Is the deterioration of quality of education in US inevitable?

Question

European, Asian and Mideastern students far surpass ours. They go to school longers, face higher hurdles in school and are expected to know certain fundamentals before graduation. It seems in our nation that our fears of "hurting feelings" have lowered the bar and increased mediocrity.

Answer 1

As long as all the money goes to the Teacher's Union, education will continue to deteriorate as it continues to cost more and more money.

Maybe if we had the choice to use that money to go to a private school the competition would make it better, but they won't allow us choices for such things.

Answer 2

The problem is US and the road down this route is inevitable. It's not about lowering the bar or hurting feelings. It's sheer laziness, no accountability and basically a lack of values. We're also raising the next generation of spoiled cry babies.

Where are our values? Government spending on education has been slowly eroding and money for schools is dependent on the communities they are in. Take a look at the sad state of our inner city schools compared to their wealthy suburban counterparts.

Take a look at how we treat our educators? Parents and students do not respect their teachers at all. Parents are no longer responsible for educating their children, they've pushed that responsibility completely onto educators. So when something goes wrong they point fingers at our education system rather than themselves.

How much do we really value education in America? We pay a basketball player millions of dollars and some teachers can barely get by on their pittance salary.

It's inevitable because we are the problem, we've become a society of consumers who don't produce anything and complainers who blames everyone else for our problems.

That's why when I have children I'm taking charge and not just leaving it up to the schools to educate them.

Answer 3

I would say the American education is getting better. Since the cold war ended, there has been less enthnocentricity in the curriculum and small changes like studying a second language has made big changes.
People often focus on Math and Science test scores, but trust me, I work with immigrant students and many Asian students, despite their high test scores, struggle to think critically and independently. Memorization only takes learning so far. America has a promising future in terms of educating people to be innovative and critical.
In terms of Europe, it really depends on the country. Some countries score higher but some score lower. I think with Europe, there are other facotrs like smaller economies, less population, smaller infastructures, and higher percentages of GDP being invested in education that ought to be considered.

Answer 4

In those countries not every child gets an "education", so it really isn't fair to make the comparison to the US. If a child shows little or no ability to learn, then they are taught a trade and not an education. This doesn't happen in public schools in the U.S. No Child Left Behind,,,,,,, this says that all children will get the same level of education. Because the federal government has decided to become a part of our public education, the standards have been lowered.... but not by the choice of the teachers!!!! Not every student can learn Pre Calculus or Trig, but we are to teach it if they want to take the class,,,,and they are not to fail! That is what I face every year. I try to not lower my standards, but sometimes I have no choice.