Question About Usd 443 And Tournament Of Champions

Seriously I think we could cut cursive from the curriculum entirely and focus on things that matter. I also think that algebra is pretty much pointless for most of us. I can only do algebra when I can apply the equation to the real world. What is the point of doing mental gymnastics at something that has no bearing in the real world? it will never be cut because we base our kids intelligence off of their math scores.

I think kids should be given the option of getting their GED after the 8th grade. I know for a fact I could have passed mine then, and the GED is ultimately what I ended up getting anyway. Those kids that do get their GED early can start vocational programs that will have them trained for the real world once they hit the workforce. We have a shortage of skilled blue collar trade workers. Not everyone can be a Liberal Arts Bisexual Haiku Major, so why don't we do more to encourage practical knowledge instead of memorizing bullcrap like what the hypothalamus does?

Oh yeah, and is this cursive enough for you, Commander?

I think I will start calling you Requester because you complain louder than anyone but wait for someone else to step in to do it.

Personally, I think they should cut the Administrations pay in half before they cut sports. Why do the fat cat Administrators deserve 6 figure salaries, they haven't proven they deserve any of it.

Same with 457. They couldn't pay the Library Para’s, but they found money for the superintendent to get a raise and hire another useless full time administrator and a part time admin.

Typical.

Even funnier, he lives on a street called Diamond Hill Drive at the country club.

And not from Am-way huh?

He came from a super ghetto inner city KCMO school so he thinks 457 is heaven.

Something that is sad is that my nephew goes to a school which is supposidely a poor high school when compared to ours (budget-wise) but when I visited them a couple of months ago- he was playing with a mini Apple Mac laptop. I asked him if his mother bought it for him and he told me that all of the kids in his school were issued one. The kids at this high school don't even get books- much less an Apple laptop! Shake my head at this district, shake my head...

They can't afford laptops and things for the students, they need to pay the Administration 6 figure salaries.

Having those fancy electronic items is nice but wholly unnecessary. Consider this: can you imagine the cost of outfitting every single USD 443 student with IPADs or MAC Laptops? Needless to say, it would be monumental and I for one would not want to pay the increase in property taxes to supports such a purchase.

Understand something important about Dodge City. The City of Dodge City's budget is set around 18 Million. Dodge City Community College is also around 16 Million. Yet people scrutinize these municipalities incessantly despite their modest budgets all things considered. Myself included.

However, the elephant in the room that no one ever seems to talk about it USD 443. Their budget is 85 MILLION DOLLAR$$$.

It goes without saying that 443 is the primary devourer of precious hard-stolen tax dollars. Every time I turn around, they are repaving a parking lot unnecessarily or building new facilities. Money Money Money. They have no conscience about the economic stress it places upon those of us who pay the taxes.

USD 443 often uses the sentiment "We want the best for our children" and they do spend like there is no tomorrow. Wasting MILLIONS out the wazoo with no regard to the severe burden it puts those tax payers who must shoulder these incredibly high property taxes.

Well I am here to tell you that buying the best for our children hasn't helped USD 443 help improve their overall nationalized test scores. USD 443 is classified as a school district that is in need of improvement by the US Dept of Education. If 443 stays on this status, in 2-3 years, the government steps in and starts managing the district for us.

USD 443 needs to be compelled to work with less. Times are hard. The economy is trashed and 'We the People' are expected to pay for 443s soiled diapers despite the economic downturns.

USD 443: Time to start buying generic diapers instead of the expensive Pampers.

I hadn't heard anything about this until the other day when I was checking out at a grocery store and one of the women, working there said the kids were no longer being taught cursive writing. I asked someone about it later and they said, "Oh yeah, they are." Then this thread shows up. It probably doesn't REALLY matter all that much BUT cursive is actually easier and faster to do than printing and identifiable. Penmanship awards used to be given in schools.

I'm trying to cut down on things stored for no reason and going through, what seems like endless, letters, cards etc. is made much easier by taking one glance and knowing if someone close to me wrote it. There's something about reading a letter in the handwriting of a child, parent or grandparent that brings them closer to you. I have my grandfather's diary which was written many years before my father was born and over a half a century before my parents were married. I could recognize his handwriting if it was on another document. I don't think I would have been that interested in his emails. We're losing somewthing here, worse yet, our children are. There's something personal about cursive writing, more so than printing, which is why the bad guys print ransom notes, makes it harder for the police to tag it to a specific person and why people have spent much time trying to identify personality traits in cursive writing.

Probably doesn't matter...but I think it's sad and maybe just a little demeaning to our children. I think they're bright enough to master cursive writing in a heartbeat.

I hoisted this from USD 443 archives. A Howard Shuler, Interim Director of Pat Hill School Improvement Consultants, a contractor firm who makes failing school districts their business has been presumably hired by the Kansas Department of Education to ascertain 'why' USD 443 is failing.

Funny thing is at the end of the letter, it advises parents to contact the district with their concerns rather than the contractor who is undoubtedly racking in the cash for this job.

You won't find this in the Daily Globe. USD 443 is 'needs improvement' and if they don't straighten up, they will be in 'corrective status'. Read it and weep.




And I have this letter here from the Superintendent Alan Cunningham's very own web page proclaiming USD 443 is a "World Class Education".

Do you believe that after seeing the real letter?

But there are so many more important things to be taught. Like what x equals! And photosynthesis! Why just the other day I was asked the formula for glucose and would have known it if not for that pesky cursive! Sorry, I totally agree with you. When everyone starts getting their checks forged because they can't sign their name in a distinctive way they might get back to it. On the other hand it may make it possible to actually read what a doc has written, but don't count on that. (I actually do know the equation for photosynthesis and the formula for glucose now, but I didn't before I started this job LOL)

Commander- my point wasn't that the district should get all high-schoolers laptops, my point is that a district much less fortunate in money that us is able to provide these for their kids and our high-schoolers can't even get a textbook to take home. I remember learning more from taking the textbook home and doing examples than by what the teacher did up on the board. No wonder our kids' state assessment scores are embarrassing!