which matter most here are your kids and their education. Nothing you read or hear about will distract us from that effort.

Thank you for your support of our children and our schools and as always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns at all as we start the new school year!

Mark R. Cross
Superintendent

I have been a big supporter of Common Core. The Conservatives that oppose it are idiots who think this is something being mandated by the Federal Government. It is completely elective/voluntary by the states. The standards were developed by the proper set of individuals.

I spent some time reviewing MA's standards, which are the gold standard in the U.S. Apparently students in that state rate favorably among the best in the world. Contrast that with the U.S. nationally, and we are way behind our global peers.

I believe Florida recently instituted very high standards with lots of early success.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/ ... s-can-work

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Hawaii (fuck) You

isn't common core the newschool curriculum that's supposed to turn you gay?

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If you ask Ted Cruz, he'd probably say yes.


In any case, the teachers unions and the conservatives who hate common core need to start with this simple fact: the system is broken. Once you state the obvious, then we move on with how best to fix it. I am a big fan of local control, but it's not working. There are too many districts that are failing the students, CPS for one. Everything I have read is that having high, meaningful standards is the best way to improve education.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Just searched several rating sites on IL school districts. School Digger has Peru at 342 out of 747. Greatschools has them 6 on a 10 scale. Instead of railing against Common Core, that guy should be worried about his school's very average rankings.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

If you actually think that the problems in schools stem from what is being taught, perhaps you should climb down from your high horse and reassess who is the idiot here.

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One thing I do not get is the argument against high standards and flunking kids. Supposedly we can't ruin a kids life on standardized tests but we just wait until 11th grade for the SAT to tell them they suck. I realize the argument against is we do not want teachers to just coach for tests to save their funding or whatever but there has to be some way to measure. Right?

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What exactly were you expecting? It's fucking Peru: the lesser La Salle. I'd say the 54th percentile is actually pretty good. Now, if Schaumburg were ranked 342 out of 747, the superintendent's head would be on a pike next to the entrance to Nordstrom.

I don't have a problem with raising standards in and of itself. I'm concerned with how the obsession with meeting those standards at all costs will affect fine arts education and physical activity, as it always has a way of doing.


This, though, says it all, doesn't it? First comes the babysitting, then comes the education!

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Both Kasich and Cross are right on.

I have said this to years to people the blabber about quality of school district citing test scores..."Test Scores are for Politicians".

Mom and Dad and home are your biggest factors in the quality of a school district. If you are lucky enough to live in a school district where there are fewer turd parents, you'll find higher quality student performance.

The thing that really bothered me was the day my son came home actually nervous about ISAT testing. The Government holds schools by the balls to ensure these tests are completed and that they score within a certain range. it's ridiculous. I had to explain multiple times to him that just take the tests, relax, do your best, but they mean absolutely NOTHING.

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There is a big difference between giving kids endless standardized tests and setting high standards. The standards are just the things we want the kids to learn and the things that will be taught. The use of exams is merely to measure what has been learned. The entire testing regime is under a lot of fire for merely rewarding memorization over truly understanding the material.

If the standards are high and relevant, then that is the most important thing.

As a professional test taker up until my early 30's, I would have to say that the CFA exams are a great example of testing for understanding of the material. I couldn't believe how well they used a multiple choice exam where memorizing stuff would not help you. They would not ask you to calculate an option premium based on Black Scholes. Instead they would ask you about the impact of a change in interest rates or dividend yield on the call option price. You didn't have to know the formula to answer the question. Rather, you had to understand the dynamics of options relative to stocks, time value of money, and how options work.

Another simple one I always liked. A company has a current ratio of 1.5. The company uses $100 in cash to pay down $100 in accounts payable. What happens to the current ratio?
A) Stays the same
B) Goes Up
C) Goes Down
D) Cannot be determined

The first time you are asked that question on a practice exam, you will get it wrong.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Multiple problems. Whole word learning is a bad idea. Trying to teach math without times tables is a problem. Large class sizes is unhelpful, although research shows class size is not a big determinant of outcomes. However, having 35-40 kids in a class has to have an impact. Social promotion of students is a problem. If kids are not ready then they should be held back. Lack of parent involvement is a problem. Spending precious school days in study hall is a problem.

