Bill Gates and the Education System

• Prescott

  Pretty interesting stuff.
  
  .....He said the U.S. spends $50 billion a year on automatic salary increases for teachers based on seniority, but, according to Gates, "Seniority seems to have no effect on student achievement." .......
  
  ....Gates also questions spending $15 billion a year on salary bumps for teachers who get advanced degrees.
  
  "Such raises have almost no impact on achievement," he said. ........
  
  ......Gates challenged the notion that smaller class sizes are better. .......
  
  http://abcnews.go.com/US/bill-gates-education-microsoft-founder-schools-teaching-teachers/story?id=13051251
• Skyhook79

  

  Bill gates is absolutely right on with his assessment of this area of teaching.
• Belly35

  

  Bill Gates the Union Buster ...... Good job Gates perfect timing and hit the nail on the head
• stlouiedipalma

  It would be nice if Bill had a plan for school districts to buy a program for teaching classes by teleconferencing, using a computer. Then we could consolidate districts and many classes could be taught by one computer operator. That would really save money. Just imagine, you could eliminate most of the overhead and, with the consolidation, eliminate many administrative positions as well.
• believer

  

  stlouiedipalma;699574 wrote:It would be nice if Bill had a plan for school districts to buy a program for teaching classes by teleconferencing, using a computer. Then we could consolidate districts and many classes could be taught by one computer operator. That would really save money. Just imagine, you could eliminate most of the overhead and, with the consolidation, eliminate many administrative positions as well.

  Works for me except they'd need to wire the students for electric shock therapy if they become disruptive. The tele-teacher would have a remote button to push if the students get out of line.
• Skyhook79

  

  ccrunner609;700076 wrote:And what gives Bill Gates the leading educational analist in the country? He has no pedigree that would make him the top guy on this subject except he has a billion dollars. Since he sais that he is giving all his money away when he dies, why doesnt he start building schools and run them the way he wants.
  
  
  As for teachers years of service and implying they dont help in student achievement......BULLSHIT. As a teacher, I get better every year. You learn more and become a better teacher every year if you are willing to learn from your mistakes. I speak from experience by seeing alot of first year teachers, a teacher with 10 years experience is alot better teacher then a rookie.
  
  "raises have no affect on student achievment"......duh moron. Does the color of your car have anything to with gas mileage? Lets make statements using less then 4 degrees of seperation.
  
  $50 billion a year on pay increases?.....does he realize that this isnt a huge number? There are millions upon millions of teachers out there.....that money is spread pretty thin.
  
  For him to imply that class sizes dont affect learning just shows you how much he should STFU. He obvioulsy isnt that smart.
  
  So he wants good teachers to have bigger classes . No what he wants is all the smart kids in one class and the dumb ones in another. There isnt a teacher in the world that wants 35 kids in a class, especially when they have 15 IEP students, a kid that has been socially promoted and reads 2+ levels below the others and the 3 boys that cant sit down because they are undiagnosed with some disorder like asburgers or autism and their parents are in denial and or wont spend the money to test them.
  
  Bill Gates has no clue. Just alot of money and a platform.

  
  
  I am guessing that you are not an English teacher but I am more concerned that you actually called some kids "dumb" and actually think that.
  I wonder if that affects the way you teach, or don't teach, those kids you deem as "dumb"?
• Prescott

  For the last 3 or 4 years Gates has dedicated his life to his foundation, which is centered around improving the education system.Gates has no agenda, like every other person in this debate.
  
  
  ....Over the last four decades, the per-student cost of running our K-12 schools has more than doubled, while our student achievement has remained flat, and other countries have raced ahead. The same pattern holds for higher education. Spending has climbed, but our percentage of college graduates has dropped compared to other countries. ......
  
  .....Compared to other countries, America has spent more and achieved less. We need to build exceptional teacher personnel systems that identify great teaching, reward it, and help every teacher get better.....
  
  http://www.gatesfoundation.org/foundationnotes/Pages/bill-gates-110228-flip-the-curve.aspx
• WebFire

  I can't believe ccrunner is a teacher.
• fan_from_texas

  ccrunner609;700076 wrote:And what gives Bill Gates the leading educational analist in the country? He has no pedigree that would make him the top guy on this subject except he has a billion dollars. Since he sais that he is giving all his money away when he dies, why doesnt he start building schools and run them the way he wants.
  
