Michelle Malkin reports that President Obama wants to cut back on children’s summer vacation. Hmmm. Wonder why Obama wants children in school so much.
Could it be he wants more of this?
Come on. Well, we finally found something that Obama wants to cut other than missile defense. And what is it? Summer vacation! Hmmm. Who’d a thunk that Obama’s solution to failing public schools would be…more time in public (government) schools. Didn’t see that one coming, right? Let me guess that would also mean more money to the teacher’s unions too, right?
As Malkin writes:
If schools wasted less time on “social justice,” “Everyday Math” crap, eco-zealotry, field trips to gay weddings and illegal alien day labor centers, rappin’, revolution, and radicalism, and searching for children’s “inner Obamas,” they wouldn’t need to make up all the squandered days and weeks during the summer.
I fear that this may be a popular notion in these days when so many families have both parents working. This will seem like a great thing for many families for who keeping the children in school saves them the trouble of finding a sleepaway camp for the summer.
Patterico also has some thoughts on whether this would do any good.
September 28, 2009 at 3:55 pm
He may alienate the teachers' unions on this. And many universities offer grad-school classes with daytime hours during the summer, too.
September 28, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I found this one:
http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/politics-and-propaganda/third-reich/music-hitler-youth/
Mercy!
Mum26
September 28, 2009 at 4:23 pm
If kids go to good schools, they don't need longer days or longer school years. And if they go to bad schools, then they would just be in bad schools longer.
September 28, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Yet railing against longer days and longer years will seem Anti-education.
We need to be PRO-CHILD/PRO-Summer with the idea that it's not just a tradition of having come from an agrigarian society, it's a rite of childhood to have long hot days where nothing is the objective, to have swimming and library trips and camps and ice cream from a truck.
We will be told we are fearing change. No. I'm not Wanting it. Our new slogan: We'll Keep Summer and You Keep the change please.
September 28, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Have you folks seen this?
MSNBC will be sure to cover this.
OUR LIVES BEGIN TO END THE DAY WE BECOME SILENT ABOUT THINGS THAT MATTER.
Obama did not have (for the first time ever) the annual White House Christian Prayer Breakfast this year.
Aug. '09 Obama Denies (for the first time ever) a Flyover at the 'God and Country' Rally in Colorado annual 43rd year event, "because of its christian nature."
SCROLL DOWN
We should have known about this months ago, but, our government, who issues permits for gatherings, did not bother to let it be known.
Did you hear about this on the news???? This is another very important e-mail for us to read and take into consideration as to where Obama is taking America….
Washington, D.C. – On September 25th there will be a national prayer gathering of Muslims on the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building. They are expecting at least 50,000 to attend from mosques all across America. They will gather to pray from 4:00 AM until 7:00 PM. The gathering will take place by the site where U.S. Presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. The organizers say that it was Obama's inauguration speechin January and his speech broadcast from Egypt in June that gave them the idea for this prayer gathering on Capitol Hill.
They have a website set up for this event. If you never look at another website look at this one, especially the final words:
islamoncapitolhill.com
September 28, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Why isn't he doing something about the furlough days being taken/given across the nations schools at the moment then? HI alone is taking a hit for 17 Fridays this school year alone! Search on line under Hawaiian department of education. Many states are experiencing no money so they are cutting days rather than teachers jobs. Who will lose? The kids of course. Obama has his head where the sun don't shine.
September 28, 2009 at 5:21 pm
And who will pay this enormous bill? Hmm? Oh, more tax levies in communities. Yes, many parents will find this a great solution to summer day care — ship those children off and let someone else raise them. At tax payer expense.
September 28, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I'm with Gail F. on this one. More of a bad thing just leads to well, more of a bad thing!
Let's just combat this one with common sense. Kind of like the approach that can be taken with government healthcare. Medicare/Medicade are both over budget and in debt. More of the same type of coverage would mean more debt and poor budgeting.
September 28, 2009 at 5:34 pm
C'mon, think of the present situation where so much needed indoctrination is lost over that ten week period. How will Dear Leader and his successors keep the proles in line if we're not properly "schooled".
Slightly OT; wonder if we'll get any summer vacation in the reeducation camps?
September 28, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Here's a quote from an actual parent of one of the kids seen in the video:
"But Andrea Ciemnolonski, the parent of another one of the students in the video, said the song was part of a second-grade project on a variety of topics related to the month of February, such as Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day and Presidents Day.
"They did songs about President Washington, Lincoln, and they did do one about President Obama," Ciemnolonski said. "My daughter was in the class that did the songs about Obama. It was black history month. … It was something for the kids to celebrate."
So much for your "indoctrination" nonsense.
September 28, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I have thought for quite a while that having school over the summer is not a bad idea. Most of the countries in the world do it that way. Most of the time, kids lose much of what they learned over the summer and teacher sped the first few weeks of school re- teaching what kids should be remembering from the previous grade. 10 weeks off at a stretch is too much. You can break the summer vacation up into 2 week holidays throughout the year.
That said, every politician ignores this basic idea when talking about how to make education better: kids need a parent at home when they get home to stay on top of them and get their homework done and make sure the TV and video games stay off. This is why teacher pay-for performance is a farce.
Mr. President, I can get behind longer school years if you can make it so I won't lose my house if I stay at home with my kids.
