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[royalan]

boom.

Its not a ipad vs other tablets, its ipad vs laptops.

I don't remember LAUSD giving laptops to each student.

 

[btrboyev]

It shoudnt be about apps anyway. Will the district be providing apps? I doubt it could afford it. Anybody in IT in schools that uses MDM knows apple's method if apps managment and deployment is god awful. What a damn nightmare.

 

[Midnight Moon]

Spoiled kids, we had to use shitty laptops in school.

 

[mrklaw]

Spoiled kids, we had to use shitty laptops in school.

spoiled kids, at our school one day a commodore PET arrived. One. for the whole school to share.

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

Spoiled kids, we had to use shitty laptops in school.

How old are you?

I remember having shitty desktops running DOS and there was only one or two per classroom. Then when I got to HS we had a computer lab you had to go to. Also by HS it was expected you had a desktop at home.

I'm 26 though so I started HS a decade ago... That feels weird to say.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Shoulda got $250 Chromebooks instead. Much better value.

 

[CronoShot]

Never fails. Every thread that has to do with Apple gets turned into "APPLE?! BUT SOMETHING SOMETHING ANDROID!!", regardless of what it's actually about.

 

[BossLackey]

Shit like this is why California's economy in particular is struggling

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

An ipad is not an asset for education. It is a waste of money.

Now, a windows 8 tablet with a digitizer pen, THAT could be a real asset. I know. I owned both.

What kind of education apps are on Windows 8? Do you have experience using them in a child education setting?

 

[Technosteve]

Shoulda got $250 Chromebooks instead. Much better value.

i rather the kids get HP touchpads then chromebooks.

 

[kick51]

Old people salty about the advantages of growing up in modern times.

 

[ReadingRambo]

30 million dollars for something that may last 5 years in the hands of school children. My school has 2 COW (computers on wheels) units from maybe 5 years ago with 50 percent of the them still functional. They hardly ever get used either.

 

[Fantasmo]

The hell happens when a kid gets bullied or a couple of brats get in a tussle and an iPad gets busted or goes flying down the steps?

Books are juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust a bit more durable.

And how many replacements do they expect to have on hand?
This sounds like a monumentally stupid idea, unless its a college or uni.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Old people salty about the advantages of growing up in modern times.

I just want to see the scientific evidence that these things actually enhance learning. Surely with the billions the federal government spends on education research we would have a plethora of studies readily available if school districts are going to drop 40 mil on this?

 

[StopMakingSense]

Given the 6.2 billion dollar budget for the upcoming LAUSD school year, this is frankly a drop in the bucket. (and probably using already budgeted funds)

 

[numble]

LAUSD says Apple was the lowest bid:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/201...Pad-Deal-From-LA-Unified-School-District.html

“The Board voted unanimously for Apple because iPad rated the best in quality, was the least expensive option and received the highest scoring by the review panel that included students and teachers,” said Jaime Aquino, LAUSD Deputy Superintendent of Instruction.

Maybe Apple was able to undercut other bids since they already have iTunes U course management software already made:
http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/

The RFP included cost assumptions for learning management software:

I'm sure Apple being able to provide faster/cheaper support/repair/replacement via local Apple Stores also ties into the cheaper bid.

The hell happens when a kid gets bullied or a couple of brats get in a tussle and an iPad gets busted or goes flying down the steps?

Books are juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust a bit more durable.

And how many replacements do they expect to have on hand?
This sounds like a monumentally stupid idea, unless its a college or uni.

The RFP says they need to replace the device within 2 days. I'm sure it's easier for Apple to replace them faster than any other vendor--iPads are standardized hardware, they can just go to an Apple Store to get a replacement. Other vendors would've needed to provide a larger reserve of extra devices or pay for expensive shipping.

The current pilot projects at LAUSD require students to pay $35 to take out an insurance policy on their iPads.

 

[mj1108]

It shoudnt be about apps anyway. Will the district be providing apps? I doubt it could afford it. Anybody in IT in schools that uses MDM knows apple's method if apps managment and deployment is god awful. What a damn nightmare.

Yes, Apple's method is a nightmare.

