Education system

                                                        Testing the test scores

     I have interviewed several teachers about the governmental need to get and to keep American test scores high. According to these teachers and educators the program which was implemented by former President George W. Bush “No student left behind”, has placed a great burden on them.

     These educators claim that education has become a political issue instead of a learning one. They are being squeezed and pressured by their school administrators to pass students that should and need to be held back a year or maybe even more in order to grasp the concepts being taught to them. The pressure being applied to the teachers to pass students is in order to keep the funds from the federal government coming into the district coffers.

     I can honestly see why the government wants to educate the students. I think it was for good and honorable reasons, but as usual money has corrupted the entire system. Greed on the part of the school districts and politicians’ has took what was an issue with good and proper intentions and turned it into a money making cookie cutter educational system that in my opinion needs drastic reforming. 

Week 2 Blog Post

Hello! I am an international student so unfortunately lack the perspective that some of my American colleagues have regarding the city of Phoenix.  In my opinion, low income immigrants would choose to stay away from Phoenix since it is an expensive area.  They would live in the suburbs such as Gilbert, Chandler and Mesa. They also would not want to pick Tempe since Tempe is basically a college town.  I would not choose to move away from this place since it is so convenient for me.  I can wake up and be in school within half an hour.  The metro rail provides quick access to downtown if I ever feel the need to go there.  However, I don’t go to downtown since I have everything I need here in Tempe.  The model of gentrification is definitely here in Tempe.  The old people are moving to Chandler which seems like a good place to raise a family since it is quieter and away from the rush. According to Burgess model I would choose Zone Four as the place for my immigrant family.  Since this zone would have apartment complexes be a bit lively and have access to economic opportunities.  This is what I would choose since money would be tight and the place would have to be affordable.

The other thing that I think would impact my decision to live as an immigrant would be to see if people from my ethnic background were living in the same area.  Migrant families go through a phase of assimilation in which the foreign customs seem odd to them so they look for familiarity.  The people from back home give them assurance that there is someone out there who talks like them and reminds them of back home.  These people would also have gone through similar experiences and as such would be able to understand.  Thus in my opinion, the migrant family depending on their background might choose to live in a different place than would make sense financially.

Introduction

Hello,
My name is Ali Alqubaisi and I from the U.A.E. I am a senior finishing up my degree in Urban Policy.  I like to go hiking and play sports.  I am very interested in this class since it deals with policies and procedures.  I do think that this class will help me learn about how public policy is formulated.  I did not know that there were so many ways a policy can be dissected before it is finally rolled out.  Looking at the elite theory I was struck by how the powerful people control the policies and procedures to their advantage instead of the masses.  It makes me think whether democracy itself is a big sham where we elect between two parties and it doesn't really matter who wins.  I do think that powerful visionaries such as Martin Luther King can help the masses get together and to change the rules in favor of the common man!