US Education Secretary Duncan in St. Louis Monday

Sunday, June 24, 2012

ST. LOUIS (AP) — U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be in St. Louis on Monday to highlight efforts to turn around low-performing schools.

Duncan will visit Vashon High School, which is receiving funding under the Department of Education’s School Improvement grant program. He’ll also highlight the importance of graduating from high school and attaining postsecondary education.

While in St. Louis, Duncan will also be among those inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame during the College Sports Information Directors of America’s annual conference. Duncan was co-captain of Harvard’s basketball team in 1986-87.

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wyriontair 11 months ago

Here's a great idea, get rid of all those horrible teachers the Unions protect, the administrators and various dept. heads, that are more concerned with saving their own behinds then protecting students and start actually teaching, english, math, science, and NON-revised history. We have schools that are not interested in requiring students learn to write, only know how to do "fill in the blank" papers and teachers that are just not interested in what they are actually teaching. Are there some truly gifted educators? YES, unfortunately they are few and far between. Here's another great idea.....dismantle the Department of Education.

asb 11 months ago

Horrible union teachers, non-revised history, few gifted educators, dismantle the Department of Education. Nice collection of FRight wing "keep America dumb so they'll do what they're told" talking points from FOX & Fiends. Considering the low pay it's probably the unions that have saved teaching as a profession in America. If my school only teaches the history written way back, and ignores new information, I'm moving. History is constantly revised, based on information. Interpreting it can be an issue, but that's for college. Most actual factual history taught in secondary schools is accurate. And the Department of Education is the only way a poor county like Cole can compete with wealthier counties in KC, StL, NY, Chicago, etc. Unless we want our children to be fodder for FRight-speaking puppeteers, I suggest ignoring the advise and approach mentioned to open this thread, it is based on misinformation repeated constantly on FOX/Rush/Beck, all to dumb us down annd make us compliant to the new oligarchy.

kunderwood5 11 months ago

That has to be the most ludicrous statement I've heard in a long time. Thanks for the laugh.

joda 10 months, 4 weeks ago

Yes it is but unfortunately it's true.

Littleinvestor 11 months ago

Are any teachers in Central MO unionized? I know they are in areas like St. Louis and K.C. but I know my school district at the lake is nonunionized.

kunderwood5 10 months, 4 weeks ago

No I do not think they are. The closest to unionization in the school systems around here are the bus drivers.

JCLifer 11 months ago

Vashon's football team is no good. Jays whip them on a regular basis It is easy to see which school is better. Vashon doesn't event have artificial turf on. their field

dokeus6 11 months ago

So your saying since Vashon doesn't have artifical turf on their field the no turf on the field is the reason the Jays whip them on a regular basis?

Are you sure you want to use that logic?

kentheco 11 months ago

Let's see, Jeff City has one public high school, maybe if atheletics didn't drive Jeff City education, there would be two separate high schools. Then let's see how good the Jays would be.

kunderwood5 10 months, 4 weeks ago

I'm not sure what that has to do with the academic performance of their students. If you're going to employ that logic, then every college campus should be graduating geniuses.

JCLifer 11 months ago

MNEA MSTA

Littleinvestor 11 months ago

MNEA is a union but my understanding is the Missouri State Teachers Association is not a union.

JCLifer 11 months ago

AFT

Littleinvestor 11 months ago

But no one has any idea if any school districts in Central Mo have unionized teachers or not. Lake area schools do not have teachers unions, what about J.C. and Columbia? Looks like if you live in those districts you would know, but maybe not. Just because you know the teacher's unions initials does not mean the local districts are unionized. Apparently no one knows the answer to my first question: Are any area school districts unionized?

JCLifer 10 months, 4 weeks ago

Yes. They all have teacher members, even the ones at the lake.

wyriontair 10 months, 4 weeks ago

I had to laugh at asb's reply. Yes, there are horrible teachers the Unions protect, as for "keep America dumb...", have you bothered to check out the US's test scores? When I talk about revisionist history, it doesn't mean "ignoring new information", it means some of the history books have been "revising" history to put forth a political viewpoint, have you read the history books they are using? I went to school when teacher's Unions were starting to take a stronghold, when teachers were actually held accountable and school boards listened to parents. The Department of Education has changed over the years and not for the better, so yes, I'd like to see it gone. As for being "FRight wing", that's even funnier, my family has had a good laugh over that one. I'm fortunate thanks to Direct TV, to be able to watch all news programs, including Al Jazerra, Mosiac, German news, the list is long, emphasis on NEWS NOT COMMENTARY and I encourage everyone to do that.

asb 10 months, 4 weeks ago

Horrible teachers, from K through PhD, are not overly protected by unions, they can be fired. Unions assure decent pay and protect all teachers from bias and arbitrary actions. Is that protection perfect and never abused? Duh! Your memories of histroy books are different than mine. In the 50s and 60s our Middle and High School history texts could've been written by an ad agency for American perfection, where poverty stricken and oppressed Latin American people were ruled by murderous dictators and their death squads, funded and propped up by the US, and were described as "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps." Only in the late 60s did American history books start examining the full realities of our exploitation of African and asian people to build our nation. Words such as imperialism were never used to describe our "Manifest Destiny." Revision is part of all history, sometimes it clarifies the past, sometimes it's propaganda. The FRight wing use of the term revisionist history implies an agenda, a conspiracy to decieve, a threat from some evil enemy; when in fact revisions to history, in a free society, are usually clarifying, not evil. If the Department of Education is doing something wrong, it needs adjusting, not eliminating. If a police force is found to be corrupt, do you disband it, or do you change leadership and throw out the bad. If you don't like an administration, do you shoot the president, or just vote him out? The FRhetoric you speak is extremist and parroted propaganda.

spelchek 10 months, 4 weeks ago

Watch Waiting for Superman. A documentary by a progressive about the state of our education system. I liked learning about the lemon dance and rubber rooms. Only agencies like DoE can continue to ask for more money to solve the problem they've created and still provide the same if not worse results.

Littleinvestor 10 months, 4 weeks ago

So if there is any teacher who is a member of one of the teacher's unions, the whole district is unionized? No. My home district may have some teachers who support one teacher's union or another but there is no union local that negotiates with the school board on salary and benefits under threat of strike. They do negotiate with a local teacher salary and benefits committee but the board is free to do whatever it wants, with input from the superintendent. I think the NT needs to do a story on this because obviously their readers don't know what the deal is. And congratulations wyiontair for checking out views other than his own. One needs to know what others are thinking, even if they don't agree with them. I've been trying to get some facts here, but have only gotten opinion for the most part. I give up.

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