New York's contribution to the demise of youth education!

I have no issue with this. I would rather have the kids read than to do the ridiculous amount of homework they bring home now, which includes a good amount of reading. 5th & 6th my dtr would sometimes have as much as 3 hrs of homework to do. Honestly, it is too much considering she would be home at around 3 pm and in bed at 8 pm. The work would get hastened and sloppy. Often it seemed as though work was being sent home instead of doing it at school. Many other parents agreed.
 
I have no issue with this. I would rather have the kids read than to do the ridiculous amount of homework they bring home now, which includes a good amount of reading. 5th & 6th my dtr would sometimes have as much as 3 hrs of homework to do. Honestly, it is too much considering she would be home at around 3 pm and in bed at 8 pm. The work would get hastened and sloppy. Often it seemed as though work was being sent home instead of doing it at school. Many other parents agreed.

X2.

Believe it or not, I actually agree with this as well.

The amount of homework they bring home these days is ridiculous. If they're in school for 6 hours a day or more, shouldn't they be learning enough? I'd rather my kid came home, picked up a guitar and learned to play, helped me wrench in the garage, or just help me fix something around the house.

This seems to be a growing trend, and It's one I'm not opposed to. All that homework IMHO makes school something they dread as oppose to actually like. Not to mention that often times, that homework becomes a burden for us parents who have to sit down and spend time going through it with them.
 
Been a while since I've had young ones in school, but I have to agree. The amount of homework was insane. And like @Rob5589 pointed out, it was almost as if all the work was being sent home to be done, rather than doing it within the walls of the classroom. At one point, we took our son to the doctor because of back pain. When the doctor found out how much weight was being carried in his backpack for homework, he attributed the pain to that. My son was in the 4th grade.

Maybe a total elimination of homework for the kids was a bit of overkill, but we as a nation always seem to take things to an extreme one way, and then the other. Eventually, one would hope that common sense will prevail, and they'll find a happy medium for the amount of homework issued.
 
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I just know that if my kid is at school 6+ hours a day, I don't want them to be buried in homework as soon as they come home. I want them to be spending time with us.

There's a lot more life skills to learn that can't be taught in homework. I mentioned some of those above.
 
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If they're in school for 6 hours a day or more, shouldn't they be learning enough?

I don't think you can ever "learn enough." With that said, it seems that some teachers use "homework" to get assignments finished instead of doing it in class. And I say that based on the same grade but different teacher with vastly different homework amounts.
 
I just know that if my kid is at school 6+ hours a day, I don't want them to be buried in homework as soon as they come home. I want them to be spending time with us.

There's a lot more life skills to learn that can't be taught in homework. I mentioned some of those above.
I don't disagree but I don't find them teaching as much as they used too. Now all they are teaching is what is required for the next state mandated test. They instituted something called "common core" out here...basically they only teach about 70% of the work needed for a test and the child is expected to self teach the rest on their own.
 
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When teacher's evaluations, salaries, and/or whether they are considered a good teacher is all tied to those stupid test scores, you can see why they do that. Time was, teachers taught knowledge. Now they are forced to teach kids how to score well on tests.
 
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When teacher's evaluations, salaries, and/or whether they are considered a good teacher is all tied to those stupid test scores, you can see why they do that. Time was, teachers taught knowledge. Now they are forced to teach kids how to score well on tests.
Teachers salaries/benefits are not a problem here. Six figure teachers are more the norm than the exception, once they get tenure they cannot get fired for incompetence and there are a bunch I have encountered that should. My daughter got stuck with one of the known incompetents this year for 10th grade geometry. she was a 4.03 student going in, and is barely making a C. We had to hire another HS geometry teacher as an $80/hour tutor to get her through. There is a reason that 63% of my $13,000 property tax bill goes to the school system.
 
Teachers salaries/benefits are not a problem here. Six figure teachers are more the norm than the exception, once they get tenure they cannot get fired for incompetence and there are a bunch I have encountered that should. My daughter got stuck with one of the known incompetents this year for 10th grade geometry. she was a 4.03 student going in, and is barely making a C. We had to hire another HS geometry teacher as an $80/hour tutor to get her through. There is a reason that 63% of my $13,000 property tax bill goes to the school system.
Please don't take the above as a knock on teachers, I just wish the districts had more leverage to get better ones as there is no shortage of good teachers applying to get these jobs.
 
I agree with less homework in elementary school too.

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There seems to be a movement towards letting kids be kids again and it is not the school system to blame (we actually have commercials encouraging it now) . Far too many parents are structuring their kids lives to the point where kids need a frig'n day planner, dance on Monday, swimming on Tuesday, piano on wed and hockey practice 4 times a week,etc etc etc and play time comes in the form of a "play date" with other kids(that is a term I utterly despise).
Almost makes me sick to my stomach to listen to some people where I work, and hockey parents seem to be the worst, going on about stats, ice time, bad calls by referee's blah blah blah and we are talking about kids aged 8 to 12! That kid does not care as long as they are having fun, the kids aspirations for the NHL are a not theirs, it's the parents. Parents with kids in minor hockey now have to take a course on respect and inclusion before they are allowed to attend their kids games (serious, not allowed in the rink until completed), this comes after parents of kids yelling at ref's, literally fighting with each other in the stands and believe it or not some parents assaulting other people's children for what they see as wrong doings on the ice. I'd wager a guess that football parents are similar. Parents need to stop living vicariously through their kids.

