Hey America, Let's Not Leave Our Gifted Kids Behind!

By Babble.com | Parenting – Mon, Jan 27, 2014 3:34 PM

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/hey-america-let-39-not-leave-gifted-kids-203400321.html

     Teachers today are forced to pick between the struggling student and the gifted student, with those stuck in the middle just going along for the ride. And you know who is getting the shaft? The smarty-pants students. Instead of shepherding these bright minds down the road to greatness, teachers are - incorrectly - labeling them self-sufficient.

     With the implementation of the controversial No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, teachers are now giving low-performing students more attention and energy than those who consistently excel. This isn't just a problem for high-performing students and their parents, it is concerning for our country as a whole. Newsweek posted an article with the attention-grabbing headline, "America Hates Its Gifted Kids." Hate is a strong word, so I would rephrase the title to say: "America Doesn't Think Gifted Kids Need Help," but you know, they do. I would even say that they need as much help, if not more, than struggling students.

"Gifted children are a precious human-capital resource," said David Lubinski, a professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University. These kids are "future creators of modern culture and leaders in business, health care, law, the professoriate, and STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics]."

Every time a bright, gifted child complains that he is bored or ignored in class, it's a missed opportunity. These promising kids lose interest in school at a critical time when they should be gaining momentum. To borrow from the 42-year-old iconic ad campaign from the United Negro College Fund, "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste."
     When you compare America's education system and test scores to other countries, the results are incredibly disheartening. To see improvements, shouldn't we invest more time, effort, and resources into the best and the brightest? The kids who have the potential to cure cancer, invent the next big thing, or become president surely deserve our attention, too.

     Don't get me wrong, I don't want any child "left behind," but it seems that something needs to change, and drastically, so the ones who were born to lead don't fall behind, too. Maybe the answer is as simple as grouping children not by their chronological age, but by their abilities instead. Newsweek describes this concept as "a gifted 9-year-old [sharing] a geometry class with high school freshmen. A 15-year-old [hitting] the advanced placement ceiling at his high school, and [heading] over to the local community college to take classes."

     Perhaps the solution comes with "personalizing an individual's education." A child may excel in math, but might struggle in English, so his classes could reflect that inconsistency. He would attend a higher-level math class and an English class better suited to his skill set. His classes would be a mixture of ages, not a mixture of abilities, so the teacher could educate the students evenly.

     This idea has been floating around for decades, with some school districts making it a reality. In Kansas City, schools embrace is concept, with advocates saying that "the approach cuts down on discipline problems because advanced students aren't bored, and struggling students aren't frustrated."

None of our children should be left behind. Something needs to be done, and soon, to not only help struggling students improve, but to give gifted children with the potential for greatness the tools they need to succeed, too.

-By Sunny Chanel

OWH The Public Pulse Response to Letter on Jan. 27, 2014

"What Mr. Jack Boesch from Humphrey (The Public Pulse; Monday, January 27; "Legislature should steer clear of sports") fails to realize is that private schools CAN control who and how many students they accept.  Public schools have to take any student that walks in the door.  That sir is where the issue comes on "recruiting."  You and others certainly have the right to not attend public school.  Since you choose to send your child to a private school the question becomes why.  Numerous reports have been published comparing private with public school children education. Considering that private school child come from homes with both parents being college educated and influential, you would think the results should be greater. This is not the case at all times.  Some parents of private school students say they pay taxes so they should be allowed to use public school facilities and educational material.  Not a bad argument until I ask, "I pay taxes to support the local police department, so can I drive the squad car around when I want?"  "Can I use the fire truck to water my yard?"  Why not, I pay taxes for them?  Public schools are demonized by some.  The work they do is amazing when one considers the number of issues students bring to school from home.  Bottom line is this, you want something more.  That is cool, but you should not expect taxpayers to support ANY PORTION of the elitism you wish for.  As a former coach (even at a private school) it is not a fair playing field with public schools.  Senator Karpisek is bringing this uneven issue to the forefront.  When a private school uses its "right" to pick and choose who attends their school, that is where it becomes unfair.  When a private school allow some to attend without paying tuition, that is unfair as well."

