What should be done about education?

[slightlyovertaxed]

I am new, though I've been lurking a few months unregistered to get a feel for the forums, so if I'm in the wrong place, please direct me otherwise.

It's the time of year when all the testing happens and the reports about good vs. failing schools come out. I saw the Newsweek article on the FL ranking, the recent discussions about Utah's decision not to follow NCLB rules, the comments by Microsoft that there aren't enough Americans in science to choose from, etc. It's pretty clear that the education system is a mess on almost every front.

My question is, what is the best solution: If vouchers, will that help the number of religious schools that need to close because of declining enrollment (I'm thinking specifically of MA here, but I am guessing this is a nation-wide problem?) What about overcrowding in magnet schools?

If home-schooling, what's the best way to do this throughout the country? Should there be norms, thus defeating the purpose?

If public education...well, it's obviously not working, but is there any way to make it work? A socialist approach is hardly fair or rational. There's the issue of low motivation, low expectation in failing urban schools, coupled with teacher burnout and poor teacher training. There's the feel-good curriculum that neglects the basics...I read an awesome article on the newest version of math that talks about it, but I can't remember where or I'd post it.

Does every child have the "right" to an education. Constitutionally, I'm pretty certain the answer is no. Pragmatically, what do you think? Would an increase in vocational education be the solution to some of these issues?

I honestly am torn and, as someone who is looking into education as a field, I'm really and truly frightened of the world I may enter. Thanks in advance for your input!

[johnlaw]

Existing case law, as interpreting the 14th Am "liberty" clause, gives parents the right to control their children's education (along with rights of the family, procreation, privacy, etc.). But, there is nothing in the Constitution saying that anyone actually has the right to receive an education.
As for public vs. private or the fate of the education system in general, others within the forum can tell you a heck of a lot more than I can. As for going to college, however, if you are in a public school and you are not in the top 10% of your graduating class, then you better have a really good SAT score to get into one of the big universities. It seems like the universities have the same grim outlook on public education as many people do.

[MsJefferson]

What should be done?

First, the dept. of Education should be ABOLISHED, and then people should stop paying property taxes to support the drone mills that are the public schools, and then people can form private schools and teach whatever they want -- and pay for their kids to go there.

If people are too poor to pay, I'm sure that those who are concerned about uneducated children will volunteer time to educate kids.

And that would be the end of it.