The Republican Utopia

[Cdog923]

2 minutes ago, teachercd said:

Knuckleheads in school.

 

If that kid doesn't want to be there and is an a$$ and their parent signs off, they go into the military.  

The second wave has to be a pre-apprenticeship program with school 1/2 the day and work half the day.

 

I don't know if "forced" conscription is the answer. I'm more in line with "local governments need to do more to force parents to parent their children", i.e. stop letting kids slide on things like truancy, fighting or vaping. If school staff had the support of parents, a lot of these issues would be easier to deal with. 

[teachercd]

1 minute ago, Cdog923 said:

 

I don't know if "forced" conscription is the answer. I'm more in line with "local governments need to do more to force parents to parent their children", i.e. stop letting kids slide on things like truancy, fighting or vaping. If school staff had the support of parents, a lot of these issues would be easier to deal with. 

I suppose it depends how one looks at it.  It is not really forced, it is a choice the kid made with their behavior.  They go in at 15, at 18 they are shown what their future can be if they want to re-up.  If not, they are free to join the real world.  

 

I totally agree with your second point.  Parents are morons.  Truancy is a joke.  I don't see a ton of fighting but clearly it happens.  Vaping, ehhhhh, I used to chew in HS, during study halls and stuff.  Had I got caught, I would have been killed by my Dad.

 

But yes, the "letting them slide" is an issue.  I have sat in many meetings where parents were once again messing things up.

 

Shoot, Millard North FB has sucked for 8+ years because of a group of 9th graders that were never dealt with correctly and it poisoned that program, thanks to a few Dads.

[Cdog923]

5 minutes ago, teachercd said:

Totally agree

 

The problem is those art classes simple CANNOT BE MANDATORY.  

 

The hardest classes for teachers to have control over are art/music classes when they are mandatory.  It needs to be totally optional an elective.  Middle school boys destroy art and music teachers lives.  

 

We also need to treat computer programming as a foreign language.  It makes way more sense than forcing a kid to take 2 years of Spanish.  

 

Middle school boys destroy everyone's lives; let them be mandatory until HS, then make them elective. 

 

I agree about computer programming, too. STEM classes are becoming more and more popular at the elementary level; make those more mandatory to get kids interested and invested at a younger age, then make higher-level tech classes available at the HS level for those who are interested. 

[teachercd]

1 minute ago, Cdog923 said:

 

Middle school boys destroy everyone's lives; let them be mandatory until HS, then make them elective. 

 

I agree about computer programming, too. STEM classes are becoming more and more popular at the elementary level; make those more mandatory to get kids interested and invested at a younger age, then make higher-level tech classes available at the HS level for those who are interested. 

Ha!  right?  No one ever says "Man, I really want to teach middle school!"  

 

Also, class sizes need to be smaller.  Why 26-30 is some magic number is beyond me.  

[Cdog923]

Just now, teachercd said:

Ha!  right?  No one ever says "Man, I really want to teach middle school!"  

 

A friend of mine left HS to teach at a middle school, where he's thriving at. 

 

He also served in Afghanistan, so he's seen some s#!t. 

[teachercd]

1 minute ago, Cdog923 said:

 

A friend of mine left HS to teach at a middle school, where he's thriving at. 

 

He also served in Afghanistan, so he's seen some s#!t. 

Teaching MS probably helps his PTSD!

 

I did MS for like 12 years.  I did not mind it BUT I was like the only male teacher in the MS so it seemed to help.  And I coached a lot of them too.

[funhusker]

57 minutes ago, Cdog923 said:

 

I agree 100%

 

 

Alternate placements can be fantastic for students who can't "fit" into a typical gen ed building. However, reading, writing and math still need to be core subject materials at the high school level, especially at a trade school. Augment these with business and professional classes to show students who are uninterested in them how they are used in a real-world setting. 

 

@teachercd and @Guy Chamberlin are also spot on: you gotta find a way to fund the arts. 

