Service Learning and the Presidential Election

For this specific  topic we believe that a huge attribute would be enculturation. Enculturation is "the process by which a culture and its civic values are transmitted from one generation to the next" (page 35 in our book). For some of us in class this will be our first year voting. For others it may be the second or even third time. Regardless, the issues being talked about in the debates and campaign ads are some critical issues and it's our duty to decide who wins it. To get where we are as a class today we've all gone through similar schooling. Everyone went to elementary school, middle school and high school and now we're finishing up college. We all have a great idea of what school is supposed to be and what we think education systems in our society need. As a separate generation from our parents we may notice things are different: disciplinary actions (how many of us have heard our parents tell us horror stories about nuns and rulers?), scholarships and things of that nature. As this generation, the education policies in discussion are directly affecting us. We are the generation (and our kids as well) that will see the most change. If Romney wins and his bills pass, our children may not get in to the school in their own district because he gave the choice to a disadvantaged child. If Obama wins and his bills pass our loans may just get forgiven after so many years of faithful payment. As first or second time voters, we really need to remember that this affects us in the here and now, and also for years to come.
http://www.education.com/topic/education-politics/        This website, www.education.com is a great source of articles all related to this topic. There are articles on Obama's view, Romney's view, how WE will be impacted today and in the future, how our children will be impacted, and lots of other interesting stories.


As for informational knowledge and procedural knowledge, students can touch on a bit of both in terms of choosing a candidate for the Presidential Election. What it breaks down to is- the informational knowledge, is the different aspects that go into Educational politics, such as things like budget cuts, No Child Left Behind Act, Curriculum, Standardize testing, Financial aid, etc.. Getting familiar with these ideas and aspects or "information" regarding education is a way of students to get a grasp on the informational knowledge surrounding the election. In terms of choosing a candidate whose ideas they agree with is more geared towards the procedural knowledge. Gaining insight on the democratic and republican parties through watching the news, speaking to other members of the community, knowing themselves as a voter, and actually getting out there and voting touches more of the procedures  of getting involved in the election.

In terms of a service learning activity, students might go down to town hall and help out at the polls. They could stand outside on election day and hold signs for the candidate that they feel would be the best for president based on what tey have researched, read about, watched, and talked about during the election.

 To teach this concept we would make a T-chart on the board. One side would have President Obama and all of his beliefs when it comes to education and the other would have Governor Romney and his stance on education.

  

President Obama	Candidate Romney
Funding cuts hurt students	Class sizes don’t matter: classes will increase
Put educators back to work	Reducing number of educators in each classroom
Hiring more math and science teachers to help prepare students for technology jobs in the future.	Eliminating programs that make a well rounded education
College tax credit helps millions attend college	Kick 2 millions kids out of head start
Wants everyone to have a chance for an education	Cut higher Ed funding by 10%

http://educationvotes.nea.org/2012/10/15/obama-vs-romney-two-visions-for-education/



Kiersten: When it comes to our topic there are a lot of ways to take action. The most obvious is to vote on Election Day. That is how I plan on taking action, unfortunately I can’t until election day so till then I will educate myself as much as I can one each side. I will watch the debates and do my own research and prepare myself to take action with this event. There is also picketing and other community involvement that can get one to be a part of this election. As an educator I completely feel that education can be used for public good. It is a great way to make students aware of current events happening in their communities. They can gather knowledge and choose to take a stance and make a difference. I do agree that the common good and right of a individual holds a definitive place in morality and ethics, however I am not sure how I feel about it transcending to politics and federal law. I do agree that it goes with teaching, all teaching, not just social studies.

