Not = It's Not Just About the Taxes. It's About the Quality of the Education.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "What does the school district offer that I am gett...":

In response to whether education here is mediocre, let's look at elementary ELA education in our school district.

What fabulous books did your kid read in school and discuss with their teacher this year? Mostly all my kid sees in ELA are unrelated spelling words, vocabulary words and awful reading comprehension xeroxes with multiple choice questions. The class read one simple book together. One. All year. Reading happens at home, motivated by parents and lied about on weekly logs.

Did your kids reading level improve? Supposedly kids are monitored several times a year. Did you get your kids reading level scores from school this year? Has your child improved, stayed the same, regressed? Are they on grade level, above, or below? They used to send home reports with Lexiles in middle school but I never got anything and no one I know did either. I guess its a big secret.

Does your kid answer homework questions in a complete sentence? Does anyone care? Do your kids get any feedback from anyone in school on their written work? Do they really do much written work at all?

Forget about an essay, most kids can barely write a coherent paragraph beyond the simple RAFT format. They cringe whenever they see a group of empty lines to fill in. And rightfully so since our kids have learned to write by answering questions with one or two words to fill in the inch-long line in a Weekly Reader or smudged xerox. This writing instruction progressed into last minute test prep instruction on completing whatever the state assessment long answers require.

Kids do a lot of creative writing in elementary school, drawing maps of their hearts, writing about things familiar, in one big paragraph that extends for as long as they like. Fill up the page!! This of course does not prepare them at all for writing specific answers, essays, research papers or even book reports, all required in middle school.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the over-the-top ELA projects involving drawing and coloring and numerous craft items. These art components overshadow any ELA-related educational purpose the project might have had to begin with. Since when did ELA become an extension of art class?

I find ELA instruction here to be very unusual. Disappointingly lacking in instruction, absolutely necessary to supplement, and less than medicore.

What does the school district offer that I am getting my money's worth? Why should I vote for the budget?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Is Money the Real Issue?":

Suzala, Perhaps you can start a new thread for this comment.

Why should I vote for the budget? My child attends school in the district. He/she does not qualify for any special services, special needs or Project Challenge. All the extra curricular activities come out of my pocket as they are not school sponsored activities. These include sports, music lessons, karate, you name it, we're doing it outside of school. The academic education is mediocre at best so the bulk of instruction comes from homeschooling and basically our academically oriented lifestyle. Homework is completed in less than 15 minutes. I have yet to see any test or assignment with less than one wrong, if that. From what I've seen of friends, Project Challenge is a waste of time to begin with but as my child's OLSAT score falls in the 120-130 range, he/she does not qualify so that's that. We do not take advantage of the district's busing as the bullies on the bus made it too uncomfortable for our child. I've met some wonderful parents and the children are great but that would be the case with or without the school system. It's been my experience that of all the administration's priorities, my child's education is of little or no importance.

Tell me please. What does the school district offer that I am getting my money's worth? Why should I vote for the budget?

New Post- POB School District Contracts Up for Renewal.....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Is Money the Real Issue?":

should you move the contract discuss to a new thread?