Teachers

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "It is an absolute given that if a teacher is improving their practice, students will do better in school..." -Kim Fandiño, Lebanon School District >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Chalkboard Project needs to re-examine your strategy. Teachers are not the cause of low student performance. I agree we need to pay teachers more, give them respect and fund schools properly. I always vote for schools. However the data show that poverty is what causes low student performance. Data that correlate teachers improving their practice with student performance do not stand up to scientific standards using controls, cause and effect, and statistical significance.

http://uteachweb.cns.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/BrokenEducation2011.pdf

Richard

Debt, deficits and budgets

The CBPP looks at the source of the public debt (previous charts have examined the source of deficits, i.e. the deficit or surplus in a given year, this looks at the debt which is the accumulation of all past deficits and surpluses). As this notes, "simply letting the Bush tax cuts expire on schedule ... would stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio for the next decade." We are on the verge of trading tax cuts for the wealthy and spending on wars for large cuts to social programs (the budget hole the recession caused is helping to fuel the calls for austerity).

Read Transcript

McAlvany Weekly Commentary interview
with Neil Howe on The Fourth Turning http://bit.ly/bfMMwT

Let Bush Tax Cuts Expire

Deficit Chart
Stop rising debt to GDP ratio by repealing Bush era tax cuts

Progressives Unite!

George Lakoff wrote about President Obama’s speech on April 13 at George Washington University.  Here is a President with the right message at the right time to deal with a crisis.

As Mr. Lakoff points out this moral vision of America is just what progressives need to use to deal with any topic proposed by conservatives.  You can adopt these ideas to work in any state on any topic.  There is a basic moral vision that can be used to address any topic.  I took Obama’s speech and edited it to apply only to funding public education in Oregon.  I added details about education and deleted much of the deficit talk and references to Social Security and Medicare.  I added details about how teachers are not the ones to blame.  Poverty levels are the primary cause of low student performance in school.

Obama Returns To His Moral Vision: Democrats Read Carefully!

Posted on April 17, 2011 by georgelakoff

http://tinyurl.com/42kl2av