Coming to a School near you...

[Wilma]

A sports scholarship is not awarded only on the ability to throw a ball.  They also have to have a high grade average, which they have to maintain during the life of the scholarship.  Failing grades, loss of scholarship.  This is only one example of what our schools are doing for the students that would have to be curtailed without the help of federal funds.

When my oldest was a senior, there was no encouragement for her to try to go on to college, while here in Howard, there was a counselor to whom the kids could turn for information and advice.  Out of her senior class only two went to regular college.  Several attended at least one year of junior college, while several more went to trade schools.   No one was expected to try to get a four year degree.  While talking to one of her classmates, we figured out that the only ones who had attained a degree were the ones who had gone to the four year college and my daughter, who had a year of junior college, then 40 years of picking up a class here and there until she had earned enough for a Bachelor's.  Now at her age, it isn't going to do her a lot of good.  If she could have had help and encouragement 40 years ago, she could have done it soon enough to use it.

If you ever wonder why the young people go away to school and never come back, look at what the local school offers in the way of education.  If their children are not going to have what they can get somewhere else, they are not going to stay in this area.

[Catwoman]

Catwoman- Why would you need "truly qualified" people on the school board?
With all the Fed and state overseers, board members would not have to know much except
how to use a rubber stamp and sign their own name.

You need people who are highly qualified just simply because they would know better how to work within the framework provided by the State/Feds.  If all you have is a warm body who is using a rubber stamp and signing their name to whatever is placed before them because they're followers of the loudest/most insistant voices on the Board, your school system will stagnate within the same mediocraty that has hobbled it for years.    

[srkruzich]

Sports scholarships are awarded by colleges often to young people who would not otherwise be able to go to college.  The only way these young people are brought to the attention of the colleges is through their participation in high school sports.  Cutting sports would cut these young people out of their chance to attend college.

What ever happened to hard work and good grades?  Sorry but sports should be after school and supported by parents if they wish to do sports. 

As for inability to go to college?  Thats not true.  I paid for my education by working 2 jobs. 

In todays world there is no reason one can't get into a school.   College or votech either or.  Votech allows for degrees too and they get you there with hands on.

[Varmit]

Wilma, what ever happened to the PARENTS encouraging their children to go to college?  Blamining it on the school is just an excuse and cop out.  By saying that your daughters education isn't doing her any good because of how old she is, isn't the fault of anyone but your daughter.  My mother was close to fifty before she got her masters in nursing adminstration, now she is pulling in 6 figures a year.   

Also, if a senior in high school is a star athlete and has a 3.8 gpa or better, then they should have be able to do a little research of their own and find scholarships that are availiable.  Saying that they would otherwise be "curtailed" is another excuse.

Futhermore, I feel that we do need a set of Federally set guidelines for education.  Those guidelines need to be applied equally, across the board, to every public school in the nation.  They should pertain to the level and standard of education our children recieve, and they need to be a hell of alot higher than they are now.  Also, there is no reason that said guidlines need to be so complicated that a person needs a Masters degree to understand them.  The current system of Tenure needs to be abolished.  If a teacher cannot do the job, they shouldn't be a teacher, regardless of how long they have been in education.  Just because a person has done a job for twenty years, doesn't mean they are good at it. 

[Wilma]

I am talking about 1967 and a small high school.  Only the children of college people were encouraged to go on to college.  The rest of them were encouraged to go to trade school or get married.  My 4 daughters among them, now have 3 Bachelor's and an LPN.  One of them is also only a few hours short of a Master's.  Needless to say, they worked to support themselves and pay for their school.

The reason the degree that took 40 years to get isn't doing the daughter any good now is that by the time she got it she was also so disabled she couldn't hold a regular job.  She is now on SSD.  I supported her the last semester of her studies so that she could finally finish.  If she'd had the counseling as to available help and if we'd had someone to go to for information about help, maybe she could have done the 4-year thing.  At the time, the only thing we qualified for was school loans. 

[Tobina+1]

If the only way a student can get into college is because they can throw a ball, then they have no business going to college.  School should be about academics, not sports.

I also disagree here.  When I was in high school, our football coach did EXCELLENT things for kids who would not normally be able to afford to go to college.  Many, many of his football players got scholarships to community colleges to play ball... and to get an education.  Of those players, it was not a matter of not being smart enough to get into a school, but they (their parents) didn't have the means to pay for their education.  Now, quite a few of these guys went into teaching and have gone back to my hometown, or other neighboring towns, to teach and coach.  And these guys are also helping their students get sports scholarships so they can get an education.

I do agree that a lot of larger schools put too much weight on sports and winning records.  But overall, I think that sports does help kids in smaller schools get scholarships so they can get a higher education.  Also, not just sports, but all extracurricular activities really help kids in their leadership abilities, social behavior, etc.  Yes, kids can succeed without being involved, but I really think that getting kids involved in "something" outside of school work really helps them develop skills that will put them above and beyond their compeition in the "real world".