I Have Been Ordained! Reverend Hunt? Minister Hunt?

Congratulations! You are now legally ordained for life, though you may relinquish your credentials at any time. AS OF Thursday the 23rd of January 2014 YOU HAVE BECOME A MEMBER OF THE PRESTIGIOUS CLERGY. You have earned a title worthy of admiration and respect.

Let it be known on this date that in accordance with the laws of the Universal Life Church Monastery, as ordaining officer, I, Brother Martin, do ordain you into our ministry. From this day forward, you are entitled to all of the rights of an ordained minister. You have the authority to perform marriages, baptisms, and all other ceremonies of the church. You are an independent minister of this church. This is a position that carries with it a burden of responsibility; please respect others and comply with the laws of the land.

The Universal Life Church has only two tenets:

To promote freedom of religion
To do that which is right

The Universal Life Church Monastery has recorded your application for ordination.

As a member of the Universal Life Church you are granted the ability to:

• Perform marriages, funerals, baptisms, ceremonial rites, and last rites.
• Start your own church, be it brick & mortar or online.
• Absolve others of their sins.
• Use the title Reverend, Minister, Healer, Educator, and more.

If you want to start your own Ministry, we recommend that you purchase a Ministry In A Box . There is also the Wedding Business Kit which contains everything you need to start your wedding ministry. It's a turn-key operation that will start you on your way to a successful business.

MINISTERIAL CREDENTIALS

With your ordination, you received an online receipt. This is for your personal use only and is not an official document.

Before performing your first marriage, please read the marriage training information. When you perform a wedding, you are responsible for ensuring its legality. If you have any questions about the legality of performing a wedding in your area, please contact your local County Clerk. * The church realizes that this new legal status as an ordained minister is difficult to realize. It is almost too good to be true - but it is. In St. John 15:16 it states that God chose you, not the other way around. Your ordination is of God from before the foundation of the earth - according to the Bible. You are not required to believe this, it is offered only as one source of your seeking ordination. It is the responsibility of the Church and the duty of the Monastery to assist you in your new ministry whatever it may be as long as it complies with the two tenets of the ULC: to promote freedom of religion and to do that which is right and within the law.

Rant On Politics

RANT TIME (Do not read if you are easily offended):

1. If you blame Democrats for all problems you might be an IDIOT.
2. If you blame all Liberals for our problems you might be an IDIOT.
3. If you blame the president for all our problems you might be an IDIOT.
4. If you blame Republicans for all problems you might be an IDIOT.
5. If you blame Conservatives for our problems you might be an IDIOT.
6. If you blame the poor for all of our problems you might be an IDIOT.
7. If you blame the rich for all of our problems you might be an IDIOT.
8. If you post forwards without checking them out first you are an IDIOT.

There, I feel better! Good Day!

The Grass Is Not Always Greener -- Fleeing Obamacare

O.K., this made me laugh and spit my coffee out!  Once again people, educate yourself! :)

 

October 1, 2013

Millions Flee Obamacare

Posted by Andy Borowitz

 UNITED STATES (The Borowitz Report)—Millions of Tea Party loyalists fled the United States in the early morning hours today, seeking what one of them called “the American dream of liberty from health care.”

Harland Dorrinson, 47, a tire salesman from Lexington, Kentucky, packed up his family and whatever belongings he could fit into his Chevy Suburban just hours before the health-insurance exchanges opened, joining the Tea Party’s Freedom Caravan with one goal in mind: escape from Obamacare.
“My father didn’t have health care and neither did my father’s father before him,” he said. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let my children have it.”
But after driving over ten hours to the Canadian border, Mr. Dorrinson was dismayed to learn that America’s northern neighbor had been in the iron grip of health care for decades.
“The border guard was so calm when he told me, as if it was the most normal thing in the world,” he said. “It’s like he was brainwashed by health care.”
Turning away from Canada, Mr. Dorrinson joined a procession of Tea Party cars heading south to Mexico, noting, “They may have drug cartels and narcoterrorism down there, but at least they’ve kept health care out.”
Mr. Dorrinson was halfway to the southern border before he heard through the Tea Party grapevine that Mexico, too, has public health care, as do Great Britain, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Belgium, New Zealand, Slovenia, and dozens of other countries to which he had considered fleeing.
Undaunted, Mr. Dorrinson said he had begun looking into additional countries, like Chad and North Korea, but he expressed astonishment at a world seemingly overrun by health care.
“It turns out that the United States is one of the last countries on earth to get it,” he said. “It makes me proud to be an American.”

