Idaho News (Boise, Sandpoint, Priest River: cabinet, live, cabin)

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

But McGrath said when it comes to student achievement, “Idaho and Utah tend to outperform most states that outspend them in education.”
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Idaho eighth-graders scored well above the national average in 2009 in math, reading and science; so did Utah’s and Washington’s.

They must be doing something right. Throwing more money at the education industry (or at those in the industry) doesn't promise positive results.

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by mistyriverranch

Pretty sad for the kids here whose parents are not educated enough to homeschool or who can't afford private school.
Idaho among worst for school funding - Spokesman.com - June 1, 2011

Idaho ranks 50th in the nation for per-pupil spending on schools, a measurement for which the state perennially has scored a low ranking.
Now, according to the latest U.S. census report released last week, Idaho’s ranking for per capita spending based on personal income in the state has dropped dramatically, from 15th in the nation in 2001 to 41st.

MRR, I don't want to argue with you, but I think that number may not be as great a yardstick of educational quality as it sounds...

I think per-pupil spending is SUCH a subjective measure. Los Angeles Unified just finished a $537 MILLION dollar fancy school. This just increased the per-pupil average by hundreds of dollars per student, with no relevant rise in test scores versus our Idaho kids.

I'm not saying that being down near the bottom is conversely wonderful...but I gotta be frank...it IS possible to do more with less in SO MANY ways that don't even remotely correlate to per-pupil spending IMO...

My wife (had her edu degree & CA credential but chose to teach private), taught at a private school that had very high average test scores, but was only 40% the per-pupil cost compared to the public school district in which her school was located.

[Sage of Sagle]

Also, during the past years, Idaho's balanced budget amendment has held the line on spending, where SO MANY states have gone into serious deficit spending with HUGE bloated increases in public education budgets...

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by hguy789025

imperceptible in, our living environment has become so bad, we live's air quality was so bad

huh?

[Clark Fork Fantast]

A case of ESL, I think, judging from other posts.

[KTMMan]

Not familiar with Idahos education system woe yet. But a friend who lives in Athol has nothing but praise for the school system there so far. I can't lay blame on the average teacher out there. most seem to be really good, well-meaning people. The problem lies in the administration of these school systems. Two years before I retired, I did a pipeline project in one of the poorer communities in L.A. County. This project was on a street with a city-run school administration building. Something caught my eye one day when 5:00 rolled around and the administators started filing out of the parking lot. The next day I checked it out and took some notes: Twenty-six parking spaces, five mid grade Mercedes plus one 500SL, Three Range Rovers (not the cheaper, smaller model) and seven BMW's. It looked more like the parking lot at a big-time law firm. Again this is in a very seedy neighborhood in L.A. County

[zeohsix]

Originally Posted by KTMMan

Not familiar with Idahos education system woe yet. But a friend who lives in Athol has nothing but praise for the school system there so far. I can't lay blame on the average teacher out there. most seem to be really good, well-meaning people. The problem lies in the administration of these school systems. Two years before I retired, I did a pipeline project in one of the poorer communities in L.A. County. This project was on a street with a city-run school administration building. Something caught my eye one day when 5:00 rolled around and the administators started filing out of the parking lot. The next day I checked it out and took some notes: Twenty-six parking spaces, five mid grade Mercedes plus one 500SL, Three Range Rovers (not the cheaper, smaller model) and seven BMW's. It looked more like the parking lot at a big-time law firm. Again this is in a very seedy neighborhood in L.A. County

Same observations here! We are leaving California when I retire. We rent our Meridian, ID house to a married couple who happen to be teachers at local schools. The people we have met in Idaho are all GREAT people and the schools far exceed the schools of the SF Bay area where I presently live.
I will bet the High School English teachers in Idaho take their students papers home for review where here in California the lazy teachers have the kids in their classrooms swap homework assignments and correct their fellow student's papers in class. How a fellow student can possibly read and critique anothers paper escapes my sense of practicality but, this is where our local schools find themselves with union tenured teachers making the minimum efforts while making a salary or $65K a year for 181 days of work (that computes to less than 1/2 year of actual class time in my math skills set.) The system in my home state is broken, it dosen't appear to be destroyed in Idaho yet, there is still hope for America

[mistyriver]

Originally Posted by zeohsix

I will bet the High School English teachers in Idaho take their students papers home for review where here in California the lazy teachers have the kids in their classrooms swap homework assignments and correct their fellow student's papers in class.

Nope...just complained about this last week. The teachers at my daughters high school let the kids swap FINALS to grade them. My daughter's Psych class watched 12 popular movies in lieu of a curriculum. Several classes don't have any textbooks or enough textbooks that the kids can take home to study.
The best teachers don't come here to teach..the salaries are abysmal. A lot of what we get is lazy and/or ignorant. My older daughter's "Honors" Government teacher docked points on a paper she wrote because he didn't believe that Ronald Reagan was a movie star.

I know Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene have more decent schools but the small towns are more of what make up Idaho and they are being hurt by the lack of funding. Laying off the teachers we have, expecting high schoolers to make do with online classes, many schools are talking about going to a 4 day school week.

I do agree that the schools spend foolishly and sports is the biggest waste I see. Transportation alone to the games costs a fortune since they have to go so far to play schools in the same league. Intramurals might be a better option.

[KTMMan]

Originally Posted by mistyriverranch

Nope...just complained about this last week. The teachers at my daughters high school let the kids swap FINALS to grade them. My daughter's Psych class watched 12 popular movies in lieu of a curriculum. Several classes don't have any textbooks or enough textbooks that the kids can take home to study.
The best teachers don't come here to teach..the salaries are abysmal. A lot of what we get is lazy and/or ignorant. My older daughter's "Honors" Government teacher docked points on a paper she wrote because he didn't believe that Ronald Reagan was a movie star.

I know Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene have more decent schools but the small towns are more of what make up Idaho and they are being hurt by the lack of funding. Laying off the teachers we have, expecting high schoolers to make do with online classes, many schools are talking about going to a 4 day school week.

I do agree that the schools spend foolishly and sports is the biggest waste I see. Transportation alone to the games costs a fortune since they have to go so far to play schools in the same league. Intramurals might be a better option.

Misty, my oldest son is in the final stages of obtaining his teaching credential and while he was teaching the Cold War segment of a world history class his mentor teacher tells him, "I know you think Reagan was a great President. Well let me tell you, he was NOT a great President." My son comes home with a big smile on his face to report this info. I tell him to tell her the next day, "Mrs. Lejano, my Dad says he is just a ditchdigger, but even he knows who ended the cold war". She was not amused, she just got this look of total disgust on her face,

[mistyriver]

Originally Posted by ktmman

misty, my oldest son is in the final stages of obtaining his teaching credential and while he was teaching the cold war segment of a world history class his mentor teacher tells him, "i know you think reagan was a great president. Well let me tell you, he was not a great president." my son comes home with a big smile on his face to report this info. I tell him to tell her the next day, "mrs. Lejano, my dad says he is just a ditchdigger, but even he knows who ended the cold war". She was not amused, she just got this look of total disgust on her face,

I like that!