 

 

This is a tricky area; students want the suspension because it gets them out of class and/or school. Plus, pressing charges depends a lot on the county attorney in the area and how far they want to press things like behaviors in schools. One way to handle this is to go back to your main point and provide more funding for health experts/specialists for schools. 

 

At trade schools the kids can make a direct connection to the math and reading to the projects they're doing.

 

Kids taking 8th grade math learning about slope intercepts aren't actually applying it to anything outside of a story problem.  

 

Sucker punching another student or possessing marijuana isn't really a grey area, it's a crime.

[teachercd]

Just now, funhusker said:

At trade schools the kids can make a direct connection to the math and reading to the projects they're doing.

 

Kids taking 8th grade math learning about slope intercepts aren't actually applying it to anything outside of a story problem.  

 

Sucker punching another student or possessing marijuana isn't really a grey area, it's a crime.

You probably see it all the time but it amazes me how good at math the kids/adults that work in those fields really are.  

 

 

[Archy1221]

12 minutes ago, funhusker said:

At trade schools the kids can make a direct connection to the math and reading to the projects they're doing.

 

Kids taking 8th grade math learning about slope intercepts aren't actually applying it to anything outside of a story problem.  

 

Sucker punching another student or possessing marijuana isn't really a grey area, it's a crime.

Agree with you here.   You hear kids all the time, including my own sometimes, say “why am I learning this Math or reading these books when I’ll never use it in “real life”.    As funhusker says, those trade schools can show real world applications for what they are learning in stem classes.
 

Hopefully if the kids see the value of what’s being learned, they show more interest in furthering the learning and being invested in that process.    

[Cdog923]

16 minutes ago, funhusker said:

At trade schools the kids can make a direct connection to the math and reading to the projects they're doing.

 

Agreed, which is why those need to be more of an option for some students. 

 

18 minutes ago, funhusker said:

Kids taking 8th grade math learning about slope intercepts aren't actually applying it to anything outside of a story problem.  

 

Disagree, because at that point, they have very little idea what their interests are going to be post-HS where those concepts may be applicable. You have to provide a well-rounded education for all, and that includes those concepts being reviewed/retaught at the HS level. 

 

19 minutes ago, funhusker said:

Sucker punching another student or possessing marijuana isn't really a grey area, it's a crime.

 

Agreed, which is why the honus is on local law enforcement to enforce those as crimes. 

[Crusader Husker]

Geez, I haven't been to the board all day and there is a lot of great stuff!!!!

 

When I started my masters work at UNLV about 25 years ago we heard from a state senator that was also a teacher.  They had some law/policy that did remove up to 5% or 10% of the problem kids.  It seemed to help in the public schools, but it went away?  I think? Changed??  I am not sue what happened.

 

Mandatory school testing is killing schools, actually kids.  I think we need to chuck it.  

 

I think people like to label a lot of stuff in schools as liberal or conservative.  But I think most Americans can agree what is needed.  The problem is that Education is run by politicians.  That needs to end.

 

At some point in one of the threads, someone brought up School Boards.  Our school board is made up of Lawyers, accountants, and other specialists.  It is too bad Public Schools get stuck with elected people.  Again, basically politicians.  

 

If we were in charge, we might get somewhere.

[teachercd]

2 hours ago, Cdog923 said:

 

Agreed, which is why those need to be more of an option for some students. 

 

 

Disagree, because at that point, they have very little idea what their interests are going to be post-HS where those concepts may be applicable. You have to provide a well-rounded education for all, and that includes those concepts being reviewed/retaught at the HS level. 

 

 

Agreed, which is why the honus is on local law enforcement to enforce those as crimes. 

This is a good point and I do agree.  I also think there are kids that are 14 and pretty much know what path they want to take even if they don't know the job they might want.  I know by 8th grade I had zero desire, at all, to do any kind of blue collar job, not because I was "better" than that but because I sucked at doing anything with my hands.  

