Search results for

#EducationMafia

#1 Click this link to see Blog page --> 08/24/2006

#Memories #EducationMafia
I have the perfect example.

Ben had already considered all of his classes and how he wanted to organize himself. He wanted two really big three-ring binders. One for all of his “A” day stuff and one for all of his “B”day stuff.

He picked out dividers and folders so that he would be able to keep everything for those classes together. On the first day of school everything changed. His teachers want him to have separate three-ring binders for their classes and they told him what divider tabs must be in each one.

Ben now has to carry around eight binders (four for “A” day and four for “B” day). He is an organized person anyway, but now he has to change his whole plan.

So what I want to know is why couldn’t they tell us BEFORE school started what they wanted him to do? The grade school does not have any problem telling you how many folders, markers, glue sticks or colored pencils they require. And just when will Ben get to learn for himself how to organize?

And just who will “organize” him when he is out of school, when he has never had the chance to try to organize things HIS way?

Tracey

#2 Click this link to see Blog page --> 08/25/2006

#TremontSchool #EducationMafia
I stole a couple quotes from the link below to complain about. And yes, I’m still grumping about schools and the illogical means used to teach. My boys brought home a ton of homework on their first day of school and were told it would be good for their “study habits”. Since school is the only place one requires these habits —— they aren’t worth too awful much in the real world. This falls in line with the first stolen quote:
Educators say in order for students to be successful, they have to have good study habits at home.
Again —— successful at what? Successful at doing homework? How many of you do homework now that you are out of school? What jobs require homework and who would work at them if they did. Oh sure there are some “successful” business people who brag about taking their work home with them —— but that is work —— not homework. When was the last time you had to write a three-page report on some stupid subject nobody really cares about. I can’t think of a single piece of homework that made me successful.

And the second quote:
Students are advised to take a ten minute break every hour to help alleviate eye, neck and brain fatigue.
Just how many hours of homework are required to make these poor kids successful? Let’s not forget they just spent at least six hours of their day at school where one might assume they were studying. And they do this for twelve years? I think it may be time we took the schools away from these so-called “educators” and get something that works better. Children shouldn’t hate school and all the homework goes a long way toward building resentment that doesn’t encourage learning. I know I hated homework (by now that is obvious) and I didn’t have half the busy work kids have today. School should be more about teaching and learning and lot less about busy work to build character. You can read the rest of this nonsense from the link below, but it is all aimed at supporting the original myth that homework has any value in making a person “successful”.

School Zone: Homework Habits

MjL

#3 Click this link to see Blog page --> 04/15/2008

#EducationMafia
This is a very troublesome topic for me. I can’t count the number of times my children have come home with some harebrained nonsense they were taught in school. The “scathing report” link opens a PDF file that really brings home the depth of the misinformation and / or political bias of an “American Government” text book. It took the efforts of a high school student to bring this to light. Shame on the schools and administrations who simply allowed this to be taught for all these years without challenge. I will be asking my boys if they use this textbook or any texts written by these politically motivated “scholars”. I would suggest we all should get a little more involved with what is being taught in our educational system.

A Textbook Case of Bias and Misinformation

MjL

#4 Click this link to see Blog page --> 04/15/2008

#EducationMafia
It’s good to see someone step up and speak out. I know our school has books from this publisher but I don’t know about the authors. I’ve often come across some paragraphs in science and history books that more so express the thoughts of the authors instead of the real facts and info. The books should be non bias and give the information, leaving the reader to make his/her decision.

K. Monroe

#5 Click this link to see Political Cartoons page --> 08/26/2009 #6


This is NOT funny! I am just SO glad we don’t have any more of this #EducationMafia nonsense after the boys get through this year!

MjL

#6 Click this link to see Blog page --> 09/24/2009

#EducationMafia
Ben came home from school all disgusted about the representative from ISU. Ben has been trying to get information about what he needs to get his college degree(s) etc. They had some airhead dame show up at the school but all she wanted to talk about was how beautiful the campus is and what fraternities and sororities are available.

Ben said it was clear she got a “free ride” from her parents and thought college was a social event.

I’m just glad Ben is involved with getting the answers. We can’t seem to get Aaron to even think about what he’s going to do with himself. I hope they both either get a good job with medical benefits or get enrolled full time as students because CAT will drop their coverage on their 19th birthday if they aren’t full-time students.

MjL

#7 Click this link to see Blog page --> 03/23/2010

A&B were pretty happy with the results of the placement tests at ICC. They brought home some papers explaining how well they had done but it was all Greek to me; I will just take their word for it that they did well.

