Barack Obama Elected President!

[Jess]

I think Reagan was in the early stages of alzheimer's.

I'm looking forward to the special CNN does with all the former secretaries of state.

Returning to topics probably already discussed here, I thought the SNL skit with Hillary and Schrilla were excellent.

[bandbfan]

Which is what I'm getting at. I'm in no way saying that McCain will develop that. But that does come with age. So to just say that people don't like him because he's old isn't really accurate. There are legitimate concerns that come with being 70+.

And these education "experts" continue to baffle me. One of them talked about going to a school with minorities and they were very eager to learn, etc etc etc. I don't doubt that. But they really don't get that everybody isn't like that. It wasn't too long ago that I graduated from high school. And minorities made up 50-60% of the school. I can attest to the fact that it is NOT the teachers. It's a lack motivation and almost a cultural problem.

[Roman]

I think that the only reason to raise the age issue is to wonder if he would make it through this term if elected.

That has alwasy been the biggest reason why the Palin pick has become so important. Not to say that something may or may not happen to Obama, but you know.

[Roman]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/...ead-over-obama/

CNN poll of polls: McCain holds one point lead over Obama

Now, if this is true, McCain's lead has already shrunk. Wasn't he up by 8-10 points in this poll?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/14/a...-record-crowds/

‘Alaska Women Reject Palin’ rally draws record crowds

Now, the way it has been reported, the pushback against Palin is not huge. 1,400 is not alot at all here, but how truly big is that in Alaska?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/14/10.../902/965/597033

The first story is about the rally. Some interesting reading, and it includes pics of the rally.

[George008]

How do you feel Palin was given a free ride?

I've heard several other posters make remarks that are similar to this. I've been meaning to ask.. No one has been very specific about what McCain is lying about.

What exactly has been untrue from McCain?

[Wales2004]

I think that some of them do get that not all of the kids are eager to learn but it really doesn't help whatever arguments or positions they're trying to push if they focus on that aspect. They're generally trying to shine a spotlight on the kids that do want to learn because as a society we tend to focus on the negative and the easy solution would be to say that since those kids don't want to learn, don't even waste any time on them.

I'm one of those people that firmly believes that if you can get one out of one thousand that wants to learn then it is worth the effort....since you never know what that one child might end up accomplishing and what discovery that one child might grow up to make.

Maybe in your schools it wasn't the teachers and I think it is unfair to put it all on the teachers. In my experience it's been some teachers, students, counselors and parents that have contributed to the problem. I know that the school district in Los Angeles has a lot of teachers that I consider unqualified to teach....some of them do not even use correct grammar and some cannot even speak English properly (as in they sound as if they just came to America a few weeks ago, learned a little bit of English and got a job at a school). I've even encountered college adrministrators with the same deficiencies.

I see it more as a lack of ambition/motivation but I don't see it as being cultural....otherwise it would be a 100 percent problem which is not the case. To me that's like saying if some kids in one race or ethnic group is like that then it's cultural but if there are kids of another race that are like that then it's an aberration. These types of problems are more economic than anything else because the lack of ambition/motivation trends more towards children in low income neighborhoods....especially gang infested ones. Those are the children that normally have more to overcome in terms of what it takes to make themselves believe that education is worthwhile and those are the ones that end up with the less qualified teachers....although I have seen them all over the place including private schools and they irk me everywhere I see them.

[Roman]

But now Wales, do you feel No Child Left Behind helped or hurt the school systems nationwide?

[Wales2004]

The piece I read on this earlier said that it was the largest rally ever in Alaska and that the number of people there outnumbered the number who showed up for her welcome which made the news. To me what's most interesting is that they even bothered to rally at all.

[Roman]

True, true.

(Sorry to sound like the old Budweiser commercial).

[Wales2004]

I haven't formulated an opinion on that yet.

There are aspects of it that I don't like such as turning a child's name over to military recruiters unless the parents opt out....since parents are more than likely not informed about this. I don't like that the heavy focus on the standardized testing though the reason for it makes sense. The problem to me is that you get principals and teachers so focused on obtaining specific test scores that students spend all but their senior year of high school memorizing material for tests and that really isn't effective as far as long term retention goes....but then in some respects it isn't all that different from cramming for exams in college in terms of the in and out factor.

I do like the qualification requirements for the teachers but I wonder how many states are able to bypass them with emergency teaching credentials. They need to have tough requirements for counselors as well.

[Roman]

Do you feel test scores should go by school district in each state, or remain as they are........the same acroos the board nationally?

[Roman]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8091401973.html

Bush's Overseas Policies Begin Resembling Obama's

[Wales2004]

I hope I'm understanding your question so that my answer makes sense.....I think the tests should be the same nationally and that each state should not get to make up its own test since some tests will then be made easier as a way of artificially increasing the scores.

I watched an Oprah episode....last season I think....where she had Bill Gates and his wife on discussing their work. As part of her show she contrasted two public high schools on different sides of the city. One had the latest technology, great instruments, a gym to rival the ritziest health club, and all sorts of amenities and the other one was more than the opposite. It looked like a safety hazard and should probably be condemned. Getting an A at the latter school was equivalent to flunking at the first school.

She showed one girl from a small town that was class valedictorian who was having an extremely difficult time in college and it wasn't because of the need to adapt....it was because she had received an inferior education despite her awards and accomplishments.

[Roman]

Ok. I'm glad I asked my question right. I thought it could be confusing.

That is true, also. It is a shame that that young lady was basically set up to pass on certain tests and was not properly prepaired for college.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../BALE12T2N3.DTL

M&R: Fired official has no grudge with Palin

[Wales2004]

Actually in her case it wasn't because of the testing. It was that her school simply didn't cover a wide enough range of subjects to give her and the other students the type of information that benefits them when taking college classes. It's like taking calculus for a couple of years in high school and then going to college and finding out that the calculus you learned was more like basic math. College can be overwhelming and even the brightest students from the best schools feel small and not so smart so when you come from an inferior school....you know how overwhelming it truly is.