Alabama has the best public high school in the nation!

[Syrinx]

According to Newsweek.

Now if we could revise our tax code to make it more equitable.

NEW YORK, NY, May. 8 (UPI) -- Newsweek rates Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School in Irondale, Ala., as the country's best public high school.

The magazine ranked schools by dividing the number of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests taken by the number of graduating seniors.

This shows that Alabamians can get the job done, when we really try. Let's talk this up and use it to do magic all around. I'm counting on you.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7761678/site/newsweek/

[burrowowl]

1. Just one school!

What about the other schools. In Europe all schools are funded the same, regardless of area, in the U$A in many states, the rich areas have good schools, the poor areas don't.

[Syrinx]

2. did you see my comment about the tax code?

I guess you did not.

[southlandshari]

3. Good point - that applies to every other state in this country as well

So I hope your intention was not to denigrate Alabama specifically, though I will admit funds for public schools are a bigger problem here than in many other states. But to compare Alabama to the European system...

[bamacrat]

4. I am a product of the AL high school system

it sucks. no money, bad teachers. ok ok there are a few teachers that are good and a few of the rich schools that are good, but as a whole the AL school system is poor.

[BamaLefty]

5. Yeah

On a link it just said "Jefferson County." Lol, yeah right... that title makes it sound like is a regular school.

Ex: Colbert County, Barbour County, Monroe County, etc.

[jody]

6. A meaningless statistic, the number of tests taken per grad seniors.

It just shows that one school pressured students to take Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests.

I wonder what the average score was on those tests?

[BamaLefty]

7. True

But lets take pride in the fact that a study said that our state has the best HS in the nation.

I understand what you mean though.

[quaoar]

8. And the Vestavia Hills High School math team

just won the national math contest, a contest they have won something like 11 of the last 13 years.

[jody]

10. Now that's good news! n/t

[quaoar]

9. This should be posted in GD

and then we should rate it up so it appears on the Greatest page.

[southlandshari]

11. Alabama has two of the top 100 public high schools listed

not bad, considering 31 states have NO schools in the Top 100. Massachusetts has...one.

I couldn't resist, ya'll.

My public high school in small town Alabama is ranked #211 - out of 27,468. Not too shabby, IMHO.

We have much to overcome, friends, so it is important to celebrate the milestones we do reach, no matter how small or unimportant the naysayers may feel they are!

:woohoo:

[Elwood P Dowd]

12. Auburn High has been a good school for decades.

Now if we could just get rid of all the "W" stickers you see in town.

[southlandshari]

13. Most of those ride into town

with college students from other places. But I agree - far too many around town. I hate it!

And now my little town has the "pleasure" of hosting The Prince of Darkness (Cheney) as a graduation speaker tomorrow. Ick.

[BamaLefty]

15. I Hate Those

I was taking my Kerry/Edwards sticker off REGARDLESS! What is the point of having a fricking political sticker on your car when the numbnut your promoting isn't even running???

But hey, they're ignorant Repukes. We have to cut them a little slack...

[BADEM]

17. the next best thing to eliminating the "W" stickers

i know this is the subject of another chat going on, but there are a lot of these stickers showing up all around b'ham. it does a soul good. check them out at www.britebluedot.com. i've heard they're also showing up in atlanta and huntsville.

i say, the more of these the merrier (or the less miserable?).

as for the IB school's ranking, i think it, at the very least, counters the common assumption that alabamians are stupid. as for the notion that these are all kids from wealthy households, an article in the b'ham news this weekend stated that many of these kids are from poorer parts of jefferson county.

so hats off the these kids--and especially to their dedicated teachers.

[newyawker99]

18. Hi BADEM!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[liberalmike27]

14. I'm

I'm also a product of Mobile Alabama's school system, circa 1973. Maybe it was better back then, or maybe it wasn't but my IQ is 140, or it least was back then. I know there are things we could do better, one of them being spending more money, and modernizing schools, perhaps even putting more positive emphasis on education. But I have to say, whining about teachers is the usual refrain of students who never study, and expect to be spoon-fed. We had plenty of them back in my day too. I think there may be even more of this type now.

I've always thought that teachers don't really teach, as much as students learn. Certainly when you hit a snag in your learning it is nice to feel like the teacher knows more than you. But I know I made a lot of teachers feel good. If you want an education, it is all in the books, read them, learn them. If your teacher can't help you when you get to a problem, find someone else who does know. I think my biggest problem with teachers is most of them aren't too good at keeping things interesting. To be fair to them, as I am now grown, when you are paid as little as our teachers are here (low on America's list) are, I'd imagine it is hard to be perky and peachy every day.

Let us all face the fact that unfortunately intelligence isn't exactly a worshiped quality in our country. Sports, Movies, Reality Television, and other activities are pretty much directed at physical things, like beauty, or strength, or used as idiot fodder. Personally, I don't think Republicans want America to be too smart. For one thing it'd put poor people in competition for the same jobs as their kids, thus promoting a meritocracy they don't really want. But most important, if we were all smarter, we'd never elect another Republican. It is no coincidence that most people in the teaching profession are liberals. That is usually where smart people end up in their thinking.

Sadly, only about 5% read books, and about 11% read newspapers, which means the majority of Americans get news opinion skewed to the right from television and radio, two of America's best brainwashing tools.

[Syrinx]

16. you're partly right and partly wrong (aren't we all)

I think it's true that the currently ruling elite class want their children to be well educated, and damn the rest. It's also true that it takes good teachers to educate children. Sure, there's one percent of the kids that are self-motivated and that are going to get an education in spite of the dumbasses teaching them. But I think it is wrong to put the burden on the children. How many second-graders appreciate the importance of a good education?