  
  As for teachers years of service and implying they dont help in student achievement......BULLSHIT. As a teacher, I get better every year. You learn more and become a better teacher every year if you are willing to learn from your mistakes. I speak from experience by seeing alot of first year teachers, a teacher with 10 years experience is alot better teacher then a rookie.
  
  "raises have no affect on student achievment"......duh moron. Does the color of your car have anything to with gas mileage? Lets make statements using less then 4 degrees of seperation.
  
  $50 billion a year on pay increases?.....does he realize that this isnt a huge number? There are millions upon millions of teachers out there.....that money is spread pretty thin.
  
  For him to imply that class sizes dont affect learning just shows you how much he should STFU. He obvioulsy isnt that smart.
  
  So he wants good teachers to have bigger classes . No what he wants is all the smart kids in one class and the dumb ones in another. There isnt a teacher in the world that wants 35 kids in a class, especially when they have 15 IEP students, a kid that has been socially promoted and reads 2+ levels below the others and the 3 boys that cant sit down because they are undiagnosed with some disorder like asburgers or autism and their parents are in denial and or wont spend the money to test them.
  
  Bill Gates has no clue. Just alot of money and a platform.

  I just wanted to repost this so everyone else can enjoy the beautiful irony.
• fan_from_texas

  WebFire;700144 wrote:I can't believe ccrunner is a teacher.

  
  Isn't he a PhysEd teacher or something? I'm pretty sure they don't need to be literate.
• WebFire

  fan_from_texas;700146 wrote:Isn't he a PhysEd teacher or something? I'm pretty sure they don't need to be literate.

  
  It's not even the literacy. He call Bill Gates dumb. Students dumb. Curses in posts. SMH.
• ytownfootball

  

  cc, you CLAIM you get better every year by learning from your mistakes...however I'm sure you have no empirical evidence to support your claims. That's the point being made by Gates. Despite increases in tenure and pay scale, improvement in student performance is lagging or non-existent. It is fact.
• believer

  

  ccrunner609;700076 wrote:And what gives Bill Gates the leading educational analist (analyst) in the country? He has no pedigree (pedigree? Is Bill Gates a dog?) that would make him the top guy on this subject except he has a billion dollars. Since he sais (says) that he is giving all his money away when he dies, why doesnt (either insert the apostrophe or make it does not) he start building schools and run them the way he wants. (should end the sentence with a question mark)
  
  As for teachers (teachers') years of service and implying they dont (either insert the apostrophe or make it do not) help in student achievement......BULLSHIT. As a teacher, I get better every year. (Really? Seems you need some remedial language skills development too) You learn more and become a better teacher every year if you are willing to learn from your mistakes. I speak from experience by seeing alot (two words a lot) of first year teachers, (new sentence here) a teacher with 10 years experience is alot (two words a lot) better teacher then a rookie. (I would agree. If you've been learning over the years, I cannot imagine what you were like as a rookie teacher.)
  
  "raises have no affect on student achievment"......duh moron. (Duh moron...Gates really quoted, "Such raises have almost no impact on achievement") Does the color of your car have anything to with gas mileage? Lets make statements using less then 4 degrees of seperation (separation).
  
  $50 billion a year on pay increases?.....does he realize that this isnt (either insert the apostrophe or make it is not) a huge number? There are millions upon millions of teachers out there.....that money is spread pretty thin.
  
  For him to imply that class sizes dont (either insert the apostrophe or make it do not) affect learning just shows you how much he should STFU. He obvioulsy (obviously) isnt (either insert the apostrophe or make it is not) that smart. (You don't seem to be the sharpest teacher in the crayon box either.)
  
  So he wants good teachers to have bigger classes. No what he wants is all the smart kids in one class and the dumb ones in another. (Really? A professional teacher labeling kids "dumb?") There isnt (either insert the apostrophe or make it is not) a teacher in the world that wants 35 kids in a class, especially when they have 15 IEP students, a kid that has been socially promoted and reads 2+ levels below the others and the 3 boys that cant sit down because they are undiagnosed with some disorder like asburgers or autism and their parents are in denial and or wont spend the money to test them. (Run on fragmented sentence. By the way, if you can't handle the students, maybe you shouldn't teach. Just sayin'....)
  
