Tag Archives: education

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Good Teachers leaving the United States, competition to get out is increasing, America is replacing them with foreign teachers

“The educational pathway is in decline, and I don’t see anything in the near future that sounds like it’s on a positive upswing.”-Stephanie Olsen, leaving the U.S.

While there’s always plenty of reports about students leaving school without getting a high school diploma, you rarely hear about the fact that thousands of good teachers are leaving the U.S., for jobs overseas.

According to one teacher employment agency, TeachAway, the number of U.S. teachers applying with them for foreign jobs is up 50% from last year.  TeachAway has also placed 3,000 U.S. teachers with overseas jobs.  And that just one teacher employment agency, there are dozens!

In the past all you needed to get a foreign teaching job was an TESOL certificate,  but now teachers with just the TESOL are competing against teachers with Masters degrees.

Marie Constant has a Masters degree and could not get a job state side, now she’s moving overseas after getting a job through TeachAway: “Here’s an opportunity for me to not only go to another country where they will pay for me to go, they will pay for me to have living quarters…and I get to practice what I know.”

Stephanie Olsen has two Masters degrees, she’s leaving her teaching job in Arizona for a teaching job in the Middle East: “This is such an opportunity to take, where your employer is helping you get over there. They’re providing everything that is necessary for you to make a life there. It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.”

And how are U.S. school districts dealing with the brain drain of good U.S. teachers?  They’re either pushing for online schools, or hiring foreign teachers!  PBS POV will air a documentary about the Baltimore, Maryland, schools bringing in teachers from the Philippines.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Dumb Americans! Study says people think new unproven drugs are safer than tried & true older drugs!

Fact: New prescription drugs have a really bad track record regarding safety and effectiveness.

Fact:  Most U.S. citizens think new prescription drugs are safer, and more effective than proven older drugs.

Researchers at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and the Veterans Administration Outcomes Group, asked people about the difference between benefits and risks of new medications, and old medications.

In one study people were asked about taking a heart disease drug.  41% of those that were not told about side effects picked the newer but less effective drug.  Yet when they were told about the side effects, 71% picked the older more effective drug with less side effects.

In the other study people had to choose between an old heartburn drug, and a new heartburn drug.  The older drug had the better track record, yet only 34% picked the older safer drug when not told about the track records of both drugs.  When told about the safety record of both drugs 53% picked the older drug.

The conclusion of the U.S. studies is that if people don’t know the track record, or side effects of a drug, they automatically assume the newer drug is safer and better!

Also, the studies show that four out of ten U.S. citizens think an FDA approval means the drug is “extremely effective”!  One in four think the FDA would never approve a drug that has bad side effects!  Fact: The FDA constantly approves drugs that have not been fully proven, and have extremely bad side effects!  Look how many approved drugs being advertised today have stated “may cause death” as a side effect!

Business/Economics, Idaho, Technology, U.S.

Corporate Incompetence: Idaho Internet providers blame the weather and animals for slow internet service, thank Allstate & Education reforms for a much needed upgrade

“We have a guy here who was dropped into remote, isolated areas of Iraq to set up their telecommunications systems. He told me, ‘We had better communications in Iraq than you have in Central Idaho.’ ”-Christine L. Frei, Clearwater Economic Development Association

A recent survey listed Idaho with the slowest internet service.  Now a new survey lists the Pocatello area (in southeastern Idaho) as the place with the slowest internet service in the whole state.

Some internet service providers use only line of sight broadcasts, which is extremely slow.  They blame snow, rain, clouds, fog and even bears rubbing on their transmission towers for internet disruptions.

The Federal government is spending $25 million to upgrade Idaho’s internet services. Part of the reason is that Allstate is building a big call center in Chubbuck, within the extremely slow Pocatello internet service area.

The other reason for the Federally funded upgrades is that Idaho has been pushing an at home internet school program for its High Schools: “Without broadband, especially in rural areas, kids might not reach their full potential. And we can’t expect to be competitive in a global economy.”-Jonathan Adelstein, Rural Utilities Service

One of the reasons Idaho has such slow internet service is also one of the reasons people like living in Idaho; only 19 people per square mile!

This makes it difficult for companies to make money providing internet service: “It’s not the lack of availability. It’s the lack of demand and what people are willing to pay.”-Bibiana Nertney, Idaho Department of Commerce

Most big businesses in Idaho actually get high speed internet service, but only because they can afford the outrageous fees.  Even Idaho’s public schools have high speed internet on campus.

 

 

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Spanish teachers and students protesting in the thousands

“Since the democratic transition in Spain, we have not seen such a hard attack on social services and essential public services. This is an attack by Madrid’s regional government against employment and public education.”-Cayo Lara

Spain’s attempts to pay down its debt has seen huge cuts to education spending, at least 13,000 temporary teachers will lose their jobs.

The public school system in Spain has never had a good track record: One of Europe’s highest dropout rates with nearly 30% of students under the age of 16.

More education strikes are planned for September 20 & 21.

Idaho, U.S.

Idaho could make online classes mandatory for High School

The Idaho State Board of Education unanimously decided to pursue the possibility of making online classes mandatory for graduation from High School.

The board is considering requiring two credits to be taking online.  If it becomes reality, it would make Idaho the first state to require two online credits.