Stephanie: As Kiersten mentioned, there are so many ways to take action when it comes to our topic. I will definitely be voting on November 6th and I hope you all will, too. If you feel anything at all for what you've read so far in our blog you should definitely get up and vote! Since the election is still a week and a half away there are other things we can do in the mean time to show our support and our action on this topic. Groups gather almost every day in certain places to hold signs for their candidate of choice. From signs to bumper stickers, almost everyone is voicing their choice now.  Personally there isn't a lot of opportunity to take action until election day but I've watched the debates, discussed it with peers and family and educated myself immensely on the topic. I feel that even in just the last two weeks I've learned a great deal of the in and outs on education in politics right now. As an educator I feel that this topic of education can definitely be used for public good. I wasn't well aware of the topic until we started this project and now I'm glad I am. I'm so informed on it I could teach multiple lessons on it. Students at almost every age deserve to be aware of the current events happening right outside their doors. Of course there are different ways to present these issues depending on the grade you're dealing with, but no one should be left in the dark. I agree that every individual no matter who they are can take a side and voice an opinion. However we mentioned this in our first blog-- we're not totally convinced that federal law and politics belong in education. They can work simultaneously to create education laws, but politics should never dictate education, in my opinion.

Shea: I feel the best way to take action in terms of our topic of educational politics would be to vote as well. We all have a voice and a right to vote. We are in a crutial age of starting to become members of the "real world". In these next years we will be starting our careers and establishing ourselves as adult members or the society. I think it is very important to raise awareness on voting. The Vote or Die campaigns are what come to my mind when I think about taking action. A person trying to raise awareness to register to vote could sign up and volunteer for organizations like this in attempts to get the young people to get to the polls. 

Interviews

 I am Kiersten and I interviewed a fellow education student, Rachel Gregory.

Problem: Whose stance in the presidential debate do you take in terms of education

First name of the person you interviewed and/or their title in the community (retired person, parent, businessman, etc)

Rachel,  education student

Tell the person about the problem you are studying. Then ask the following questions:

Is this a problem you think is important?  Why/ Why not?

Yes, because the children are our future and they need to be educated as well as possible.

Do you think others in our community think it is an important problem? why/ why not?

I don’t think others realize how big of an issue it is because it’s not as highlighted in the news. Most focus is on the economy.

What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem?

I am unsure of any policies having to do with this topic.

If their is policy around your issue/ problem/ topic, ask these questions:

N/A

Where can I get more information about this problem and the different positions people take on this problem?

At the different politicians websites, news websites, ask other peoples stance.


I am Shea Bogart and I interviewed Courtney Lynch from class.

Problem: Stance on Presidential Election in terms of Educational Issues 

First name of the person you interviewed and/or their title in the community (retired person, parent, businessman, etc) Courtney Lynch. Salem State University student and athlete.

Is this a problem you think is important?  Why/ Why not? Yes, this is important to me because I am an education major and it will effect my future. I also am still in school, so higher education issues also directly effect me. 

Do you think others in our community this is an important problem? why/ why not? I think it depends on the person and who they are within the community. I can imagine how other majors would not be as concerned with the education politics for this up coming election. I think parents and teachers would think this problem was important however I do not think teens and children care much about the topic.

What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem? It does not really deal with any one specific governmental policy because it is the election of the president, but it relates to all policies and issues in government.  

If their is policy around your issue/ problem/ topic, ask these questions: N/A

What are advantages of this policy? N/A

What are disadvantages of this policy? N/A

How might the policy be improved? N/A

Does the policy need to be replaced?  why? N/A

What disagreements, if any, about the policy exist in this community? There are a lot of disagreements on which candidate would be the best to run our country. These are two very different presidential candidates and the whole country has opposing views in relation to the two. 

Where can I get more information about this problem and the different positions people take on this problem? Interviews with other members of the community as well as reading and watching the news on the internet or T.V. will provide more information. 

 I enjoyed interviewing Courtney about my blog because I was able to teach her a little bit about the current election that she did not have previous knowledge about. I think it is important for her to be aware of the stand point of each candidate because she is going to be directly effected by their decisions ( especially ones in terms of education) in the next years to come. I also had the opportunity to learn a bit about her to[ic of Drug Testing for Welfare collectors.