I'm an IT person for a school district in California and we are currently doing a summer pilot of about 300 iPads and 300 Chromebooks. We will be doubling these numbers starting in August for the fall. So far, things have gone extremely well with them. The kids are excited, they are actually engaged and they are LEARNING. The old days of a teacher standing up in front of the class, lecturing and the kids taking notes with a pen and paper is old, and frankly seems to bore kids to death.

LAUSD says Apple was the lowest bid:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/201...Pad-Deal-From-LA-Unified-School-District.html

Maybe Apple was able to undercut other bids since they already have iTunes U course management software already made:
http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/

The RFP included cost assumptions for learning management software:

I'm sure Apple being able to provide faster/cheaper support/repair/replacement via local Apple Stores also ties into the cheaper bid.

Of course Apple was the lowest bidder because Apple doesn't allow other retailers to sell to Education in bulk. We tried going through other vendors (MacMall, etc..) when we went to purchase our 300 iPads and they all specifically told us Apple doesn't allow them to sell iPads to education.

 

[NoRéN]

Shit like this is why California's economy in particular is struggling

Not really struggling anymore. The problem here is this.

it's like having a friend who kept living this extravagant lifestyle and was saving no money. Next thing you know you're friend is doing terribly financially and wants help. You tell your friend to cut back the unnecessary expenses, pay off the debt, and get out of the red. Eventually you're friend does it and they are doing ok again. You're about to tell them to not go back to their old ways and start saving money for a rainy day when your friend walks in with "I just bought a lexus!"

 

[numble]

Of course Apple was the lowest bidder because Apple doesn't allow other retailers to sell to Education in bulk. We tried going through other vendors (MacMall, etc..) when we went to purchase our 300 iPads and they all specifically told us Apple doesn't allow them to sell iPads to education.

No, I meant of the competing proposals. I think the other 2 proposals that made the final cut were Windows tablets from Dell and HP.

 

[mj1108]

No, I meant of the competing proposals. I think the other 2 proposals that made the final cut were Windows tablets from Dell and HP.

Ah ok. That makes sense.

 

[numble]

Ah ok. That makes sense.

How do the Chromebooks compare to the iPads in your pilot project?

 

[Fantasmo]

The RFP says they need to replace the device within 2 days. I'm sure it's easier for Apple to replace them faster than any other vendor--iPads are standardized hardware, they can just go to an Apple Store to get a replacement. Other vendors would've needed to provide a larger reserve of extra devices or pay for expensive shipping.

The current pilot projects at LAUSD require students to pay $35 to take out an insurance policy on their iPads.

It sounds like a really expensive solution to a problem that didn't exist in the first place. And I guarantee you some kid's iPad is going to get fucked up in the hallways if it doesn't get stolen in the first place. I hope they have 100 extra and ready to go at a moment's notice and all of them have Otterboxes and have user id's and passwords on hand with profiles backed up every twenty minutes and ready to restore at a moment's notice. Oh and chargers.. chargers and wall sockets everywhere.

And let's be serious.. who pays the insurance if some kid's gets his stolen? Do the parents have to shoulder the cost because of some other little douche? There's a big difference between a book and a $600+ piece of equipment. This is not a good idea at all unless we're talking about colleges. Kids can be pretty shitty up to and including high school.

 

[captive]

Who gives a fuck? Take the 650 bucks per student and give out performance based bonuses for the teachers. The only way to improve education is to improve the teachers. Not these stupid ass gimmicks that some school board member is surely getting a kickback for.

If you want to put technology in the classroom, put it in a programming class, with Ubuntu and a text editor. I don't give a shit if my kid learns the latest flavor of the month consumption device, I want them to learn how to fucking COMPUTE.

as someone who is friends with several teachers, performance based pay is the worst answer.

Simple fact, whether some of you like to admit it or not, some kids are lazy, some kids arent smart in math, some kids arent smart in reading comprehension. how in the hell are you going to implement, fairly, performance based pay in a school? then take it out to the district level where kids from wealthy families are more likely to perform better than kids from non-wealthy families.

also, the problem isnt the teachers, most of the time, its the parents. back in my day my parents wouldnt believe shit i told them, they believed the teachers. now it seems like parents believe everything their little darlings say and the teachers are wrong.

 

[Ferrio]

as someone who is friends with several teachers, performance based pay is the worst answer.

