What Makes America, America?

[Sinergy 3]

Pay is not the greatest either.

I don't know how much of a factor that really plays. In NJ, the ghetto districts (we call them "abbott districts") pay their teachers significantly more than nice, cushy, suburban districts. Yet, there is no comparison when it comes to all measurements of student achievement. The burbs win hands down.

Atleast in this state, the parents socioeconomic status seems to play a much stronger correlation with childrens achievement than anything else.

While I agree with what you are saying I think this is a cop out by people in the ghettos. Most simply do not give a ###### about their education. It is free so they have no excuse. Why study when you can gang band and have kids at a young age. Good on Oprah for not bothering to help these guys and actually doing something for people who have 1/1,000,000 of the opportunities and will actually appreciate it rather than trash it.

I saw a brand new school the other day that within 2 years was trashed, in the ghettos.

You are completely taking a handfull of kids and making them the entire school children in america.

[Heracles 417]

The word Education System speaks for itsself, its behind, its slow, and its messy. keep blaming the parents, maybe i should quit my job, move into a single wide trailor, cut down on feeding my kids and home school them. I do my best, i do what i can, its up to the teachers to do the rest. And they might do a better job if they were paid better, and the standard ciriculum was better than it is now.

I will not argue the bolded as i agree with you

I also understand that some parents try their best and I know teachers appreciate that. Those parents are far and few.

A friend of mine who is a teacher was saying how they have parents complain why their kids do not get A grades. I thought to myself is that not obvious; They did not study or try hard enough. These types of parents are basically teaching their kids don't bother trying just whine and complain your way into something. Now that is the America I cannot stand.

That whinny type of American which has an infamous reputation overseas and ruins it for everyone else. Strangely enough a lot of those Americans come from CA. Well the ones I have heard people overseas complain about.

Edited July 13, 2007 by Infidel

[mawilson 2,133]

Depends... America is not only USA... but another countries as well. We have Central America, South America and North America

Oh, not this shіt again.

Repeat after me:

America = USA.

[Nessa 23]

Actually America refers both to the continent or the United States.

The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1] and South America with their associated islands and regions. The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area (28.4% of its land area) and contain about 14% of the human population (about 890 million people). The term the Americas is an alternative to the term America, which may refer to either this entire landmass or just the United States of America.

link

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

That whinny type of American which has an infamous reputation overseas and ruins it for everyone else. Strangely enough a lot of those Americans come from CA. Well the ones I have heard people overseas complain about.

How do they know? Do they have a big California Bear flag attached to their person?

People overseas also complain about loud Aussie backpackers too. They need to stop chanting "Aussie Aussie Aussie oy oy oy" on busses because it's totally ruining it for everyone else.

[Heracles 417]

That whinny type of American which has an infamous reputation overseas and ruins it for everyone else. Strangely enough a lot of those Americans come from CA. Well the ones I have heard people overseas complain about.

How do they know? Do they have a big California Bear flag attached to their person?

People overseas also complain about loud Aussie backpackers too. They need to stop chanting "Aussie Aussie Aussie oy oy oy" on busses because it's totally ruining it for everyone else.

Because they are more than happy to tell everyone about it. Anyone I have spoken to who has traveled to the US absolutely hates LA and the people there. Personally I like it but that city does have a lot of wankers and dumbasses there..

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

That whinny type of American which has an infamous reputation overseas and ruins it for everyone else. Strangely enough a lot of those Americans come from CA. Well the ones I have heard people overseas complain about.

How do they know? Do they have a big California Bear flag attached to their person?

People overseas also complain about loud Aussie backpackers too. They need to stop chanting "Aussie Aussie Aussie oy oy oy" on busses because it's totally ruining it for everyone else.

Because they are more than happy to tell everyone about it. Anyone I have spoken to who has traveled to the US absolutely hates LA and the people there. Personally I like it but that city does have a lot of wankers and dumbasses there..

I can see the evidence is very scientific.

Lots of wankers and dumbasses everywhere - including Melbourne

[jundp 191]

The word Education System speaks for itsself, its behind, its slow, and its messy. keep blaming the parents, maybe i should quit my job, move into a single wide trailor, cut down on feeding my kids and home school them. I do my best, i do what i can, its up to the teachers to do the rest. And they might do a better job if they were paid better, and the standard ciriculum was better than it is now.

I will not argue the bolded as i agree with you

I also understand that some parents try their best and I know teachers appreciate that. Those parents are far and few.

A friend of mine who is a teacher was saying how they have parents complain why their kids do not get A grades. I thought to myself is that not obvious; They did not study or try hard enough. These types of parents are basically teaching their kids don't bother trying just whine and complain your way into something. Now that is the America I cannot stand.

That whinny type of American which has an infamous reputation overseas and ruins it for everyone else. Strangely enough a lot of those Americans come from CA. Well the ones I have heard people overseas complain about.

