Check yer sources, fool!

[gubba]

G'day & thanks Fish,

 

however I've still got some more questions to ask!

1. What do you mean by local funding? Don't your state gov'ts, eg. Texas, foot some of the bill? Schools are largely a state responsibility downunder, for instance you, as a teacher, would be an employee of a state gov't here unless you deliberately chose to work for the smaller private sector.

 

2.So your schooling is basically academically focused? So those who can't think academically are seen as dumb?

 

3.What is a truancy charge? Do you throw people in jail (reformatory) or whatever if they are guilty of truancy? Here in the sadder parts of our town (3 1/2 million thereabouts), there are whole suburbs where the bulk of kids don't really go to school much and not too much is done except notify social services who already know mosty of the families anyway. The kids go from local school to local school, spending most of their time downtown or in the big shopping centres.

 

4.Many parents here see school as daycare, but most hope that school will somehow, magically get their kids jobs. Even if they don't work most parents hope for jobs for their kids as the only tenable hope of avoiding the drug, booze culture. Unfortunately they do nothing at home to support learning. Nowhere do these kids receive any practical life skills in a formalised setting. cheers gub.

[Fishteacher73]

ALways glad to help when I can , gubba.

 

1. I am sure there are variances in how schools are funded because they are under state control (As opposed to federal). A decent % comes from state funds, but it is cut up into specific "task related" allocations. ie funds for one project can not be used for another. In Texas a majority of the funds are raised through property taxes. This is balanced by the "Robin Hood" act that takes funds from wealthier schools and distributes it to lower income areas. (This has also proven to be a horid failure).

 

2. Until high school yes. In high school, some schools offer some basic vocational training. (Cosmotology, auto shop, etc.)

 

3. Generally truancy charges are a ticket that the parents have to pay. I believe it is the area of about 200 US$. There are minimal attendence requirements for advancement. Usually more that 20 missed days will fail a student.

[Biochemist]

I am a big advocate of the European gymnasium system (Streaming I think is the same... students have the same base education , then for high school, there are exams and it is split into academic and vocational, and so on into university)......

Fish- I think you ought to start a thread with your take on the ideal school system: not so much funding (althouth it is hard to avoid it), but the curricula, the handling of gifted and special, and the role of testing, etc. It would get a lot of attention here.

[gubba]

G'day Fish,

 

Thanks, alike, yet some significant variations to the situation over here. (I'd like to see anyone attempt to get 200 bucks out of any of our truants' families LOL!) cheers gub.

[majordinkydau]

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's

life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the

results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of

other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most

important, have the courage to follow your heart and

intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to

become. Everything else is secondary."

 

-- Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs speech to Stanford Graduating Class

June 2005

 

"For rulers like to lay down laws and rebels like to break them

and poor priests like to walk in chains and God likes to forsake them"

 

Incerdible String Band (October song)