Posted by KarenFL on October 4, 2009, 7:55 am, in reply to "Yes! We Grandmoms need to be involved too."
72.40.40.104

And as long as that is what it is used for, it is a great tool. This is a win-win situation for everyone involved. The cam HAS already been discussed as the future "classroom." Everyone agrees... if our kids are going to have an equal, fair chance, no matter where they go in the country, they should be taught the same curriculum at the same time. What better way than on their laptop. You have one 12th grade economics teacher giving the same lesson to every 12th grade student in the country at the same time. Same info, same time, everyone is on equal footing. This same concept is used for every student in the country for every subject. No one gets a "better" education than anyone else. You can even do this with PE; yes it is already being done (check it out; most school districts across the country already have virtual school.) Parents have access to what is being taught and everyone is happy. Now the possibilities… Once the local and state school boards figure out it is cheaper to buy every kid in the district a laptop, what do you think will happen to the teachers? They will all, except for the one behind the cam, be let go. There are already programs that students can submit their tests and work on line to be graded (Blackboard), and the program does the grading for them. Ever do one of those silly on-line quizzes? Same premise. Textbooks can already be accessed on-line, so another big savings to the community. So anyway, we now have gotten rid of all those whiny, lazy teachers. So where are the kids sitting while they are in front of the government bought laptops? In your living room, at your kitchen table or their bedroom. Whoohoooo! We no longer need all those ridiculously expensive school buildings either. They could probably be turned into mini malls or even apartments for the homeless and the illegals (or the now unemployed teachers and school supply and textbook companies, to name just a few). And just think, they can do their school work in their pj’s… no more school clothes to buy. This is taking care of a lot of existing problems that face it, we cannot afford. This just keeps getting better! We now have gotten rid of all the dead weight, money sucking teachers and their expensive buildings. Our kids are now getting an equal education. Our taxes should go down because of all the above costs being deleted. Yippee! More money in our pockets! And for the “perfect” student this is wonderful. But just a few “little” problems… Who is going to be WATCHING your second grader, to make sure he is on the laptop doing his spelling instead of just turning it on then going into another room and watching Spiderman or the playboy channel? You of course! You have to go to work? Well, he is your kid and you will have to hire a sitter to sit there and watch him during the day while he does his school work. Who is going to intervene if he doesn’t understand or it takes longer to grasp a concept? You can’t expect the cam teacher to hold up the whole country for one child? Guess your kid will just have to be held back and take it over in a night/weekend class or the next year. Oh… you want the sitter to do this? Well, find one of those out of work teachers to be your baby sitter, but if you want them to tutor your kid at the same time, expect to pay a whole lot more. What do sitters make these days…? I hear it is like $10 an hour to just sit there and eat your food and watch your TV while your kids are sleeping. You can figure the out of work trained teachers will be charging more like $15 - $20 an hour to sit and eat your food and watch your TV while your kids are falling asleep in front of their laptops. Maybe you can get together with a couple other families to share the costs. No, no, no… then we are getting back to being a regular classroom again and do you really want to have to go through state licensing for a child care facility, because that is what you will be creating. And who is going to do the security and requirement check on this person you are hiring to make sure they aren’t a child molester and actually have a teaching degree? Now let’s not play dumb here, YOU ARE! Remember those tax dollars you just saved in the above? There you go… you should be able to cover your sitter expenses. Now let’s do the math… your current property taxes in Orlando, FL (just an example) are $3,357.20 on an assessed value of a home that is $218,685 (in Orlando that is below the average home price). The school taxes are only a fraction of that, so you are only saving a fraction on your total property taxes ($100 - $200 a year depending on your address). At 7 hours a day, five days a week, 36 weeks a year (and remember, the one wants your kid to go to school longer so it could be more), that comes up to only $12,000 a year for the uneducated sitter, or $24,000 a year for the out of work teacher that was making the ridiculous salary of $40,000 a year after 15 years of continued service (my salary) who was educating approximately 300 students a year (6 classes of 30 students each semester; my current class load). And this all started just because we are all worried about WHAT those whining lazy teachers are teaching our kids… well who is going to hire that cam teacher? Not your local school board that you may actually have some control over, but someone put in charge of this by, you got it, your government leaders and probably acorn or whatever their new name will be. Expect them to be unbiased and not try to indoctrinate the current president’s political ideas into their little heads. Yeah… I believe that and I believe that if I am a good girl Santa is really going to bring me that brand new $120K jaguar I want. Sounds a little Orwellian, but believe me and don’t kid yourself, this is and has been talked about in many circles around the country… those that see this as another way to save money and silently take control of your kids and then those that see that big brother is watching and infiltrating where ever and whenever they can. Be careful of what you wish for because there are those out there that will turn it against you. Sorry for the book!

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Posted by Anna Heyerdahl on October 3, 2009, 9:12 pm, in reply to "Yes! We Grandmoms need to be involved too."
72.193.208.158

Great! Keep me posted.

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