Simple fact, whether some of you like to admit it or not, some kids are lazy, some kids arent smart in math, some kids arent smart in reading comprehension. how in the hell are you going to implement, fairly, performance based pay in a school? then take it out to the district level where kids from wealthy families are more likely to perform better than kids from non-wealthy families.

also, the problem isnt the teachers, most of the time, its the parents. back in my day my parents wouldnt believe shit i told them, they believed the teachers. now it seems like parents believe everything their little darlings say and the teachers are wrong.

I think performance based would work if it's done smartly. It'd have to be based on trends, and not about per yearly performances. Like if students consistently start doing worse when put under a certain teacher, when previously they were fine. Trouble is that's a lot of work, one that I might have to be dealing with personally come real soon. We're suppose to start doing more performance based evaluation at my district, and my department is going to have to write the software to help track all this.

I've had this discussion a lot since my GF is a sped teacher and I work for the administrative portion of the district.

 

[Vyer]

It sounds like a really expensive solution to a problem that didn't exist in the first place. And I guarantee you some kid's iPad is going to get fucked up in the hallways if it doesn't get stolen in the first place. I hope they have 100 extra and ready to go at a moment's notice and all of them have Otterboxes and have user id's and passwords on hand with profiles backed up every twenty minutes and ready to restore at a moment's notice. Oh and chargers.. chargers and wall sockets everywhere.

And let's be serious.. who pays the insurance if some kid's gets his stolen? Do the parents have to shoulder the cost because of some other little douche? There's a big difference between a book and a $600+ piece of equipment. This is not a good idea at all unless we're talking about colleges. Kids can be pretty shitty up to and including high school.

It's not feasible (nor a good idea) to deny kids and primary education access to more technology beyond just books.

 

[KHarvey16]

It sounds like a really expensive solution to a problem that didn't exist in the first place. And I guarantee you some kid's iPad is going to get fucked up in the hallways if it doesn't get stolen in the first place. I hope they have 100 extra and ready to go at a moment's notice and all of them have Otterboxes and have user id's and passwords on hand with profiles backed up every twenty minutes and ready to restore at a moment's notice. Oh and chargers.. chargers and wall sockets everywhere.

And let's be serious.. who pays the insurance if some kid's gets his stolen? Do the parents have to shoulder the cost because of some other little douche? There's a big difference between a book and a $600+ piece of equipment. This is not a good idea at all unless we're talking about colleges. Kids can be pretty shitty up to and including high school.

Apple will replace them.

 

[chronos4590]

While some people in this thread are complaining that they wasted money to apple because they're sheep and could be using a better and cheaper tablet, we should be talking about what LA should be doing with that 30 million instead. Maybe helping keeping schools open.. oh too late


School officials vote against renewing Nahuatl-themed charter

Supporters of a high-profile charter school with a focus on Nahuatl culture wept and held each other after the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to close its high school campus.

Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory High School had sought a second, five-year charter, as well as permission to expand to offer a kindergarten-through-12th-grade program.

But district staff recommended closing the school because of low test scores, financial troubles and an alleged refusal to cooperate with district auditors. They said the El Sereno school repeatedly failed to follow guidelines required of all district charters.

The action did not affect the larger kindergarten-through-eighth-grade campus run by the same operators, but district officials may also move against the other school over similar issues.

School board president Monica Garcia cast the lone dissenting vote, saying the school offered a unique and valuable cultural alternative that should be available to families.

"There is something that we can't measure because we don't understand it," said Garcia. "I understand it."

"Your test scores are not where we want them ... but we need Semillas academies in our district."

The school is part of Garcia's board district and its supporters have been loyal political allies.

Controversy has long followed Semillas, with some critics accusing the school of promoting Aztec revolution, a characterization that resulted in death threats.

But ideology was never a yardstick for district officials. In fact, the school's cultural focus has won plaudits from accreditation boards. And it tried innovative academic practices that were later adopted elsewhere. At the same time, the school has battled local businesses over zoning issues and alienated some former backers.

After the vote, Marcos Aguilar, the schools' co-founder and executive director, addressed a crowd of supporters waiting outside the boardroom.

"We have had more than 500 years of resistance. This is nothing new," he said in Spanish. "They can cut our leaves. They can snip our feathers, but they can't chop our roots."

