D.C. schools spending more than $29,000 per student. According to the Census Bureau, Washington, D.C., public schools spent $29,409 per student in the 2009-2010 school year. That means a class of 25 kids cost taxpayers $735,225 to babysit for a year. No wonder the teachers’ unions own the Democrat Party – they’ve been running a gold mine.
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I got an email yesterday that had an actual 8th grade final exam from a school in Kansas, from 1895. It's long, so I wont post it all here (unless someone requests it) but it was stunning! Today's college graduates would have trouble answering most of these questions. DC public school graduates would have trouble READING the questions!
PLEASE post it. I think it would be an interesting read/exercise.
You should see the exercises my girlfriends 9 yr. old granddaughter has to do once a week here in Germany.
Another thing, Germans do NOT have an end of the year test. They take your score FOR THE WHOLE YEAR and average it out, and NOT on a curve. Either you pass, or you don't.
Now, I seem to remember something similar when I was a kid, before the "you must pass little Johnny/Janie or it will damage his psyche" crowd took over.
Just look at our own little Johnny to see how well THAT worked out.
Considering I was chosen for a federal census job, rather well considering
Also, that test is pre-corporate america; before they started dumbing everyone down for their own needs.
You were chosen? What did fearless leader pick you out of a box? Perhaps the heaven's opened up and you were ordained as "johnny Angel-Census Taker"?
You couldn't even get chosen for a dodgeball team.
Chosen? I believe the term is hired, you just can't call it that since you don't wanna work.
Employers choose people to hire. They're synonyms, they can be used interchangeably.
Your would argue with yourself if you had half a brain...
Here ya go - glad IHTM doesn't charge for bandwidth!
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What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...
Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , Kansas , USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.
8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS - 1895
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play,' and 'run.'
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000.. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.
Orthography (Time, one hour) [Do we even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.'
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each..
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.
Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.
Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!
No wonder they dropped out after 8th grade. They already knew more than they needed to know!
U.S. History
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
Ummm... ummmm... ummmmmm... Morse? WHITNEY HOUSTON!!! SEAN PENN!! Howie Mandel? 3 out of 7 is a B, right?
Remember when you had to have a "C" average in order to play sports? Now they are screaming if you tell a kid he can't play football because he's failing!
I can't help but wonder what it cost the taxpayers back in my little ol' public school system in small-town Texas, where we had something like a 99.5% graduation rate.
The liberals have fought back efforts in recent years to give school vouchers to parents in Washington, D.C. What a pity, since students could get a much better education (safer too) for far less money in Catholic, Christian, private and charter schools. They should seriously look into homeschooling also.
That's all I can think about: how much money I could make charging 25 students $735,000 per year. Even with one class, I could rent a nice office space, fill it with desks and books, hire a COUPLE teachers, and have tons of money left in profit. And I'd bet my left big toe I could do more educating than the D.C. school system.
And a lot less indoctrinating.
The only problem with that MDLION, is the government/unions are loath to give up their indoctrination centers, and the power and money that go with them.
Seen on the streets of D.C. today: a beleaguered taxpayer sporting a t-shirt which read, "The school district spent $29,000.00 per student last year and - ironically - all we got were these lousy little Marxists!"
Ha! Ha! Ha! We got the goldmine the taxpayers got the shaft! Yeah baby! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!
Let me break this down.....per student
$10,000 to various universities to study how to improve schools, $10,000 to federal employees to administer new program, $5,000 donation (bribe) to lobby the NEA to approve the program, $3,800 to district teachers union and $200 per student for books, meals, transportation, educational tools etc.
Corporate Greed in a nutshell.
So, to you schools equal corporations?
And THIS ladies and gentlemen is the product of a higher education.
If anything, I'm too smart for my own good.
Yea and I am now the queen of England if your too smart, Jesus H. Christ, where do you come up with this shit? Perhaps the guy who sells you your medical marijuana? A frickin' legend in your own mind..John what color is the sky in your world anyway, or better what what color is the basement ceiling at mommy's house?
*wipes tears of mirth from eyes* Oh, Gollum. You sure can be a funny little thing!
But, well... now, honey, listen.
That odd man in the green plaid jacket who was always strangely twitching when he gave his lectures? I'm afraid he lied to you, too. No, Mary Jane College is NOT a sister school to Brown University. No, it is not accredited by a respectable agency, and no, high education is not the same thing as higher education. Unfortunately, this means your AS degree in Advanced Theoretical Shoe Tying isn't going to be the magic bullet to getting you gainfully employed like you might have hoped it would be. That's okay, though. We can regroup! We'll bypass that whole efficiency thing and start working on a skill that should just get you going.
I want you to practice this for several hours each morning, all right? Speak slowly and clearly, and with a polite, cheerful voice. "Would you like to super size your order?" Say it either with a "sir" or a "ma'am" on the end, and work at it until you can recite it in as natural a tone as possible, even without reading here from my prompt. And for the love of Pete, *please* remember not to tack on a "my preciousssss!" That tends to scare off customers and your boss wouldn't be very happy with that.
