Legend1104
07-03-2011, 12:13 AM
It is no secret that education in our society is in shambles in modern America. America consistanly falls in the bottom of the list of modernized countries in the area of education. Meanwhile, the television, Congress, and the White House is full of people who think they know the answers to fix this horrible problem. These people all know what is best even though none have ever been in a classroom as a teacher, adminstrator, or assistant. Oddly enough, the answers tend to be the same 3 things: more government control, more money, more technology.
Let me say one thing before I start. I am offering my views and advice as a current school teacher in one of our "wonderful" public schools. I in no way mean to imply that one must be a teacher in order to understand the problem, but I do stress the benefit of the incites that I have gained through my career. The first two on my list are obvious and well known to this forum. Therefore, I will list them first to get that out of the way. The other steps on my list deal with the major underlying problem facing our schools, value. This idea is so commonplace that it has been forgotten. Education in America has absolutely no value anymore when it comes to public schools. College education still holds value to many, but, as you will see, that has to do with the exact problems that I will address in the proceeding list. When we are able to restore value in education by ridding ourselves of those very policies that rob that value, we will see education in America become what was always meant to be. Let us begin.
1. First, get rid of the harmful teachers unions. Believe it or not, this is not as widespread of a problem as many think. I, for example, live in MS where there is not an official state recognized Teachers Union. That being said, unions are still a big problem in many states and I don't need to enumerate the problems they can create.
2. Get the federal government and state government out of the way. Local schools run by the communties and parents whose children attend them are the most responsible.
3. End mandatory school attendance. This idea of mandatory school attendance is now so commonplace that most think it is evil to even speak such a thing, but truthfully, many teachers that I talk to tend to agree. By ending mandatory attendance we are fixing one of the biggest mistakes in American education. Many kids today don't care about going to school and would prefer not too. What is the problem with that? Some would argue that they are too young to understand the danger of not getting an education. I recall a funny yet inciteful story about John Adams. When he was a kid his father sent him to school. He hated it and told his father that he did not want to go back. So, Mr. Adams told John ok, and said that he could come and work in the fields instead. The next morning he woke up John and made him work all day. At the end of the day Mr. Adams told John that if he didn't go to school he would be working in the fields instead. John immediately went back to school the very next day, studied hard, and became the man we read about in our history books that helped shape our nation. "Some parents don't care about their kids," some critics say, "and would not send them if it was not for the government." And? I don't see this as a problem that can really be fixed by the government. Even with mandatory attendance, dropout rates are still extremely high in this country. Futhermore, those that go against their will, tend to become distractions to those that want to learn. Therefore, mandatory attendance actually hurts more students than it helps. Yet, for those that still would prefer a less liberty/libertarian answer to this problem, I have another solution later in the list.
4. End the use of tax money for public schools. I see two possible options for this step.
One, the more libertarian answer: end all taxes for public schools. Allow a voluntary system to exist in which people that want to send students to school can, and my grandmaw does not have to skip her meds because she lost all her money paying taxes to support a kid she doesn't even know go to school and get an "F" because he doesn't even want to be there.
Two, the less libertarian and easiest to achieve answer: vouchers. Have all tax payers pay into the system. At the end of the year send them a voucher in the amount of the tax money they paid into the system. They can then use this voucher in any education manner they choose: homeschooling, public schooling, private schooling, private tutors, whatever. The voucher can only be used to pay tuition fees. They simply show proof that they are sending their kid to school and that is it. The voucher can only be exchanged if you have no student in school. It can then be applied as a tax break.
5.End the outdated, unworkable grade system. Many people that are not in education do not see the horrors of this problem. I did not understand how a kid could go 13 years in a public school and not learn how to read, until about a month into my first year as a teacher. Our public schools are based on the idea that a student is grouped according to age and not skills. Therefore, the ideal for success for a student is not acquiring certain skills or knowledge but rather passing on to the next grade. I am not lying when I tell you that I have personally witnessed administrators urging teachers to do everything in his/her power to pass a student. I have been at schools that never gave a grade lower than a “50” on anything. A student could turn in a blank page and teachers were instructed by the district to give at least a “50”. Passing at that time was a “60”! I have personally had to go back and allow students to make up missing assignments from months passed that they did not complete, even when it was out of nothing other than laziness. I have been told to stop giving homework, and have been reprimanded because I had too many failing students. Schools need to be restructured away from grade levels and towards skill levels. The curriculum needs to be reduced to skills and not content. They need to push a few basic skills on lower levels, and students should only be allowed to pass if they have reached no less than 85-90% proficiency. Smarter students would pass quickly and slower students would remain on the skills until they are successful as well. Even if this means that some students take years to pass the lower levels, it is still better than having them pass quickly and never learn to even read.
