Public Education

#26
#26
#28
#28
therealUT said:
In my opinion, there are two viable options in which education in America can be improved:

1. Get rid of public education.

2. Keep public education and give the educators complete control over the students' environment. Yes, public schools should be boarding schools.
a. Private schools can still choose to be day-schools.
b. School vouchers should be offered for those who would rather send their child to private schools.
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Spent lots of time in public schools all over the country and overseas and I've seen both ends of the success spectrum.

I don't think the school needs to replace the family totally, but I do think the system needs to be updated to reflect today's reality. In Hawaii we had year round schools which meant you had a 1 week break in October, 4 weeks in Dec/Jan, 2 weeks in April and 6 weeks in June/July. Kids retained more and the longer holiday break reflected what a lot of workers experience. In Pa we have 10 weeks off in Summer, a week between Christmas and New Years, 4 days off in the Spring. Teachers love the long summer off, parents and kids suffer with it.

The biggest criticism I have with the American public education system is simply that the kids have very little time to focus on creative thinking and problem solving. In fact they have very little time to just sit and think and absolutely no time to assimilate anything they are supposed to be learning.

#2 is the unions, while necessary at one point, have become self-licking ice cream cones and made education more about the teachers, data, teaching techniques and student behavior--the students learning something is actually somewhere around 9th priority. Now, no teacher or administrator will agree with that and will point to the sacrifice they put in to teach the kids. But your priorities are shown by where you put your money and when I see a $100 million budget that has less than $50k for library books, $0 for new text books, and $50mill+ for teacher salaries and $500K for teachers to go to grad school it is clear where the priorities lay.

I would radically change the student's day by increasing physical fitness, music, art and other creative outlets as well as teach the core subjects in terms of pragmatic application. School would start with a physical component and finish with a quiet period where the kids could read classics, listen to music, write or simply sit and think. The day would be at least 8 hours so there would be enough time to focus on the subjects. It would also be somewhat self-paced so a kid who was reading or doing math at a higher level then others the same age could easily be challenged.

That's my rant for now.
 
#30
#30
Honestly if people are hell-bent on having a public education system, then within that framework the best way to improve it is by getting rid of the union (by banning public sector unions). That lady who just won Teacher of the Year in her state was laid off because she didn't have seniority. It's a joke.
 
#31
#31
therealUT said:
I told my brother to read "Old Man and the Sea"; I told him it was an easy read and was only 127 pages. He told me to just summarize it for him before he started up a conversation re: his latest video game. Good times...
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Maybe you can give me some insight into that book? I felt like I "got it" but couldn't understand why it's so popular.
 
#32
#32
utvolpj said:
better use of vocational schools instead of making sure every kid has a HS "diploma"
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Yes. My two oldest went to public school and while they are now out of college and successful, neither was truly prepared by the academics of either high school or college for what they are doing now. The oldest worked as a life guard and now runs the aquatic programs at the Boys and Girls Club in Knoxville. The other one got a degree in Psychology with a minor in languages and is now in the Air Force. You can say the technical training the AF ROTC provided was the key for her.

Now, I have 2 in 9th grade who are attending the county Technology High School, what we called VoTech in my day. One will graduate with his EMT Certification, Armed Security Guard License and Apprentice Fire Fighter Cert. The other will graduate with 3 different computer/networking certifications (MS, Novel, A+ I think). Both will also have enough traditional credits to qualify for most 4 year universities. They will have a choice to go to work, police or fire academy or on to advanced education. This is the way to go in my book.
 
#34
#34
nbakerld said:
Maybe you can give me some insight into that book? I felt like I "got it" but couldn't understand why it's so popular.
Click to expand...

I do not see it as brilliant as some make it out to be; it is certainly not on the level of anything by Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Austen, Dickens, etc. However, I like the theme that life is wholly futile yet there are still parts of it to love.
 
#35
#35
Will eventually be the USA's #1 cause for its' descent into mediocrity.
 
#37
#37
My thoughts on how to fix public education.

1. Bad teachers need to be fired.
2. We have to stop thinking that every child is on the path to college. Trade and vocational school options for students. We act like a skilled labor force would be a bad thing in America.
3. Inclusion for special education has to be changed/stopped.
4. Stream line administrative jobs. The school system doesn't need to pay a person 60,000 a year for planning breakfast and lunches for the year.
5. Overhaul the welfare system.
 
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#41
#41
YorkVol said:
Spent lots of time in public schools all over the country and overseas and I've seen both ends of the success spectrum.

I don't think the school needs to replace the family totally, but I do think the system needs to be updated to reflect today's reality. In Hawaii we had year round schools which meant you had a 1 week break in October, 4 weeks in Dec/Jan, 2 weeks in April and 6 weeks in June/July. Kids retained more and the longer holiday break reflected what a lot of workers experience. In Pa we have 10 weeks off in Summer, a week between Christmas and New Years, 4 days off in the Spring. Teachers love the long summer off, parents and kids suffer with it.

The biggest criticism I have with the American public education system is simply that the kids have very little time to focus on creative thinking and problem solving. In fact they have very little time to just sit and think and absolutely no time to assimilate anything they are supposed to be learning.

#2 is the unions, while necessary at one point, have become self-licking ice cream cones and made education more about the teachers, data, teaching techniques and student behavior--the students learning something is actually somewhere around 9th priority. Now, no teacher or administrator will agree with that and will point to the sacrifice they put in to teach the kids. But your priorities are shown by where you put your money and when I see a $100 million budget that has less than $50k for library books, $0 for new text books, and $50mill+ for teacher salaries and $500K for teachers to go to grad school it is clear where the priorities lay.

I would radically change the student's day by increasing physical fitness, music, art and other creative outlets as well as teach the core subjects in terms of pragmatic application. School would start with a physical component and finish with a quiet period where the kids could read classics, listen to music, write or simply sit and think. The day would be at least 8 hours so there would be enough time to focus on the subjects. It would also be somewhat self-paced so a kid who was reading or doing math at a higher level then others the same age could easily be challenged.

That's my rant for now.
Click to expand...

I agree with your whole post, especially the bolded section. Working as a teacher overseas, the quintessential skill students lack over here is creativity. Even though they might test better on standardized tests, they really lack the ability to apply those studies to the real world or the ability to think "outside the box". In my opinion, our students' creativity and immigration (drawing brainpower from all over the world) is the only thing keeping us afloat.
 
#42
#42
In my experience with engineering the one advantage American students have over Asian students is our ability to be creative and not focus every detail of every equation but on how to find solutions. They out study us all day. But we are creative. Americans are also much better at teamwork. (Of course this is bias to the US university system where the students are out of their element)

My biggest issue is with anti-intellectualism and women.
 
#43
#43
Teachers don't care about students.

Also, teachers don't have critical thinking. Everything is just facts now.
 
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