FW students protest TAKS decision | Latest News | WFAA.com — The signage says it all.
About a dozen young people, carrying signs and chanting, began picketing at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. They represent the 613 Fort Worth seniors who did not pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam.
Crystal Martinez complained that while she finished at the top of her class with a 3.5 grade point average, she is now blocked from graduation by failing the TAKS test.
“We know we’re not going to get our diplomas, but we just want to walk across the stage,” Martinez said. “That’s all we ask for right now.”
Everyone is a winner in the USA.
found by Mr. Justin
Another problem comes up…
WHO makes the money teaching our kids?
NOT the teachers.
The book and bindery business is the biggest winner…Ever price some of those books?
I would LOVE a school distract to run its OWN publishing.
Also, WHO here has priced the Hard goods in a school.
The chairs, the chalk boards, the materials to TEACH?…
Iv seen some of the books and prices, IT AINT CHEAP….For SOME ODD reason.
First…
@#25 – Please provide examples of “other countries” that test this way.
@#25 – Please point out specific spelling and grammar mistakes.
@#25 – Please provide well anything to back up your thoughts and claims. At least I can do research and stay on topic.
Now,as for your comment Awake, I have to respectfully disagree with you. Yes there are very bad teachers out there, I know, I have worked with some. But those teachers are not the ones up in arms about this because frankly they don’t care. As long as they still have a job, who cares what happens to those kids. I am going to take the liberty of including myself in the group of good teachers (even though Lavi might disagree because I made a few editing mistakes earlier (funny because “I – R – A Graduat” submitted by JohnS is apparently correct in his / her eyes)) and say that we are the ones who are outraged by this because we actually care about what happens to these kids.
Lakelady, graduation is more than just about getting a piece of paper, it is supposed to be a celebration of completion. For some, that might mean going on to college, for others it might mean entering the workforce now, but in either case graduation should be a milestone that is only obtained when the work is completed. In the time between my original post and this one, I have had the chance to talk with some of the students who will be walking tomorrow and completed all of their requirements. Most of them are upset because they feel this honor has been cheapened and on some level I have to agree. This honor should be special to everyone who achieves it, but you have to admit, it hurts when you reach a milestone or receive an award and then turn around to see someone else get it who did not have to meet the same level of expectations you did.
Mr. Fusion, thank you for the kind words, we teachers need to hear that from the general public every so often. Improbus, Idiocracy is the scariest movie every because on some level I can see it coming true.
As you can tell I could go on and on about this topic because it is close to my heart but I must get to bed. I am helping out with a graduation tomorrow and even though I teach middle school, I still care enough to see my former students walk.
Before I sign off let me leave you with this; the average time for a new teacher to stay in the classroom is only 3 years. Why? It isn’t because of low pay and it isn’t because of the kids. While those are on the list of reasons the most commonly cited reason to leave teaching is because of all of the “extra” duties put on teachers. In addition to teaching your subject (math, science, ect.) you have to also deal with increasing local, state and federal regulations, adapt to whatever new style of teaching the district has bought into, adapt your lessons to fit all levels of learning (everything from to Talented & Gifted to Special Education… in one class) and somehow cram in basic social and life skills the kids are not getting at home all while being told by parents and the media the reason Timmy can’t read is your fault. Never mind that Timmy’s parents demanded he be promoted and allowed to move on from grade to grade even though he didn’t meet all of the set standards, heaven forbid he be held back or put in a special class, that wouldn’t look good on his records or to the neighbors!
#32. Book prices. That’s a can of worms. I actually apologized to my students when I recommended a $45 book for a class I taught. To my amazement, they thanked me for recommending the cheapest book they bought that year. i was floored!
Today when I meet with my instructors, we research textbooks on the Amazon.com website where books are cheaper than we can sell them. Does that undercut our bookstore? Sometimes. By doing this research we have found that our base price starts somewhere in reality and not up in the stratosphere. We don’t force students to buy textbooks from ego-maniac professors who insist on selling their own texts. Alternately, we don’t hide the fact that we mark up the price 33% to pay the wages of the person working the cash register. We even do the math for them. They can choose and most of them prefer the service over the cheaper price. Go figure.
Wow.
Just wow.
I’ll bet they could read a sign that says “Free Beer” or “Free Taco’s”.
On the other hand, it’s really a sad situation. Fort Worth is a jewel of a city. More Art Deco buildings downtown than any other US city. There is an old west influence throughout the town that is unique. Very few US cities have tried to preserve any sense of history, like Fort Worth has.
