K-12 Education: Bad Deal for America

I confess I haven't read this whole discussion, but I want to respond to the above statement. First, I am not conservative, nor particularly liberal. Years ago when I was a young teacher and Bush One mentioned dissolving the U.S. Dep't of Ed. I thought the idea outrageous. Many years later, I'm pretty close to agreeing with him, and some of you have touched on this already.

First of all, it is pretty clear that the Constitution leaves education to the states. The feds got involved at first through the courts with Brown v. Board of Ed. This was probably a necessary step in light of the racism and segregation at the time. This led to forced bussing which had potential but caused other problems, including costs. Since then the federal government has pushed unfunded or poorly-funded mandates on local school districts ad nauseum.

IDEA (special education) grew out of the civil rights movement, and was intended to protect the rights of students with disabilities. That's where the idea of FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education) came from, and all those labeled disabled are entitled to FAPE. But, and this is a huge BUT, there is nothing in the law that entitles the rest of the population to a free and appropriate public education, and it can be argued that, as some of you have pointed out, unbalanced allocation of funds due to special education law at times harms so-called "regular" education.

Then comes Title IX and Section 504 and...the newest being Bush Two's NCLB (No Child Left Behind). It is ironic to me that Bush One wanted to dissolve the U.S. Dep't of Ed., and then Bush Two signed the most invasive, under-funded education legislation in history. Obama's policies have been relatively hands off in comparison, and in fact, the Obama administration has tried to roll back some of the absurd provisions of NCLB.

Now, I'm a union member, and I make no apologies about the fact that I'm a member for self-preservation. They provide liability insurance, and will go to bat for me in the event some administrator wants to get rid of me simply because I'm over 50 and due to the current system I cost more than someone who is fresh out of college. The union protects me from ageism. That said, I'm not particularly happy about much of what the unions have done, and I don't believe districts should have to put up with incompetent teachers. They can and always have been subject to due process, and some teachers, if the administrators are willing to stick their necks out, have always been subject to losing their jobs. But this is an aside...

My point is that due to federal (and state, but especially federal) interventions on the one side, and unions on the other, most school principals have relatively little control over how their own schools are run. Their hands are tied. Add to that superintendents and school boards who micromanage every move, well... The federal government has over-reached its scope when it comes to education, and they need to back off.

And speaking of school boards, Mark Twain wrote over a century ago: "First, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards."

Our education system is a failure of democracy, from local boards to WA D.C. Why? Because it doesn't matter if you're a local yokel on a school board or a heavily funded legislator in Washington, you very likely have little knowledge of the best research and practices that would make public education work so much better if educators just had the freedom to do it right.

After all, are not charter schools an attempt to use tax dollars to educate children without all of the constraints imposed by federal and state governments? Does it not seem ironic to conservatives that Obama and Duncan are strong advocates of charter schools - schools relatively free of government meddling?

 

Maybe my malfunction is due to Safari.

 

Students should write essays for tests, but it shouldn't be graded harder than multiple choice tests. It's a (*)(*)(*)(*)ing message board. I don't feel the need to have perfect grammar on here. I try to get my point across in the shortest amount of time possible.

That doesn't prove a (*)(*)(*)(*) thing. I don't double check my posts to see if there is a mistake because it is a waste of my time. Teachers do it all the time, too, and I bet I can single out one of your posts where you made a grammar mistake. I got a 36 on the English section of the ACT, and I don't need it anymore. I'll actually be doing something productive with my life, unlike you. I did fine in school. The teaching profession is taking it out on the parents, students, and government, so maybe you should look in the mirror instead of blaming others.

 

You define critical thinking.

 

According to progressive critical thinking methodology, correlation is causation.

 

Yes, we need to start with the idea that the education system has always been terrible. Even the school districts that are considered world class can be much better. However, I'd start with expanding the DOE.

 

You've been doing something productive? Such as what? Sitting in a cubicle writing reports no one reads? Working on ways to manipulate people into buying crap they don't need? Figuring out new and creative ways to game the financial system to make a profit by moving numbers on a page around?

I'm sorry, but the notion that private business is a paragon of hard work and productivity while public servants are lazy slackers is nothing but a crock. Sure, private industry does a lot of important, useful, productive things. But a large part of it is nothing more then a shell game that's entirely about jockeying for social status and trying to enlarge your bank account. That's not productive in any sense of the word. And frankly I'll be surprised if you've been doing anything half as productive as educating kids.

 

Everyone has been way off on their assumptions on this thread. I think the government can be more efficient than private businesses. I agree with you that those are problems that should be fixed. Hard work and productivity are basically antonyms. Teachers are very inefficient at educating kids.

I am a student. I study mechanical engineering, so I am sorry if I don't take too kindly to English teachers.

 

You didn't put a comma before "and." I thought you were an English teacher. You should get fired from your job.

 

You want to be an engineer (lol, like that's going to happen), and you want everything done for you since you don't want to think.

You won't get a job.

 

ROFLMAO!!!!! My apologies, I'm just so used to the usual conservative talking points around here. Better stand back guys. You thought that liberals and conservatives don't like each other? That's nothing. We have a real grudge match here - the engineering major and the English teacher. Libs and cons are bossum buddies by comparison.

 

Who said I didn't want to think? I actually liked to learn, unlike most students in primary and secondary school. I just wasn't interested in pointless classes like reading, English, music, art, etc.

 

Let's talk about something real, shall we? Just because you are not interested in something does not make it pointless. Without reading, English, music, and art my life would be a hollow shell.

 

Wasn't it you who said that critical thinking is a sham? I don't want an engineer who can't think for himself designing anything I use.

 

No, that was not me. I just said critical thinking should be graded differently than it currently is.

 

And how is it currently graded? You think it's "harder than multiple choice?" Is that it?

 

These classes should have very limited use in schools. I don't care if you pursue these interests in your spare time. I like reading books where you can learn something about how the world works. However, in school, I was forced to read fiction books. I like rock music. They don't teach that in most schools. I like movies. That doesn't mean I need to know how to paint. Engineering can be considered an art, as well. The point I'm trying to make is these classes don't belong in schools.

 

"If it's not something I like, I shouldn't have to learn it!"

You certainly sound like you're still in middle school.

 

It's graded harder than multiple choice, and part of the reason is a lot of teachers have no idea what they are talking about. Also, a lot of essay questions are about things I have no interest in, but that goes back to getting rid of the pointless classes.

 

Think about it. The entire system was designed when the majority of America was middle class, with 2 parent homes and the father making enough money for mom to always be there for the kids. The home dynamic has eroded into a nightmare. It is like the government issuing wagon wheels to fire houses for when their fire engines break down.

 

I don't like math that much, but I know it's important. If something doesn't serve a purpose for the advancement of society, I shouldn't have to learn it.

 

'advancement of society' is ambiguous. Why we waste time with subjects such as 'social studies'. It's far better for a person to know a whole lot about a few things, than a little bit about everything. The latter want has had control for half a century now and is doing us no favors. Find what each child excels at and flood them with it.

 

As a product of standard government education, of course you did. Actually I'm surprised you were able to read that far.

 

I think we need to set priorities in education. Art is on the list, but I think it would be worse for a child to not understand STEM type courses but have lots of art, instead of cutting out all of the art and have them understand STEM. It's not a vendetta against art, I like art, but at this point, schools are in such a bad way that we literally cannot afford to waste the time on things that aren't getting kids ready for the real world. Very few people can make a living off of art, most of us will work in either business or technology, so given limited funding, that's where we should concentrate.