Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[entropy]

All that is standard definitons, but like many words, the use of the term has evolved. You still hear people talking about a player having elite talent, but when they talk about an elitist, it is usually in a negative tone... Not a label for the best or top of any category

[iam416]

Uh, isn't that sort of what I just said? Elitist=favors rule by a few; Elite=broader. Since the term at issue was "elite" I noted how I interpreted Geezer and Hack's use.

[entropy]

yes.. but elitist has evolved into a more negative tone or use over the years, imo. I don't think that has aways been the case nor do we discuss the evolution of the term when discussing it. Elite still means something people strive for..

[hack]

Warren Buffett is elite. That does not make him an elitist. But redefining terms isn't something I'm interested in. Words are precise.

[entropy]

Warren Buffett is elite. That does not make him an elitist. But redefining terms isn't something I'm interested in. Words are precise.

seems narrow minded... terms like gay or queer certainly have evolved over time. I'd suggest it's pretty normal for language to evolve.

[iam416]

No doubt. Personally, I don't think "elitist" was ever a positive term in "American English". It is the antithesis of "American Democracy."

[hack]

If the world's third-richest man can't be called elite than the word has ``evolved'' from meaningful to meaningless. Which is why I'm more interested in the ideas themselves than a tangential haggle over verbiage. You can nitpick terms and justify departures from dictionary definitions all day, but that's silly.

[Da Geezer]

Jon:

Your post is so disheartening, and I believe every word you say. I've seen it. My own experience is that we started teachers at 34k and went up to 44k, not counting merit pay. Average experience was 9 years, and several teachers had more than twenty. They came from primarily the parochial school system, where pay is indeed dreadful. I can only say that we had a low turnover rate.

My daughter taught special needs kindergarten in an inner city school for nine years, basically with the same staff. In the 10th year she and 21 others at that single school quit because of a new principal who was terrible (actually two bad ones, one first semester, and one second semester). She was a math major, had her Masters degree, and is now working closing real estate deals for a title company at 15/ hr.

You did the right thing. Actually your only choice. I sincerely hope you find a better school.

In Michigan, because of the MEA trying to restrict entry to the teaching profession, teachers have to take competency tests in certain areas, like math or science. What has happened is that graduates from Michigan Schools of Education will be hired sight-unseen in many states, particularly Texas, California, Arizona, and Maryland. From about 2000-2010 Michigan trained and exported a lot of teachers.

I digress. Jon, I know the experience was horrible. But I wish every child in this country had parents like you. I do know that nothing will improve until we find a way of putting 90% of our resources into the classroom. Right now it is a little more than half. Nothing happens in education until the classroom teacher closes the door and begins that day's lesson plans. But the "elite" in education keep coming up with Outcome Based Education, No Child Left Behind, or Common Core, and the approach is top-down, and top-heavy. It is faddish, and typically originates in some PhD thesis. And I worry about our kids having no time to be kids.

Jon, keep fighting. Don't let the bastards wear you down.

[Ghengis Jon]

Actually your only choice. I sincerely hope you find a better school...

In Michigan, because of the MEA trying to restrict entry to the teaching profession, teachers have to take competency tests in certain areas, like math or science. What has happened is that graduates from Michigan Schools of Education will be hired sight-unseen in many states, particularly Texas, California, Arizona, and Maryland. From about 2000-2010 Michigan trained and exported a lot of teachers...

Jon, keep fighting. Don't let the bastards wear you down.

Well, sad part of it all, is that it IS the best school in the area. The high school isn't bad, it's rep is mixed, but the middle and elemenary schools were places my wife refused to send the kids to. As far as the charter goes (and it has a lottery for entrance because of the demand), it became a daily case of adapt and overcome. Both my kids went there through 8th grade and then on to the public high school. I will give credit though, the charter did prepare them better for the HS environment than those who went to public under schools. But I will call out the parental involvement as the key factor.

Michigan does churn out a lot of high quality teachers, despite the propapanda spewed out in the media and from a certain political party that is typically anti-union. As you say, many, many out of state school systems grab Michigan trained teachers, especially if they graduated from EMU. Kind of the Kettering/GMI of the profession. Its a terrible thing for our state to produce the best and keep the fewest.

I don't care to fight, but as those here who know me personally can attest, I do have a switch. I can go from being a regular joe to a cunning, ruthless, remorseless bastard in no time flat. I have a baseball cap that my boss at work gave me about 10 years ago. It's black, emblazoned with white letters "Lex Luthor". He told me I had to wear it when in that mode as both a warning to others and as a signal that outside-the-box thinking was available to allies.

[Da Geezer]

You and your wife are really good parents. Pray for the kids who don't have good parents.

That is a problem that has no political party has caused or will address. The best "politician" of my lifetime was Daniel Patrick Moynahan. He coined the phrase "defining deviency down" to describe the trend in US. Worked for Nixon, I think as UN Ambassador, and became Democrat senator from NY. A Liberal Icon, and an American patriot.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Talent is an elitist...

[Da Geezer]

An elitist is somebody who won't play golf with the blue collar guys he went to grade school with.

An elitist is somebody who pays $ 600.00 for a haircut.

An elitist is somebody who, because of their wealth, thinks they are smart, as in the Hollywood elite.

Not all readers of the NY Times are elitist, but all elites read either the NY or LA Times.

[entropy]

so..in other words.. Prime

[Ghengis Jon]

Nothing better than sitting on the porch Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and a thick newspaper. Beats swiping right/left on a tablet looking at an incessant barrage of idiotic ads on so called news sites that contain little more than agenda driven snipets of faux news designed for the professionally outraged. I'm certainly not an elitest, but I do enjoy the small pleasure of printed journalism with the option of being able to skip the editorial pages.

[Prime2]

so..in other words.. Prime

Heavens no.

I cut my own hair and buy my own Ferraris.



You could say, smart enough not to live in Nebraska though.