I wonder how many of these kids come from families where English is a second language. Texas is at the bleeding edge where large groups of the population essentially don’t speak English. I’ve seen one study that noted racial and national origin diversity in this area is much much higher than the rest of the country.
This may be a precursor for the rest of the US. where what used to be the majority, is now a minority.
#37, Brock Fort Worth is a jewel of a city.
I agree. Best BBQ in TX at Angelo’s according to two statewide surveys. Wish I knew more about the pop. mixture / ratio of kids in Ft. Worth schools, but I can’t find any hard stats. But you could be right.
About the price of books — a bit off topic.
I am wondering if it is possible for teachers of each grade level to create textbook wikis with editor controls so that non-teachers couldn’t change things. These textbook wikis could have the ability of being converted to PDF format for downloading by the student or anyone else. If a hardcover version is wanted, a person could use a service like Lulu (http://www.lulu.com/) to buy a printed copy.
This way textbooks would be up to date, consistent between schools for each state in every grade level, controlled by teachers not the book publishers and cost a bit less. Plus it might save some trees because some students may prefer to lug around the digital copy.
There are a few problems to work out but it might be an interesting idea to pursue.
I’m so intelligent that I’m clinically psychotic. I have haven’t implemented my plan for world domination, yet…
The future of textbooks is the electronic book. I have a Sony a-Reader and it will hold up to 80 books without adding any extra memory. They couldn’t rape you too badly on downloading textbooks. The students would have only one thing to carry around. All his textbooks would be in one place. And the number of trees saved would be awesome. The most expensive books I’ve seen on line are the best sellers… and they cost around $15.00 to download. The reader displays a special format from Sony, PDF and text files. As a bonus it displays photos and plays mp3s. The electronic ink takes very little power to change and once it’s set, it uses no power. According to Sony, you get 7000 page turns on a charge, but I’ve found this to be grossly exaggerated.
#41. That would be the future of textbooks if market forces were in charge. But the textbook industry (especially the college and graduate market) is rife with self-dealing and vested interests that hinder this sort of development.
By all rights it should have happened already – have every college student spring for a reader at the begining of the first term, then download their books for 4 years. After all, many colleges require students to buy a laptop. What’s an extra $300 on top of that? Plus, no more lugging around 40 pounds of paper everywhere.
What I would like to see is them professors who write textbooks cutting the publishers out of the loop and going the self-published e-reader way. They have swarms of research assistants who could do the editing and formatting.
It even has an built-in piracy prevention – the bookstore could make sure that everyone taking a given class has purchased the textbook.
“If you want things done you whine and whine until it becomes a reality”
Bill Clinton in a Simpsons episode.
Just ebonics!
#44 Our largest class size is 19 children. We start new teachers at 29k and after five years they make between 36 and 42k depending on their degrees. The majority of our teachers have been with the school over 20 years.
They only have to be in the school 6 hours a day 180 days a year they have 3 weeks paid sick time and 3 paid personal days.
And no one is making anyone be a teacher if you going to whine and complain on how hard you have it get a another job.
#47, Geneku, I agree. Tough job. What’s more dangerous and pays less — teaching in a school or being a flight instructor? In today’s America, I honestly don’t know. I won’t tell you how many times I left a Cessna 150 with a wet seat. But teaching is a very satisfying profession. I certainly didn’t do it for for the money or the ‘great’ hours.
Now, I don’t want anyone to get scared, think the End of the World is upon us, or whatever – but I’m going to go off-topic here for just half a mo…
#37 – Brock
“Fort Worth is a jewel of a city. More Art Deco buildings downtown than any other US city.”
Ahem. FW may be a lovely place, I can’t say from personal experience; so, not to take anything away from Fort Worth, but as an ex-Miamian, I feel obliged to mention that, with all due respect, you have been misinformed.
By far the largest collection of Deco architecture in North America is to be found on Miami Beach, in the area known to all and sundry as South Beach.
I took the TAKS test, got the results last week.
I passed easily. Btw you have two years to pass the Exit TAKS, you take it Junior year. Don’t pass? They make you go to tutoring, you take it again. Fail again? You take it again. By the time you graduate you would have several opportunities to take it, if you didn’t pass, you don’t deserve a diploma.
#46, I notice you don’t mention your school district. I would suspect that that is because either you’re full of crap, it is a special education school, it is a private school, or it just so happens to be in an extremely privileged area. There is no way it is the norm for your state or nationally.
Also I noticed you only claim to work there, not that you teach. So while you stand around the water cooler, whining about how underpaid you are compared to teachers, they are actually in a classroom teaching.
