What is going on with American education?

Question

After watching shows like "Stupid in America," No Child Left Behind, and personal observation...well let's just say that my children will never set foot in a public school. How can we possibly cut through the red tape to just educate our children?!?!?

Answer 1

It is the dumbing down of America syndrome. People fault the education system, yet they are spending more and more tax dollars on it. The real problem is that or "educators" are more about teaching kids about liberal demagogue ideas, instead of the basics to self preservation in a corporate world. Most of these bloggers on this site couldn't tell you how our own government is run. They think the President of the United States has a say in which bridge gets government money.

Answer 2

I don't blame you for being cynical about public education. I'm a teacher and I see what has happened to our schools.
The right can blame it on the "liberal unions" or whatever they choose, the left can blame it on the tax structure set up by the right.
We need to quit playing the blame game and fix our schools. There needs to be more parent education going on and less administrators (without teaching experience) telling teachers how to do their jobs.
With a h.s. drop out rate at 50% in some school districts and considering US schools are ranked smack in the middle out of 23 developed nations, something must be done. There is enough affluence in this country to guarantee a good education for every child in America. It has to be a priority and at this point it's not. Most teachers agree that mr. bush's "No child left behind" is a failure.
What's the answer? I wish I knew. In California, a HUGE amount of the $$ spent is going to educate illegal immigrants. I want everyone to get an education, but I also expect everyone to pay their fair share.

Answer 3

If you watched Stupid in America you also know the solution.

1) Competition: Allow people to use voucher to pick the school their kids go to
2) Work with the teachers unions to allow for the firing of bad teachers faster
3) Pay increases make it worth while for the best and brightest to be teachers
4) Move away from "Education" as a Major in college. Instead make people major in what they want to teach and minor in education
5) Teach ethics and responsibility in schools
6) Eliminate the obsession with self esteem: i.e. when a students answers two plus two with five, that is a wrong answer. tell the kid that, don't tell them there is a "better answer".
7) While we are too heavy on standardized test there should be one general nation wide exam at the end of each school year for promotion.
8) Stop allowing 16 years old to leave school. Raise the age to 18 and demand a High School education the same way as we demand an elementary school one
9) Merit rewards for good teachers and good schools
10) Allow neither the right nor the left to dictate what Children should learn, Set national standards and stick to them
11) Fund Public Schools on a national sales tax not on a property tax.

Answer 4

That's probably as informative as some Michael Moore or Al Gore movie. Its one sided and focused on their opinions only.

There are plenty of very good public schools and a few bad ones. I didn't go to a very good public school but my parents taught me to work hard and made me do all my homework. Education is as much about a parent teaching kids as the schools teaching. Most cities have schools of choice. In Michigan it means you can go to any school in your county. You just need to apply for it, transport your kids to the new school and hope you get accepted. I'll guess that over 80% of the people on here went to public schools. You want to see both sides of a public school system.

Read up on Bloomfield Hills Michigan schools (some of the best around public or private) and Detroit Michigan schools (some of the worst in the nation). The 2 districts are no more than 5-10 miles apart in distance and worlds apart in the education you get.

Answer 5

According to cretins above, cutting education funding and raising tuition (Republican standards) apparently has been good for education.


Dude makes a good point. And it would be much easier for parents to get involved if they both didn't have to work to support the tax suckers who are from both parties. It's just that the republicans steal orders of magnitude more.

The no child left behind scam is a religion based failure from, where else, Texas.

I think that the dumbing of America is intentional. Look at how easily those who do not think jump on slogans for the neocons.

Answer 6

Your children will get out of public school what they put in it. The problem with education is not the schools, the teachers (OR the Unions), the books, or anything else. The problem is a lot of kids don't care, and neither do their parents. Until they do, all the money spent will go down the drain.

Answer 7

The biggest problem with our school system is the parents. Until the problem of parents not being more involved in their child's education and disciplining their kids instead of being "friends" with them, the problems in education will never improve.

Answer 8

The liberals have convinced the republicans that throwing money at failing educational systems works.

That was in the 1970's and ever since the republicans are trying to convince the democrats it's not working.

Obviously they're fighting an uphill battle by trying to educate democrats who are products of the failing public school systems.

Answer 9

The problems lies in a culture that devalues teachers, education, and, promotes TV, computer games, two income family's, and irresponsible parenting

Answer 10

People like you who believe every thing they see on TV and abandon public schools, are a good part of the problem with Education. "Educated" people, know how to discern fact from propoganda, clearly, you don't.