ivan

too cynical - despite flaws, American public schools are still pumping out plenty of good citizens

i seriously doubt a longer school year would do much to eliminate the notion that more testing is better, though it might dilute the amount of time spent actually testing to re-iterate, i think the vast majority of teachers are okay w/ the concept of testing (standardized or not) - afterall, we test frequently ourselves (and, as students, usually did very well on such tests) - the concerns stem from: a) tests that are unrealistic in their expectations (i bet many folks would be suprised at the current SBAC test in WA - the english version, which i've done a sample of, expects 16 year olds to demonstrate reading skills that were damned challenging for a fellow w/ a near 800 SAT verbal score and reads non-fiction compulsively) b) serious judgements that are made about schools and teachers that come from these unrealistic tests and c) exactly how much time is consumed in the taking of said tests (and time lost to rote-preparation that invariably occurs when the whole process is made so paramount)

again, i don't much understand - i'd assume you'd be a social studies type, like meself - the vast majority of such teacher's i've known were cracker-jack students, loved school for all of the disciplines (not just history/gov/etc), are highly tolerant of all political views (is that so hard?), and generally just enjoy talking about the events of the day and distant past...

i'll say - i'm gonna need at least the next 100 weeks of duty-free time to process it

there's a reason conservatives ain't so common amongst teach-tards - the knee-jerk "spare the rod" mantra just don't translate well into public policy at 745 in the a.m.

when unsure, i ask meself: What Would Warren Harding Do?

it's never been proposed to my union, and, depending on the details, i'm sure we could be easily on the side of such a proposal i'm sure that there are countries w/ both teacher labor unions and longer school-years - there's no reason they're mutually exclusive

LOL! Like that's going to happen with today's kids. i teach plenty of kids who work the summer (and the regular year too) - obviously kids ain't working in the wheat fields as much as the past (though indeed, they still do in some places), but there is a good argument that a high-schooler can learn a lot of things at a summer job that he ain't gonna get in school - lord knows working a variety of shitty summer jobs increased my ability to suffer assholes

that doesn't sound too much like anything going on in my district the elementary folks have "early release" each Wednesday, but that's i think a 2 hr release, not a whole half day. its not like teachers want to lose the time w/ the kids either, or that they were asked- for years now the state and administration has wanted an ever increasing degree of co-ordination between teachers, and the reality is you can't achieve that w/o scheduling in a regular time for all those teachers to be off at the same time - i know i'm far from the only teacher who'd be perfectly happier to have more independence, say fuck the fucking staff meetings, and just have the time w/ my kids

i'm just one union guy, but a year-round schedule sounds pretty cool - a lot more money (i'm expecting the extra 65 days aren't being expected for free? ) - the typical approach, as i understand this kind schedule, still has 2 weeks or so breaks at the end of each cycle, which as a climber means good long road-trips at times of the year that currently are tough to get out during that you assume the attitudes of a union member on this subject shows you don't much understand the thing you're judging so well

again, that's simply wrong - agency shop fees go to my local union (only 400 members) b/c we're the one that actually negotiate the contract and work to ensure it's followed our local union's budget doesn't cover anything traditionally considered political - it's doesn't pay for political advertising, contribute to political campaigns, tell the membership how to vote, etc. local members who want to opt-in to that action have to join WEA-PAC.

WWHPD? what would harry pi do?

also, zion might still work in june, especially if you did a route w/ a lot of shade like prodigal sun. if you get too sun-blasted you can always chillax afterwards by doing a super-icy canyoneering romp

if you're into aiding walls, consider the upper town wall routes at index (like town crier and green drag-on) and some of the cool pinnacles of Oregon (monkey face at smith rock, steins pillar, turkey monster in the menagerie)

thin red line is certainly doable as a solo aid climb, though I bet the upper pitches would be a bitch if you're alone and hauling anything - some feller on this board I seem to recall did it solo in just a few hours, though that sounds like mutant shit to me our weather's usually pretty stable and dry in june, but it certainly can rain - I'd expect plenty of snow at the base (which can make getting on route tricky, as well as setting up a solo anchor) that time of year - it's a north facing route too, so be ready for it to be a bit chilly (don't knock it though, when it gets warmer the mozzies come out like solid-gold mother-fuckers )

4.20?

wise sir do not grieve for every one of us living in this world means waiting for our end let he who can achieve glory before death when a warrior is gone that will be his best and only bulwark

says so on wikipedia, but don't see it anywhere else yet

i'm sorry, where was carville wrong about human beings again?

hey, there's other things teachers can do to combat dwindling pay instead of striking! http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/16/meth-lab-found-inside-home-north-carolina-elementary-school-teacher/?intcmp=latestnews my first year teaching was in tar-heel land - was the worst in the nation for teacher pay at the time (wow, they've come up to #47 now) - flew away after one year...

from their cold dead hooves

"if you will it, it is no dream"

are most graduates of public schools generally content w/ their lives? speaking just from what i've seen, yeah, actually. i certainly haven't kept tabs on all my flown chickens over 20 years, but those that i have crossed passed w/ post-graduation have generally been pretty happy w/ their lives (and those that haven't usually are quick to own their failures - "you tried man...") despite disowning the straw man, you sure sound like you fancy him - what "results" do you use to judge the fire-fighter, the medic, the soldier? what supervisor doesn't pass the buck on his own short-comings to his sub-ordinates? judgement by peers? holy shit, so unions SHOULD judge their members?

thanks for the kind words there gene, but to play politician for a minute (and in deference to me math colleagues), i should concede i ain't "infinitely more knowledgeable" about anything

out of curiosity, those who are hot for "supply and demand" pay for public school teachers and evaluations based on kids test scores, how do you want other public servants to be judged? should cops be judged on how many tickets they write? how often the tickets they do write get paid? should fire-fighters be paid by how many fires they put out? do conservatives really want irs agents to be fired if they don't catch a certain # of tax-cheats? my point is that public servants aren't exactly pumping out widgets - they're not owned by scrooge mcduck for his personal financial well-being - our task is a rather broad, grand and often nebulous one: to shepherd every kid the community throws into the hopper into adulthood with hopefully a chance at long-term happiness in life