Tim,
Since Ray Cruz called for the forced teaching of Creationism would it not be his red herring? He brought it up in the Acorn.

Tim, thanks for the plug. I actually filmed all the school board candidates. Anyone interested can always e-mail me at briandennert@yahoo.com to be filmed.

Of the candidates that you have seen this far tell me more about your intitial reactions.

Headline on the front page of the LA Times Today "Sunday".
"Bush Family Profits From No Child Left Behind Act"
"A company headed by President Bush's brother and partly owned by his parents is benefiting from Republican connections and federal dollars targeted for economically disadvantaged students under the NCLB Act.
With investments from his parents, George and Barbara, Neil Bush's company, Ignite! Learning, has placed its product in 40 U.S. school districts and now plans to market internationally."
You can read the rest in the LA Times today. Maybe the candidates will comment on NCLB.

Jimmy,

That's exactly what I am saying. A candidate who focuses on debating creationism is either unwilling to debate the other issues, or unaware of them. Call me cynical, but the creationism debate gets your name in the paper, makes you the focus of blog discussions, thus getting you lots of free media... All the while keeping everyone from discussing bonds, 13% inflation, school safety, budgets, NCLB etc... etc...

Tim

We need to show teachers that they are appreciated. Teaching is a demanding and often frustrating job, but it's the most important job there is. We all need to tell the world about the special teachers who have made a difference in our lives.

If you go to http://ngtlb.com (NoGreatTeacherLeftBehind), you can leave a comment about that special teacher who guided you, praised your efforts or whatever.

Tim,
The other thing Cruz said in the Acorn was that teachers need to teach that a good family means a "Mom and a Dad". Do we want teachers focused on Algebra. English, History, etc, or do we want them teaching Ray Cruz's vision that will not be on the standardized test and will not help schools meet NCLB requirements. It is just like that nut Dunn in Conejo, he never does anything to improve education, he just screams and has spit flying from his mouth about his own personal agenda.

I don't know how teaching kids about marriage, or creation is going to prepare them for their future careers, or the high-tech future that awaits them.

Teachers can say marriage is whatever they say it is, but then kids go home, turn on MTV and the moment is lost.

School Board candidates who aren't talking abot Bonds, Budgets and the like are not going to e successful.

Tim

Tim,
I totally agree with your point. It's like Dunn in Conejo, he always claims he speaks about parents and never about kids and good education practices.

I think that testing does not improve education, it just measures the results (or lack of). I feel some of the main problems areas are:
1. class size
2. trying to cover too much and not doing anything well
2. too much social studies and not enough science. Most of what is taught as social studies isn't of much value because the students don't have enough life experience or aren't taught to question any of it.
3. too much standardization and too little creativity and individualization

Cathy Carlson from TO here: Jimmy, you must get the rest of your vast knowledge of life from the National Enquirer. Have you ever been to a CVUSD school board meetings? Do you bother to watch them on TV, to hear what Mike Dunn really says about kids and "best process" for education? I doubt it, since I've never heard you speak and I've never seen you there in the last 2 years. You must be simply repeating the exaggerations you've read in the Star from their liberal reporter, or from the letters to the editor from the local democrats. A bit of advice: don't use the words "always" and "never" when you are trying to make a point. You are wrong on Mike Dunn's record and on his point of view.

Please write some more so we can see what else you are wrong about. How about exaggerating the academics in Southern California schools, or inflating the importance of beauty awards, such as the Distinguished School silliness (the top schools in Northern California don't bother applying --they don't have to pay for good publicity). I know--how about you try to defend the importance of the exploited National Blue Ribbon program. Try to tell us that it means "excellence". No it doesn't. It was meant to be a self-examination tool that schools could learn where they could improve. Go read the info on it. It was dumped in 2002 as "ineffective" in the federal budget because of the fraudulent representation of this self-examination tool by administrators, according to its director, Dr. Stephen O'Brien. Call Dr. O'Brien in Washington DC. I have several times. He asked me to keep him posted on the school board elections here. He was appalled to hear how much Ventura County charges for a 200 word candidate's statement--over $1,000.

Cathy who do you liek that is running is Simi Valley? Let me know so I don't vote for them. We never agree so I think who you agree with I will steer far away from.

Tim:

What do you think of the contention that evolution itself is just a theory and requires a certain level of belief? I've heard many say the other night that evolution theory is absolute truth. I doubt any, except maybe Patridge being a science teacher, would say they've even read darwin.

I heard many state that evolution itself utilizes the scientific method, however, how does one perform double blind studies on creative adaptation in human beings?

Anyone who performs such studies violates many ethical considerations as we have a very bad history of eugenics research.

If you ask any anthropoligist and I have asked a few, they've said if you walk away from anthropology and take a course in ten years, it will be totally different as more facts have come to light.

