Posted on 04/22/2008 7:45:52 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
The nation’s future may depend on how well we educate the current and future generations, but (like the renovation of the nation’s infrastructure, or a serious search for better sources of energy) that can wait. At the moment, no one seems to have the will to engage any of the most serious challenges facing the U.S.
An American kid drops out of high school every 26 seconds. That’s more than a million every year, a sign of big trouble for these largely clueless youngsters in an era in which a college education is crucial to maintaining a middle-class quality of life — and for the country as a whole in a world that is becoming more hotly competitive every day.
Ignorance in the United States is not just bliss, it’s widespread. A recent survey of teenagers by the education advocacy group Common Core found that a quarter could not identify Adolf Hitler, a third did not know that the Bill of Rights guaranteed freedom of speech and religion, and fewer than half knew that the Civil War took place between 1850 and 1900.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
What is most significant about the results of this survey is that it doesn’t most surprise people. And I don’t blame students for dropping out of those prisons-with-textbooks.
It’s the parents of the United States who need to drop out by opting for alternatives to public education.
Better throw some more cash on the fire...
Good one. As bad as the schools were when I was in them, they didn’t produce results like this. And they spent far less money and assigned considerably less homework.
It’s hard to blame the factory schools for their “failure,” when they are accomplishing exactly what they were set out to accomplish, namely, churn out people who were non-thinking automatons, able to perform menial tasks and never question authority or their place. John Taylor Gatto talks all about this.
I’ve read his work too, and it’s very significant. The message is beginning to get out. The only question is, Is it too little, too late?
Hm. I wonder why.
Instead of teaching things of substance, we have art classes that have assignments that direct students to do something that will “encourage discussion”, resulting in a student placing American flags on the floor to get people to walk over them.
Not kidding, folks...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2002430/posts
An educated people are a people hard to control and disposed towards liberty. By dumbing down the citizenry, the establishment is acting in self-interest: it’s much easier to retain power over an ignorant, dependent people.
BS Alert! Stop reading any article that defies the laws of economics.
Very true. The best way to do that is to give them schoolwork that is so boring, senseless, and time-consuming, they learn to hate learning. And the schools do a very effective job of that.
I’m not a big Bill Gates fan, but based on his commments in this article, maybe we should make him education czar. He can’t possibly do any worse.
It’s not about boring work or students hating learning. Hell, I hated school and hated homework and it all was so boring. Yet, I still managed to love college and grad school and have wonderful memories of high school and grade school. My parents valued education and taught their children to value it.
Far too many parents don’t value education, don’t care about anything other than their son or daughter being *happy* and having *good self esteem*. Parents allowed the schools today to be what they are and parents still have a voice if they choose to open their mouths.
The biggest problem with public schools, heck schools in general, is parents. It’s all about the home and far too many parents use schools as the teacher, babysitter, police office, psychiatrist, and parent. Parents don’t want to parent their kids.
I disagree. The biggest problem is teacher's unions.
First, they keep us from getting rid of the bad teachers.
Second, they promote socialist causes in the schools and begin the brainwashing process. They poison our entire society.
Just so we can supply the Democrats with votes and the Republicans with campaign cash from their business constituents.
I agree that teacher unions suck. And, they do keep us from getting rid of bad teachers. They also protect innocent teachers from accusations of abuse. Our society today is so whacked out, especially when it comes to abuse accusations, it’s the one area I support when it comes to unions.
Teachers shouldn’t be unionized.
Yes, they do promote socialist/lib causes. Much of the dues go to promoting these lib causes. It’s up to teachers to stop this, imo. We’re trying to do this in this area now. We’re not a right to work state but I’ve learned that some states don’t have the NEA or any other teacher union.
It’s up to teachers and mostly parents to stop the socialist agenda so prevalent in some areas today.
I agree the NEA, at least here, promotes all of the socialist agenda and it’s up to parents mostly to stop it. Some of us are fighting this. The bottom line is no matter how socialist it is, it’s up to parents to parent their kids and no kid will be sucked into it if the home life doesn’t promote it also.
Of course they TRY to brainwash, but again, it won’t happen to those with families/parents who won’t allow it to happen.
They try to brainwash the homo agenda, or the socialist agenda in college too. Strong people can’t be brainwashed by some teacher or some system.
Parents are giving up their rights and their responsibilities and this is the society we get.
High school, middle school, even elementary school kids can’t be brainwashed if it’s not allowed in the home.
I’m all for fighting the *agenda* and it needs to be fought, but the bottom line is no kid will be brainwashed if they have a solid home life. Take tv. Have you seen what they show on kids shows today? Or music. Hell, anything. If parents parent their kids, the kids won’t be brainwashed by any of this crap.
We see casual/random sex being portrayed as ok. We see homos being portrayed as normal. It’s sort of difficult to even watch any tv show today without this message being shoved down our throats. Even the kid shows. Bottom line is parenting.
The homos and libs want to get to the kids earlier because they learned once they reach middle and high school, they can’t change them. So now they’re focusing on elementary school. We have to stop it but the bottom line is still normal people won’t consider this stuff normal.
My little kids, the 10 yr old, sees two men holding hands or two women kissing and she’s “eewww, gross” and it doesn’t matter what anyone else says.
We have too many today who just don’t care and too many parents who don’t want to parent their kids.
I agree, the unions are socialist and promote socialist causes. It’s up to parents and teachers to stop it. Too many just don’t care.
This is true too, unfortunately. And we continue to allow this to happen, dictating everything.
I disagree. The biggest problem is teacher's unions.”
Sorry, but you're logically and morally wrong. Parents have ultimate responsibility for the education of their OWN children. If they're putting their kids in failing schools, and leaving them there to fail, it's the fault of the parents. Parents are most certainly the worst problem facing public education today. Lazy, stupid, narcissistic, and unconcerned parents are a plague on our schools, and on our society.
That being said, we could completely fix the problem with parenting tomorrow and the public schools would still be a disaster for the rest of time. Inasmuch, while you are wrong, you are also right.
Teacher's unions should be banned, by law, and never allowed to exist in public education again. Nothing speaks worse of a teacher's belief in their own ability and professionalism than their belief that only a union can ensure their job security and negotiate their pay. Teacher's unions are the most significant evil in schools today. They serve only to the detriment of children. And nothing that works to protect the job of a bad teacher should be allowed to operate in PUBLICALLY FUNDED SCHOOLS!
“Far too many parents don’t value education, don’t care about anything other than their son or daughter being *happy* and having *good self esteem*. Parents allowed the schools today to be what they are and parents still have a voice if they choose to open their mouths.
The biggest problem with public schools, heck schools in general, is parents. It’s all about the home and far too many parents use schools as the teacher, babysitter, police office, psychiatrist, and parent. Parents don’t want to parent their kids.”
I agree. But there are some that won’t no matter how right you are.
Yes. The easiest, most efficient, and least expensive way to have transformational public school reform is for every family that can homeschool to do so.
The homeschooled kids will get a great education and the government schools will figure out that they’ve got to compete for students-—by increasing quality.
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