September 28, 2009 at 6:26 pm
As a public school teacher, I found myself being questioned by the union last week. I had written a letter, telling them that (after one year), I no longer wanted to be a part of the union because I had disagreements with them about certain policies. I was not strident or bombastic in tone, at all, but I was direct. The union contacted our former rep and asked them what was up with me. She was distressed because she felt that it was my choice to be in the union or out. Obviously, they did not feel the same. They have not contacted me.
Regardless of one's position on the school year extending into the summer, the final failure in education is in the home. That there are no easy answers is assured, but as a teacher with children of my own, that one is a no-brainer.
September 28, 2009 at 6:47 pm
My husband is a public school teacher in the inner city. He does not receive "hazard pay" as in some cities for teaching in the city. Over the years, his summer vacation has been reduced to 8 weeks. That wouldn't be such a problem if his salary had been raised accordingly. It has not. If the government wants students in school for more time of the year, they had better be willing to pay teachers for it.
September 28, 2009 at 7:16 pm
"The final failure in education is in the home." How so? Statements like this, from teachers and administrators, helped my wife and I decide to start homeschooling seven years ago.
The American public education system seems more interested in assisting poor teachers & administrators in holding on to their positions than in guiding our youth academically. It seems more interested in offering "character education" programs but not in the moral fiber of its worst teachers & administrators.
September 28, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Just a quick note on the whole "failure of education comes from failure of a parent to stand behind their child's education" idea. My mom is a teacher in one of the Detroit area's poorest districts. Her kids have trouble being fed nutritiously on a regular basis, let alone have someone to worry about whether their homework gets done. I'd say that it's pretty silly to compare such a child's situation and schooling results to that of a child from an upper middle class family. In addition, to tie the results of a teacher and therefore their pay on a purely arbitrarily based score (instead of based on improvement in general of the student's knowledge) is a bit unfair. If you're starting a garden with plants that are struggling in rocky soil, your crop will be unreliable compared to one grown in well tended soil.
One thing to think about though is an upper middle class child from the 'burbs whose parents both work, keep the kid in latchkey program before and after school until 7pm and feed them convenience foods since they don't have time to make and pack more nutritious homemade food… well, you'll have a similar behavorial product in better packaging.
I think I agree Amy best- if our taxation were lowered to the point where most families could afford to have a parent work only part time (if, ideally, at all), I believe that the public school system stands a much better chance of producing a well balanced productive citizen.
Worked for me! Mom stayed home until I was in middle school and then became a teacher- she was home an hour after I was everyday from that point on! Not that I'm perfect, but my circumstances in life are great and I owe that to my parents.
September 28, 2009 at 9:34 pm
But did you vote? Did you vote in your local school board elections? YOU are the boss.
September 28, 2009 at 10:47 pm
BD,
You aren't failing:-). I'm talking about the failure of parents who do send their children to public school, and, for one reason or another, do not or cannot offer the support needed. I'm not implying an easy answer, at all. What about those who are locked into poverty? Another whole conversation. My main point is that education begins (and often ends:-) at home, which is well and good.
September 29, 2009 at 12:17 am
Wasn't that video actually part of Black History month, a reminder that even black children can aspire to be president?
September 29, 2009 at 1:31 am
What's wrong with school throughout the year? There's no need for 3 months straight of no school. Maybe I lack prospective because I'm not yet a parent. When I was a kid I remember thinking this was a good idea-I loved school and was embarrassed to learn that kids in other countries not only knew more than me but spent more time learning.
The other day I was talking with a teacher at an inner-city Catholic grade school. He said he said replacing summer vacation with several long breaks would do wonders for education.
We still don't value education enough in this country. If we make children think that school is chore, of course they're not going to enjoy it. Don't even get me started on how we depict learning, especially the maths and sciences (the ones interested are always unpopular, unsociable, and rarely female) in pop culture.
September 29, 2009 at 2:10 pm
We have 4 children in public school. I have been unhappy with that for awhile, but we are unable to afford Catholic education and my husband has been reluctant to embrace homeschooling. We live in a state where the school system is pretty adequate. When our 2nd grader came home last year with single digit addition and subtraction homework well into November, my husband started to get upset. At a teacher conference, I asked about it. Here's the information I got and you can pass it along. Class time until December is delegated to refreshing skills from the previous year. Our teachers offer NO new skills until after Christmas break. Jan and Feb are delegated for introducing new skills. Last year, that was a few multiplication problems and handwriting. The entire month of March is set aside for TESTING PREPARATION. This year, the entire month of April will be dedicated to TESTING. The month of May will be winding down for the year. School ends June 4. In other words, due to summer break and TESTING, public school children have about 3 months of learning. I also know how much time is wasted in the classroom each day. This year our 9th grade student has an extra hour of math added to his schedule. Our public education model does not work. We have considered making the sacrifice for Catholic school, but I'm not convinced on that one either. Homeschool, in my opinion, is the best option. My husband finally agreed last week to re-consider that option. Praise Jesus. Yes, extending the school year will happen and parents will embrace it because it will be easier for them. They won't have to pay day care during the summer. We long ago made the sacrifice for me to stay home. What communities should consider instead are eliminating sports programs from the schools. They might also consider this testing experiment as a failure. That experiment benefits the schools NOT the children. That would free up a large amount of time for education. The US government education program is a dismal failure.