Evolution is in the theory stage and no where near an absolute certainty. What I would find intersting in the future would be if science, with it's limitless possibility, actually ended up proving the existence of God as our creator through the scientific method.

Wouldn't most of just feel dumb that debated creationism or evolution?

Scott,

Hanging out with the anthropologists again eh? Where do they go drinking, Cronies, or are they more of the Tree House variety?

I still believe these discussions are red herrings, meant to keep us off the topics of how Ray Cruz or any others are going to stop the 13% inflation on the bonds, whether they support more bonds, how traffic and safety are handled around schools, whether Santa Su gets a performing arts center and why so few Simi grads are going on to 4 year colleges. I know...many go to Moorpark for 4 years, but that's NOT the same thing!

District handling of the C4 bond was the #1 issue in the 2004 election.. It seems to have taken a back seat to creationism in 2006. Frankly, the only thing I think is 6000 years old are some of Simi Valley's portable classrooms.

Tim

What's with Tim Camarillo saying he would like to lobby to dump NCLB? Is it just a set up so they can say Bush cut funding?

weird. Tim, I can't believe you let him get away with that. You're getting soft in Texas!

Hello NCLB is my best friend. What's with Tim Camarillo saying that he would like to lobby to dump NCLB. I don't thinks it's weird I think The No Child Left Behind Act has made the focus of the education of children into narrow standardized testing and not focusing on the total child. Each year the standards go up and the stakes for funding go higher. We have become so focused on it that children are not being able to take electives that are in their interest. The emphasis is not to instill a passion of learning but to pass these standardize test. Here are the main reasons why I am against NCLB Act.

Many initial supporters of NCLB have since broken with the Bush Administration over what they claim is the White House's failure to adequately fund its own programs. Ted Kennedy, the legislation's initial sponsor, has claimed that: "The tragedy is that these long overdue reforms are finally in place, but the funds are not.

There has been a failure to fully fund the act. Organizations such as ACORN have criticized the unwillingness of the federal government to "fully fund" the act. Neither the Senate nor the White House has requested funding up to the authorized levels for several of the act’s main provisions for example President Bush requested only $13.3 of $22.75 billion in 2006. The funding shortfalls means that schools faced with the system of escalating penalties for failing to meet testing targets are denied the resources necessary to remedy problems detected by testing. During the Simi Valley School Board Candidates forum this was discussed as how do we support funding electives.

There have been allegations of corruption. The system of incentives and penalties sets up a strong motivation for schools, districts, and states to manipulate test results. For example, schools have been shown to exclude minorities or other groups to enhance apparent school performance; as many as 2 million students and have employed creative reclassification of drop-outs to reduce unfavorable statistics. Evidence has accumulated that these and other strategies have created an inflated perception of NCLB's successes, especially in states with high minority populations. In the Simi Valley School District I believe there is no tracking of what happens to our students that drop out. I am curious to know what happens to them.

There have been problems with standardized tests
Critics have argued that the overwhelming focus on standardized testing as the means of assessment encourages ‘teaching to the test’. That is, teachers are encouraged to teach a narrow subset of skills that will increase test performance rather than focus on deeper understanding which can more readily be transferred to similar problems. In addition, because each state can produce its own standardized tests, states could compensate for inadequate education programs by making the standardized tests easy enough that their results are on par with those from other states with average or above average education programs.

Standardized tests have also been accused of cultural bias, and the practice of determining educational quality by testing students has been called into question. Inequitable divisions of resources. Simi Valley is becoming a very multicultural city with immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Viet-Nam, India and China.

Because schools, districts, and states are punished if they fail to make adequate progress according to the goals they themselves establish, the incentives are to set expectations lower rather than higher and to increase segregation by class and race and push low-performing students out of school altogether.

Students who are learning English have a 3 year window to take assessments in their native language, after which they must demonstrate proficiency on an English language assessment. In practice, however, only 10 states test any students in their native language almost entirely Spanish speakers. The vast majority of English language learners are given English language assessments, which are neither valid nor reliable in measuring what they know.

Surveys of public school principals indicate that since the implementation of NCLB, instructional time has increased for reading, writing, and math subjects tested under the law, and decreased for the arts, elementary social studies, and foreign languages Some critics of the law suggest it is also responsible for the elimination of certain extracurricular activities.

There is a narrow definition of research. Some school districts object to the limitation created by the "scientifically based research standard." Excellent research based on case studies or other forms of qualitative research are generally excluded from this category. Furthermore, the inability to employ random assignment for important educational predictors such as race and socio-economic status excludes a large amount of quasi-experimental work that could contribute to educational knowledge.