6. Divide the school system into 3 levels. If public schools are to remain in existence they should at least be able to work. Granted, under ideal circumstances they would be run and funded by communities like in the past, but we do not live in ideal circumstances.
6-1The first level is the primary level. This level could be open to any student that is willing to attend. It should focus only on basic skills: reading, writing, basic arithmetic, critical thinking skills, reasoning skills, and any other basic skill deemed important by parents and communities. History, Science, Gym, Choir, and Band should not be taught at this level when the basics are so much more important.
6-2 The next level should not be open to all children. Students that want to attend should be made to apply like in a college. Only students with the right skills would be accepted. This level would be further divided into two sub-levels. The first would be basic classes in history, science, literature, computer skills, and other basic area courses. Then they would each be given aptitude and interest inventory tests to determine what they are most interested in. In the second sub-level they would be allowed to choose an area of interest that is geared towards certain jobs and careers. The point of this level is to help students better develop an idea about what they want to do in life. Many students enter college without a single clue what they want to do. One of the main reasons is that they were never able to explore and pursue an area that interested them. Therefore, they never were able to develop any ideas about their future. This is far superior to just throwing every single class at a student and making them learn useless skills like chemistry or calculus when they are going to be a manager at McDonalds.
6-3 Level three would an offshoot of level 2. This level would be strictly career based and would resemble something closer to a vocational school than a typical high school. Students would enter this level in a certain area. I have not explored this idea in depth so I will just give an example. They could enter an area geared towards the sciences. They could be trained in anatomy, chemistry, health, and other health sciences. This student would then be well prepared to enter fields such as nursing, medicine, pharmacy, or other medical fields. They could become an apprentice of a trained trade skill teacher to learn about welding, electrical work, etc. This would prepare a student to ether go on to work in some trade. You get the idea.
I know this is long, but I believe that by following these 6 steps America could turn around this countries education and also produce an informed, freer society of people who are not slaves to the government. Even if you do not agree with the entirety of my assessment, I am sure that you will find that this approach is far superior and less egregious to our liberties than our current system. I look forward to your comments and suggestions.
Legend.
Let me say one thing before I start. I am offering my views and advice as a current school teacher in one of our "wonderful" public schools. I in no way mean to imply that one must be a teacher in order to understand the problem, but I do stress the benefit of the incites that I have gained through my career. The first two on my list are obvious and well known to this forum. Therefore, I will list them first to get that out of the way. The other steps on my list deal with the major underlying problem facing our schools, value. This idea is so commonplace that it has been forgotten. Education in America has absolutely no value anymore when it comes to public schools. College education still holds value to many, but, as you will see, that has to do with the exact problems that I will address in the proceeding list. When we are able to restore value in education by ridding ourselves of those very policies that rob that value, we will see education in America become what was always meant to be. Let us begin.
1. First, get rid of the harmful teachers unions. Believe it or not, this is not as widespread of a problem as many think. I, for example, live in MS where there is not an official state recognized Teachers Union. That being said, unions are still a big problem in many states and I don't need to enumerate the problems they can create.
2. Get the federal government and state government out of the way. Local schools run by the communties and parents whose children attend them are the most responsible.
3. End mandatory school attendance. This idea of mandatory school attendance is now so commonplace that most think it is evil to even speak such a thing, but truthfully, many teachers that I talk to tend to agree. By ending mandatory attendance we are fixing one of the biggest mistakes in American education. Many kids today don't care about going to school and would prefer not too. What is the problem with that? Some would argue that they are too young to understand the danger of not getting an education. I recall a funny yet inciteful story about John Adams. When he was a kid his father sent him to school. He hated it and told his father that he did not want to go back. So, Mr. Adams told John ok, and said that he could come and work in the fields instead. The next morning he woke up John and made him work all day. At the end of the day Mr. Adams told John that if he didn't go to school he would be working in the fields instead. John immediately went back to school the very next day, studied hard, and became the man we read about in our history books that helped shape our nation. "Some parents don't care about their kids," some critics say, "and would not send them if it was not for the government." And? I don't see this as a problem that can really be fixed by the government. Even with mandatory attendance, dropout rates are still extremely high in this country. Futhermore, those that go against their will, tend to become distractions to those that want to learn. Therefore, mandatory attendance actually hurts more students than it helps. Yet, for those that still would prefer a less liberty/libertarian answer to this problem, I have another solution later in the list.
