schools, the new american prisons

[loyek590]

Increasing funding makes about as much sense as increasing federal student loan aid. Both sound good but do nothing to address real world problems. Universities have shown a mafia-like ability to vacuum up any increases in student aid. So no wonder democrats support it. Giving taxpayer money to their favored constituencies is their principle objective after all.

For public schools, particularly high schools, the problem is not money but direction. There is way too much federal direction, leading to results like the inability of schools to discipline minority trouble makers lest they run afoul of the DOE and race hustlers.

I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we need a two tier euro approach to secondary education. Pretending that every student is in a college prep program is a disaster. Around the tenth grade, we should give them an option of diverting from an academic school to a trade school, where they will actually learn somethng useful. As it is, many drop out with nothing or get a meaningless degree that they have trouble reading.

yes, the government does a reasonable job of handling small amounts of money we have pledged for the greater good. But when you give them more, nothing ever seems to improve.

and it's my own fault. I would rather just pay taxes and have the government take care of it than get involved.

 

[gwb-trading]

Increasing funding makes about as much sense as increasing federal student loan aid. Both sound good but do nothing to address real world problems. Universities have shown a mafia-like ability to vacuum up any increases in student aid. So no wonder democrats support it. Giving taxpayer money to their favored constituencies is their principle objective after all.

For public schools, particularly high schools, the problem is not money but direction. There is way too much federal direction, leading to results like the inability of schools to discipline minority trouble makers lest they run afoul of the DOE and race hustlers.

I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we need a two tier euro approach to secondary education. Pretending that every student is in a college prep program is a disaster. Around the tenth grade, we should give them an option of diverting from an academic school to a trade school, where they will actually learn somethng useful. As it is, many drop out with nothing or get a meaningless degree that they have trouble reading.

I agree with your "Euro approach"... Many students are not (four year) college material and would be better off being placed in a trades program leading to a two year degree at a community college (or equivalent directly in high school after 10th grade).

I also support Charter schools. Charters have proven to be very successful when comparing similar demographics of students between charters and public schools. However my support of charters is limited to non-profit charters, not to the for-profit charters which appear to be greedy organizations not focused on student success IMO.

 

[zdreg]

not to the for-profit charters which appear to be greedy organizations not focused on student success IMO

a free market in education would eliminate these schools.
further not for profit is a meaningless phrase in many contexts as the people who run these organizations benefit mainly themselves and their colleagues.

 

[gwb-trading]

a free market in education would eliminate these schools.
further not for profit is a meaningless phrase in many contexts as the people who run these organizations benefit mainly themselves and their colleagues.

Keep in mind that the majority of the top 100 high schools in the U.S. are non-profit charter schools that do not have associated scam organizations that profit the founders & associates. For example in our city, Raleigh Charter is known for its excellence in education.

The scam charter schools that make the news are the ones organized as "non-profits" who then buy books, furniture, and leased space from for-profit companies owned by the founders. These situations are simply scams and deserve their negative press.

 

[Fractals 'R Us]

These schools suck. They are atheistic by their rules but essentially are enforced paganism the way it plays out. Teachers can't punish psychopaths that love noting more than making life miserable and learning impossible for their fellow students. Teachers get beat up by thugs pretty often.

All these ideals about freedom and learning have to be coupled with discipline to suppress troublemakers. That's just a practical matter that the PC crowd is in permanent incurable denial about. Pagans are like that.

My daughter was in a little Christian school for a few years. I'd been through the public system with good grades and I was astounded at the level of stuff she was learning. I liked helping her with homework so I could learn something, seriously.

 

[wartrace]

I say we abolish the public school system we have in place and replace it with 100% online content. If we issued students a basic laptop computer and set them up using the Khan academy they would be much better off than in a school building.

Advantages:
Students would move at their own pace. The stupid would not hold back the smart.
No teachers to pay other than the content provider.
No multi million dollar school buildings to build and maintain.
No need to bus students to a central location.
No bloated school administration.

If you have children but choose to work and can't leave your kid at home you could pay for some sort of day care facility.
If you want your kid to participate is other activities you could join a county "club".

This plan would save taxpayers billions. Right now we spend about 10,000 dollars per year for each student. An adequate laptop every three years would cost 200 dollars per year. Currently the Khan academy is free but to be fair and make it more complete lets say we give them 1000 per yer per student. 1200 per year vs 10,000 sounds like a better deal.

 

[der_kommissar]

How very Orwellian.

You would be tripping over yourself to "like" it if one of your leftist buddies had posted the exact same thing...

 

[loyek590]

I say we abolish the public school system we have in place and replace it with 100% online content. If we issued students a basic laptop computer and set them up using the Khan academy they would be much better off than in a school building.

Advantages:
Students would move at their own pace. The stupid would not hold back the smart.
No teachers to pay other than the content provider.
No multi million dollar school buildings to build and maintain.
No need to bus students to a central location.
No bloated school administration.

If you have children but choose to work and can't leave your kid at home you could pay for some sort of day care facility.
If you want your kid to participate is other activities you could join a county "club".

This plan would save taxpayers billions. Right now we spend about 10,000 dollars per year for each student. An adequate laptop every three years would cost 200 dollars per year. Currently the Khan academy is free but to be fair and make it more complete lets say we give them 1000 per yer per student. 1200 per year vs 10,000 sounds like a better deal.

for the most part I agree, but I would keep the school building and teachers. Structured social interaction is an important part of growing up. (girls)

 

[ElCubano]

ha, ha, If adults are going to change based on how children behave there is no hope for us. I'm pretty sure I was about as shitty as any of these kids are today. Kids have always been the same. We were all bad. The only thing that has changed are adults.

That's not necessarily true. Kids have become more emboldened and teachers have had certain rights taken away from them creating a terrible environment. Many moons ago if I got sent home with a smack to the face from a teacher my dad would have beat the shit out me again. Now God forbid you touch a kid or reprimand him...the parents would be all over your ass.

 

[Ricter]

The elegance of the two tier model is that it feeds itself.

I say we abolish the public school system we have in place and replace it with 100% online content. If we issued students a basic laptop computer and set them up using the Khan academy they would be much better off than in a school building.

Advantages:
Students would move at their own pace. The stupid would not hold back the smart.
No teachers to pay other than the content provider.
No multi million dollar school buildings to build and maintain.
No need to bus students to a central location.
No bloated school administration.

If you have children but choose to work and can't leave your kid at home you could pay for some sort of day care facility.
If you want your kid to participate is other activities you could join a county "club".

This plan would save taxpayers billions. Right now we spend about 10,000 dollars per year for each student. An adequate laptop every three years would cost 200 dollars per year. Currently the Khan academy is free but to be fair and make it more complete lets say we give them 1000 per yer per student. 1200 per year vs 10,000 sounds like a better deal.

Would the Khan Academy teach students, no matter where those students live, the same curriculum, say, a common core?
; )