Saturday, July 09, 2005

THE ILLITERATE AMERICAN

You need to have a degree these days just to be able to write properly

States spend nearly a quarter of a billion dollars a year on remedial writing instruction for their employees, according to a new report that says the indirect costs of sloppy writing probably hurt taxpayers even more. The National Commission on Writing, in a report to be released Tuesday, says that good writing skills are at least as important in the public sector as in private industry. Poor writing not only befuddles citizens but also slows down the government as bureaucrats struggle with unclear instructions or have to redo poorly written work. "It's impossible to calculate the ultimate cost of lost productivity because people have to read things two and three times," said Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, vice chairman of the National Governors Association, which conducted the survey for the commission.

The commission, established by the College Board, drew attention with its first report in 2003. That outlined problems with how writing is taught in American schools and proposed remedies. The group's second report, last year, tried to drum up support for writing education by highlighting the value that business and industry leaders place on writing skills. This year, the commission surveyed human resource directors who oversee nearly 2.7 million state government employees, and found writing skills even more important than in the private sector.

While two-thirds of companies surveyed in the 2004 report said writing was an important responsibility for workers, 100% of the 49 states responding to the anonymous survey said it was. More than 75% said they take writing skills into account when hiring. But while 70% of state managers said large majorities of their professional employees had adequate skills, just one-third said clerical and support staff did. The report estimates the states spend $221 million annually on remedial writing training, sometimes sending workers to $400-per-employee classes. "You have to be able to write, convert an idea and turn it into words," said Bob Kerrey, the former U.S. senator and governor from Nebraska, who is chairman of the commission. In public office, "I read things that were absolutely incomprehensible," Kerrey said. He shudders to think how Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, published 229 years ago Monday, would have read in standard, government-worker bureaucrat-speak. "It would be 10 times as long, one-tenth as comprehensive, and would have lacked all inspiration," Kerrey said.

Source





CALIFORNIA TEACHERS: WHAT ARE THEY AFRAID OF?

I think we know

The Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday voted to a eliminate a basic competency test for California public school teachers, arguing that the 23-year-old exam is obsolete due to tougher federal testing standards required under President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. The committee action, which still must be ratified by the Assembly and Senate and signed by the governor, would essentially eliminate the California Basic Educational Skills Test - or CBEST - as a statewide requirement for credentialing teachers. However, the bill - which the committee passed without opposition - would allow local school districts to continue to require the exam, which tests teaching candidates for basic competency in reading, writing and mathematics.

In 2003, two years after the No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by the president, state education officials created a new exam to comply with federal requirements that all teachers demonstrate competency in the specific subjects they teach. The federal law requires that teachers in core subjects such as math, history, science, chemistry or physics have a bachelor's degree or higher in their specialty fields or pass a competency test. Beginning this year, all elementary school teachers and junior high and high school teachers specializing in academic subjects will be required to pass the subject matter tests, called the California Subject Examinations for Teachers.

Because of the new requirements, state Sen. Jack Scott, D-Altadena, argued that the previous basic competency exam "has become redundant" and should be eliminated. Lori Eastering, a legislative advocate for the California Teachers Association, argued that the new tests require teachers not only to demonstrate competency in core subjects but also to show command of basic reading, writing and math. "We're not dumbing down requirements for testing teachers," Easterling said of eliminating the basic skills exam.

More here

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"


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