I have to agree that teachers are vastly underpaid and that the standard curriculum sucks. I am a teacher, but I teach in a private school (by choice). I have a Master's degree in my field, and I still make roughly $20K a year less than some of my public school colleagues. The reason I teach where I do is because of the parental/community involvement. I still have parents who expect that their kid will get an A just because they pay tuition, but overall, there is more involvement. We also have fewer issues with curriculum, because though we follow the federal standards, we do not have to "teach to a test" like so many public schools do, thanks to the "no child left behind" rule.

The problem I think is that the majority of people who complain about the education system complain about the teachers without really knowing what it is the teachers are dealing with. It is not a 6 hour a day job with all these vacations, which some people seem to think. We get little to no cooperation from government funding, private companies only want to sponsor schools in affluent areas (which is pointless) and the price of a year's salary won't even cover the first year or two of college for some teachers, much less 2 degrees and a professional cert that is required by most states. So many teachers are leaving b/c they can't deal with the stress, the pay, the lack of support and they feel that they've spent years studying for nothing. What we are left with in many cases are the ####### teachers or the ones whose hearts are in the right place but who struggle to accomplish anything without support.

I make a broad generalization about teachers and complainers, and I do so with a great deal of emotion, because for 9 years I've been hearing people complain about education but no one wanting do anything about it. I suppose I don't have much room to talk because I chose to remove mysel from the public system and teach private, but I do also tutor in a public sector and see even more there.

I think that if we really take a good look at the US public education system we'll see that it was started out as a great thing, but it hasn't been improved upon. Presidents who say "I'm for education" then don't actually do anything to improve it are a waste of time for me. That goes for the last 3, imo.

I forgot why I replied to begin with. If I rambled and made no sense, please feel free to ignore me

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Every time I think I'd like to teach so I could have summers off I remember my teacher friends's tale of the 10 year old in her class who tried to staple 2 kids together.

Anyways - what makes America America - I love the beauty of these country. I get overwhelmed by it on my numerous Western road trips to national parks. I also think our character is defined by what the original settlers to those parts overcame to be there.

[Emancipation 2]

I gotta say it's the struggle for independence ... The right of the individual vs. the right of goverment.

I think generally people here in the US want their gov., big business, etc. out of their private lives. It's striking to me how this country really is about being independent and your own right to do things you want to do them. It's not lost on this Canuck. We like our independence back home, but with a great big heaping dose of Gov. intervention thank you very much!

[girlafraid7 0]

That whinny type of American which has an infamous reputation overseas and ruins it for everyone else. Strangely enough a lot of those Americans come from CA. Well the ones I have heard people overseas complain about.

How do they know? Do they have a big California Bear flag attached to their person?

People overseas also complain about loud Aussie backpackers too. They need to stop chanting "Aussie Aussie Aussie oy oy oy" on busses because it's totally ruining it for everyone else.

Because they are more than happy to tell everyone about it. Anyone I have spoken to who has traveled to the US absolutely hates LA and the people there. Personally I like it but that city does have a lot of wankers and dumbasses there..

LA does not equal all Californians...I am from the North which not only COMPLETELY different, but is chock full of non-whiners.

[Jenn! 918]

I wonder how long till someone makes the fruits and nuts joke.

[Heracles 417]

I can see the evidence is very scientific.

Lots of wankers and dumbasses everywhere - including Melbourne

I agree

but are you suggesting people elsewhere are as materialistic as someone from LA?

Or into one's looks / image and into celebrities as people are in LA..

Edited July 13, 2007 by Infidel

[almaty 19]

That whinny type of American which has an infamous reputation overseas and ruins it for everyone else. Strangely enough a lot of those Americans come from CA. Well the ones I have heard people overseas complain about.

How do they know? Do they have a big California Bear flag attached to their person?

People overseas also complain about loud Aussie backpackers too. They need to stop chanting "Aussie Aussie Aussie oy oy oy" on busses because it's totally ruining it for everyone else.

Because they are more than happy to tell everyone about it. Anyone I have spoken to who has traveled to the US absolutely hates LA and the people there. Personally I like it but that city does have a lot of wankers and dumbasses there..

I can see the evidence is very scientific.

Lots of wankers and dumbasses everywhere - including Melbourne

off subject...but your team is awesome....i see them winning the series..okay...i am done

[Heracles 417]

I gotta say it's the struggle for independence ... The right of the individual vs. the right of goverment.

I think generally people here in the US want their gov., big business, etc. out of their private lives. It's striking to me how this country really is about being independent and your own right to do things you want to do them. It's not lost on this Canuck. We like our independence back home, but with a great big heaping dose of Gov. intervention thank you very much!

Well you cannot have it both ways. People love free health care and all that ####### but do not realize that it comes at a price. Personally I am all for government intervention when it comes to the overall well being of the community. That is their job after all.

LA does not equal all Californians...I am from the North which not only COMPLETELY different, but is chock full of non-whiners.

I agree. Definitely find your A > Z kind of person in CA..