What do you think is the biggest problem with our educational system and how would you fix it?

Answer 1

it's too centralized and bureaucratic. they need that voucher
system which will open up new private schools and a whole
new economy.

Answer 2

MAJOR Problem with education is THE POLITICIANS... jmo along with many others i have spoken to. Put them into a rural school with a high poverty rate and 100% minority population (which is exactly what my school is) and see how well they can do. One of the problems is NCLB. Another is the lack of support for disciplinary issues. Unfortunately, a lot of that is because of NCLB as well. At least that's the excuse that has been fed to us for the past "X" years as to why students who need to be suspended or expelled have not had those consequences. Going back to the basics, the way things were before. As it is now, i would hate to be a child in school. Spending the whole day doing nothing but ELA and Math is insane. So many of the kids nowadays have no clues about the history of the world, or anything about Science yet they are made to take the Standardized Tests which include all of those subjects (ELA, Math, Social Studies, Science). And people wonder WHY schools find it so hard to meet API and AYP. Could it possibly be because they throw all students into one mold and expect them to fit?

Answer 3

Teachers are too involved in the student body.Keep the teachers away from any student that wants an easy "A"- Teachers are wearing tighter,more reveling clothes..they should have a ban on the clothing issue,first off.... teacher are treating the education system,like the priest treat the alter boys... ...parents beware --or have the classroom videoed.

Answer 4

The main problem is that parents expect schools and teachers to do all the work, and don't get involved with their own children's education. If more parents helped out, even just studying at home, the schools would be more effective for all students. I realize some parents have to work long hours, but your kids are only young once, and if they don't grow up right, its the parents' fault 9 times out of 10. Obviously I would "fix it" by getting more parents involved in the schools.

Answer 5

Where I live, I like the way they work the educational system in my town. I mean kids are constantly challanged,and the smarter kids are given harder work than those who are not at the same level, and the teacher does not spend more time on one kid over another. Actually my son is gifted and talented,and often times will stay after and help his teacher tutor kids that dont get it. the only draw back is when a kid at a lower level gets all a's he will get a 4.0, whereas a kid who works at a higher level (my son does middle/high school math in the 4th grade), doesnt hit all a's he will get a lesser gpa. not fair, but hey i am happy my kid is doing the work that some highschoolers cant do. so they must be doing something right.

Answer 6

Philosophers of years past have had many idea's for how to teach children in order to strenghten and improve society as a whole.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education

Taking that information into account. I would say that the BIGGEST problem facing our educational system is....

i just can't decide....

Let's call it a tie. First of all, teachers. Teachers have the good intention to teach our children, and we then subsequently treat them like crap. **** rolls downhill, so if you treat a teacher like crap...she'll teach crappy.

Also, empowering our children. I believe that it's a farce to assume that our younger children are incapable of making decisions about themselves. Allow kids to chose an educational speciality early (4th or 5th grade) but also allow the flexibility to change that somewhere down the line.

Those are my thoughts...in a nut shell.

Empower the kids.

Respect the teachers.

Answer 7

Teachers unions and lack of competition. I never have understood why teachers unions are so opposed to thing like merit pay and other measures designed to reward excellence.

Furthermore, the public schools have no real competition. I am a strong support of school vouchers to give parents the choice of a private school. If public schools have to compete with private schools, you can bet they will find a way to improve the way they teach. Offer a better product and you will keep your customers.

Answer 8

Teach the teachers to become more effective using newer methodologies like NLP etc. If the teachers could reach all students, then the money to adequately compensate them would follow.

Answer 9

A lot of times they teach stuff so the school will look good during all the statewide tests and stuff and they pass over the stuff that is actually relevant.

Answer 10

Homeschooling, the school systems are rapidly going down hill. Most parents are terrified to send their kids to school.

Answer 11

the stupid no child left behind rule....
teachers are not paid high enough at all!!!
there is not enough discipline in the school systems today....kids are so disrespectful and the teachers have nothing that they can do about it most of that problem though is because there is soooo little parent involvement
if you havent guessed yet...i work in the school system there are a lot of changes that need to be made