The JPEF is an organization dedicated to improving the lot of local education. In a recent post o their site they bemoaned if only so many teachers didn’t suck it would be a lot easier.
I paraphrase some but their meaning couldn’t have been clearer. There premise was if only we had more excellent teachers, i.e. we have too many bad teachers then children would be more successful.
They start their misinformation campaign by saying the US spends more per capita on education than any other nation in the world. Unfortunately they leave out the fact to get to this number they have to include what we spend on college too. http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2008/10/17/190073/bad_education_spending_stats/?mobile=nc
The next so called fact they use is how despite these vast expenditures we rank way down in the middle of the pact. What they leave out is that when you adjust for poverty our scores shoot up to the top. Not that they mention poverty at all. It’s like it doesn’t even exist and poverty is the number one measureable factor for determining how children do in school. Kids in poverty don’t do as well as those that don’t. If you didn’t know, a fifth of our kids live in poverty and another fifth just above it.
If anyone is serious about improving our schools, then tackling poverty is where we NEED to start because until we do that nothing else will matter. Furthermore just so the JPEF knows the overall quality of our teachers is exemplary.
Where is the JPEF post on poverty? Where are their ideas to mitigate it? Nowhere, that’s where because instead they would rather blame the teacher.
I have met several members of the JPEF staff and have found them earnest and committed people, sadly however I must now add misinformed to the list.
To read the JPEF piece, follow the link: http://www.jaxpef.org/news/2013/02/extending-the-reach-(and-increasing-the-pay)-of-excellent-teachers.aspx
I paraphrase some but their meaning couldn’t have been clearer. There premise was if only we had more excellent teachers, i.e. we have too many bad teachers then children would be more successful.
They start their misinformation campaign by saying the US spends more per capita on education than any other nation in the world. Unfortunately they leave out the fact to get to this number they have to include what we spend on college too. http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2008/10/17/190073/bad_education_spending_stats/?mobile=nc
The next so called fact they use is how despite these vast expenditures we rank way down in the middle of the pact. What they leave out is that when you adjust for poverty our scores shoot up to the top. Not that they mention poverty at all. It’s like it doesn’t even exist and poverty is the number one measureable factor for determining how children do in school. Kids in poverty don’t do as well as those that don’t. If you didn’t know, a fifth of our kids live in poverty and another fifth just above it.
If anyone is serious about improving our schools, then tackling poverty is where we NEED to start because until we do that nothing else will matter. Furthermore just so the JPEF knows the overall quality of our teachers is exemplary.
Where is the JPEF post on poverty? Where are their ideas to mitigate it? Nowhere, that’s where because instead they would rather blame the teacher.
I have met several members of the JPEF staff and have found them earnest and committed people, sadly however I must now add misinformed to the list.
To read the JPEF piece, follow the link: http://www.jaxpef.org/news/2013/02/extending-the-reach-(and-increasing-the-pay)-of-excellent-teachers.aspx
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