Artest to auction off title ring for charity

[Redz]

Couldn't really disagree any more. I think that public school systems are exactly where money ought to go. Especially the mental health areas. There are millions of children who suffer from bi-polar disorder (among many other diseases) that go undiagnosed. This money can only help.

Millions?  Are you kidding?  

How can yet more money help?  There is almost a universal linear negative correlation with the amount of money thrown at public schools and the results academically.

Artest is essentially throwing mud at a teflon wall and hoping it will stick.

How can more money help? You don't think that public schools need more funding?  Ridiculous

Might be a discussion for another thread, but the US already spends as much, or more, per student than just about any country
in the world yet our academic achievement slacks behind a good chunk of developed countries' in most key areas.  How the money is spent is a lot more important than the amount.

That said, I live in a fairly affluent area, but our school budgets are being slashed left and right.  Programs are being cut. The bottom line is, kids are having opportunities taken away from them here, and that's a shame.

[TheLegendaryClub]

Couldn't really disagree any more. I think that public school systems are exactly where money ought to go. Especially the mental health areas. There are millions of children who suffer from bi-polar disorder (among many other diseases) that go undiagnosed. This money can only help.

Millions?  Are you kidding?  

How can yet more money help?  There is almost a universal linear negative correlation with the amount of money thrown at public schools and the results academically.

Artest is essentially throwing mud at a teflon wall and hoping it will stick.

How can more money help? You don't think that public schools need more funding?  Ridiculous

I'm not surprised by the fact that there's a negative association, but it has nothing to do with squandered money. The real issue here is that academic performance is judged based on the flawed state testing system, and in order to "teach to the test", actual learning has been put on the back burner. Too many kids fail the tests anyway, and their school is then deemed underperforming and its extra funding is shelved. It's an absolute catch-22 for education: either you ignore actual critical thinking in favor of test-taking methods, or you lose your funding for special school programs.

But back to the article at hand: I never thought I'd say it, but good for Ron. Bi-polar disorder is the extreme. Lots of students have undiagnosed anxiety disorders that contribute to the poor test scores as mentioned above (as well as their ability to function in school in general), and therefore the poor academic repute of the public school system. Everything is linked, my friends.  

[Finkelskyhook]

Couldn't really disagree any more. I think that public school systems are exactly where money ought to go. Especially the mental health areas. There are millions of children who suffer from bi-polar disorder (among many other diseases) that go undiagnosed. This money can only help.

Millions?  Are you kidding?  

How can yet more money help?  There is almost a universal linear negative correlation with the amount of money thrown at public schools and the results academically.

Artest is essentially throwing mud at a teflon wall and hoping it will stick.

How can more money help? You don't think that public schools need more funding?  Ridiculous

Really?  Walk around a typical public school administrative office and you'll constantly hear two words...."Excuse me". 

Then walk around a typical private or parochial school administrative office.

Bloated redundancy vs efficiency.  Who gets better results?  With a much lower dollar-to-student ratio.

Like I said, kudos to Artest for trying.  It sounds like he's blindingly going to throw money away.  His money so bless his heart.

Might be a discussion for another thread, but the US already spends as much, or more, per student than just about any country
in the world yet our academic achievement slacks behind a good chunk of developed countries' in most key areas.  How the money is spent is a lot more important than the amount.

That said, I live in a fairly affluent area, but our school budgets are being slashed left and right.  Programs are being cut. The bottom line is, kids are having opportunities taken away from them here, and that's a shame.

The shame is that public schools dabble in mental health, social engineering, etc when as a rule, the system is a collossal failure at literacy. 

Self-esteem is not a job skill.

I'm not surprised by the fact that there's a negative association, but it has nothing to do with squandered money. The real issue here is that academic performance is judged based on the flawed state testing system, and in order to "teach to the test", actual learning has been put on the back burner. Too many kids fail the tests anyway, and their school is then deemed underperforming and its extra funding is shelved. It's an absolute catch-22 for education: either you ignore actual critical thinking in favor of test-taking methods, or you lose your funding for special school programs

That's the explanation for a collossal drop-out rate in schools which spend substanitally more per student than more successful schools?

[Neurotic Guy]

Really?  Walk around a typical public school administrative office and you'll constantly hear two words...."Excuse me".  

Then walk around a typical private or parochial school administrative office.

Finkelskyhook -- you are incorrect, not about everything you say, but about the conviction with which you generalize.

Money IS wasted and there are many things to improve about the public school system (including the way unions protect mediocrity), however, to stereotype school administrative offices as turnstyles for constant misbehavior is an unfair and uninformed characterization.  I am in schools every day, and I can tell you that public funds are worth the investment in some schools and quite wasted in others.  Some school offices are dealing with high rates of concerning and redundant behavior, while others are effectively providing a continuum of instructional and behavioral support for a wide array of students -- with data to show that the supports are improving skills socially, emotionally and academically -- all components that do impact society.

I have a feeling that this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of your views on education and what you see as 'liberal' values infiltrating the system -- however, it is a markedly uninformed view to lump all public schools into one stereotypic viewpoint.  And it is a rather obtuse perspective to scoff at mental health supports, self-esteem/competency and relationship-building as unimportant. Children arrive at school with a wide array of needs and some schools are surprisingly effective at meeting these needs -- acting with efficiency and effectiveness in doses commensurate with need.

I see it daily.

[TheLegendaryClub]

That's the explanation for a collossal drop-out rate in schools which spend substanitally more per student than more successful schools?

You brought up literacy and academic performance, which I replied about, not dropouts. So, no, that's not the explanation. The explanation for dropout rates can't be blamed solely on the schools themselves. Familial support, or lack there of, is a huge factor there. And, as I pointed out earlier, mental health factors do affect both issues.

This whole conversation is also generalizing pretty broadly. Drop-out rates aren't colossal in every district or county, academic performance isn't uniform, and funding isn't applied to the same programs. Therefore this whole thing, as we're discussing it, is based on inaccurate blanket assumptions. The needs of one school aren't the needs of another. Artest's auction proceeds could do a lot of good, or not, depending on where they're funneled to.