How should education be revamped in America?

Answer 1

I think theres been alittle too much revamping already, need to go back to the three "R's", Reading, Riting, Rythmatic. Period, stop all these silly ideas our educators dream up.

Answer 2

I think the high school system needs to be revamped to where freshmen and sophomores, or juniors and seniors, are sent to national schools that can house, train and educate at more efficient levels, even at a trade level, so they are not distracted.
Distractions such as the local gang, runaway parents or even working parents, abusive home lives and financial difficulties, these seemingly dramatic events will take young teenagers away from school or discourage others from doing their best.

I know it sounds like a socialist program, but maybe there are ways to turn it into a capital program based on performance and success, and at the end of the day, which is more important, a child that has completed school or one that is in the streets?

Answer 3

Maximum choice.

Studies have shown that public school kids' performance goes up when there is a possibility of opening a charter school nearby.

When parents have real choice as to where they educate their kids, they can vote with their feet and are not stuck with trying to get a stubborn, unwieldy bureaocracy to change. Schools have all the power and they know it. While most are reasonable and want to educate your kids, there are a few that want their agenda and don't care about the kids. If you get one of those, you're in trouble.

Public schools have to please so many people and they have to educate everybody. So they tend to be strongest at educating the "average" child. That works well for many people, but for those who just don't fit and aren't getting an education, or who are being bullied by the other kids (like my husband was all throughout junior high), or the teachers give them a hard time for their sexual orientation/religion/race/political views/whatever, it's rough. And it's hard to fight. They're bigger than the parents are, and such abuse is hard to prove.

The government should issue tax credits to people who educate their children elsewhere, without controlling the other school.

And yes, many public schools are excellent. But being "one size fits all" by nature, they will not properly educate every child.

Answer 4

Give good teachers a raise and fire the bad one. Let every child poor and rich alike have a chance to go to to a private school by making it illegal for the parents in a private school to have to forfeit the money that is suppose to go for their son/daughter's education. Do away with p.e. classes and make foreign languages classes optional. Do away with silly laws such as requiring a world renown violin teacher to have a teaching credential if all he/she is going to teach the violin. Do away with year round school. Go back to having 6th grade part of elementary school. Give teachers who are not members of the teachers union a 5% bonus along with the accountants whose job it is to spend school money wisely. Do away with wasteful spending which does not help education such as free lunches. This not only is wasteful but sends the wrong message to students. Get bad grades and become low income and you will be rewarded later in life with free meals. Buying a computer for the child's parent at home is yet another example of wasteful spending which has been proven over the past several years to be part of the problem and not the solution. Another problem is aways excusing a bad teacher by blaming the parents. Sure there are probably millions of bad parents but if all a child needed was good parents to get an education then why have schools in the first place except for those million or so with bad parents noted above. Usually the blame the parent is a front to excuse poor teaching. An exanple of an education system gone bad how easy it is to fool pepole in this country and abroad. What percentage of people believe in global warming? What percentage believe the earth is flat. You may be surprised how many people believe in junk science.

Answer 5

Easy hire "teachers" not collegiate graduates that cannot get a job in there particular major. Simply put if your day is fulfilled by teaching kids rather than you need a paycheck until a job opens up in your particular major your a "TEACHER". Then after sifting out the non-believer from the true believers [TEACHERS] then revamp their education then after reimbursing them for there efforts further the teachers education to a minimum of a MBA. Then when this is achieved find qualified applicants for further development of there education to an PhD in Education. Then from this point make them Principals of a school at this point all Principals should have higher education. This would put a good example at the head of a school that all teachers would gravitate around.
Most of what i'm seeing around my school district where my [2] kids attend is a lot of i'm not dealing with him or her! I don't get paid to worry about this or that! They will quickly call something ADD then have to deal with someone particular. Basically washing my hands to pass of to someone else to get their hands dirty. My school districts builds more schools at a average rate of [1] school every 18 mos to 2 yrs. But my main gripe was it took them up the last weeks of the summer to fill teaching positions from the previous school built but yet they still build. High school graduation rates continues to decline but yet it has been said that this next generation coming up will make it the most educated of the last 3 generations. My state of Texas continues to stand by there mid 80% graduation rate but another outside agency claims were in the high 60% at "best". Thats a well over 10% variance and this is about high school graduation why? But just looking at certain individuals that are currently running our country at this time just review what our state of Texas does then do the opposite then you should be alright

