What would you do to improve the our education system if you were Secretary of education?

Question

Feasable answers only.


P.s If I miss spelled somthing keep it to your self.

Answer 1

vouchers. choice and compitition make for better schools.

Answer 2

I would develop a self paced buddy system where students who learn a subject coach another through it. This secular type of educational style will do two things the current system lacks.

One, it will make education fun and reinforce what a student has learned!

Two, it will improve communication skills and help develop social responsibilities at an early age.

Currently the educational system over controls the students with their dress codes and rules about talking. These drives for individuality and creativity should be channeled not stifled!

It is my contention that, since the turning of education away from any religious philosophy, we have created a vacuum our kids are now floundering in. They no longer have a belief system or a social philosophy that is agreed upon. They are not learning how to work together or the importance of helping each other. What many are learning from home is intolerance, perhaps in many cases do to their parents lack of education or the economy of their life style. In any case, I think this problem needs to be addressed and dealt with effectively.

Think of a class room where kids, supervised by a teacher, work together to help each other learn…

One last note, teachers should be given raises based on the success of their students not on the time they spent doing it. Also, new teachers with fresh ideas are often the first to go when budgets are cut. Often leaving our children in the hands of burnt out and incompetant teachers. Tenure is becoming a curse word in the minds of many parents.

Answer 3

A few years ago a proposition was on our state ballot concerning education. In some of the adds published in opposition to the proposition it was stated that the ratio of administrators to teachers in our schools was 127 administrators to 100 classroom teachers. There was absolutely no discrediting information from proponents of the issue. Now as I see it, by using the rule of seven we could do the same work with 17 administrators to every 100 teachers, and 14 of those positions can be full time teachers and part time administrators. So my first act would be to fire about 85 to 90 percent of the administration in our public schools. Anything that top heavy is bound to topple.

BTW my state puts over 60% of it's budget into education. Money is not, I repeat NOT, the problem. The brother-in-law affect is the problem.

By doing the weeding I suggest moneys to the classroom would at least double. So real teachers could be rewarded for excellence and unsuccessful (failures) could be replaced. Class sizes could be decreased. In fact, any real improvement I have ever heard of would be possible under my system.

A system would be established to teach English as a second language for six months before non-English speaking kids were introduced into the main stream. More dollars saved, no need for bi-lingual teachers or textbooks.

No child would be passed on to the next grade until they were successful in their current grade. The Peter Principal should not apply to kids. When a first grader is passed to second grade before he is ready all the second graders in his class are cheated because the teacher is now doing double duty. If that same student is passed to third grade while still below the level need to leave first, and another student who was successful in first but not in second are all sent on to third grade, the teacher is expected to teach first grade to one student, second grade to another, and third grade to 25 or 30 more students. Now we have someone doing triple duty, or to say it another way, we have a teacher being loaded to failure.

Our educational system is not really broken, it is however, badly bent. We do have the buildings and maybe 10% of our teachers are proficient. That is a good start but some drastic action must take place before any significant improvement can be expected.

Two more things, and I don’t have an answer for these, first safety for all and respect for the staff must return. And second, something must be done to discredit the “dumb is cool” attitude I see in our schools.

Answer 4

We are putting enough money into the system. If people are not legal no to school. We are not the public education system for the world. Untold millions saved and we could upgrade the system. I have a friend whose child is in grade school here in Nevada and the teachers told him to transfer her. (she is to smart for the class she is in) Why they are teaching down because of illegals in the system who do not understand or care in some cases.

Answer 5

Pay for performance for teachers, without a doubt. However, that pay would have to take into account the type of students in their catchment area.

More books that have non-white, non-heterosexual, disabled, poor and/or otherwise "different" characters in the curriculum, WITHOUT addressing those "differences" in the program of study. Students need to be exposed to different types of people, but come to understand that differences are normal, not something to be dissected.

Healthy, affordable lunches in the school cafeterias. NO burgers, fries, hot dogs, chicken strips, sodas, or "real fruit beverages".

Increased supervision outside of the classroom (recess, lunch, etc) and increased punishment for bullying (including more criminal charges).

Answer 6

I would pay teachers more (and only have teachers that are worth being paid more) and I would get rid of all of this standardized testing crap that the Republicans love so much. We're spending more time teaching exactly what's on these tests that it's taking away from the full educational experience.

Answer 7

Teachers should be paid according to the quality of the job they do.
Principals should be trained to be better people managers. All schools should have enough money for technology. People who have never taught or who have not been in a classroom in 20 yeasr should NOT be making decisions that affect millions of people.

Answer 8

Put a lot more of the federal budget into schools than into wars.

Answer 9

change the food people eat in school and have a better paid teacher so they can be more focus on teaching good than their poor economy

Answer 10

Stop throwing money after the problem - reading, writing and arithmetic is what you need and you need it early. We graduate people who can't do the basics.