I work closely with some that go on about hockey, I tell them all the time to sell the kids gear and buy them a sk8 board :)
<\RANT>
 
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Teachers salaries/benefits are not a problem here. Six figure teachers are more the norm than the exception, once they get tenure they cannot get fired for incompetence and there are a bunch I have encountered that should. My daughter got stuck with one of the known incompetents this year for 10th grade geometry. she was a 4.03 student going in, and is barely making a C. We had to hire another HS geometry teacher as an $80/hour tutor to get her through. There is a reason that 63% of my $13,000 property tax bill goes to the school system.
Not the case in NM, unfortunately. My wife, who was an exceptional teacher, now retired, always tells me she got out at the perfect time, and would never go back.
 
I agree with less homework in elementary school too.

<RANT>
There seems to be a movement towards letting kids be kids again and it is not the school system to blame (we actually have commercials encouraging it now) . Far too many parents are structuring their kids lives to the point where kids need a frig'n day planner, dance on Monday, swimming on Tuesday, piano on wed and hockey practice 4 times a week,etc etc etc and play time comes in the form of a "play date" with other kids(that is a term I utterly despise).
Almost makes me sick to my stomach to listen to some people where I work, and hockey parents seem to be the worst, going on about stats, ice time, bad calls by referee's blah blah blah and we are talking about kids aged 8 to 12! That kid does not care as long as they are having fun, the kids aspirations for the NHL are a not theirs, it's the parents. Parents with kids in minor hockey now have to take a course on respect and inclusion before they are allowed to attend their kids games (serious, not allowed in the rink until completed), this comes after parents of kids yelling at ref's, literally fighting with each other in the stands and believe it or not some parents assaulting other people's children for what they see as wrong doings on the ice. I'd wager a guess that football parents are similar. Parents need to stop living vicariously through their kids.

I work closely with some that go on about hockey, I tell them all the time to sell the kids gear and buy them a sk8 board :)
<\RANT>
Your rant is warranted. It's pretty much the same thing in most of the U.S. in regard to LL baseball, basketball, and/or soccer leagues, from the earliest ages on.
 
Your rant is warranted. It's pretty much the same thing in most of the U.S. in regard to LL baseball, basketball, and/or soccer leagues, from the earliest ages on.
Every youth sport seems to come with private training year round, often times paid coaching and it is not optional. I know several coaches of 11 year olds telling the parents that if their child does not "pick" a single sport to play, they won't be "dedicated" enough to play on his team.
 
I agree with less homework in elementary school too.

<RANT>
There seems to be a movement towards letting kids be kids again and it is not the school system to blame (we actually have commercials encouraging it now) . Far too many parents are structuring their kids lives to the point where kids need a frig'n day planner, dance on Monday, swimming on Tuesday, piano on wed and hockey practice 4 times a week,etc etc etc and play time comes in the form of a "play date" with other kids(that is a term I utterly despise).
Almost makes me sick to my stomach to listen to some people where I work, and hockey parents seem to be the worst, going on about stats, ice time, bad calls by referee's blah blah blah and we are talking about kids aged 8 to 12! That kid does not care as long as they are having fun, the kids aspirations for the NHL are a not theirs, it's the parents. Parents with kids in minor hockey now have to take a course on respect and inclusion before they are allowed to attend their kids games (serious, not allowed in the rink until completed), this comes after parents of kids yelling at ref's, literally fighting with each other in the stands and believe it or not some parents assaulting other people's children for what they see as wrong doings on the ice. I'd wager a guess that football parents are similar. Parents need to stop living vicariously through their kids.

I work closely with some that go on about hockey, I tell them all the time to sell the kids gear and buy them a sk8 board :)
<\RANT>
You took the words right out of my mouth. Vicarious parents. They are “getting off” on it. Get a life and let your kid become who they should be!
 
We homeschool our five kids, ages 7-14. They usually get up and get started on their own around 7am, break for breakfast, have instruction until lunch time and then a couple hours in the afternoon for homework. So they’re done by 3pm and can go ride their MTB, play, do whatever. Much of that time they are voraciously reading. We honestly can’t keep enough books in the house and can’t go to the library every day! Three of them have read the Lord of the Rings like nine times each, including the earlier Silmarillion.

Sports has taken over America and the educational system. There is such an emphasis on it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for team sports, competition, and the lessons they teach, discipline, perseverance, etc...I played soccer in the university under scholarship. But 70% of our taxes goes to the public school system and about 50% of that is for the new stadium? new sports uniforms? whatever! Give me a break! That money should go to education. You know, reading, writing, arithmetic...and home economics (that’s a lost art, but if the parents were doing their job they wouldn’t need that class!)
 
The American public school system is more of an indoctrination center than it is an education institution. The national department of education was instituted under Carter and it has been in steady decline ever since. More of a social/political tool than a house of wisdom. The teachers unions are the largest PAC there is.