Before the vote, demonstrators lined the sidewalk along Beaudry Avenue, some dancing to the fast-paced rhythmic beat of large wooden drums. Some wore large copollis, or traditional headdresses.

“Cinco años mas!” Five more years, they chanted as they marched.

“The school’s a model on the national and international level,” said Ernesto “Tlahuitollini” Collín, who serves on the charter’s board of advisors. “It’s a culturally responsive school that’s achieving academically while being community-oriented.”

As the drums beat louder, Collín admitted that the school was sometimes dismissed as “a crazy bunch” but said its overall academic record was more than enough reason to renew the charter.

Junior Miahuatl Kuauhtzin has attended Semillas schools since first grade. The 16-year-old wearing chachayotes around her ankles was one point away from a perfect score on the English portion of her state exit exam.

"We've learned about morals and respect at home, but our school enforces these things so we can all grow as a community and flourish," she said, the seeds around her ankles rattling.

The charter can appeal the district's decision to the county education office, and, if successful, could remain open.

They're closing schools and i'm sure this is not the only one recently. Yet the big argument here seems to be "why apple why not this". There are bigger problems than brand and overall the board of ed needs to put that money in the schools a better way than this and do something to keep these schools open and improve the ones that need the help.

 

[Fantasmo]

Apple will replace them.

What's the kid gonna learn in his next class if it gets stolen during gym class or between classes? Now his homework is gone. Now his textbook is gone. Now his classwork is gone. And who's gonna get blamed? Especially if some little jerk decides to target one kid repeatedly. And does Apple replace every single one at their own cost? Somehow I doubt that.

If they really want to do this they should be locked up in class and charged and ready to go per student. But then it becomes the teacher's responsibility and that's bullshit too.

 

[numble]

It sounds like a really expensive solution to a problem that didn't exist in the first place. And I guarantee you some kid's iPad is going to get fucked up in the hallways if it doesn't get stolen in the first place. I hope they have 100 extra and ready to go at a moment's notice and all of them have Otterboxes and have user id's and passwords on hand with profiles backed up every twenty minutes and ready to restore at a moment's notice. Oh and chargers.. chargers and wall sockets everywhere.

And let's be serious.. who pays the insurance if some kid's gets his stolen? Do the parents have to shoulder the cost because of some other little douche? There's a big difference between a book and a $600+ piece of equipment. This is not a good idea at all unless we're talking about colleges. Kids can be pretty shitty up to and including high school.

Insurance works just like it does if anyone takes out a policy on their current iPads. The insurance company eats the cost, and they adjust rates to make it work. Lots of school districts have used iPads with students and deal with the same problems. If 100 students pay $35 and only 5 have problems, it still comes out even. Especially if Apple provides refurbished devices that are cheaper in cost to them than the retail price.

The RFP does require that they're provided with cases and screen protectors able to withstand drops. I don't think chargers are a problem for these things.

 

[Fantasmo]

Insurance works just like it does if anyone takes out a policy on their current iPads. The insurance company eats the cost, and they adjust.rates to make it work. Lots of school districts have used iPads with students and deal with the same problems. If 100 students pay $35 and only 5 have problems, it still comes out even. Especially if Apple provides refurbished devices that are cheaper in cost to them than the retail price.

The RFP does require that they're provided with cases and screen protectors able to withstand drops. I don't think chargers are a problem for these things.

As I mentioned above, what happens to all that kids work, is it replaceable at a moments notice? I can frisbee an iPad down a hallway or out a window and now all the home and classwork is gone. What now? Does this solution account for a 5 minute replacement and full restore?

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

As I mentioned above, what happens to all that kids work, is it replaceable at a moments notice? I can frisbee an iPad down a hallway or out a window and now all the home and classwork is gone. What now? Does this solution account for a 5 minute replacement and full restore?

No, I don't think anyone in LA thought about this before you posted about it.

 

[StopMakingSense]

While some people in this thread are complaining that they wasted money to apple because they're sheep and could be using a better and cheaper tablet, we should be talking about what LA should be doing with that 30 million instead. Maybe helping keeping schools open.. oh too late


School officials vote against renewing Nahuatl-themed charter

They're closing schools and i'm sure this is not the only one recently. Yet the big argument here seems to be "why apple why not this". There are bigger problems than brand and overall the board of ed needs to put that money in the schools a better way than this and do something to keep these schools open and improve the ones that need the help.