Getting a job to pay off your massive student loans, even when your degree is worthless = Good!
Following the instructions in your MJ College Chemistry 101 book for grinding up Cheetos and snorting them = BAD! Very, very bad! Stop that right now!
your description of the professor made me think of the professor from Animal House. Way off topic but I couldn't help it LOL
I'm sorry, but my lesson on asking people if they would like to super size their order will be worthless once the corporate controlled Congress outlaws large size fast food meals like they are planning on doing with soda.
But, Gollum, honey, we're trying to get you employed immediately. We've got to get some sort of job on your resume before we can move on to bigger and brighter things, okay? Don't go worrying about Corporate Greed (TM john.)! and The Evil Mordor Cheetos plots right now. Remember, it's all about those baby steps.
Or I could maybe publish my research exposing said Corporate Greed and have some steady income off the book deals.
Corporations publish books.
@Noelegy - the government should just pay everyone! They can pay the authors, the publishers, the distributors, AND buy the books. Do not ask where or how the government gets money in this scenario - that is far too complex an idea.
Or, to put it another way, let me tell you about the time I went book shopping with my friend the political science major. He disgustedly announced that books should be free. They were at the library, I replied. No, he said, books at bookstores should just be free.
"Really?" I asked. "How about the authors? Shouldn't they be paid for their ideas? How about the publishers who print the books and distribute them, or the truck drivers who ship them, or the bookstore employees? Shouldn't any of those people get paid? Because the money to pay them has to come from somewhere."
He changed the subject.
Comic books don't count as a "book Deal"....even when they have pictures..Your research? You mean liberal talking points? The snooze power of a book like that would be super sized....
You know you’d be bored without me Flash.
We're willing to risk it.
@flashingscotsman: ;)
TD,........
MO.
Turd.
You know you'd be bored without me Flash.
Jenn, my tears of laughter come from the fact that he doesn't even realize how well you're handing his ass to him. This is some serious comedy. Thank you.
Books are made and published by corporations so there is a problem with your plan
Well, now, I sure hate to discourage you, honey, because that sounds like you are seriously thinking of Making An Effort. Oh, pardon me. I'm just wiping tears again, but this time, of pride. You might be taking that first little step!
But I'm afraid the fiction market is VERY hard to break into these days, unless you're writing about Bizarre (teen vampire) Love Triangles. Even with your Evil Cheetos as a main character, I'm just not seeing this as a big seller.
Little children? Hardly. Remember Far Side? Referring to the whistle as a child made me think of this one. http://www.austintown.k12.oh.us/~aust_tr/homework/quickfiles/Cartoons/beware%20of%20doug.bmp
If he does write this book, who will market it for him? An evil corporation(TM john)?
How will he be able to collect the funds from the sale? What will it be printed on?
Is he going to make his own paper and ink? will he hand write each copy of the book? Will he hand deliver it to the buyers?
Yea, great plan to get rich joan!
I finally broke down and looked it up, TFD's definition makes it hilarious, great work.
*blinks innocently*
drb, I'm just trying to encourage him! The poor thing, he really did get the proverbial "short end of the stick." We don't have a lot to work with here. And there's such a fine line to draw. I want to encourage him, but not go too far and build up false hopes, you know?
Listen to me, Gollum! We can do this, honey! You don't have to go plunging to your fiery death after sneaking past those Evil Mordor Cheetos and biting the finger off Corporate Greed (TM john.)! to get your precious back.
Let's throw our fists up at the sky and defy your terrible fate! We can rewrite this awful ending! In fact, I'm thinking a musical might work... That's not the Cracks of Doom shooting up flames to lick at your poor, little feet. Why, it's just the Disco Inferno.
Oh Jenn, Jenn, Jenn...Why must you tease the little children?
Go eat some Cheetos, moron.
Cheetos are made by an evil corporation
So was your computer...or mobile device that you used to reply....
*pats poor, little Gollum on the head*
Yes, honey. That's right. Deep in the land of Mordor, behind the great Black Gates, surrounded by his panting, foul minions, the Dark Lord Sauron is plotting to take over all of Middle Earth... by making Cheetos. Darn his evil ways!
Don't worry, Gollum. I'm reasonably sure we can still thwart his nefarious plans.
Johnny Boy doesn't use ANY products made by corporations. From his shoes, to his shirt, from his computer, to his Depends. Everything is made by local handcrafters, using materials made by individuals living in caves, delivered by non-incorporated trucking companies, using trucks that were not made by evil corporate bullies, driving on highways built by individuals using tools made at home from,.............
What an idiot.
His laptop must weigh 47,000 lbs!
Driving? How? Unless they have vehicles powered by burning yard waste they require either petrol products or electricity, BOTH of which are produced by evil corporations...
Maybe they deliver by horse-drawn wagons?
Then walk into the woods and eat a mushroom.
And I'll bet 80% of the DC educated students couldnt add two three digit numbers or speak/write a coherent sentence.
And they won't be able to multiply 87 x 5. Say... did Bill Maher attend DC public schools by any chance?