Replies

You need to get the unions, overpayment and outrageous retirement pay out of public schools.
There should be a requirement for children to be able to sit, listen, participate and do the homework. Parents should be made to sit in classrooms with their children if they are constantly poorly behaved.

I think there should be a priority for American children to first be served and a second class tier of education for those who aren't here legally.
Maybe for them a tent with one teacher speaking their primary language who attempts to teach English and and that is it.

Allow up to half the amount paid to public school to go to private school vouchers for parents wanting that option and let the other half of the money go back to the general fund.
If public school can't then compete, then let them fold house and let private schools do it all with half the public funding now used IMO.

Talk to homeschooling parents. Find out why they are homeschooling, what their main complaints are, and what they are doing differently in their home schools.

When I was homeschooling several moms and dads asked me if I could please homeschool their child. Maryland law, at the time, restricted homeschooling parents to teaching **only** their **own** children.

But...Think about this. What if we gave children vouchers or tax credits? What if they were able to redeem in any school of their parents' choosing? Perhaps many parents would choose to have their children educated in their neighborhood, in the homes of their teachers. Essentially, we could have one-room school businesses that in many ways would resemble today's day care offered in the homes of many day care providers.

Perhaps private agencies could certify the "one-room" school teacher, do back ground checks, inspect the home, approve the curriculum, and test the students.

At one time in our nation nearly all children were home tutored by family, friends, relatives, and neighbors. The wealthy had home tutors or were educated in the homes of private tutors. And...It was **common** for youth to enter college in their early teens. ( My kids started college at the ages of 13, 12, and 13. Two finished B.S. degrees in math by the age of 18.) Any state wishing to balance their state budgets could offer a voucher for one third of what is being spent now on government education, and then close the government schools the next day and put the properties up for sale. Yes, there would be chaos for a year or two but parents would figure it out. One-room schools in the homes of neighbors would very likely be one of the solutions.

I really recommend that anyone who is truly interested in Why Johnny Can't Read read the third chapter of John Taylor Gatto's Underground History to American Education.

(Three links here: one to chapter three, one Gatto's website, and one to the Amazon listing for the book. The entire book is available on line at Gatto's website.)

ML/NJ