Get rid of the children and maybe the parents will follow. The biggest problem, as I understand it is the school boards and superintendents. Maybe we can fire them and if there is still a problem, THEN we can get rid of the children and parents. After that, no more problems.

After being a substitute teacher in the Denver Public Schools, I have no idea the answer to this question. Being a sub was a bitch.

No.

Teach students how to read and write.

Allow the private sector to have a say and opportunity in it. Make it a "joint venture" and listen to what Americans have to say and give them a chance to do something about it. End government monopoly on education.

Get rid of the NEA for starters and getting the left to understand that no matter how much money you pump into the system,  things will not change until things change at home! If you send an ignorant, undisciplined kid to school at 8, an ignorant, undisciplined kid will come home at 3:30.  E.g. Washington D.C. spends more money per child than any school district in the nation and they constantly finish last in test scores!

The left and right have killed schools by turning them into political footballs. . .let teachers teach, give schools the power to fail kids and kick them out which will force parents to be more interested in their kids education. . .A school cannot function if it is powerless due to being pushed around by parents, politics, and political correctness.

Pay teachers to teach, pay aides to help, pay top-level administrators less (they make way too much, just like CEOs), and get proper help to students with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. That is a start, and hopefully a good one. A very complex issue, too much so for a quick fix. Another brilliant idea is equal funding. No more haves and have nots when it comes to spreading around the tax dollars we pay in.

Ending it. The private sector would quickly fill the vacuum left. And the education provided would be superior to the mediocrity doled out by the federal and state governments. It would cost less, educate better, and more fairly place the burden of cost upon those who freely decide to have children. "Free" public schooling in America is a dinosaur that is producing some of the least educated and informed students to be found in any of the developed nations.

The most sensible solution seems to be restoring power and flexibility back to the states. The federal government has become far too intrusive in the admininstration of our nation's public schools, largely due to the strict formula and lack of flexibility that comes with the use of federal funds by localities for education purposes. Certainly steps need to be taken to ensure that federal dollars are being used appropriately, but even in poorer school districts, federal money at most makes up just 10-15% of a school's budget, with the remainder of the funding coming from state and local revenue sources. Surely it makes little sense logically for the federal government, which contributes relatively little to a school's overall budget, to make ALL of the decisions. A proper balance between regulation and flexibility must be instituted to ensure that federal funds devoted to certain programs are being used appropriately, but that school districts are given the flexibility to use such monies in a more round-a-bout way to accomplish the goal of the specific program. An easy way to solve this would be to consolidate the 50+ federal programs that are best run at the state level in order to maximize efficiency. One huge lump sum payment to states would allow them to use the money as they see fit, but states would still have to account for the use of those funds. The past has shown that one size DOES NOT fit all in education, and the federal government must realize this and grant localities much more flexibility in administering the public education system.

There is no practical solution to this problem. Parents, as a whole, are not going to change, they are going to be busier. Teachers, as a whole, are not going to change, their raises are set by contract, their retirement plan is in place, their unions are enormously strong, entrenched solidly with the democrat party and a critical support bloc. Kids are not going to change except to become more artifically stimulated by TV, by more and more risque programming at a progressively early age. Taxpayers will continue to complain about how high their taxes are, every year, and what do we get from it, and they will continue to pay them every year. Take care of your kids, make more money 'cause you're gonna need it, and get ready to participate in the long, slow decline in education in America. Depressing.

Return discipline to the schools. Parents and principals need to have the authority to paddle unruly children when necessary. Today, a kid can smart off at a teacher, disrupt class, and laugh right in the teacher's face, because she is not allowed to do anything about it and he knows it. I'm married to a teacher and have witnessed it many times. Once I even saw a student punch her with his fist. Some of these kids will say to their teachers, you can't do anything to me, or my parents will sue you. They told me so. And yet.....everyone seems to blame teachers for low performance. How can they teach if some wild kid is given carte blanche to ruin everything she tries to do? And how can she teach well when she has to spend so much time filling out insane government forms telling who is black & who's white, and who gets the free lunches, and all kinds of other red tape that has nothing to do with getting a sound education?