There's not a single word in that article about the closure being budget-based. (Also it's a charter school).

 

[numble]

As I mentioned above, what happens to all that kids work, is it replaceable at a moments notice? I can frisbee an iPad down a hallway or out a window and now all the home and classwork is gone. What now? Does this solution account for a 5 minute replacement and full restore?

All the iWork apps save documents using iCloud, Notes as well, so yeah.
The RFP only says it should be replaced within 2 days, a student can't be without one for more than 1 day because of device issues.

 

[Hari Seldon]

as someone who is friends with several teachers, performance based pay is the worst answer.

Simple fact, whether some of you like to admit it or not, some kids are lazy, some kids arent smart in math, some kids arent smart in reading comprehension. how in the hell are you going to implement, fairly, performance based pay in a school? then take it out to the district level where kids from wealthy families are more likely to perform better than kids from non-wealthy families.

That is the stock answer straight from the teacher's union. Do it unfairly then, like every other god damn industry. It will still push teachers to perform. Hell, you could have the teachers peer review each other to determine bonuses (and put the bottom one on probation). Or implement a management hierarchy among the teachers. There are a million ways to do this.

 

[Fantasmo]

2 days is a REALLY REALLY long time to not be able to do any schoolwork..
If they can't be replaced in 5 minutes, its a real problem.

 

[mj1108]

How do the Chromebooks compare to the iPads in your pilot project?

Lower grades are using iPads, upper grades are using Chromebooks. We've found that they both have their positives and also their flaws. We are also using Google Apps with the Chromebooks as well.

 

[captive]

That is the stock answer straight from the teacher's union. Do it unfairly then, like every other god damn industry. It will still push teachers to perform. Hell, you could have the teachers peer review each other to determine bonuses (and put the bottom one on probation). Or implement a management hierarchy among the teachers. There are a million ways to do this.

you ignored my bottom half which says its not even the teachers fault. but i still disagree. In the non education sector my performance is hindered only by myself, not 20-30 kids that happen to be luck of the draw.

 

[Sub_Level]

Why give kids tablets and laptops period?

I understand not every kid has a convenient pc at their house, but just have a designated library/computer lab/study hall where kids can go before school, during school, and after school to do homework, print stuff, and do online research.

 

[chronos4590]

There's not a single word in that article about the closure being budget-based. (Also it's a charter school).

Yes i realize its a charter school, but the problem is that schools are closing and the state and the board of ed does not seem to have their stuff in order. They'd rather vote to not keep a school renewed (which seems to imply even if the school did have the funds to keep it open it wouldn't matter) yet will make a deal to put ipads in school which while good they probably could've put that money in wiser than this. Or help other schools especially any public school from closing.

 

[Cheebo]

As I mentioned above, what happens to all that kids work, is it replaceable at a moments notice? I can frisbee an iPad down a hallway or out a window and now all the home and classwork is gone. What now? Does this solution account for a 5 minute replacement and full restore?

You can throw away a kids homework at a moments notice too you realize. Toss their binder full of their papers and the like in the garbage voila.


And guess what? Homework is probably recoverable if they lose their ipad assuming iCloud's backup is activated (and I assume it will be). iPad's save a full backup of the iPad to the cloud every time it is plugged in by default. Just login with the students account on a new iPad and everything will be back.

NOTHING is lost if the hardware breaks. Everything is stored onto the cloud as per this program.

I have no idea what your ramblings are about but they don't apply to this case a tall.

 

[Ferrio]

Why give kids tablets and laptops period?

I understand not every kid has a convenient pc at their house, but just have a designated library/computer lab/study hall where kids can go before school, during school, and after school to do homework, print stuff, and do online research.

Why give them books? They could all just share the same books in the library!

 

[Jobiensis]

As I mentioned above, what happens to all that kids work, is it replaceable at a moments notice? I can frisbee an iPad down a hallway or out a window and now all the home and classwork is gone. What now? Does this solution account for a 5 minute replacement and full restore?

You are really grasping at straws. All work should be saved on iCloud, all books are associated with the account and not the iPad specifically. What happens when someone steals your textbook or homework? You didn't get replacement in 5 minutes at the schools I went to, your homework was gone forever, and you were responsible for paying for a book replacement.