  Bill Gates has no clue. (He's a billionaire....you're a teacher. He seems to have a better idea of how to get a clue.) Just alot (two words a lot) of money and a platform.

  CC,
  
  I critiqued your essay above and added commentary in purple. Maybe you can learn from it and become a better teacher deserving of a pay increase.
  
  In all seriousness, CC, I respect you and your opinions. But you simply step all over your penis when it comes to your language skills. The fact that you are a teacher (PE or otherwise) is truly scary.
• ytownfootball

  

  Lets = Let's...don't start a sentence with "and"
• believer

  

  ytownfootball;700158 wrote:Lets = Let's...don't start a sentence with "and"

  Aw crap...did I miss those?
• ytownfootball

  

  believer;700166 wrote:Aw crap...did I miss those?

  
  Just looking out...I'm sure there's more Lol.
• Skyhook79

  

  ytownfootball;700171 wrote:Just looking out...I'm sure there's more Lol.

  There are, I believe that you are suppose to use... and not...... or..... or.... and it is "Duh winning" not "Duh moron", somewhere Charlie is very disappointed.
  I also did not know that there are sharp crayons in the box,can't believe I have never cut myself with one.
• Al Bundy

  Prescott;700132 wrote: America has spent more and achieved less. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/found...the-curve.aspx

  
  I think the Gates foundation does great work, and I support what they do. However, I feel the above quote is misleading. We are trying to educate everyone while most countries focus on just educating the top students. If we choose to only educate the top 10% or 20%, our education costs would significantly decrease, and the average test scores would signficantly increase. I see cost and test score comparisons across different countries as an apples to oranges comparison.
• sleeper

  

  Al Bundy;700241 wrote:I think the Gates foundation does great work, and I support what they do. However, I feel the above quote is misleading. We are trying to educate everyone while most countries focus on just educating the top students. If we choose to only educate the top 10% or 20%, our education costs would significantly decrease, and the average test scores would signficantly increase. I see cost and test score comparisons across different countries as an apples to oranges comparison.

  
  +1
  
  I don't think 99% of Americans understand that.
• Timber

  believer;700166 wrote:Aw crap...did I miss those?

  
  You missed a then/than incident also.
• Prescott

  We are trying to educate everyone while most countries focus on just educating the top students.

  We are failing. Maybe, we should change directions.It is difficult to educate people who don't see the value of an education.
• Al Bundy

  Prescott;700286 wrote:We are failing. Maybe, we should change directions.It is difficult to educate people who don't see the value of an education.

  
  We are failing if you look at the average scores for everyone, but we aren't failing if you look at our top students. People come from all over the world to study at our universities. Our programs that are geared towards the best of the best do extremely well. Maybe we do waste too much of our time and resources on people who don't want to be helped.
• believer

  

  ccrunner609;700326 wrote:who gives a fuck how things are typed on the internet. Its a fucking message board not a college thesis paper.

  I'm surprised you managed to write thesis papers let alone finish college. Now you teach our kids. But hey, who gives a fuck - right?
• ptown_trojans_1

  

  Al Bundy;700347 wrote:We are failing if you look at the average scores for everyone, but we aren't failing if you look at our top students. People come from all over the world to study at our universities. Our programs that are geared towards the best of the best do extremely well. Maybe we do waste too much of our time and resources on people who don't want to be helped.

  I'd agree to that. I'm surrounded by tons of young people my age (24-30 age) that are smart, driven, pragmatic, and coming up with great ideas. They may be a small sample of the population, but they are really smart. I had dinner last night with friends I went to Maryland with, who are in various positions (DHS-Border issues, State Department Intelligence, Energy Department, FBI, CSC consulting firm, and National Institute for Health) that are really moving up the chain and ladder in their areas.
• Prescott

  We are failing if you look at the average scores for everyone

  And the dropout rate. Personally, I say good riddance. If a person doesn't want an education, why let them ruin that opportunity for others???

  Maybe we do waste too much of our time and resources on people who don't want to be helped.

  No doubt.