How can we improve the American education system?

Question

It seems like public schools in the United States are spitting out dummies & nitwits at an alarming rate. How can we fix this problem? What should our public education system be like?

Answer 1

Solving the education problem is largely a matter of changing the way we view the problem. The job of schools is not to make our kids into what we want them to be, but rather to set them free. And this is not done by giving them information. Much of what they learn in school is not true and little of it is useful. School is useful because it gives our children an opportunity to prove they can do something well.

We need a comprehensive voucher system. One where all students are free to spend their public funding at the school they see fit and where teachers are free to create the kinds of schools that students want to attend, not just the what the state recommends.

This will give rise to much greater diversity in education. Not just in the sense where more white and black kids study together (although that is likely), but mainly that you will see lots of different types of schools with kids doing lots of different types of things.

Unfortunately, this will not solve what you perceive as the nitwit problem. You'll still have people who can't do algebra, and you’ll still have folks who stand outside the dominant paradigm. But they won't all be failures for it. Schools will be more useful in that students will be able to earn credibility in a much wider array of ways. Not all students will be equal in their endowment of talents, but they will at least get credit for the assets they have.

The voucher system is not just about competition or raising test scores. It’s about access and opportunity for both teachers and students.

Answer 2

Wow fix the parents?
Fix the education system, most countries have children start learning a foreign language while they are young so they can speak it fluently when they are older. Also change to the metric system, sure it'll cost a lot of money, but U.S being one of two countries in the world that still has the English system, the change will be revolutionary. Also advance science and math skills, too many children rely on a calculator.

Answer 3

Competition! Vouchers would be a good solution.

Just because government funds schools, it doesn't mean that government has to own the schools. In some countries, such as Belgium, the gov't gives all parents a voucher and the parents choose the schools. It's about the only way in which I wish the US could be more like Europe!

Answer 4

a million. more effective funding 2. No illegals in organization structures 3. stop taking originality a ideas from teachers. Many ought to do an similar curriculum the equivalent way three hundred and sixty 5 days after three hundred and sixty 5 days. 4. more effective day cares in colleges, my college has particularly few unique run applications for children and households. 5. more effective teachers that surely like little ones, i see many instructors who would care a lot less. 6. a lot less discrimination by technique of administration, particularly in the extreme colleges. some directors and teachers pick little ones by the clothing they positioned on. 7. more effective projects in the universities for children after college. 8. stop placement checks, those are a difficulty for teachers, mom and pa and scholars. not one of the above in our field approve. 9. more effective teachers so as that it's going to artwork with students with reading subject matters.

Answer 5

Fail the failures, and make it stick no matter how hard the parents and ACLU scream.

Bring the parents back into the equation. Even an idiot who can't do the work will bring the child back into the work if (s)he is involved and making sure the kid does the work.

Insitute standardised testing in Math, Language Arts, and Sciences.

Phys-Ed manditory into High School.

Concentrate more on the 3R's than the 3 balls.

Answer 6

Fix the parents and the children will follow. It is not our educaiton system, it is the parents giving birth to the chidren we are trying to educate.