 

[numble]

2 days is a REALLY REALLY long time to not be able to do any schoolwork..
If they can't be replaced in 5 minutes, its a real problem.

It is the maximum allowed under the RFP, I bet it can be replaced quicker with iPads. Especially since all iPads are standard and there is a systematic way to put anyone's data on any iPad. If the next class is not using their iPads, or if there is a replacement reserve, or even going to support staff at an Apple Store, they can borrow an iPad and load up all of the student's data.

 

[Fantasmo]

You can throw away a kids homework at a moments notice too you realize. Toss their binder full of their papers and the like in the garbage voila.


And guess what? Homework is probably recoverable if they lose their ipad assuming iCloud's backup is activated (and I assume it will be). iPad's save a full backup of the iPad to the cloud every time it is plugged in by default. Just login with the students account on a new iPad and everything will be back.

NOTHING is lost if the hardware breaks. Everything is stored onto the cloud as per this program.

I have no idea what your ramblings are about but they don't apply to this case a tall.

Its a little more attractive to take one little piece of hardware than a whole backpack. I'm sorry if I don't see this as black and white as you do.

 

[StopMakingSense]

Yes i realize its a charter school, but the problem is that schools are closing and the state and the board of ed does not seem to have their stuff in order. They'd rather vote to not keep a school renewed (which seems to imply even if the school did have the funds to keep it open it wouldn't matter) yet will make a deal to put ipads in school which while good they probably could've put that money in wiser than this. Or help other schools especially any public school from closing.

But district staff recommended closing the school because of low test scores, financial troubles and an alleged refusal to cooperate with district auditors. They said the El Sereno school repeatedly failed to follow guidelines required of all district charters.

As a charter they were failing at every level. Their charter was not renewed. (Also it's a fairly small school, as someone who lives just down the street)

 

[Zhengi]

No, I don't think anyone in LA thought about this before you posted about it.

This wouldn't surprise me. There are a bunch of brain dead people running LAUSD. That's why the school district is so bad.

 

[Hari Seldon]

you ignored my bottom half which says its not even the teachers fault. but i still disagree. In the non education sector my performance is hindered only by myself, not 20-30 kids that happen to be luck of the draw.

I don't agree that the teacher's and administrators have zero blame for the poor education in the US. It seems like the Nordic countries treat teaching as an actual respected profession, and therefore have high quality teachers. Not the shit grade Z country community college teaching graduates that we have in the US. Also, you can fix the quality of teachers far easier than you can fix social problems.

 

[Zhengi]

I don't agree that the teacher's and administrators have zero blame for the poor education in the US. It seems like the Nordic countries treat teaching as an actual respected profession, and therefore have high quality teachers. Not the shit grade Z country community college teaching graduates that we have in the US. Also, you can fix the quality of teachers far easier than you can fix social problems.

Not with the powerful teachers union backing up bad teachers and making it almost impossible to fire them.

 

[bangai-o]

I don't agree that the teacher's and administrators have zero blame for the poor education in the US. It seems like the Nordic countries treat teaching as an actual respected profession, and therefore have high quality teachers. Not the shit grade Z country community college teaching graduates that we have in the US. Also, you can fix the quality of teachers far easier than you can fix social problems.

It is hard to really judge between the qualities of a community college and big expensive college. A graduate from some sort of prestigious school does not equate to better quality teacher. When you consider that it is actually privileged students that go to prestigious schools, it makes for more teachers that don't understand the issues of lower economic students that they are probably going to be teaching. These kind of teachers are a huge problem particularly in the states like Arkansas, Alabama, and states with vast lower economic issues.

 

[The Awesomest]

One thing to keep in mind is that textbooks are also really expensive. Tablet technology at least can be updated so this may save money in the long run, not having to order up-to-date textbooks all the time.

I don't agree that the teacher's and administrators have zero blame for the poor education in the US. It seems like the Nordic countries treat teaching as an actual respected profession, and therefore have high quality teachers. Not the shit grade Z country community college teaching graduates that we have in the US. Also, you can fix the quality of teachers far easier than you can fix social problems.

This isn't what you were arguing about. You were arguing about performance-based pay for teachers, not who to blame for poor education.