Illegal immigrants only increase this dismal statistic.
As do legal immigrants even if they are supposed to speak English.
Our schools are churning out illiterates at an alarming rate. I see it everywhere I look. Even websites trying to sell their wares either don’t effectively proofread their text or don’t know how to recognize spelling and grammar errors when they see them. I’ve seen news articles...lots of them...with errors I would never let get by me.
Then look at the comments section below many news articles...atrocious...forum posts too. People don’t know how to use even common, simple words and punctuation.
To, too and two...
There, their, they’re...
Im better then that...THAN dammit...and where’s that apostrophe???
Plurals DO NOT require an apostrophe. It’s “two cars”, not “to car’s.”
And don’t get me started on Internet shorthand...
It’s depressing. And these are the people who will be running this country in a few years. How the hell do they think they can run a company if they can’t even SPELL it? And even worse, we’re seeing a more technologically oriented workplace every day. Computers are already required even for doing homework. And we’re churning out uneducated dimwits whose only use for a computer is youtube and facebook.
Education is one of my pet peeves. I learned to read at age 4, by age 10 I was reading my uncles’ college textbooks. (Yes that’s a possessive plural not a typo) I keep my spell checker between my ears. Most people don’t even bother to use the one built into their browser...That red squiggly line is there for a reason. I do pay attention to it, the thing catches tons of typos...and once or twice a month a word I don’t actually know how to spell...
WHY???
Laziness. Incompetence. Apathy...
And politics...Florida set up a voucher system a few years ago, if you didn’t like your kids’ school, you could turn in your voucher, send your kids to a different school, and your portion of tax funding would go to that school. In 2 years Florida was seeing a marked improvement in education. Why? Competition. Suddenly schools had to compete for funding, they had to actually do a good job, education improved as a result. So the teacher’s union filed a lawsuit and SHUT IT DOWN...The damn teachers, who are supposed to be interested in educating kids, shut down the best program yet for improving education...sickening...
Looks like they’re trying it again though, and maybe it will get some traction. According to a quick look at a few headlines, it’s still being challenged, but hasn’t been killed yet. And of course, is being challenged by the Florida Education Association and PTA...
http://dailycaller.com/2015/01/27/florida-school-voucher-expansion-yielding-results/
The previous version, shot down in 2006, is reported here
http://www.ij.org/florida-school-choice-latest-release
Note the 2nd paragraph:
The Court ruled in an opinion drafted by Chief Justice Barbara Pariente that Opportunity Scholarships violate the Florida Constitution’s “uniformity” clause, which guarantees all Florida students a “uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools.” The Court declined to rule on a separate claim by teachers’ unions and other school choice opponents that Opportunity Scholarships violate the state Constitution’s Blaine Amendment.
Teacher’s unions and other school choice OPPONENTS...nice job teachers...
I only read a couple of articles, but it seems other locations are starting to try similar programs, which makes sense. What encourages improvements in performance better than a little competition? And of course, the people who are supposed to be dedicated to educating your kids are against it...
And people wonder why I’ve said for years this is not a world I would want to bring a kid into...