Wednesday, August 04, 2010



National Education Association Orders Members to Read Communist Guide Book

The National Education Association (NEA) is the premier teachers union group in the country. As such it is instructive to learn the sort of reading material that the biggest of all teachers unions tells its own members to study so that they can more adequately represent teachers in America today.

A look at the NEA website reveals a shocking recommendation to its members. The union that represents the teachers that we send our children to every school day suggests that its members read the communist-like manifesto of famed left-wing agitator Saul Alinsky.

That’s right, the NEA wants its members, America’s teachers, to become programmed by the ideas and policy prescriptions in a communist manifesto.

And while making the recommendation, the NEA also absent-mindedly seems to forget that Alinsky was an avowed socialist that wanted to remake America from a representative democracy into a communist state.

Here is how they describe Alinsky’s books:
NEA recommends the following Saul Alinsky books to those members of our Association who are involved in grassroots organizing, especially Association Representatives (ARs) — also known as building reps or shop stewards — and leaders at local affiliates.

Saul Alinsky is widely recognized as the father of, and pre-imminent expert in, grassroots organizing, which is why we recommend that ARs and local leaders become familiar with his theories & materials.

Saul Alinsky is also “widely recognized” as a communist sympathizer, socialist theorist, and left-wing radical. I guess the NEA “forgot” to mention that, eh?

The left-wing tracking site DiscoverTheNetworks.org reminds us of what else Alinsky “widely recognized” for:
Alinsky’s brand of revolution was not characterized by dramatic, sweeping, overnight transformations of social institutions. As Richard Poe puts it, “Alinsky viewed revolution as a slow, patient process. The trick was to penetrate existing institutions such as churches, unions and political parties.” He advised organizers and their disciples to quietly, subtly gain influence within the decision-making ranks of these institutions, and to introduce changes from that platform.”


THIS is the un-American agitator that the nation’s largest teachers union wants to expose the teachers we send our kids to, folks. This is why these unions need to be defeated.

SOURCE





After 13 years of Labour Party rule, one in three primary pupils are still failing the 3Rs in Britain

More than a third of children left primary school this summer struggling to read, write and add up – despite Labour’s £2.5billion drive to raise standards in the three Rs.

The Government yesterday pledged a return to traditional lessons in English and maths after warning that achievement had ‘flatlined’ for much of Labour’s time in office. This will include a fresh focus on arithmetic and the ‘synthetic phonics’ reading scheme.

About 200,000 11-year-olds – 35 per cent – failed to reach the expected standard for their age in reading, writing and maths, national SATs tests results showed yesterday.

It means they start secondary school next month unable to grasp the point of a story, write extended sentences using commas or add, subtract, multiply and divide in their heads.

Reading standards slipped for the second year running, with 84 per cent making the grade this summer compared with 86 per cent last year and 87 per cent in 2008.

While results for writing improved, boys fell further behind girls, which will raise fears that many will fail to cope at secondary school.

Results for English overall – reading and writing combined – showed a slight improvement on last year, with 81 per cent of 11-year-olds reaching the required ‘level four’ grade against 80 per cent last year. Maths standards also rose, edging up from 80 per cent to 81 per cent.

But just 65 per cent of 11-year-olds reached ‘level four’ in each of reading,writing and maths, the results from the Department for Education showed.

Ofsted earlier this year estimated the cost of delivering Labour’s literacy and numeracy programmes since 1998 at £4.5billion across the education system – £2.5billion for primary schools and £2billion for secondary.

Despite former prime minister Tony Blair’s ‘education, education, education’ mantra, inspectors said progress had been ‘too slow’, particularly over the last four years.

Ministers are concerned that standards have barely risen in recent years. Schools Minister Nick Gibb said yesterday: ‘We need to ensure Government gives teachers the support they need to get the basics right.

‘Getting the fundamentals right – being able to read and write and having a solid foundation in maths – is crucial to a child’s success in secondary education and throughout their adult life. ‘This is why the coalition Government is committed to promoting the use of systematic synthetic phonics in primary schools and to ensuring that pupils are fluent in arithmetic and basic maths by the time they move to secondary school.’

Ministers will launch a review of the curriculum in the autumn and outline plans for boosting the status of traditional synthetic phonics, where pupils learn the 44 letter sounds of English and how they blend together. Other systems of phonics involve learning the sounds that make up whole words first, then splitting them up.

Plans for a new reading test for six-year-olds to ensure those who are struggling are identified early will also be unveiled.

Yesterday’s results came with controversy after 26 per cent of primary schools – 4,005 – refused to carry out the tests this spring as part of a campaign of industrial Government to scrap SATs. About 155,000 children were caught up in the boycott.

The Government was unable to publish authority-wide results for 20 local authorities because too few pupils took SATs for scores to be valid. Parents will be forced to rely on results in teachers’ own assessments when assessing schools’ performance.

Education secretary Michael Gove, who has pledged the tests will go ahead in 2011, is heading for a showdown with unions next summer if, as expected, the boycott gathers pace.

Results of teacher assessments of pupils aged 14, also published yesterday, showed 79 per cent achieving the expected standard in English – up two percentage points on 2009. Eighty per cent hit the target in maths – up one point – and 80 per cent in science, up from 78 per cent.

Shadow schools minister Vernon Coaker said English and maths results were ‘encouraging’ and ‘the culmination of a transformation in school standards thanks to Labour’s investment and reforms’. But he added: ‘There is obviously more to do, particularly in reading.’

SOURCE







Australia: Father fined for confronting child's bully

What are you supposed to do when your kid is bullied at school? The schools and the police are useless. Kids have been killed because handwringing is all that schools do about bullying

An Ipswich dad has been fined $300 for confronting bullies who relentlessly teased his daughter at school.

Ipswich Magistrates Court was told the man's daughter had been teased at her school after she was scarred in an accident.

But the 34-year-old father, who had no previous criminal history, took matters into his own hands after he saw his daughter's tormentor at a shopping centre.

Prosecutor Senior Constable Adam McDonald said the man grabbed the bully by his shirt and said, "If you touch my daughter again I'll kill you".

The juvenile then went to Karana Downs police station to complain about the assault.

SOURCE

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