Judge Strikes Down Drug Testing in Florida

I personally have no issue with drug testing for ANYONE that receives government tax dollars. This would include not only those on public assistance, but also government employees, corporation leaders that receive aid, farmers, and etc. The system needs to be revised to make it what it was suppose to be: Temporary assistance for those who needed some help. The system and those who run it are the reason it has become a mess.

1) ALL who can do some type of work must work to receive aid. Heck, have the government assign
them work. This could be sweeping their blocks sidewalk daily or picking up trash. If they choose
not to do the work, then no aid for them. NO JOB should be considered below those who want our
aid.

2) DEMAND those in charge of the system do their jobs. Investigate all those asking for welfare. Are
the people doing all they can to meet their needs. Once someone is granted aid, follow up constantly
with those people to see how they are doing.

3) It is OUR money and we should have the right to determine who gets it. WE set the rules! If they
choose not to follow or meet our rules, then that is o.k., no aid for them. It is all about choices folks!

4) BOTTOM LINE: You get what you expect! We have allowed people to LIVE off welfare.


I once had a State Senator tell me how the system was set up. If a mom needed $1000 to live each month she could sit at home and not work so the state would give her $1000. If she was working, but only making $800 a month she would receive NO aid. SERIOUSLY, no one in our government has an issue with this? COMMON SENSE time; let her work for $800 a month and then GIVE HER the $200 more. SOCIETY saves $800!

Judge strikes down Florida law mandating drug tests for welfare

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday struck down a Florida law requiring drug screening for welfare recipients, saying that it violated the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican who campaigned on a promise to expand drug testing, said he would appeal the ruling.

The law took effect in July 2011 and required parents to undergo and pay for urine tests for illegal drugs when they applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal-state program that helps poor people with children pay for food, shelter and necessities.

The testing fee of $25 to $45 was to be repaid by the state if the test came back negative, but applicants who tested positive would have been barred from receiving benefits for a year.

Enforcement of the law was temporarily halted in October 2011 after the American Civil Liberties Union sued, arguing that mandatory testing of people who were not suspected of using drugs violated the constitutional prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures.

U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven permanently halted enforcement of the law in Tuesday's ruling. She agreed with an earlier court finding that "there is nothing inherent in the condition of being impoverished that supports the conclusion that there is a concrete danger that impoverished individuals are prone to drug use...."

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Orlando on behalf of Luis Lebron, a U.S. Navy veteran, college student and single father with sole custody of his then-5-year-old son.

Lebron was denied benefits when he refused to take the test.

"The new law assumes that everyone who needs a little help has a drug problem," Lebron said when the suit was filed in 2011. "It's wrong and unfair. It judges a whole group of people on their temporary economic situation."

Scott and other supporters of the law argued that welfare recipients needed to be drug-free to prepare them for jobs. They said businesses had been requiring such tests for years and that government should do the same to ensure that taxpayer money wasn't used to buy illegal drugs.

"Any illegal drug use in a family is harmful and even abusive to a child," Scott said on Tuesday. "We should have a zero tolerance policy for illegal drug use in families - especially those families who struggle to make ends meet and need welfare assistance to provide for their children."

During the time the law was in effect, about 2.6 percent of recipients tested positive for illegal drugs, mostly for marijuana, according to the court documents.

The failure rate was well below that of the general population. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found in a 2009 survey that about 8.7 percent of the population aged 12 or older had used illicit drugs in the previous month.

Generally, the courts have allowed suspicionless drug testing only when public safety is at risk, such as for armed officers or railroad workers who operate heavy equipment.

The case is 6:11-CV-01473-MSS-DAB.

(Reporting by Jane Sutton; editing by Gunna Dickson)