Apoihqrepihavheoikhjafadddksahohujohag5454556ijddcxd… yes that is exactly what I feel like when researching for this paper. I keep thinking that I should narrow down my research topic more and more but when I go and try to do so it always seems to just grow back into the monster that it was before. The worst part is trying to find any concrete sources that give some detailed info on another countries education system. All I keep getting from database after database is pretty much the same information. And all that is just a basic overview of their education system. Which by the way is not even close to as interesting as it sounds…I mean okay I am passionate about the education system and all that but come on if I have to read one more article about some proposed business plan I will scream…but after all that pretty good so far at least on the home front. That is to say that I am getting some information about our own education system that I wasn’t even aware of before, and I’m pretty sure that the average Joe on the street would not be aware of this either for that matter. What I’m mostly finding is that in our education system, there is a three-way knockout drag out fight going on between that voters, teacher unions, and the local governments…which side are you on???
Monthly Archives: October 2012
anoited bib
Clemmitt, Marcia. “School Reform.” CQ Researcher 29 Apr. 2011: 385-408. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.
Is it the teachers fault? Asks Clemmitt. The answer is a resounding…we don’t know, some say that yes the teachers are to blame for the education slump that we are in but others blame the economy. For once in twenty years America is not leading in the academic fields. Not surprisingly the four countries that are beating us are Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and England. Many believe that the main reason for the low test scores is outside factors, such as family life, and poverty. Apparently we are the only country that has to worry about educators health-care costs and pensions as a schools cost. We also have almost quadrupled the spending for special education and immigrant children in the last ten years which contributes highly to the funding crisis most schools are in. I plan to use this article to introduce the issue at hand as well as use it as a stepping stone to go on to explain the bigger picture.
Walters, Jonathan. “School Funding.” CQ Researcher 27 Aug. 1993: 745-68. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.
So in this article Walters starts to explain the rocky road education funding has had in the former 30 years. He explains that in many cases there are only two choices, “leveling up or leveling down”. Leveling up means that state gives more money to everyone but a lot of money to poorer districts. This of course has many problems as well chiefly where the money coming from. Another problem being that in order to even get the money states would have to raise taxes by quite a bit, something that many voters strongly disagree upon. The other option is to “level down” the richer neighborhoods, meaning to place a spending cap on the higher class neighborhoods on give the excess money to more poverty stricken areas. This would of course many supporters, as well as enemies. The enemies mostly being of course the very people getting a cap placed on them. I plan to use this article to correctly state the options the education system has and to provide insight into the reactions to raising taxes in the states.
what did i learn form the library
Now I have learned a couple things actually, first is that I may have bitten off more than I can chew, meaning that I may have to refine my thesis statement again…oh joy. Now by saying this I mean that I am having trouble pining down a source from the library that really goes into the detail I would be needing for this paper. I have learned about several different databases that will be very helpful once I get a chance to look through them. Those would be Ebrary, CQResearcher, and academic search. Each one should have a ton of information once I get my topic narrowed down more. I also found a book that will be helpful it’s called “the teaching gap” which goes into detail about the teaching systems in America and abroad. Lots of work ahead…fun fun
how does Huey define Social Justice?
My father is a 1/8 Sioux Native American, so this presentation hit home for me. I knew of the battle of Wounded Knee, and my father has shown me pictures of when he visited the massacre site. Justice is what is right and wrong, now the problem is right and wrong are defined by those in power at the time, and right now those in power believe that the right thing to do is to not honor the treaties previously signed by their forefathers. Am I going to go off on a tangent about the living conditions, medical care, or schooling in all, not just the Sioux, Reservations, no I’m not that time has passed. The time for reconciliation is past, the Native Americans want their land and homes back, but the American government will not give over control to a sovren state, at least not that much. Treaties have been broken over and over, words promised, and were not kept. The justice in all of this is… well there really is no justice at all here. The American government gave its word, and didn’t keep it. Is that really how the leader of the world should act? I mean we built this nation on their ground, on their Native land, and we don’t blink an eye, what’s so different about then and now…
how does stevenson define social justice/injustice?
How did Stevenson define social justice…now there’s a tricky question if I ever saw one, reason being is that he never came out , to my memory, and outright told us how he defines social justice/ injustice…I do however know that he does go on to explain how he sees this countries court system a little lacking. Stevenson explains that in Germany there is no death penalty, in light of past events, but he says that we would find it terrible if Germany still had the death penalty, now why would we feel this way even though we ourselves in many states have the death penalty. He then goes on to say; now there is a big divide in this country on the justice issue. It is easier to be rich and guilty, than to be poor and innocent. The story of the motion at the end of his speech is amazing in my eyes, because yes the judge does believe that he can make the kid into adult, but what really gets me is how Stevenson states in the motion. I motion that we judge this young man not as a poor black child, but as a rich white old man and see what happens. That is the true injustice of this country, justice is blind but not the judges apparently can see the dollar signs very clearly. Also the story of his grandmother strikes a chord in me because what was said to him when he was young is almost the same thing that was said to me when I was 8 by my grandmother.
richardsthoughtsandactions 