There are limitations on local control. Conservative critics have pointed out that NCLB violates conservative principles by federalizing education and setting a precedent for further erosion of state and local control. Libertarians and some conservatives further argue that the federal government has no constitutional authority in education.

A study conducted by the American Heart Association and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education contend that diminishing physical education in school has contributed to childhood obesity. This was a subject that was brought up during the Simi Valley School Board Candidates meeting about giving P.E. Credit for Marching Band and Cheerleading.

The Center on Public Education found that after implementation of NCLB, 71 percent of the districts surveyed had elementary schools that cut back on instructional time for a subject to make room for more reading and math — the primary focus of the law."

I'll tell you as an Educator that we are putting too much emphasis on testing on the specifics that we are totally ignoring the whole child. We are all individual learners and learn in different ways during our lifetime.

Some of us are Visual/Spatial Learners. Some have the ability to perceive the visual. These learners tend to think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information. They enjoy looking at maps, charts, pictures, videos, and movies.
Their skills include: puzzle building, reading, writing, understanding charts and graphs, a good sense of direction, sketching, painting, creating visual metaphors and analogies perhaps through the visual arts, manipulating images, constructing, fixing, designing practical objects, interpreting visual images.these are our navigators, sculptors, visual artists, inventors, architects, interior designers, mechanics, engineers

Some of us are Verbal/Linguistic Learners. The ability to use words and language. These learners have highly developed auditory skills and are generally elegant speakers. They think in words rather than pictures. Their skills include: listening, speaking, writing, story telling, explaining, teaching, using humor, understanding the syntax and meaning of words, remembering information, convincing someone of their point of view, analyzing language usage.these are our Poets, journalists, writers, teachers, lawyers, politicians, and translators.

Some of us are Logical/Mathematical Learners. The ability to use reason, logic and numbers. These learners think conceptually in logical and numerical patterns making connections between pieces of information. Always curious about the world around them, these learner ask lots of questions and like to do experiments. Their skills include:problem solving, classifying and categorizing information, working with abstract concepts to figure out the relationship of each to the other, handling long chains of reason to make local progressions, doing controlled experiments, questioning and wondering about natural events, performing complex mathematical calculations, working with geometric shapes these are our Scientists, engineers, computer programmers, researchers, accountants, mathematicians

Some of us are Bodily/Kinesthetic Learners. The ability to control body movements and handle objects skillfully. These learners express themselves through movement. They have a good sense of balance and eye-hand co-ordination e.g. ball play, balancing beams. Through interacting with the space around them, they are able to remember and process information. Their skills include:dancing, physical co-ordination, sports, hands on experimentation, using body language, crafts, acting, miming, using their hands to create or build, expressing emotions through the body. These are our athletes, physical education teachers, dancers, actors, firefighters, and artisans

Some of us are Musical/Rhythmic Learners. The ability to produce and appreciate music. These musically inclined learners think in sounds, rhythms and patterns. They immediately respond to music either appreciating or criticizing what they hear. Many of these learners are extremely sensitive to environmental sounds e.g. crickets, bells, dripping taps. Their skills include: singing, whistling, playing musical instruments, recognizing tonal patterns, composing music, remembering melodies, understanding the structure and rhythm of music. These are our musicians, disc jockeys, singers, and composers.
Some of us have Interpersonal Learners. The ability to relate and understand others. These learners try to see things from other people's point of view in order to understand how they think and feel. They often have an uncanny ability to sense feelings, intentions and motivations. They are great organizers, although they sometimes resort to manipulation. Generally they try to maintain peace in group settings and encourage co-operation.They use both verbal e.g. speaking and non-verbal language e.g. eye contact, body language to open communication channels with others. Their skills include: seeing things from other perspectives for example dual-perspective, listening, using empathy, understanding other people's moods and feelings, counseling, co-operating with groups, noticing people's moods, motivations and intentions, communicating both verbally and non-verbally, building trust, peaceful conflict resolution, establishing positive relations with other people.
These are our counselors, salespeople, politicians, and business people.

Some Intrapersonal Leaners. The ability to self-reflect and be aware of one's inner state of being. These learners try to understand their inner feelings, dreams, relationships with others, and strengths and weaknesses.Their Skills include:

Recognizing their own strengths and weaknesses, reflecting and analyzing themselves, awareness of their inner feelings, desires and dreams, evaluating their thinking patterns, reasoning with themselves, understanding their role in relationship to others.
These are our Researchers, theorists, and philosophers.

These are the basics we learn in human and child development and our taught as Educators. When we only use standardize testing we do not look at the total student. The name sounds great No Child Left Behind but I am afraid that we are leaving those children that in poverty or low test scores behind.

Thank you,
Tim Camarillo

NCLB is my friend:

NCLB funding has never been higher than the budget allotments ever were under ESEA. Detractors always say that it is underfunded, but what they don't tell you is how much fully funding really is.

