Posted on 10/13/2005 2:18:30 AM PDT by Arjun
NCLB militates against increased performance in practice because of its wrongheaded assumption that all children can be high acheivers.
I see it leading to even greater disruption in the classroom as the frustration level of those who must struggle just to maintain minimum passing grades will lash out at the closest targets of their perceived source of discomfort, the teachers and the innately apt.
All successful societies are stratified by nature and those that aren't don't remain successful.
The U.S. could be a world leader in life-extension science but might find itself in the curious position of leading the world in suicide, domestic violence and park-bench philosophy.
Gee Whiz technology gets us worthless devices made simply for mass entertainment as well as mass spectrometers designed to analyze the purity of the very air we seem to be determined to waste in simple pursuits.
What we really need is a new world, hostile and wild, one worth the taming.
This is definitely a cause for concern. Historically, as a country, we have idolized the entrepreneurial spirit and have encouraged risk taking while not fearing failure. The successful entrepreneur is an American hero who has always been richly rewarded.
I can't think of another country that has developed this as a defining element of their culture. My concern is that government could negatively impact this process by increasing regulation and taxation. At some point, our elected representatives are going to have to enact serious tort reform. The proliferation of frivolous lawsuits will most certainly stifle risk taking.
We are still the world leader in almost every area of technology. The direct impetus for technological innovation and progress is (and has always been) the entrepreneurial search for profits and a competitive economy.
schools need to revert back to how they were in the 50's.
discipline, uniforms, consequenses for non performance and
misbehavior, corporal punishment, homework.
the nation needs to reject the model of schools as extensions of the public square. deleterious influences
should be excluded from schools, and we need to appoint
judges who realize this.
You can say that again-- maybe next time with < b> < font size="4"> tags.
Libs like to whine about how we need more federal money poured into a supposedly failing US education system. They're telling the truth that they want our tax money, they're just lying when they say they think a US education is bad.
Sure, there's lots of conservatives who say US schools are bad and don't believe it too --Rush is a good example of a bad example-- but whether it's either double-think, hypocrisy, or flat out lying, IMHO it's stupid.
Lawsuit-happy trial lawyers are only part of the problem. Other problems are the public schools (students at expensive private acedemies do very well in such tests) and corporate America's culture of greed and entitlement. Like it or not, the business community is part of the problem.
>>It also doesn't help that there aren't many good science teachers in the K-12 schools.
The work rules requiring education degrees / certificates in order to teach really hamstrings the hiring of technically qualified people. People with math, science and engineering undergrad backgrounds should be able to go straight to a classroom to teach, with maybe a 6-week teacher training class. Getting the "Bulletin Boards 202"-type classes from an Education undergrad program is not necessary, but is now the sort of thing that is required in most states in order to teach K-12 in the gubmint skools.
>>schools need to revert back to how they were in the 50's. <<
No, the public school monoply must be replaced with freedom of choice through vouchers.
Correction: the "transnational" business community is part of the problem.
Sadly, to restore America to greatness it may take China to invade Taiwan so war breaks out. Overnight the Walmart imports stop, offshoring and H1-B visas stop, social spending growth stops, manufacturing takes off, real education is needed, serious investment in technology such as robotic weapon systems starts, everyone becomes focused on one objective. After the war, there is so much robotics technology that many people find new high paying jobs building and taking care of robots, and cheap third world labor becomes irrelevant.
It's too bad this can't happen without war to focus us. I wish there was a way to induce this behavior without war.
Victoria's Secret recently developed as machine that produces a bra out of a single piece of material. And, as any high school boy can tell you, a bra is a very complicated piece of clothing.
If this type of development keeps up, then it may bring some manufacturing back to the u.s. though how much, I couldn't say.
For the most part, we ain't seeing these jobs coming back. We're now in an "all or nothing" mode. The days of a "nice" job with security are over.
So until equilibrium is reached what would you propose to do?
Where did I say all schools need be public?
I attended a private school in the 50's.
One correction, Willie. For example Korea has much more advanced Internet access, thanx to goverment policies.
What makes these committee members think they can engage in economic planning any better than the Soviets could?
South Korea has 48 million people crammed into an area that's about the size of Indiana.
With a population density that concentrated, it's pretty easy to provide "widespread" internet infrastructure.
"I read recently where Microsoft stated that Indian Engineers were good at structure, but were unimaginative, and were not able to "think outside of the box". For this reason, most of their real R&D is still located in Redmund. "
And in redmond a third of their employees is Indian. So the "Indians cant think outside the box" argument doesnt hold water. Plus most of the jobs created in the US economy dont need genius level folks anyway. They are fairly pedestrian jobs.
When you have to compete with Third World wages, the engineering degree might be as valuable as Black Lesbian Studies.
Stopping h1b visas will not accomplish anything. The wage differential will still prevail. In my company they have stopped hiring h1bs several years ago and now they are simply moving the work to India. They have not hired anyone all of last year.
The only way for the wage differential to reduce is the decline in the US dollar. Let the asian currencies appreciate 30% and then the whole outsourcing logic comes to a standstill. The dollar needs to depreciate fast even if that means some inflation. Alan greenspan isnt getting it though.
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