I have to say they live in a different world when it comes to all the #EducationMafia bullshit. Test scores, ratings, etc. that mean so very little in any other context or reality. I’m just glad they know how to deal with it because I sure couldn’t.

MjL

#8 Click this link to see Blog page --> 04/07/2010

#EducationMafia
Ben is terribly disappointed. He had an appointment with his “advisor” at ICC yesterday —— the one in the “Math, Science And Engineering Department” that he was told to see because he wants to be a biology teacher.

Well he was told yesterday afternoon the he is in the wrong department and has to start over with a counselor from the “Education Department” because he has to get a teaching certificate, etc. etc.

So once again we are confronted with the incompetence of bureaucracy. Ben has been quite clear from the outset that he wants to be a biology teacher.

So now instead of learning biology like he thought he was going to do, he is slotted for a couple years of History, English, and other mundane Education Mafia fee based courses which he won’t really have much use for if he is teaching BIOLOGY!

I took some biology classes and they never once discussed literature, geometry or Napoleon.

MjL

#9 Click this link to see Blog page --> 04/16/2010

#EducationMafia
Aaron got the bill for his classes at ICC —— we have until the first week in July to pay up. I need to call their financial assistance office and start getting all the forms, paperwork and nonsense started for student loans. I know absolutely nothing about it and there appear to be several different loan programs — all with different forms, rules, etc. I hate operating from a position of total ignorance but it wouldn’t be the first time ——

Ben did well on his re-take of his math entrance exam and will be going back next Tuesday to see his counselor and get his classes scheduled. And he will be getting his bill shortly afterward.

We plan to help them get things going and paid for but will be keeping a tab so they can pay us and/or the loans back. Hopefully they will be a bit more diligent about college when they are paying the bills. We shall see.

MjL

#10 Click this link to see Blog page --> 04/16/2010

#EducationMafia
I just tried to talk to the finance office at ICC —— twice. Both times I was put on hold waiting for “the next available person” —— then after a couple minutes a phone message that says they are too busy to talk to me and they hang up. As I thought —— too self important to be concerned about customer service.

MjL

#11 Click this link to see Blog page --> 04/12/2011

Mailed off the ICC tuition money this morning. As expensive as it is it is still far cheaper than the other colleges. What a rip-off the #EducationMafia is.

Ben still tells me ridiculous examples of how archaic our education system is. They are teaching that World War I was the beginning of the “Modern Era” —— really? How modern is it with people still using horse and buggy as the primary means of transportation?

All that money to teach a century behind the times. And they are still scratching out test answers on tree pulp with wooden sticks with graphite embedded in them. Really state of the art education for a century that is already 10% gone.

MjL

#12 Click this link to see Blog page --> 06/03/2011

Heh!? Here is a fine example of how the #EducationMafia works in America. You can’t even get a job on a road crew shoveling gravel or holding a sign without the Education Mafia getting in on “certification”. Ridiculous.

The Highway Construction Careers Program at ICC equips students with ‘hands-on’ skills and OSHA Certification through an intensive 8-week course.

ICC partners with the Illinois Department of Transportation

MjL

#13 Click this link to see Blog page --> 09/01/2011

Sorry to hear all this Tammy. Especially the part about no coffee this morning! (I always drink mine black so I drink all I want before doctor appointments)

I can understand the part about the teaching hours, but I wouldn’t be so sure it is the union’s fault unless you heard it from a union source. Employers lie. It is easier to blame current employees and overwork them —— than hire more people.

The bottom line with these people is —— the bottom line. They are a part of the #EducationMafia and see their job as funneling kids into college, not preparing them for life. They don’t see any money going into the education industry if we prepare students more cost effectively. I know that is frustrating and I also know how frustrating it is that parents don’t get more involved. Unfortunately most parents just don’t do any research into what is going on (or not going on) in the schools.

MjL

#14 Click this link to see Blog page --> 09/06/2011

#EducationMafia
Let’s hope the fiscal crisis doesn’t get better too soon.
It’ll slow down reform.

MjL

#15 Click this link to see Blog page --> 11/03/2011

Tracey will be spending all day at some seminar in Peoria to get “continuing education” credits so she can keep her RN license. More nonsense from the #EducationMafia.

They lobbied to get rid of diploma programs extorting people to pay tens of thousands of dollars to get a degree in order to be licensed —— Then lobby the government to make continued extortion payments to keep the license.

MjL

#16 Click this link to see Political Cartoons page --> 11/03/2011 #7

I haven’t anything good to say about the banking industry, but
the problem with student loans isn’t so much the banks as the
naked greed of the #EducationMafia. There is absolutely no
justification that a college degree should cost $20,000 a year.