 

It is interesting because we do more in this country, we accomplish more in this country, we are more free and have more chance and opportunity here and we still rip on the school system and how horrible it is and how many changes it needs.  I guess, could you imagine if our education system REALLY sucked?  It must not be as bad as even us teachers make it seem.  

[Guy Chamberlin]

4 hours ago, teachercd said:

  Middle school boys destroy art and music teachers lives.  

 

 

Have you discovered a subject that middle school boys can't destroy? 

 

Edited to add:  ah. I'm not the first one to make this clever observation.

[teachercd]

3 minutes ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

Have you discovered a subject that middle school boys can't destroy? 

 

Edited to add:  ah. I'm not the first one to make this clever observation.

They like PE!

 

And lunch!

 

But man, I have seen it first hand, how much they hate (and ruin) art and music.  One school I was at, I think we went through 5 maybe 6 music teachers in like 8 years.

 

Most music teachers want to be at the HS or Elementary level.  

[BigRedBuster]

On 11/8/2023 at 12:33 PM, Archy1221 said:

@Guy Chamberlin  you’ve asked a few times for someone to define a Republican Utopia so I will give my crack at some bullet points that matter for one man’s opinion on the matter…..

 

—A strong secure boarder with adequate legal processes to adjudicate the legal process in a much much much more timely fashion.   A remain in Mexico component until initial background checks are complete with no criminal history, security threats, or identity theft/fraud.  Once complete, the asylum or citizen requestor should be allowed in with some sort of managed check in requirements (not the catch release check in BS we have now) and those people should be allowed to participate in society while the citizenship process carries out (work, pay taxes, school etc..) 

 

—Regular order budgets and end the nonsensical use of the “spend the entire budget whether it’s needed or not” fiasco that has been going on for decades.   Incentivize, government agencies to come in under budget by bonus to the Gov employees for being stewards of our money, or give extra PTO for those agencies/groups that are under budget.   What happens currently is a use it all no matter what so we get funded at that same level plus some the next year even if it wasn’t needed.  Government waste at its best IMO.  
 

—Income taxes at the lowest level possible that can also adequately fund a lean Government agency.  I feel that we are probably at that level, however, if people think the top bracket can go back up to 39% then so be it.   Don’t care anymore. 
 

—I want to see an end to activist District Attorneys that are fine with criminals running amok. Charge the crimes that are committed and end the ridiculous no cash bail experiment.   Along these lines, figure out some way to increase the Judicial capacity to try cases.  The backlog is insane in most cities.   With no cash bail and the backlog, people can be arrested 20-30-40 times on theft charges before anything happens to them if ever!  
 

—Abortion.  Leave it up to the States with a voter referendum, and not just a legislature passing a law.  Make it up to the will of the people in that State.  If anyone were to ever bring up a national law, 12-15 week ban with the relevant exceptions seems like a good compromise.  
 

—Marraige.   Either have Gov get out of the marriage business or allow people to marry whoever and how ever many people they want.  If we are to say if two people love each other and should be allowed to marry no matter the sexual preference, I agree, but that same courtesy should go to those who may be in a throuple etc….
 

—Education.  I am a school choice advocate mainly because so many kids are stuck in failing school districts that receive so much funding and yet still suck and fail the kids that want to learn.  Let those kids/parents that actually care get the education they deserve.  
 

—Term limits.  Limits to be discussed but it’s quite evident to anyone paying attention that limits need to be in place. Our lawmakers care more about being re-elected than they do about voting their conscience.  
 

—Elections.  Voter ID, 30 day maximum early voting, and no party affiliation listed next to the candidates name along with no “straight party line vote” option.  
 

Let me know what other issues you want addressed for my “Utopia”.  

In 2016, there were a number of Republican candidates in the race. Republican voters chose to go with the extreme fraudulent Baboon. 
 

This list must have changed since then.