If you could reform the public school system in any way, what would you do?

Question

I have a massive project due on march 22 in which I am creating a national school reform....

I've gone waist deep into it and I would like to know some outside opinions on what they would do, regarding absolutely anything in the public school system, such as:

diversity
taxes
busing
NCLB
homeschooling
virtual academies
vocational schools
elective emphasis
after school programs
segregation
merit consideration
a nationalized grading system
a nationalized curriculum
etc....

I'd like to hear what you have to say!

trig... I agree with you about the pledging allegiance issue, completely.

winston: I'm considering creating a nationalized grading scale, graduation requriements, curriculum, etc (although I forsee many, many, many all nighters of figuring out how the hell to get every kid in America up to those standards anyways)

I would eliminate offering credit and/or extra credit for buying things, or attending events during school hours or after school hours, etc...

However, I have yet to determine how to ensure that inner city counties wont give C papers As, and that kind of thing.

Even though I am 9999999999999999% anti school vouchers, thank you for your opinion.

mel: I am also considering creating a nationalized school holiday system, nationalized first/last day of school, nationalized recesses (for secondary schooling as well)
nationalized lunch break allowances
nationalized hall passing allwoances
nationalized 7 hour school day, 55 min per class

and all of that

(and of course, I'm asking for as much criticism as I can get...if you'd like, feel free to comment on this)

But of course, this is not going to be like the NCLB...there will be FUNDING for the mandates!

Buttercup: I was homeschooled for my 8th grade year, doing 3rd grade math, 5th grade reading, and practicing cursive. Previous to my homeschooling experience, I was the valedictorian of my middle school....

I didn't learn a damn thing when I was homeschooled, and actually made my way up to my junior year of high school barely beginging Algebra (which I already took in 8th grade).... The program through which I was homeschooled said that I had to start at that rate.
Then my mom transferred me back into the public school system, putting me back into 9th grade last year.

And thank god that I went back into the public school system, because otherwise, I would have graduated at the age of 15 with an 8th grade education.


I would support homeschooling if it were more closely regulated. While most homeschool experiences are probably not like mine, it is still not acceptable

Eddie: see link

http://i5.tinypic.com/470jadl.jpg

Be it on YA or a PTA meeting, I am glad to see all of the responses

Answer 1

1 - Obligatory participation (of various sorts) by parents.
2 - No student moves on to the next grade without demonstrating conclusively that they've mastered the material for their current grade (this will prevent me from ever again having to witness an 18-year old complain to me that she "can't do math!" when what she really means is that she's lost her calculator and is UNABLE to do simple addition (amazing, I know, but true, and the young woman in question was clearly of above-average intelligence!)).
3 - Outlaw teachers unions - period.
4 - Merit-based pay for all people working in public educational institutions.
5 - Principals are given the power and means with which to succeed.
6 - Principals are responsible for the success of their institutions; no success = no job.
7 - Teachers are given the power and means to solve student behavioral issues (read: students preventing other students from learning). This means that problem students are removed from the classroom so the other students can get on with learning.
8 - Tracking is re-instituted (i.e., students are grouped into different classes by ability as determined by standardized testing (call it IQ testing, aptitude testing or whatever, I don't care - just get the kids separated by their native abilities to learn the subjects)).
9 - Teachers will have at least a bachelor's degree in the subject(s) that they teach.
10 - Educational personnel (teachers, principals, administrators, etc.) will have pay and benefits commensurate with what they would command in the private sector.
11 - Special education coding will be reduced SUBSTANTIALLY (e.g., no more coding kids just 'cause their parents are divorced) and to a level at which funding issues are insignificant.
12 - No high school diploma will be conferred upon students who can not demonstrate that, at a minimum, they are capable of performing (non-remedially) at the next level of each individual subject were they to continue on to college.

I could go on and on but I think you get the idea: I'd take the whole thing apart and start over by hiring capable people, paying them appropriately, letting them do their jobs, holding them responsible for producing educated students, and requiring students AND their parents to be responsibly engaged in the process. Those who do not wish to be responsibly engaged would be invited to participate in alternatives in which I'm not particularly interested.

Needless to say, the existing educational establishment is dead-set against most of what I advocate. As stewards of a (generally) failed model, I would expect no less of them.