Answer 6

jimH starts this out the right way and that is have parent accountability. People who say that the public school system is messed up are usually the same people who support the anything goes in school viewpoint. What is wrong with the public school system are parents! A very good statistic around is that if your parents went to college the kid will likely go to college as well and do well in school. Does that mean that the children of college grads are smarter? Not necesssarily but what is DOES mean is that college educated parents put value on education and let their kids know that. Its part of the family's value system that education is important. Many kids who don't do well in school have parents who did not do well either and don't think education is important, or they were wild and stupid and think its just fine for the kids to be the same way. "hell I didn't go to school and look at what a big success I am at the supermarket!" Crappy parents are the ones who bring lawyers with them everytime junior gets in trouble or is told to stop bringing his dope to school or fails to do his homework or whatever. Private schools succeed not because the kids were born smarter but parents are paying for the education and they make sure they get their money's worth. Public school is free and parents don't respect it and tried it like vandals treat free public parks. Private school vouchers have everything to do with parents trying to get their kids away from the kids of lousy parents.

Answer 7

The Gates foundation presents a good model. Our system is essentially set up in a factory model or a school to jail tunnel. Constant assesment that focuses the students on test taking skills is not an answer.

We should look at the business model, not to make teaching capitalistic as it is by nature socialist, but to make it less like a factory process and more like a business model. Offer rewards and things.

Make school pleasant places to be and treat teachers well. We are people with master's degrees who have to punch in and out, get mistreated and misunderstood. We get told that the teacher's union (over which the teachers have very little control these days) are our ruin and we make too much for having to work 8 months. I dare anyone to teach children for five periods a day, 5 days a week, keep them entertained, be their friend, their counselor, their parent. It's a hard job and not many people can stay. I know I didn't. My current job has more responsibility at a presitigious institiution and I don't work half as hard as I did when I was teacher.

Have the gov't start listening to the teachers. We are on the front lines. Offer education credits and better salaries. Listen to what we say students need, like our school needing a library or no rodents in the room. Computers and technology. Make the teachers a share holder in the school. Make assesment portfolio based instead of test based. Smaller classrooms, less prep periods.

Think outside of the box.

Answer 8

I had a few TERRIBLE teachers in high school, that simply could not teach, although, they had tenure. Therefore, they still had a job. On the other hand, my sister is a 6th grade teacher, and has 12 year olds tell her to go f*ck herself. Naturally, she calls the parents, and the parents say "well you must have provoked them". This no child left behind policy is a bunch of crap, if a student has a failing grade at the end of the year and the teacher intends on failing a student, all the parents have to do is hire an advocate, and the student has magically passed. Generally, when an advocate is hired, right off the bat it costs the school $70,000 just to debate over one student. Therefore, there is no debate, and the student is pushed up the ladder. This is primarily the fault of the parents who drop their kids off at school to be raised not educated.

Answer 9

1. Get the government out of the Ed system. I don't think that a congressman can raise my kids better than I can.
2. Teach reading, writing and math. Everything else should be an elective and should not get in the way of the top three. If a person can't read and write, that person cannot hold a job.
3. Get rid of tenured positions with along with government controls. Have people there who want to teach, instead of people who want a steady paycheck and summers off.

Answer 10

What we should do is lessen state restraints on public school systems. My school is so confined by our sate tests that they will only teach things that are on them. In fact, we always say that we will not make Adequate Yearly Progress this year- we have for the past 5 years in a row.

We should also give students the right to choose which classes they take- instead of requiring everyone to take WoodShop, Spanish, German, Home Ec, etc.

I can't even begin to complain about our school system- but then again, it is free.

Answer 11

Many families still do not have access to computers in their home. And they have no interest in going to a library to use one.

Place computers and Internet service in every elementary school child's home connected with the school's network computers. Offer incentives for homework assignments completed and submitted on the Internet, for parental assistance and supervision in the process.

Give a limited education tax credit - for the specific use of purchasing a computer - the first time a family purchases a computer for an elementary school age child or first time a first year college student purchases a computer for school with proof of purchase and Internet service contract.

Every school child's parents should go through an education review board interview at the beginning and end of every school year to discuss the child's educational needs and progress and their participation in the child's learning.

Offer training programs for volunteer parent's groups as classroom and playground aids and teacher assistants.

Design alternative year-round school or education programs, either part-time, supplemental or concurrent with a regular school year plan. Give a choice of attendance in new schools or year-round schools in a test or pilot project.