MjL

#17 Click this link to see Political Cartoons page --> 11/12/2011 #24

I agree student loans are terrible —— but the real tragedy is that we have allowed the #EducationMafia to have so much control of our society. First, there is no reason a person needs a college education for the vast majority of jobs. Second, there is absolutely no reason education should be a for-profit industry with a monopoly on costs.

MjL

#18 Click this link to see Blog page --> 11/13/2011

#EducationMafia
Ben took his state exams in Bloomington to qualify for an education major yesterday.

I just wish we held accountants, business majors and bankers to the same standards. They even took his thumb print. Not sure what that is about but he has a black thumb. Another example of state inefficiency —— they are still using ink instead of a modern computer scanner.

Ben had been nervous about it but he thinks he did all right based on the questions. It will be a long while before he gets his results.

Another failure of state government. It can’t get anything done in a reasonable time frame but they always collect their fees.

MjL

#19 Click this link to see Political Cartoons page --> 11/13/2011 #17

And this disparity in income is the driving force behind the #EducationMafia’s tactics. By making “education” a validation of a person’s “worth” they created the monopoly of requiring a degree to get a good job. Colleges sell degrees, not education.

MjL

#20 Click this link to see Blog page --> 08/23/2012

#EducationMafia
We got word from Ben he had to buy a new calculator because his was “too good” —— I’m not sure but I think it is because his calculator can store formulas, etc. and they don’t want him to “cheat”.

I really get tired of our education system dumbing things down like this as if we still lived in the last century. It is no wonder this country is falling behind in education when they are still concentrating on rote memorization instead of teaching students how to THINK!

MjL

#21 Click this link to see Blog page --> 08/07/2013

The #EducationMafia is in an upward spiral of wasteful spending across the country. It has become such a big business and the administrators believe they can spend like big CEOs and just pass the wasteful costs on to the taxpayers. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a way to put a stop to this crap. Our taxes have more than doubled since we moved here and the vast majority of our tax dollars, more that 2/3 of it, goes to the local school district to waste on new buildings, football stadium, new track —— and of course ever increasing pay for the administrators.

MjL

#22 Click this link to see Blog page --> 05/03/2014

Glenn Beck Is Against Common Core Teaching

Pretty scary stuff isn’t it. Unfortunately people tend to think when a right wing loon like Glenn Beck has an opinion the knee jerk reaction ought to be the opposite.

I mean, really, who WANTS to agree with Glenn Beck about anything - Right? But even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

The #EducationMafia is trying to make the case that only the uneducated would be against education. As if their way is the only way? The evidence is mounting that one size fits all education standards based upon testing criteria and “project sharing” are the exact opposite of teaching kids how to think for themselves.

I am SO glad our three boys are out of school. But I am concerned that our son Ben, who is going to be a teacher, is going to get caught up in this sham education system.

Speak up people. Don’t let the profit driven Education Mafia decide the fate of education opportunity in America. The fact is that not one of the countries that have better education systems have anything as goofy as these #CommonCore policies that only serve to dumb down the process to a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

MjL

#23 Click this link to see Blog page --> 05/13/2014

Tracey left an hour early for work today because she has to go to some training event in Macomb for the day. Something about dealing with patient crisis resolution or some such big worded nonsense. As if after dealing with patients for over twenty years hasn’t given her enough experience at dealing with people pissed off with the #MedicalMafia. At least she gets credit toward her continuing education hours to satisfy the #EducationMafia.

MjL

#24 Click this link to see Blog page --> 07/11/2014

The #EducationMafia has a particularly strong hold on our state. They have lobbied Illinois for decades to get their talons into all things that might need training. They have inserted themselves into every area of life with all the testing, certification, Continuing Education, ETC! As if making people jump through these ridiculous hoops will make things better, safer, etc.

I expect I will soon need a refresher course in how to “Live in Retirement Safely!”

MjL

#25 Click this link to see Blog page --> 09/11/2014

If you have any doubt how tight the grip of the #EducationMafia in league with the government and banks ——

Student Debt and Seniors

MjL

#26 Click this link to see Blog page --> 11/04/2014

It wasn’t that long ago these jerks insisted we had to pay hundreds of dollars more in taxes to build a new high school because they couldn’t afford temporary classrooms.

Now, as predicted by everyone but the school fools, enrollment is dropping like a rock. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to learn people are avoiding Tremont because of the ridiculously high taxes.