[srkruzich]

I am talking about 1967 and a small high school.  Only the children of college people were encouraged to go on to college.  The rest of them were encouraged to go to trade school or get married.  My 4 daughters among them, now have 3 Bachelor's and an LPN.  One of them is also only a few hours short of a Master's.  Needless to say, they worked to support themselves and pay for their school.

The reason the degree that took 40 years to get isn't doing the daughter any good now is that by the time she got it she was also so disabled she couldn't hold a regular job.  She is now on SSD.  I supported her the last semester of her studies so that she could finally finish.  If she'd had the counseling as to available help and if we'd had someone to go to for information about help, maybe she could have done the 4-year thing.  At the time, the only thing we qualified for was school loans. 

Ok i understand that. But the problem is that since 1967, the dept of ed has swung so far from education that the only thing that can be done to fix the schools is scrap the dept of ed totally and return the school system to the local communities.

We should be able to as a community determine what our kids need in education. Education does not work on a macro level.  Not all kids can learn the same way.  Vocational colleges now are geared for kids who have difficulty in dealing with the college theory that is taught.  Some kids are ok with that and all.  But quite frankly college is a waste of time IMO with all the "prerequisites" in obtaining a degree. 
Vocational training gets into the nitty gritty and trains while you learn and in doing that produces a qualified graduate for a job.  The ones who graduate with ma or ba degrees are not even close to being qualified as they may not have actual experience in that field.

School system is a prime example of that.  Some young graduate has this pipe dream of this that and the other and has this theory that if they do it the kids will do this.  Practical application of that theory usually ends up in disaster.

For example today they are teaching this whole word thing which amounts to word memorization instead of phonics like most of us that are older were taught.  The problem with whole word is that they cannot pronounce words they have never seen before.  Where with phonics there is a basic set of sound rules that we can go by and pronounce these words.

[srkruzich]

If the only way a student can get into college is because they can throw a ball, then they have no business going to college.  School should be about academics, not sports.

I also disagree here.  When I was in high school, our football coach did EXCELLENT things for kids who would not normally be able to afford to go to college.  Many, many of his football players got scholarships to community colleges to play ball... and to get an education.  Of those players, it was not a matter of not being smart enough to get into a school, but they (their parents) didn't have the means to pay for their education.  Now, quite a few of these guys went into teaching and have gone back to my hometown, or other neighboring towns, to teach and coach.  And these guys are also helping their students get sports scholarships so they can get an education.

I do agree that a lot of larger schools put too much weight on sports and winning records.  But overall, I think that sports does help kids in smaller schools get scholarships so they can get a higher education.  Also, not just sports, but all extracurricular activities really help kids in their leadership abilities, social behavior, etc.  Yes, kids can succeed without being involved, but I really think that getting kids involved in "something" outside of school work really helps them develop skills that will put them above and beyond their compeition in the "real world".

Well i am so negative on sports for the simple reason that of the schools my kids went to sports was funded over acadamia.  The high school my sons went to built a new school.  total cost was 8 million on the building and facilities. 4 million was spent on bleachers, and football facilities, trianing room, weight room, uniforms, ect,  then the other sports and band took up another million, and 3 million was used for the school itself.  When it came time for students to learn in this facility, day one there were no textbooks.  They had 2 textbooks for each class in each room. Their excuse was that they had no money.  NO MONEY??? after spending 5 mil on sports and extracurricular activities!?

Then what really got me upset was when the football team had a winning streak and went to finals, they charter a big bus to carry the team to the games and when they won, they paid for steak and lobster for the team at ruth chris steakhouse.   Sorry but priorities in the programs have gone out the window.

When i went to school we had a football team and they met after school and it was funded by parents contributions.  The school did not budget millions for the program.  any moneys taken from taxpayors to fund schools should be spent to teach kids, not fund play time.

[Tobina+1]

Steve; that is a prime example of what I was talking about when I said that some larger schools really put too much emphasis on sports and winning records.  The school I grew up in, the surrounding small schools, and I suspect that West Elk, too, tries to keep a good balance between sports, school, and other extracurricular activities.  Anyone could probably give examples of "any" extracurricular activity having too much funding at any school around the nation. 

My point was that without sports, and without a coach willing to work hard for his kids, a LOT of students wouldn't have been able to receive college education.  Football was the means to an end.  Honestly, a lot of the guys probably only played for 1-2 years in JuCo, and then went on to 4-year degree programs without playing football there.  But the scholarships they got the first 1-2 years gave them a leg-up on their funding, and also gave them the structure they needed to continue to succeed in college.

I have nothing against technical schools or community colleges or any other post-secondary education; I think they're all important.  I don't think one is better than another; they each have their own focus for the students that attend there.  I've seen the smartest kid in the class go to a technical college; not because they weren't smart enough to go to a University, but because their interests were in the stuff they could learn at technical colleges.  I've also seen the middle-of-the-road student go straight to a Unversity and also earn a degree and get a paying job.

I do think it is important, however, for students to be given the opportunity to attend college/technical school/etc.  Not that I don't agree that they can learn a lot from good plain hard work, but it's that experience away from home and being responsible for themselves that really lends to their advancement as an adult. 

[Wilma]

Tobina, I love the way you talk.