Bad teachers should be removed, but don’t suggest all or even most teachers are bad. The teachers are not the main problem.
…
Don’t forget that 75 years ago, anyone could just walk up to a factory door and ask for a job. Then you needed to be literate. Then you needed a certain grade level of education. Now most jobs require at least a high school diploma at a minimum and the number of occupations asking for some college is growing.
So many of these kids would have dropped out long ago when the academics became too much for them. Now, they are encouraged to stay in school through graduation. That doesn’t mean they are stupid or the teachers are bad. It does show our current system hasn’t adjusted to this paradigm.
#49 – You may be right. I know what I’ve seen – block after block of downtown buildings built in the Art Deco Fashion. Dozens if not well over a hundred. Many of the locals don’t appreciate them as they don’t know the architecture. And it’s not noted in the tour guides. Just an underappreciated fact of a really nice town.
Visited Florida many times but I’ve always tried to avoid Miami. Just not my taste, so like you, I can’t compare based on experience.
Regarding the TAKS test, it’s sad 16% of the kids can’t pass. I think the schools should update the tradition of the FFA (future farmers of america, with creation of the FLA (future lawnmowers of america). Maybe that will put some pride in their steps.
I, for one, welcome are new moran overlords…
Anyone who thinks teachers work 180 days a year doesn’t actually know any teachers. Teachers generally have to work many days that students don’t show up. This also includes days at the begining and end of summer.
My wife is a well respected math teacher and she works more hours in a year than most 9-5ers I know. She spends so much time helping these kids she doesn’t have time to take care of herself. And what is her compensation? 32k/ year.
Anyone who thinks the average “teacher works 180 days a year and is therefore fairly compensated” is too uninformed to comment on education.
In fairness to the moran in #46, usually, one doesn’t see the amount of work a teacher actually does. That is unless you’re married to one. But is so much easier to complain about them then it is too join them.
If any moran out there thinks they could do a better job then our current teachers do then please apply for the job. Just be prepared to give up your evenings and often some of your weekends. You might get the summer off if you don’t have summer school courses to take. Be ready that every parent will claim their little spawn from hell is fine and a budding brilliant engineer or comedian in the making.
10: that would be spelled “grammar”. You, too, were Left Behind.
I will speak heresy.
As a gradut of poblik scools in Chicago, I can testify to Why They Can’t Read or Write:
They didn’t want to.
Their parents didn’t read, their grandparents didn’t read, and no one in the neighborhood that is their world were exactly burning up the academic circuit. They don’t associate with people who ever were in college. They think that teachers are fools, they worship idiots playing music, and they don’t like cops, bosses, TV news, books, newspapers, science, or history. The teachers can’t teach a wall of rocks, and that is what a significant number of them are. The damage was done when they were young, from birth to about eight years old. The deficit from a deadly dull upbringing from deadly dull parents and friends can never really be made up later.
It’s not that they’re stupid. They’re from a world, a microculture sealed up in the cities and some burbs by shifting white populations and the resulting lack of taxes for schools. The poor and the uneducated were mired in place for decades, and as a result of being poor and uneducated, they remain religious, endowed with a high population growth thereby, and are stagnating while exploding in numbers. Their parents don’t want their kids to grow up uneducated, but they themselves never were and don’t know how to set the example or even help their kids with their homework. The parents can’t understand what a real education really is. For the most part, you become your parents.
It IS a process of racism and classism that enables suburban schools to spend $15K per year for each kid while the public school gets by with $4K. That discrepancy moved the pieces around the board for over a half century, and now the damage is so profound that no amount of money will fix it. The class divide is as permanent as it was predictable.
And before you say it, ditto the poor non-urban swaths of America. No money, no history of academic achievement, a large dose of class warfare = permanent dumbing down.
41: some information. Scanning a textbook for electronic in the US is a federal crime with a possible penalty of a five year prison term. Per scan.
I understand completely what these kids are going though! I was suppose to graduate in 2005. I passed all my classes, all my exams and all the Taks tests but one of them. I took it multiple times and still could not do it. So in there eyes I failed. I don’t see how doing all your work and passing all your exams and failing one part of that test they through in our faces like we were suppose to know it all right away. Not every student was able to understand all the scientific ways to put equations into the calculators. Most adults can’t even pass that test. But since I couldn’t pass one thing out of my 12 years of school I got nothing. Now I’m stuck wishing I had a diploma, wishing I could have walked across the stage where I was suppose to be that day. The Taks test is nothing but heart ache for kids who pass everything else. I mean I passed all of the Taks but one test. All my classes all my exams. But I deserve nothing right?