Comments on: Jane Brunner Thinks Our Schools Are “Great” http://www.eastbayconservative.com/2008/03/26/jane-brunner-thinks-our-schools-are-great/ Words from a Non-Leftist Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:47:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Josh Abrams http://www.eastbayconservative.com/2008/03/26/jane-brunner-thinks-our-schools-are-great/#comment-1666 Josh Abrams Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:31:56 +0000 http://www.eastbayconservative.com/2008/03/26/jane-brunner-thinks-our-schools-are-great/#comment-1666 just to be clear, they aren't vocational, they are "quasi-vocational". You don't graduate ready to go to work in the auto repair industry or cabinet making but ready to get a 2-year degree in the medical fields or with your CISCO cert. in computer networking... better than nothing though. just to be clear, they aren’t vocational, they are “quasi-vocational”. You don’t graduate ready to go to work in the auto repair industry or cabinet making but ready to get a 2-year degree in the medical fields or with your CISCO cert. in computer networking… better than nothing though.

]]> By: TheBoss http://www.eastbayconservative.com/2008/03/26/jane-brunner-thinks-our-schools-are-great/#comment-1660 TheBoss Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:31:44 +0000 http://www.eastbayconservative.com/2008/03/26/jane-brunner-thinks-our-schools-are-great/#comment-1660 That is good info on the vocational stuff. I will look into that. I'm a big fan of such programs. It's important to have a wide array of different kinds of education available, both because some kids are smarter than others, and because some kids just have different interests. My favorite/most useful classes in junior high were woodshop, plastics and small engines. I still use those skills frequently. That is good info on the vocational stuff. I will look into that. I’m a big fan of such programs. It’s important to have a wide array of different kinds of education available, both because some kids are smarter than others, and because some kids just have different interests.

My favorite/most useful classes in junior high were woodshop, plastics and small engines. I still use those skills frequently.

]]> By: Josh Abrams http://www.eastbayconservative.com/2008/03/26/jane-brunner-thinks-our-schools-are-great/#comment-1658 Josh Abrams Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:41:24 +0000 http://www.eastbayconservative.com/2008/03/26/jane-brunner-thinks-our-schools-are-great/#comment-1658 When I was in the Oakland school system (only a few years ago) they refused to weight the GPAs of students taking college level "AP" classes... the reason they gave was that it was not "fair" to give the students taking harder classes an advantage since everybody couldn't take them. That is like an employer refusing to consider that a job applicant went to Harvard when reviewing their application because not everyone can go to Harvard. That said, there are some great success stories in the OUSD (Check out the quasi-vocational academy programs at Oakland Tech and the other high schools) but "great" is surely not the fist word that comes to mind. When I was in the Oakland school system (only a few years ago) they refused to weight the GPAs of students taking college level “AP” classes… the reason they gave was that it was not “fair” to give the students taking harder classes an advantage since everybody couldn’t take them. That is like an employer refusing to consider that a job applicant went to Harvard when reviewing their application because not everyone can go to Harvard.

That said, there are some great success stories in the OUSD (Check out the quasi-vocational academy programs at Oakland Tech and the other high schools) but “great” is surely not the fist word that comes to mind.

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