Answer 2

Dismantle it entirely and privatize the entire education system. The biggest problem with nationalization is that it politicizes the whole system. You can already see it in our current system. For example, if you don't teach certain politically correct nonsense, then the federal government pulls your funding. This is called extortion when it's done in the private sector. Congress (most of which has a 6th grade reading level) has no business deciding the curriculum of a classroom. But that is happening now, and will get worse as you nationalize more of the system.

There are literally hundreds of reasons why a private system would be better than a public system, but I don't have time (I'm at work) to spell them all out. However, the most important reason is that a public education system is unconstitutional. Please read the Constittion. It clearly lays out and enumerates the powers of the federal government. It states clearly, that anything not explicitly in the Constitution is to be left up to the states. The power to control public education is not in the Constitution, therefore it is to be left to the states. The biggest failing of our current system is that it does not teach our children abou the Constitution.

Answer 3

I would like to see a local version of virtual academies. What I mean by that is Why are we spending so much money on books when the same thing can be downloaded off the internet, and corrections can be made almost instantly. I could forsee class times cut in half if everyone was within reach of a laptop. Class times could be used more for guiding students. Rather than having students that get it suffer thru the teacher having to spend extra time on one that doesn't. This method would allow students to come in during the day to download homework at the teacher's station and pick up new assignments. This way, students could work at thier own pace. Students that excelled could go on at thier own pace, while students who needed help could get it. Some classes can't be done this way, but the majority could be. More kids could be educated with the same or less amount of class space.

Answer 4

The ideal circumstance would be for small schools to exist, this is however very unlikely. So what can we do to improve schools now? Well... 1) Force students to wear a uniform. No opt-outs this time! 2) Require that English is spoken on the campus grounds as the primary language. 3) Include parents at all time. If the parents don't cooperate, there will be a fee to be paid. 4) If a student doesn't want to learn then they don't have to. Their parents will help them find a job. 5) Standardized tests that force students to push themselves academically. 6) Finally, to keep academics and politics separate.

Answer 5

I believe there is always room for improvement in anything you examine. Despite the fact that I believe I got a wonderful public school education, I think students could benefit from a return to the basics--stop wasting valuable time teaching self esteem classes, etc and focus on academics. Change the schedule of the classday to be more in accord with the natural sleep/wake cycles of children-sleepy children do not make good students. I also think recess should be mandatory. Children only have a certain attention span, and educators need to realize that and give the children some time int eh midle of the day to blow off steam-they need it!

Answer 6

Well it all depends on your area, a fix for Kentucky might not be suited for a fix in Texas. What I would suggest though after attending schools all over this country is a reform on the treatment of the students. Students are told what to do and coerced into standards that they have no say over. Schools convert to standarized uniforms with no input from the student body, they are forced to obey rules such as flag pledging under punishment (you may be for it, but its silly to tell some one to be patriotic or else) etc. Students are impressed upon that they are not an equal to the teacher and their thoughts and opinions do not carry the same weight because of their status and age.

Answer 7

Mandatory periodic drug testing of teachers!

Bring class back to the classroom with uniforms for both the students and the teachers. I know some teachers who dress worse than the students they teach.

Bring vocational education back into the regular schools. In my area voc-ed has been moved to off-campus. Lets face facts. Not every kid is going to go to college. Some need to learn a trade as well as how to read and write.

I have more thoughts, but those will do for now.

Answer 8

The major reform would have to be more charter schools. The public schools have a virtual monopoly on the education system, and any monopoly will get sclerotic with time. The NEA has entirely too much power.

Answer 9

I would remove almost all the things on your list except
Home Schooling. Those are the kids that are learning these
days. They are way ahead of public school kids. Oh, I'd go
back to teaching "reading, writing, and arithmetic" instead
of diversity, segregation, sex, and all that stuff. Our today's
public school kids can barely read, can't write good at all,
and arithmetic skills are very poor.

Answer 10

if i had my way it would bear no resemblance to it's current form. it wouldn't be mandatory, i'd make parents pay at least some percentage out of pocket, its not fair to those without kids to be paying into the system that does nothing for them. i'd base grades entirely on test scores, not attendance or anything else. either you know the material or not, that's what matters. i'd teach real world skills, not what countries fought each other a thousand years ago or the sine of 45 degrees or what genus a rat is.