4. End the use of tax money for public schools. I see two possible options for this step.
One, the more libertarian answer: end all taxes for public schools. Allow a voluntary system to exist in which people that want to send students to school can, and my grandmaw does not have to skip her meds because she lost all her money paying taxes to support a kid she doesn't even know go to school and get an "F" because he doesn't even want to be there.
Two, the less libertarian and easiest to achieve answer: vouchers. Have all tax payers pay into the system. At the end of the year send them a voucher in the amount of the tax money they paid into the system. They can then use this voucher in any education manner they choose: homeschooling, public schooling, private schooling, private tutors, whatever. The voucher can only be used to pay tuition fees. They simply show proof that they are sending their kid to school and that is it. The voucher can only be exchanged if you have no student in school. It can then be applied as a tax break.
5.End the outdated, unworkable grade system. Many people that are not in education do not see the horrors of this problem. I did not understand how a kid could go 13 years in a public school and not learn how to read, until about a month into my first year as a teacher. Our public schools are based on the idea that a student is grouped according to age and not skills. Therefore, the ideal for success for a student is not acquiring certain skills or knowledge but rather passing on to the next grade. I am not lying when I tell you that I have personally witnessed administrators urging teachers to do everything in his/her power to pass a student. I have been at schools that never gave a grade lower than a “50” on anything. A student could turn in a blank page and teachers were instructed by the district to give at least a “50”. Passing at that time was a “60”! I have personally had to go back and allow students to make up missing assignments from months passed that they did not complete, even when it was out of nothing other than laziness. I have been told to stop giving homework, and have been reprimanded because I had too many failing students. Schools need to be restructured away from grade levels and towards skill levels. The curriculum needs to be reduced to skills and not content. They need to push a few basic skills on lower levels, and students should only be allowed to pass if they have reached no less than 85-90% proficiency. Smarter students would pass quickly and slower students would remain on the skills until they are successful as well. Even if this means that some students take years to pass the lower levels, it is still better than having them pass quickly and never learn to even read.
6. Divide the school system into 3 levels. If public schools are to remain in existence they should at least be able to work. Granted, under ideal circumstances they would be run and funded by communities like in the past, but we do not live in ideal circumstances.
6-1The first level is the primary level. This level could be open to any student that is willing to attend. It should focus only on basic skills: reading, writing, basic arithmetic, critical thinking skills, reasoning skills, and any other basic skill deemed important by parents and communities. History, Science, Gym, Choir, and Band should not be taught at this level when the basics are so much more important.
6-2 The next level should not be open to all children. Students that want to attend should be made to apply like in a college. Only students with the right skills would be accepted. This level would be further divided into two sub-levels. The first would be basic classes in history, science, literature, computer skills, and other basic area courses. Then they would each be given aptitude and interest inventory tests to determine what they are most interested in. In the second sub-level they would be allowed to choose an area of interest that is geared towards certain jobs and careers. The point of this level is to help students better develop an idea about what they want to do in life. Many students enter college without a single clue what they want to do. One of the main reasons is that they were never able to explore and pursue an area that interested them. Therefore, they never were able to develop any ideas about their future. This is far superior to just throwing every single class at a student and making them learn useless skills like chemistry or calculus when they are going to be a manager at McDonalds.
6-3 Level three would an offshoot of level 2. This level would be strictly career based and would resemble something closer to a vocational school than a typical high school. Students would enter this level in a certain area. I have not explored this idea in depth so I will just give an example. They could enter an area geared towards the sciences. They could be trained in anatomy, chemistry, health, and other health sciences. This student would then be well prepared to enter fields such as nursing, medicine, pharmacy, or other medical fields. They could become an apprentice of a trained trade skill teacher to learn about welding, electrical work, etc. This would prepare a student to ether go on to work in some trade. You get the idea.
I know this is long, but I believe that by following these 6 steps America could turn around this countries education and also produce an informed, freer society of people who are not slaves to the government. Even if you do not agree with the entirety of my assessment, I am sure that you will find that this approach is far superior and less egregious to our liberties than our current system. I look forward to your comments and suggestions.
Legend.