Every US citizen can get a Federal Stafford Loan to cover the cost of college and not have to pay a cent back until after they earn a degree.
What if we accept the premise that a large percentage of Americans simply cannot achieve higher levels of education, or higher levels of problem solving and decision making, or higher ability/desire to learn and achieve more? What if this percentage is something like 50-75%? Perhaps the reason our public education system fails about 50% of the students is because they fall into the above category? The reasons for people being in the above category can be many, some external and some internal. Does it do any good to improve the external issues if the internal issues remain? No matter what some believe, humans ARE NOT created equal. And even if they were, they are immediately impacted by their families, friends, environment, etc. Although I do believe the current public education can be much improved, I also know it's an impossible task to use one education system to try to educate kids and people with a million different capabilities and/or limitations, both internally and externally caused...
We should adopt a system of where we use something similar to the military's aptitude testing tiresome around the 10th grade. By that time every student should have a basic education in math, reading, science and history. Those who show the promise of higher education go on to higher level courses. Those that do not get vocational training or service training. Those that do not show the proficiency get hard core remedial courses. And we get rid of the teachers unions, put them on a perform or your gone plan and stop mainstreaming every student, put them in classes based on achievement and ability. How does this grab you, starting a whole current even thread on this. "Detroit Public Schools: 93% Not Proficient in Reading; 96% Not Proficient in Math................................... Only 4 percent of Detroit public school eighth graders are proficient or better in math and only 7 percent in reading. This is despite the fact that in the 2011-2012 school yearthe latest for which the Department of Education has reported the financial datathe Detroit public schools had total expenditures of $18,361 per student and current expenditures of $13,330 per student." http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...s-93-not-proficient-reading-96-not-proficient
I don't believe education issues can be solved solely by looking for education system changes. If all levels of government cannot do something about eliminating crime, gangs, truancy, and ghettoes from all areas of society, then I'm guessing the best school system on Earth can't help those kids who live in these (*)(*)(*)(*)-hole war zones. Then we have those issues associated with the environment inside kid's homes? Are there drugs? Are there abusive situations? Is there good nutrition? Can they get required sleep? Can they read and study at home? Is there parental involvement? How many kids 16 or older must work while going to school? All of the above before we even talk about the limitations and potential of each kid! IMO whether it be better teachers, better schools, improving our communities, etc. to make wholesale changes/improvements requires a boatload of money, and, access to the best and brightest to manage the programs and educate the kids...BOTH of which we don't have today and probably won't have in the next few decades. The reality of all this education crap is no matter how people wish to spin it, to politicize it, what we have today is the best we can do...
I can fix that, have all public schools be free year round boarding schools they get housing communally, food, uniforms, a small stipend and off for some short breaks and holidays. Take them out of homes and into situations where they can focus on academics and job training perhaps after elementary school K through 5. This would be ages 11+. Gifted students could go to elite schools with college options when advanced enough.
Yow... I can see the pros and cons here... I strongly support vouchers, competition, profit, and options.
This would be an extreme solution if you can 'force' all kids to attend...if the public can afford a 24/7 school system. I remain curious what we can achieve if we simply eliminate crime and gangs, not allow truancy, and not allow ghetto conditions? These are things we should be doing anyway! The managers of our cities, the planners, etc. are derelict in their duties when they ignore portions of city limits in favor of other areas...
School vouchers are just a Band-aid and do nothing to solve the global and critical issues about public education...
Sounds like a BERNIE fan . Liberals are more worried about prisoners getting a college education than helping working families . 18 trillion plus debt and BERNIE wants to add another 19 trillion and he is BROKE , unlike Hillary who happens to be "dead broke " with 2 plus BILLION in the fake Clinton Foundation . A liar and a moron , no need to ask , democrats !!!
My suggestions are in my previous posts on this thread. Regarding your competition, it can expose a superior product/service, however, if it does so at the expense of others, have you really gained anything? If you have 1000's of school kids in a given area, we must provide education close to that area. Do you want elementary school kids commuting ten miles one-way to the school who received the most vouchers? No matter what people believe, each school is not created or maintained or staffed equally and there is no way for the lesser schools to compete against others. Not sure why our 'public' education system is not created equal but IMO it's one of the root reasons why we have so many problems and such disparity between schools. I could blame governments and the education administrators but none of them care enough to actually solve the root problems...
Thanks for your many possible suggestions on ways to improve American public education coupled with your explanation as to how charter, magnet, private, and homeschooling options have been detrimental. My children attenxexr a state charter school the county schools fought tooth and nail. There was no bus to pick them up or bring them home. There were no cafeteria workers. My kids sere educated for 1/3 or what their county peers were. We out scored our peers every time. Parentsvwere required to volunteer and if you failed your annual requirements your student lost their spot. Inner city magnet schools are some of the best in the nation, especially in arts. Let's hear your solutions or your silence. Having choice has demonstrated proven results. Cookie cutter education has not.
Vouchers don't assume all schools are equal. Magnet and charter schools don't bus kids in aspiration of providing equal opportunities to all. Success is set aside because it is not average. America has never been satisfied with mediocrity. That is why we are great.
Thanks for interpreting my comments in order to create the worse possible scenarios. Being closed-minded and self-serving does not work for the masses. Solutions for a nation cannot be about winners and losers! They must be about winners! If you believe 'your' system is so great, why can't you conceive of making the entire public education system like your system so that all kids are winners? You only look at 'your' results with little to no concern for what's happening outside of your perceived panacea. Solutions for 'some' are not solutions for the nation... - - - Updated - - - The US public education is a drop-out factory failing approximately 50% of our kids...you don't call this mediocrity??
The people who live there have to be on the frontline for that but are you claiming over 90% of Detroit is filled with all these problems? Are you claiming over 90% of families in Detroit are filled with this? And when I was in high school I worked after school as did LOTS of kids and it did not harm our educations. I think we need to talk about the teachers and administrator and ask where is all the money going and why aren't getting results better than even 10% success and make some core radical institutional changes. We have and are spending boatloads of money look at the numbers $18,361 per student, $13,330 current. In a classroom of 20 students that's $266,600 dollars per classroom. Well with what we are paying why don't we have the best and brightest and maybe we should get rid of the restrictive union regulations and tenure so we can get rid of the ones who are not the best and brightest and get the ones who are. - - - Updated - - - I am all for working towards something like that and making the parents work and contribute to the cost of doing so until they are prepared and able to bring the child back into a responsible home environment.
I critiqued primary education in America. And with all it's shortcomings, it generates the best and brightest in the world. If the US is a picture of mediocrity, I'm down with that. Who else would I rather be??
What constitutes responsible home environment? Who defines that? How? Who's going to fund that type of education?
You know, of course, that the people who are complaining about the lack of achievement among our students and the teacher unions and the high costs, etc. etc. etc. are going to be the very same people who will be complaining when the system is disbanded and they are on their own to find educational opportunities for their kids. What they are going to complain about most is the very low cost of the 7 hours of babysitting they USED to have.