Our children are so far below the North European and Asian countries that we should all be embarrassed. The fact that a large portion of high school grads read at a poor level, have not mastered basic math, and have no understanding of history is a problem.

I'd say the system is broken.

I'll be on my high horse as long as I desire. I pay my property taxes, I vote, and I have my opinions. My opinions are pretty well informed from the amount of literature I consume.

Feel free to share your ideas....

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Hawaii (fuck) You

We all know that is not going to happen.

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Truth. I'll never forget my first day of school in Lake Geneva as long as I live. First, I spent a good 15 minutes pacing up and down the ground-floor hallway trying to find my room because I forgot my room was on the second floor. We didn't even have a second floor at Ross-Sullivan. When I got in, I walked in on my new teacher screaming at my new classmates about how they bombed the state writing tests like a writing test has never been bombed before, that they brought shame upon the school district and the community, and that to remedy this inability to compose thoughts, we would have to do extra writing assignments in every single class: even library, even music, even art, even gym class. And oh, by the way, our new student has arrived. I came home that day, told my parents, and cried. I may not have been able to figure out the existence of a staircase, but at least I knew how to write a fucking essay.

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To be honest, I think I put a lot out there. To call me an idiot while not opining otherwise seems pretty silly.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

How the hell do you teach math without drilling the multiplication table? I can't even comprehend that.

I agree with all that, of course. I just get concerned when the solutions from on high are never more than "more seat time!" and "more tests!" There has to be more to school than sitting at a desk all day.

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the correct answer is D)

I think.

never took an accounting class.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

No. The easiest way to solve it is to set-up a simple example, i.e. $1,500 in current assets, $1,000 in current liabilities. Reduce each by the $100 pay down. $1,400 over $900. CR is now 1.56.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

The standardized testing industry is out of control. That is why I made the distinction.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

what if the example was:
1000/1500 = .67
900/1400 = .64

what am i missing here?

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Current ratio is current assets (CA) over current liabilities (CA). So you have the wrong fraction there. Recall, the problem shows a current ratio of 1.5x, meaning CA are 1.5 times CL. You then take $100 in cash (from CA), and pay down $100 in accounts payable (from CL). As such, your $1,500 in CA goes gown to $1,400. Your $1,000 in CL goes down to $900. So your current ratio is now derived from $1,400 over $900, or 1.56. So it goes up.

In any case, it is a fairly simple math exercise. You are taking a fraction such as 15/10 (1.5x) and subtracting a small and equal amount from the top and bottom to turn the fraction into 14/9 or 13/8 or 12/7, etc.. It is really an example of how leverage works for and against you.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Don't they have calculators and pc programs for all this these days?

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My entire point was that the exam tests understanding, not memorization. That question is merely to test your understanding of how leverage works. In financial circles, operating and financial leverage are key concepts. If a business scales well, it exhibits positive operating leverage. A 5% increase in sales will result in a larger increase in net income of say 10%. The opposite also occurs, which is where businesses run into problems. As sales fall, earnings fall much faster. It is why companies take such extreme cost cutting measures when they have a small decline in sales.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

what i'm saying is what if your actual current ratio is 300/600 take 100 off each now you got 200/500.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

They can come up with as many newfangled ways to teach math as they want. It won't change anything.

From my point of view, a kids education is not won or lost in the classroom. It begins and ends at home. Further, from my time in public school, it would seem to me that these new teaching methods do not create "high, meaningful standards", they actually create low, mediocre standards. This keeps less kids from "failing" but really pulls down the upper echelon of students.

Education, like everything else nowadays, is a business. They will sell you any idea that will keep money flowing. They can sell more books, computers, college loans, ect. by telling you that you are letting your kids down if you don't change. Then they compare you to other countries scores and say "See!?!?!!" The truth is that other countries test scores are stacked against the US because the poor and downtrodden actually go to school in this country. Other countries cast aside those that cannot keep up, and therefore, they are not included in test scores. If the US did that, they would fair much better in the "rankings".

Except that the problem told you the ratio was 1.5x. In your example, the ratio is 0.5x.

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Hawaii (fuck) You