I don't know if anyone has asked it because so many posts are still under review over there.

Why are clicks on a poster's name taking us to their journal instead of profile? I don't want to see journals. I just want to see the basic information like gender and location.

Anyone else agree with me?

copied from LBN: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014510941#post7
It seems very similar to PA's law which is now "on hold" (or something) pending state court proceedings.

Justices Reject Arizona Voting Law Requiring Proof of Citizenship
Source: NY Times

Arizona may not require documentary proof of citizenship from prospective voters, the Supreme Court ruled in a 7-to-2 decision on Monday.

Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, No. 12-71, said a federal law requiring states to “accept and use” a federal form displaced an Arizona law.

The federal law, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, allows voters to register using a federal form that asks, “Are you a citizen of the United States?” Prospective voters must check a box for yes or no, and they must sign the form, swearing under the penalty of perjury that they are citizens.

The state law, by contrast, required prospective voters to prove that they were citizens by providing copies of or information concerning various documents, including birth certificates, passports, naturalization papers or Arizona driver’s licenses, which are available only to people who are in the state lawfully.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/us/justices-reject-arizona-voting-law-requiring-proof-of-citizenship.html

I'm not against the Dept. of Ed. I think they do some valuable oversight of Title programs, for example. I'm just anti-Arne and consider him to be unqualified and a shill for the so-called "reformers". It makes me crazy to hear Obama tout RTTT.

As to local control.... well we still have it, but in many places this has been co-opted by the wingnuts to subvert separation of church and state, for example. Conservatives are notoriously anti-public education as well. Some of them want to decimate local districts so they can replace them with for-profit charters. If that means "local control".... I completely oppose that -- as do most democrat I would think.

Let qualified (real) educators set education policies. Eliminate NCLB before next year when the 100% proficiency takes effect.

Re-introduce the Public Option. As a lame duck, you have nothing to lose.

Forget about Chained CPI and save our Social Security!

Go back again for gun registration. You came close last time, don't abandon it so quickly.

How's that for starters?

1922-1996. He died suddenly and way too young.

He was a WWII hero, having served in the Pacific. He and his five brothers all served at the same time. They built the house I grew up in.

He was an incredibly hard-worker who managed to put three kids through college even though he only had a tenth-grade education. He was the most generous person I ever knew.

I wish I had known him better and longer.

However, I don't believe that many DUers would have been affected by the emphasis on standardized testing, which has really cranked up since NCLB under bush (2001). Do we have that many recent HS grads at DU? (The test is given in grades 3, 8, and 11.)

JMO, but I think people don't read much anymore! How many times have you read through a lengthy link and then returned to the OP to see additional comments that are obviously ill-informed? Way too many times I have seen people respond to posts with a short "sound-bite" instead of a well-thought-out position.

Whether this has anything to do with education, I really don't know. We still teach reading comprehension! In fact, it's on
"the test"! Why not just blame the media instead. They are a better target than the schools.

That is a pretty broad-brushed indictment of our educational system. Have you ever been to the Education Group here at DU?

If not, please enlighten yourself: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1124

There are good schools, great schools, and struggling schools. There is no "system"--- but there sure is a part of the country that is too ready to jump on educators for all of society's shortcomings. Democrats need to support schools, not blame them.

Here are a couple more answers from someone with many years of experience and on the verge of retirement. This will be my final year of teaching.

Has the quality of public education really gone downhill since I was a kid, or is that a myth? No! We teach more content and more difficult content at a much earlier age now. Many kindergarteners can read --- I don't remember reading until first grade. Same with math. Algebra, geometry, etc. have all been incorporated into elementary math and have been moved up a year or two in middle school.

Have kids gotten harder to teach? Yes, there are far more behavioral problems that interfere with teaching the rest of the class. I never heard of ADD, ADHD, ODD, and myriad other disabilities until maybe the 1980s. Every other kid has an IEP or a behavior contract, or something similar. I wonder what happened to everyday "normal" kids.

Are parents working too hard to help their kids, or to notice if they're failing, let alone get involved with the PTA or pay attention to school board elections? No, not enough. The outstanding students have very involved parents. The problem kids have absentee or disinterested parents. It is impossible to get any cooperation (such as returning a phone call) from some of them. I think some of them just give up.

Are class sizes too big? YES.

Are populations more diverse? Sure, but so is the country overall.

In inflation-adjusted dollars, are we spending less per child than we were 50 years ago? No idea.

What factors are actually different now from when they were back when public education was strong (at least, it was strong at my school when I was growing up)? What are the causes of those changes, if any? There is an organized assault on teachers and public education by the republicans and their ilk.

Where is the union, what role has it played? How are union leaders selected? Our union is very involved and well-organized (in PA). There is virtually no union representation in most states though, particularly in red states. We elect our officers and we still have payroll deduction for dues. Political donations are VOLUNTARY, contrary to RW talking points.

Because this is the Lounge: Let's eat!

We have had a lot of rain this month, but it is still cool here (PA). I fought the blight a couple of years ago when it was brought in on Bonnie plants. That was so miserable and the tomatoes were pretty much tasteless.

I started growing my own after that, but didn't do so this year. Hope it isn't too late to spray.