I am Stephanie and I interviewed my mother about the topic.

Problem:  Whose stance do you take after hearing what both candidates have said/done so far as far as education?

First name of the person you interviewed and/or their title in the community (retired person, parent, businessman, etc) 

--Phyllis, my mother.

Tell the person about the problem you are studying. Then ask the following questions:

Is this a problem you think is important?  Why/ Why not?

--“Yes, I think it’s important because our education programs need to be very strong to compete in the world.”

Do you think others in our community this is an important problem? why/ why not?

--“Yes. I think the majority of people here do think education is an important issue. Most people realize that to compete in the global economy we need strong education.”

What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem?

--“No child left behind. I don’t know if they stopped that yet. But it’s not working, either way.”

If there is policy around your issue/ problem/ topic, ask these questions:

(WE’RE NOT SURE IF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND IS STILL IN ACTION BUT WE ARE BASING THIS OFF OF THE THOUGHT THAT IT IS)

What are advantages of this policy?

--“Ideally, the advantages were supposed to be that every child had equal opportunity to equal education. However this never happened.”

What are disadvantages of this policy?

--“The disadvantages are that children are bussed out of their own neighborhoods instead of improving the school systems within their neighborhood. Another is that money given to communities is based on their successful ‘NCLB’ program.”

How might the policy be improved?

--“I don’t think the policy can be improved. I think it was an ideal, but was not practical.”

Does the policy need to be replaced?  why?

--“Yes. It’s not working at all.”

What disagreements, if any, about the policy exist in this community?

--“We have MCAS, and I have extreme disagreements. I personally believe in creative teaching and not teaching to a test. It’s making a high school diploma dependent on just written test scores and some children just absolutely don’t test well.”

Where can I get more information about this problem and the different positions people take on this problem?

--Out in the community, through government, through the school systems, through organizations found on the internet (pro and con).

I really enjoyed interviewing my mom. Even though we live together, this is a topic that never hits the dinner table. She knew a lot about what goes on in education, especially in our community here in Malden. I was actually surprised that she had such strong opinions on this topic; I guess I never really realized how involved my mom has always been in my education as well as my sister's, who graduated UMass Amherst in 2009. My sister is now a teacher and I'm on my way, and my mother is proud of both of us. I'm glad she follows education so closely because A. she filled me in on quite a few things and B. she's really looking out for her kids! :)

 Here I am interviewing my mother about education in politics today.

Introduction to Educational Politics

Welcome to our Educational Politics Blog, brought to you by Shea Bogart, Stephanie Grossi, and Kiersten Lawler! We are all Salem State Junior Block Students writing about educational and political current events.


Todays blog will be discussing last nights Presidential debate. More specifically- we will be focusing on the issues in Education surrounding this election. There are 5 key issues within the topic of education; K-12 spending, No Child Left Behind Act/accountability, school choice, teachers and unions, and higher education.



1. K-12 Spending
Obama says: $100 billion for education saving 300,000 jobs. Central theme for his 2013 budjet proposal granting $69.8 billion for spending for the Department of Education (2.5 increase).

Romney says: "A chance for every child" 34 page educational plan- immediate cut of 5 percent of all nonsecurity discretionary spending, and an eventual reduction of federal spending to below 20 percent of gross domestic product. No exact cuts for education are specified but a believed $115 billion will be cut over the next ten years in result.

2. No Child Left Behind/accountability
Obama: Obama plans to revise the No Child Left Behind act to make sure there are more resources for low performing school to improve and emphasize standards to prepare students for their careers in the future. He plans to waiver 33 states from this act and allow them to make their own accountability plans  granted they meet the criteria.

Romney: Romney wants to make it more about the information mandate rather than the school intervention. He wants to offer tutoring for the low performing schools and replace their teachers. He wants states to provide more transparency about their school results by the report cards showing scores from the state tests and the National Assessment of Education Process. To monitor the spending each school does Romney would require a detailed list of the school and district spending.