These people make me so mad. #Local #EducationMafia #TremontSchool

Fewer students means less money for Tremont School District

MjL

#27 Click this link to see Blog page --> 05/10/2015

#Memories #EducationMafia
We really enjoyed watching Ben’s diploma ceremony yesterday. Not so much all the conceited collegiate types making speeches but it was wonderful to see Ben smiling so big when he strode down the aisle with diploma in hand. We are so proud of all three of our sons who have managed to successfully make their unique way in life.

I have many observations about the graduation process. I won’t bore you with all of them at once, but I will make one comment about the dichotomy of the academic world. I couldn’t help but notice that all these people are garbed in medieval robes with funky antique hats and mortar boards —— yet they talk so much about the future.

I really think most of their attitudes about education are rooted firmly in the lost centuries of the past when people were revered for simply being able to read a book. Education is an important tool in life, but academic education only gets you through the front door. After that practical knowledge and application are necessary.

I found it so unfortunate that many of the speakers at the podium were so disdainful of those without a college degree. In fact, one speaker went on to give infinite praise to business leaders like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg —— and none of them ever finished college. I found that to be so strange.

Photo courtesy of Noah who shared this screen grab of the ceremony via online streaming

MjL

#28 Click this link to see Blog page --> 07/02/2015

This is the kind of crap on #EducationMafia forms that always drove me crazy too. It is getting so ridiculous what people are expected to put up with from delusional and petty bureaucrats.

The Outrageous Kindergarten Application Question
One Mom Refused to Answer

MjL

#29 Click this link to see Blog page --> 08/08/2015

Issues of free speech and how money has infiltrated the university system to create the #EducationMafia.

Judge refuses to throw out fired professor Steven Salaita’s
case against University of Illinois-UC

MjL

#30 Click this link to see Assorted Stuff page --> 11/01/2015 #2

#EducationMafia

MjL

#31 Click this link to see Assorted Stuff page --> 06/13/2016 #5

#EducationMafia #EducatedIdiot

MjL

#32 Click this link to see Blog page --> 08/27/2016

#EducationMafia
Many years ago our babysitter lived just down the road from us. She arrived one afternoon with a battered and taped ten pound bag of flour that was given to her by the high school to be her “baby”.

She was supposed to keep it with her 24/7 to get the experience of how much time it takes to care for a baby. I asked her about it as we were getting into the car to take her home.

She threw the flour sack on the floor and said, “I think it is pretty stupid. I can always tape it up again if I break it open. And we will just throw it away when we are done.”

I thought the idea was “pretty stupid” too.

School issued fake babies aren’t stopping teen pregnancy

MjL

#33 Click this link to see Blog page --> 11/03/2016

I’ve read various points of view concerning the reasons “non-college-educated” people react as they do. The quote below seems to sum up a prevalent theory that I find disagreeable.
(Didn’t cite the New York Times article because of their paywall.)



There continues to be a societal blindness to the fact that a college education has become the default validation and gatekeeper to success. It doesn’t necessarily mark the boundaries of intelligence but those of class and the financial ability to buy your way to a decent job. More to the point I think formal education actually dulls the use of critical thinking in regards societal issues because it plants the false belief that education can make you a superior intellect. It does not.

Tracey and I were fortunate to make our own successes without the necessity of a sheepskin but that ability is becoming much less available in today’s age of the #EducationMafia.

I don’t think a lack of formal education is the mark of those who rebel against Hillarity and the establishment. I think it is despair and the belief that it really can’t get any worse than deciding between peanut butter and crackers or ramen noodles for supper.

MjL

#34 Click this link to see News Photos page --> 03/15/2019 #3

Actress Felicity Huffman inside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles on March 12th. Hollywood actresses Lori Loughlin and Huffman are among 50 people charged in a $25 million college entrance exam cheating scheme in an investigation named “Operation Varsity Blues”. The alleged scam focused on getting students admitted to elite universities as recruited athletes, regardless of their athletic abilities, and helping potential students cheat on their college exams, according to the indictment.
The media has jumped upon this as if it is something new when it has been going on since the beginning of the #EducationMafia. I don’t expect much will change either.
Lori Anne Loughlin #LoriLoughlin
Felicity Kendall Huffman #FelicityHuffman

MjL

#35 Click this link to see Assorted Stuff page --> 05/13/2019 #3

This is very true. Although there are smart people who get
good grades, it is not the accepted norm the #EducationMafia
would have you believe. I worked with some unschooled “shade
tree” mechanics who were very smart and more knowledgeable
about their work than the guys with a degree.