The Idaho State Board of Education is planning a 21 day comment period before making a final decision.  State officials say despite the 21 day comment period, they will probably approve the plan anyway.

U.S.

United Police States of America: First Graders handcuffed, told they would never see their parents again, no it’s not the former Soviet Union, it’s the United States

Several Chicago media sources have been reporting about six and seven years old students who are being handcuffed for hours, and told they will never see their parents again.

Allegedly the Chicago Public Schools officials decided they needed their school police officers to get tough on the Carver Primary School students.  The kids were handcuffed for hours after they were told to stop talking in class.

At least one family is suing the school district.  They say their son was handcuffed and threatened with never seeing his parents.  The incident happened in 2010.  The family says their appeals to the school district have been totally ignored, and the lawsuit is their last resort.

Business/Economics, U.S.

The Golden State lacks the Golden Rule: California finally admits high student drop out rate, as early as 8th Grade, all those decades of increased taxpayer funding wasted

California is now the first state in the Union, that admits that grade school students drop out of school as early as 8th grade.  In the latest survey it was revealed that more than 17,000 8th graders quit school in 2010.

Also, more than 94,000 California High School students dropped out in 2010.

Prior to this survey most drop out rate surveys were considered unreliable.  They varied greatly from 11% to 22%.  In 2009 California legislators actually passed a law dictating how the drop out rate survey would be conducted.

To many employment analysts the latest California drop out numbers prove what many employers have been complaining about; not enough high school graduates to fill open positions in California.  And to make it worse, the high drop out rates continued even though more and more taxpayer money was being spent on education year after year.

In fact, in the past the California Department of Education actually worked to keep drop out rates from being made public.

One result of the waste of taxpayer money, and degrading public education in California, was the creation of the Parent Empowerment Law, in 2010.  The law gives parents the right to convert a public school into a charter school, if 51% of the parents of children in that school sign a petition.  An elementary school in Compton will become the first school converted to a charter school under the Parent Empowerment Law.

One commentator in California said it’s ’bout time the Golden State learned the Golden Rule: “What America desperately needs is an educational system that cherishes each child as an individual, that recognizes each child has needs that must be met and gifts that deserve to be nurtured. When families have freely chosen the best school for their children, there is a sense of community, of belonging, even of family, that keeps our kids in school and gets them safely to graduation.”-Alan Bonsteel, San Francisco Chronical

 

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Cesium contaminated beef served to children at elementary schools

Japan’s Education Minister Yoshiaki Takaki is demanding action after it was discovered that three elementary schools served children beef contaminated with cesium.  The schools are located in Chiba, east of Tokyo.

Takaki has ordered local schools to check the source of the food they serve.

International

Studies say cutting back on salt does not reduce death rates

“Cutting down on the amount of salt has no clear benefits in terms of likelihood of dying or experiencing cardiovascular disease.”-Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

No fewer than seven international studies have concluded that reducing salt in your diet does not reduce the chance of death.

A moderately low salt diet might reduce your blood pressure, but there is no evidence it will prolong your life.  However, there is evidence that people who have congestive heart failure might increase there chance of death with a low salt diet.

This makes sense to me, because salt, along with potassium, helps prevent your muscles from cramping.  Your heart is a muscle.

The studies looked at 6,000 people.  Researchers admit they need to do more detailed studies, like looking at cardiovascular morbidity in people with normal or high blood pressure.

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Opinion, Technology

Japan not number one when it comes to computer skills, girls better at digital reading, computer use at school of little value, Idaho needs to get their act together

A survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development shows which countries are the top for computer/internet skills among teenagers.

Japan did not come in first.  South Korean teenagers are number one in computer/internet skills, followed by New Zealand, Australia, then Japan and Hong Kong/China.

The OECD study looked at the digital reading comprehension and computer operating skills of 15 year olds.  16 countries were involved with the study, the United States did not take part.   It turns out that girls are better at digital reading than boys (studies show that girls are better at print reading as well).

A surprising find was that use of computers in schools showed little benefit.  It could be because they aren’t used at school as much as at home.  The study showed that most teenagers learn their computer skills at home, not at school.

“But computer use at school had little impact on results, while using a computer at home had a more marked impact on results. To help students at school, computer use should be integrated into curricula and more invested in training teachers to use them for teaching and to help students learn, says the OECD.”

I can attest to that.  Almost every year here in Idaho, the Albertsons Foundation gives our schools new computers.  One year, right before the start of the school year, I was visiting Chubbuck Elementary school to meet one of my daughters teachers.  The teacher was busy trying to set up some of the new computers, she was also complaining about it.  She admitted that she didn’t “understand the things” and tried “not using them at all”.   Over their elementary school years, my daughters, and my son, confirmed that most of the teachers did not allow them to use the donated computers.  My kids learned their computer skills from me and their mother (passed away).   We did so well that I have to go to my now adult kids for help with any computer problems.

The state of Idaho is pushing a new computer system on our schools, they hope to give high school students their own laptops.  I’ve already read stories of how other states have done the same thing, then actually used those laptops to spy on the kids while they where at home.  This new study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development blows holes in the argument by some education officials that pushing more computers in schools is the answer for our country’s educational disaster.  In fact the study proves that kids learn better at home.  It’s too bad most parents don’t have the luxury of home schooling.