3. School Choice

Obama: Obama wants to support for charters in his budget. He plans to have no funding for the DC program.

Romney: He wants to enable low income students to use their federal funding at any school of their choice; this includes schools out of their district and private schools. He would also alter charter school rules to allow waived fees. He proposed the DC program "Opportunity Scholarship Program" which would allow 1,600 students to attend private schools of their choice free of tuition.

4. Unions
Obama- His plans are uniformly praised by unions. He uses competitive funding to encourage states and school districts to reward teachers based on student achievement. $1 billion plan to specialize in science, technology, engineering and math.

Romney: He wants to consolidate current federal "teacher-quality" programs and create an evaluation system to measure the relationship between student achievement and effective teachers. He wants to dismiss the policy of "First in Last out".

5. Higher Education

Obama: Created a tax credit for college students up to $10,000  over a four year period. He also pushed to cap payments of loans at 10% of the overall payment each month and pushed for forgiveness of the remaining balance after 10+ years of faithful payments. Obama moved to make all federal loans through the federal government and not through private banks anymore, which will save us all $60 billion over the next ten years.

Romney: Romney believes the government writes universities blank checks and he wants to end that. He embraces private sector roles on information, financing, and education itself. Romney will reverse the policy that Obama put into effect that gives more aid to the schools that have higher rates of graduates with successful jobs.



http://imgsrv.kgmi.com/image/WiresGraphic/2012-10-04T062530Z_1_CBRE8930HUZ00_RTROPTP_2_POLITICS-US-USA-CAMPAIGN-DEBATE.JPG?1349341509

I am Kiersten and I am currently leading towards Obama's stance. I still need to do more research because I do agree with some point Romney makes. But Obama wants to reward teaching for their student achievement and as a future teacher I think that recognition is important. He also plans to focus science, technology, engineering, and math. Although none of those are my favorite topic I think they need a lot of attention. More knowledge in those subjects will make America grow in the future. Other regions are way ahead of us in these subjects so putting more funding into this will help us reach other areas in the world. Obama also wants to save jobs while Romney wants to eliminate some. Education plays a very important role in America. It educates our youth and gives us a chance to improve our future. So I think it is important that people pay attention to what each politician is saying.

This is Stephanie and I'm definitely leaning towards Obama. I don't think it's fair that Romney would give 1,600 random students money to go to a school where they may not even succeed in because it's not a setting they're used to! He had a good idea  there but it would fall apart easily. Instead, give that money to students working hard who deserve it. Obama also hopes to put forth a "loan forgiveness" which would pay the remainder of a student loan after 10 years or so of loyal, on time payments. That's amazing for students who had to take out thousands just to attend four years of college. I also like the Obama supports the project that grants colleges more money based on the number of their graduates that hold successful jobs. It helps the college strive for higher success rates and it helps put the graduating students in a career setting MUCH quicker! I do want to read more and watch more on TV to gain a full, unbiased knowledge of the rest of the facts. However, based on these five (major) components, I'm siding with Obama.

I am Shea Bogart, and much like my fellow authors of this blog, I find myself leaning towards the views held by Obama. For this particular blog, there is not necessarily a "solution" to the problem. We have to potential candidates to run our country for the next four years, who have significantly different views upon the different and controversial ideas in our present society. In terms of education, Obamas stance is much more appealing to me as a student, and as a future teacher. He is very supportive of unions, which is important to me because within the next four years I plan on joining the teachers union and start my career. For this reason, many teachers across America are in support of Obama. In terms of the NO Child Left Behind Act, Romney wants to replace teachers jobs with providing tutors for low performace students and school districts while Obama wants to provide more recourses for these struggling students to improve. I side with Obama on this issue because as a future educator, not only do I want to focus on my students improvement, but I do not want more jobs being taken away from teachers. In general, I think Obama is a better candidate for me.