MjL

#36 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 08/13/2019 #1

#EducationMafia

MjL

#37 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 04/18/2020 #2

#EducationMafia
Forty-five years later and these tests are just as useless as they were back in my day when I refused to take them.

MjL

#38 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 02/10/2022 #9

#EducationMafia

MjL

#39 Click this link to see Blog page --> 08/26/2022

All of this fuss over “forgiving” student loans is a complete failure of policy that doesn’t address the real problem. The #EducationMafia and the loan industry need to be separated from their greedy grift.

MjL

#40 Click this link to see Assorted Stuff page --> 08/27/2022 #4

My point with student loan forgiveness. I’m glad students get the help —
But it encourages the #EducationMafia to continue rate increases.

MjL

Michael T.

#41 Click this link to see Assorted Stuff page --> 10/07/2022 #5

#EducationMafia

MjL

#42 Click this link to see Assorted Stuff page --> 10/17/2022 #3

#EducationMafia

MjL

#43 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 12/08/2022 #5

Of course they are, we all are. It is government conditioning and the #EducationMafia that has convinced people otherwise.

MjL

#44 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 12/17/2022 #7

Our education system today is more about child care than education.
You can’t home school when there isn’t a parent at home. #EducationMafia

MjL

#45 Click this link to see Political Cartoons page --> 02/07/2023 #14

Despicable reality of the #EducationMafia is that it will
alter education to insure sales of textbooks and lesson plans.

MjL

#46 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 02/07/2023 #5

Yet the #EducationMafia and media continue to support apartheid.

MjL

#47 Click this link to see Blog page --> 04/08/2023

#EducationMafia #CommonCore

MjL

#48 Click this link to see Blog page --> 04/10/2023

#EducationMafia
I could cheerfully go back in time and strangle this guy.

I always thought of it as punishment. Both as a student and as a parent of students. The truly sad thing is this sadistic practice has become so normalized. Studies have shown it is of no value but the idea persists. Students should not enjoy school.

MjL

#49 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 05/04/2023 #7

#EducationMafia
Somewhere around seventh or eighth grade I went on a binge of reading biographies and autobiographies of historical figures. Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, etc. I noticed some differences in the facts presented and eventually I began to wonder how you could figure out the truth from the embellishments. All Dad would say is, “Don’t believe everything you read.” By the time I graduated high school I decided that math and science were the most likely to be trusted.

MjL

#50 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 05/15/2023 #3

Makes me sad to see people so confounded by the #EducationMafia.

MjL

#51 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 06/14/2023 #4

#SchoolVouchers aren’t about education.
Vouchers are about funding the private #EducationMafia.

MjL

#52 Click this link to see Cartoons page --> 10/28/2023 #14

I can remember so many years of worthless homework assignments
like this. Both for me and my kids. #EducationMafia #TremontSchool

MjL

#53 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 10/30/2023 #2

LINK

This is so bizarre —— “a disorder known as dyscalculia”. And it
only seems to exist in America. How convenient for those who
choose to blame the victims of our broken #EducationMafia system.

MjL

#54 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 11/12/2023 #9

#EducationMafia

MjL

#55 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 11/15/2023 #14

The #EducationMafia wants nothing to interfere with profits.

MjL

#56 Click this link to see Assorted Stuff page --> 12/05/2023 #3

I’ve always thought teachers were over educated,
but this is #Ridiculous #EducationMafia.

MjL

#57 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 12/06/2023 #14

#EducationMafia

MjL

#58 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 12/09/2023 #10

The failure of the #EducationMafia is not on the shoulders
of the parents. It rests firmly upon the academics making
the decisions for the past five decades.

MjL

#59 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 02/04/2024 #10

#EducationMafia evolves into computer age about twenty years late.

MjL

#60 Click this link to see News Photos page --> 02/09/2024 #2

Greek university students light flares during a demonstration against a planned bill which would guarantee open the way for the operation of private universities, in Athens, Greece.
It is spreading throughout the world.
Education Mafia Protection Racket #EducationMafia

MjL

#61 Click this link to see Assorted Stuff page --> 02/27/2024 #2

#EducationMafia

MjL

#62 Click this link to see Assorted Stuff page --> 09/18/2017 #1

MORE educated. I don’t think better even comes close
to what the #EducationMafia has done to education.

MjL

#63 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 09/24/2024 #13

The #EducationMafia hard at work trying to assert superiority.

MjL

#64 Click this link to see Twitter Roundup page --> 09/27/2024 #1

#EducationMafia working overtime to insult home
schooling. Of course there are some parents who don’t do
it well, but there are some teachers who don’t either.

MjL