It's a lot like going to a grocery store and their being no prices on any of the produce. You go ask the boxboy to ask how for the Pears? He says give me a price back to you? You say 79 cents and the boxboy says it's higher. You go to 89 cents. He says higher... The point is, it's always going to be higher.

The point is, it's never enough. The detractors of NCLB would organize a football game around the idea of when a team gets to the 1 yard line, they move the end zone back another 10 yards.

Tim: Are you saying if elected you will support SVUSD opting out of NCLB grants?

Tim:

I don't think the intelligent design debate is a red herring. I do think that there are more important things to discuss such as bond finance and the fact that recent studies show less Californians are going to college and secondarily the students who do decide to go to college are unprepared and must take remedial courses.

My point on evolution is that vast majority of candidates were confusing fact with theory. Part of evolution endorses the notion of random chance that humans exist... and for many conservatives such randomness gives way to a certain meaningless of human life. They view schools as a threat to teaching American children virtue, values, and good citizenship.

I brought up eugenics in my discussion because I wanted people to view evolutionary theory's ugly cousin. Darwinism gives way to social darwinism where some of the worst social structures have been created that have justified genocide.

Evolution's assumption of random creative adaptation when applied to human beings leads way to some ugly political structures where certain humans are more advanced to others....

When we become just sources of random chance, you see, we no longer are protected by equal freedom and rights. Some pigs are more equal than others becomes the mantra.

It is in fact evolutionists who by teaching that humanity derives from a series of random chance who have sought to debase our very existence as mere animal creatures rather than the truly special people we all really are.

Hi Scott, opting out of NCLB grants is not a reality we can afford. We work with what we have and even though I don't like NCLB I do believe it should be dropped or changed to something that reflects the whole student.

When asked at the Simi Valley School Board Candidates Forum If I could change one thing and what obstacles we face the answer to me was easy. Drop NCLB because majority of the budget is spent on the school preparing for standardize tests that we forget the electives and whole child.

NCLB is up for reauthorization soon and I believe as an individual I can help advocate the dropping of this act or something that reflects the whole child.

Thank you again,
Tim Camarillo

Scott,

I am surprised that you never realized that God could of set the wheels in motion.

Science teachers teach science, not morality, religion, or any of the other electives.

If kids need more religion there are clubs on campuses sponsered by local churches.

In auto shop we don't debate what is the meaning of cars or why did man come to the point where we made cars. Instead we learn how to make and fix cars.

Raymond Cruz has found a niche issue to appeal to the right wing that isn't paying attention to what is really going on. I am sticking with Tim Keaney on this one. This is a red herring. Ray Cruz would subject the district to millions in lawsuits to suit his own agenda that is not accepted by most Americans.

If we are going to teach the Ray Cruz theory shall we also teach creation myths from other cultures? At what point does science become something else?

I think i know why Asian countries are growing faster in their sciences. Maybe they don't have a right wing agenda instead of a science agenda.

Tim the portable joke was great. I wonder if Scott believes in dinosaurs. Maybe he should call them Jesus Lizards.

Science teachers no longer teach morality and ethics involved in the scientific method? This concerns me greatly. Teaching science without an understanding of ethical scientific boundaries.

Your analogy to a car mechanics course says a great deal more to me as you believe human beings are nothing more than a bunch of auto parts. I believe there is more to it than that.

Unfortunately, when you teach science without a discussion of moral/ethical boundaries as you explained, it leaves the door open for all sorts of unethical scientific behavior.

I don't think are schools should be the force in a student's education that should tell them what is the purpose of life. There are plenty of churches and other groups for that. They even meet on campus at lunch.

I fear that people like you will either hand a science teacher a script or will hire teachers that agree with Raymond Cruz. If you knew more about education you would know we have plenty of Christian educaters teaching science and nobody is forcing evolution.

You can't have it both ways. Do you support teaching creationism in the class room like Raymond Cruz does?

Yes or no?

You said that you don't want schools to force students to discover the meaning of life? So, I take it you oppose evolution being taught in school as well?

I suppose you'd like to remove Milton's Paradise Lost from the literature department?

Or how about the fact that in literature, the christ figure metaphor is used numerous times from Shakespeare to Hawthorne? Should those be removed as you wouldn't want students to discover any meaning either.

Apparently, you just want students to be mere "auto parts" in school. I believe they are more than that and are capable of great things in our society.

For the record, Ray Cruz does not support creationism in school, so your distorting the truth for political purposes. He stated he would follow the law as it is written now. Also, if you ever read the State Constitution you would know California has a higher wall between church and state than most states. A trustee doesn't have such power as you grant them in your derisive attempt to distort a candidate's viewpoint.