What do you think is wrong with our education system?

Question

It's hard to go off statistics without hearing what the problems are, if any. Do you have children in school K-12? What is your experience with the education system? Please list the state you live and what you think they could do to improve, or why you think it's just fine.

Answer 1

I live in Alabama and my hubby is a teacher. There are many problems. Lack of parental support, lack of discipline(at home- which transfers over to the school), too many regulations from the state and federal government. taking God or the talk of God, morals, etc out of the school

Answer 2

I agree with the others, the issues that schools face are multiple and very interconnected. One of the problems I think we never think about is that finally in the American population, we have almost every native american (in the general sense) going through the public education system... from the oldest to the youngest. This can have the problem that everyone is an expert, and everyone wants to put their two cents in.

I'd read a few years ago that the biggest jobs of a public school is to reinforce the community while shaping it towards what it needs to become. If we do one without the other, we often fail, yet the two tasks are almost always at conflict with eachother.

To give a few examples, in the last 20 years we've fought nationally about whether to teach about AIDS, Birthcontrol, Evolution, Religion, Special Education, Internet rules at schools are still bizarre, and the list goes on.. and this is just national stuff, in the local world things get much more complicated. And it all centers on what the community wants verses needs for the future and who gets to decided and who has to do it.

Now in defense, communities that do have strong leadership with dedicated support do have stronger schools... and there are a lot of these communities out there. If we really want our schools to be stronger, on the local level, we have to become dedicated to the process, project great leaders into the positions of School Board Members, Principles, and Policy makers, and then support them when they make the tough desisions.

Answer 3

Two problems:

First off, with so many immigrant children not speaking English, they are mixing them with the other students and it slows down the whole class. Non-English speaking students should have a separate class where they can learn everything in their language so they are not behind, but also taught how to speak English so they can move into the regular classes later on.

Second, bad parenting. Not that the school can do anything about it, but when my daughter was in private school, parents and children were screened, and I loved all the kids there! And most of the parents had the same rules I did.

But that school closed and she is now in a public school. The kids are horrible! Not all of them of course. Since my daughter started there she has started asking me if she could watch shows and movies that she should not even know about! Then she tells me how so-and-so is allowed to watch it.

All the kids at 9 years old are already obsessed with having boyfriends and girlfriends, and it is affect their schooling. Who lets a 9 year old stay up till 10 to watch Flavor of love? Sick!

Answer 4

I am a teacher in the Nashville area and I hail from a long line of teachers in my family. From a child, I have seen the war waged between the school system, government and families. I guess I must join the ranks of the other readers and say that our world is spinning so fast that good is looked upon as evil and evil, as good. The Word has already declared that Mothers would be against daughters, and Fathers, against sons. Parents have forgotton their positions in the family, teachers have lost sight of their calling to 'teach' and guide these young minds, bureaucrats continue to earn huge salaries and add rooms to their already expansive mansions and each year give themselves hefty increases, while teachers barely receive the 3% increase in order to feed their own. The community has almost wiped its collective hands from the schools and students and therefore, these children graduate without any village-connection to the communities they live in. Governments keep testing and trying different ways to make things happen but it all seems to be a waste of time. This is my 10th year teaching between Detroit-Los Angeles-Nashville. It is the same everywhere you go. I don't know if there is an answer to the problems we have, but we have to keep trying. We have to keep involving parents in the schools and helping them to connect to their own children so that they can connect to the world. I refuse to produce a cavalier attitude about my position as a teacher. I still believe in the system and pray everyday that those who are dedicated will continue to be strong and serve as they have been called. I love teaching - and I am blessed to have a very wonderful principal. We all work collectively to try and bring about an agenda that will promote healthy, inquisitive, successful thinkers. I don't know about the bottom line, but I will continue using all that I have to teach and love my students into a world that I know only a few will really be ready to deal with - but I won't give up. I won't stop. I can't stop.

Answer 5

Our society has changed- too much for the worse. There is now, "Hands off" parenting. Schools and teachers are blamed for what happens in the home and for not being able to change it when the child gets to school. There is a severe lack of parental support as well as blame being shifted.

Too much standardized testing- far too much.

Not enough money to provide what teachers need to teach. I teach with broken equipment and though I put in request after request- it never gets repaired. I'll do the best with what I have, but it's impossible when something is broken and is sitting in your classroom collecting dust all year. I teach in a poor area and what goes on in my school- with equipment, children's behavior, etc. would never be allowed in a school in the wealthier area of this city. Likewise, though the district professes that it's all equal in terms of what each school gets for money and resources- after visiting other schools here to teach and to take professional development- that is not the case.

The main problem in my school is discipline- the parents are young and have no idea on how to raise a chiod. They allow a child to stay up in the middle of the night and send that child to school. That child falls asleep during centers and the parents claim they put the child to bed early. I cannot tell you how often I pass the office and see kids sleeping in chairs. It's ridiculous. They are not being educated if they are asleep in the office.

The the person who claims putting the children ahead who wish to learn and the others behind- that would never happen here nor should it. If that were the case, I would have ended up in the latter class due to family history, etc. I put myself through college and it took 6 years but I had the need to do it for myself after being on my own at a young age. It is never fair to limit a child...not ever!

I could go on and on and on.....

Answer 6

I live in Missouri and graduated from high school 4 years ago. I say the problem with our education system (at least in high school) is that too many students and parents complain about the requirements to graduate, that they make it way to easy. Since I've graduated, they have taken away at least 2 of the requirements I had to fill, and they weren't hard. People complain to make things easier, but then complain when they get to college that it is too hard. High school prepares you for college, but when people want to alter that, it just screws things up in the long run.

Answer 7

I have my son in private school. And i love it. He is challenged and does very well.

I put my daughter in public school for K. I was very disappointed. The reason I did so was because it was 3 blocks from my home, I thought she might be more at ease. They moved a new teacher in after 6 weeks making 6 K classes instead of 5. My daughter was one they moved, and the "NEW" teacher was horrible. She picked on a few kids all year. She was very immature.

She did little things that i found bad. For example. she sent home a note saying if your child wanted a school logo shirt, to send the money that Friday. I did. And she sent me a note home 2 weeks later and said she had put the wrong date on the letter and she put the money in her desk and forgot it , on the real day.... said sorry. My daughter was crushed. All her friends had one. and this was not the only time in the year.

She sent home lots of homework, and notes with alot of things spelled wrong. If you called her with a concern she didnt seem to care. I talked to several other parents that she had taught and we talked to the administration and they are not employing her next school year.

But that was enough for me. I am sending my daughter to private school with her older brother ( hes 15 now) for the new school year.

I am involved with them and the school. Im in indiana.

Answer 8

that school districts are funded from local taxes. say you live in an upper middle class neighborhood where everyone makes more money, has large houses, etc. more money from your taxes are going into the schools. therefore more opportunities for the children.
if you live in a low income neighborhood there's obviously much less money going into the schools.
with that kind of inequality, there's bound to be problems. i'm sure some schools in areas of poverty still use extremely outdated books as they can't afford to replace them. while other schools have state of the art technology.

Answer 9

There is so much wrong with the school system nation wide. Look at all the people on here that obviously can't speak or write.

Answer 10

Short answer : there is alot wrong with the public school system. Yes, I have children in school ( TEXAS) 1 going into 1st grade & 1 starting public pre-k. They could improve by, actually teaching the kids who want to learn ( yes make seprate classes for " just some where to be kids" & " want to learn kids") amazingly the kids would actually learn at their thought level. ( bright kids would not be held back & not so bright kids would not be "pushed through")