Question about the blame game and schools?

Question

I have been hearing a lot about how bad our schools are

(on and off this site)

people blame the Teachers, the Unions, the State Government and the Federal Government

but NOT the School Boards

when I look into this issue I see that almost ALL of the blame should go to the school boards.

It is the Schools Boards that run the schools (always has been).

Every bad idea can be traced Directly back to the board every single time !!

what am I missing ? why not put the blame where it belongs ?

Answer 1

School boards have zero student contact time. They merely approve or disapprove decisions on the local level that have little impact on learning.

Answer 2

you are missing that the states and federal Gvts mandate what goes on in the schools,

to the extent that a problem is common to the vast majority of schools in a state the fault lies with the state,

and if common to the most schools in the country is fault of feds;

if the problem is uncommon then lay at the feet of local school board

authority and responsibility are same; where is the authority, there lies responsibility (or blame if you want to use that word);  give school boards 100% authority, then look at results and to place blame

Answer 3

School Boards in NY State are elected, and you cannot win without Union support. End of story. 80% of the NY State School Budget goes to the union by law. Do you think that's reasonable?

Edmond is correct.

Edit: This is why the government should not run anything. My ex girlfriend is a teacher making 90K, does not have to pay state taxes, and has the BEST health care plan available (and her union is taking the state to court for more...it's greed!). Don't be fooled by their rhetoric. She will retire at 55 with over 100K a year for life. You would have to save about 2.5 MILLION to retire like that. Ask a retirement planner.

Answer 4

This problem with the school system didn't just happen. This has been on going for some time. I call it the dumbing down of American children. Compared to 10-15 years ago the schools are terrible. I see children from schools asking Q&A what is happening to my school. Our children can not compete with children from overseas. The schools over seas have a higher standard of learning. Teachers are not happy with the way they are told to teach but must follow rules. I could see down the road not to far where there may be no public schools at all. Think how much money would be saved in our taxes is what I've heard. Sad...so sad. School boards are divided as well. It's turned into one big mess and the ones being hurt by all of this are the children. So much for no child left behind.

Answer 5

Is the parents goof, and I do have a ranch....it's 18000 acres near Tulia and Silverton, Texas.  It's 10 miles long and I do drive (and drink while I do it) all over it with a truck that isn't street legal.  Should the feds tell me I can't drive it?

And what kind of wus doesn't accept e-mails?  Who on this site are you scared of?

Answer 6

The blame lies squarely with the parents.

Answer 7

Actually it is not the school boards so much as it is the federally mandated programs such as No Child Left Behind, special education programs and the Viet Nam war.

More time is spent by teachers doing paper work than in the classroom teaching.

Many teachers who are about to start retiring were draft dodgers during Viet Nam, The easy way was to be in college with a 2.5 GPA or better. The easiest course of study back then was Education.  Therefore all the hippies, draft dodgers, and leftist liberals became teachers as the course of least work.  The educational system is overloaded by Illegal aliens students and politics that make it impossible to fail students who will not do the work and learn what is necessary.