I agree with President X-D. Public schooling should not exist in the first place. That is the biggest problem. Competition is needed to provide the best education. Also under a private system, there can be a variety of schools that cater to specific interests. You can have schools that allow religion, schools that offer no religion, schools that only teach certain subjects, etc. Instead of paying those high taxes, you could pocket that money and send your kid to a school of your choice. A few things about education: More money has not helped academic performance. Studies show no correlation between smaller class sizes and better education. Teacher's unions are have a very negative effect on education as well, as it has become difficult to fire poor performing teachers.

Probably no single answer, although I totally agree with other reviewers who feel that stricter discipline is necessary. I don't mean that kids should be beaten or yelled at, but standards should be enforced by teachers as well as by the school management (i.e., the principal). I had an experience once as a substitute where a student mouthed off and basically said he wasn't going to listen to what I told him to do; the principal wanted to avoid the issue, so I told him either the kid got suspended or I wouldn't substitute any more - the principal tried to negotiate that with me, but ultimately suspended the student. I had no problems with any kids in that school after that. There also has to be a return to basics - it is apalling how many middle schoolers and high schoolers just cannot spell, not to mention use proper grammar. These same kids are the ones who lack parental guidance and encouragement at home, who don't do homework, and who generally view school as drudgery or as a joke. Teachers and principals have to get support from parents and the community, and not have the threat of lawsuits guiding their every decision.

i don't know if my suggestions will reform the system, but i think that they will definitely improve the educational system as it now stands. first of all, most parents are not as involved in their children's education as they should be. with more parental involvement, attendance, participation, and grades can't help but be improved. next of all, there needs to be more discipline in the public school system. the kids today are able to get away with behavior that i wasn't able to get away with when i was in school. in a sense, students should have some fear of their teachers and the consequences of their actions. last of all, teachers should be rewarded by their student's excellence, and should be paid more that teachers who are less successful in educating their students.

First off, schools need to move from the pathetically-small buildings they are to massive technological abodes of learning. They should have the latest technology, from desks with built-in computers, scanning devices, automatic doors, and much more. Next, these teachers that are helping their students cheat need to be given the boot. Disipline must return. There are two ways to do this. Part 1 is to actually give the law-abiding students the awards they deserve. Instead of the bad kids getting all of the attention, the good kids should be given rewards (possibly financial?) for not breaking rules, attendance (when not related to medical and family problems), and good grades. On the other hand, teachers can't fear their students any more. With an advanced security system and trained School Guards, evil students can be villanious no more. Also, middle and high schools desperately need a recess, complete with playgrounds!

Larger salaries for teacher, more educated teachers, smaller class sizes and more challenging course work on all levels.

For once I will make my opinion perfectly simple and clear: hire more teachers (and ones who actually know about what they're teaching). The lower the ratio of students to teachers, the more individual attention each student can recieve. This has been the case with my grades and usually the case of the people I've grown up with.

Here's part of the answer, but not the answer in full: I don't know what would help our public schools reform completely: 1) STOP TREATING TEACHERS LIKE CRAP. If a student gets a grade he/she doesn't like, all he/she has to do is threaten to sue the school system, and the administrators give them an A, even if they've never done a shred of homework. When a teacher tries to do their job, they are undermined by the school system, who will do anything not to get sued, and by the students, who see that they can get whatever they want by hiring a lawyer. 2) Stop teaching children how to take tests. All this emphasis on the SATs and other tests makes students and teachers spend more time on testtaking skills rather than things like math or literature. Why are children busy taking classes on how to take the SAT when they should be studying the actual subjects on which the test is based?

Private Accommodations within Public Schools: Since the 1948 SC ruling, all private education must be done off school grounds was an over-reaction to a complaint about unwanted exposure to affinities created by private religious classes. Offenses such as school approval of private teachers and general fees applied to private classes made the case. This clearly overstepped separation. Are vouchers the only solution or, for one class out of 5, can the parent opt to pay for private instruction? Today, most states use a Released Time provision in response to this SC ruling to allow a private class to be held one day a week off of school grounds. This is disruptive to a student's normal public education and is seldom used. Imagine public schools sanction an area to be rented by private groups to allow the student's schedule to mesh with private instruction at this adjunct facility. A parent would pay the rent of this room and the cost of the instructor. This would allow the parent a proxy observer into their child's welfare within the public school system as well as provide requisite moral training only properly handled within private instruction. Once the parent bears a portion of the expense, greater participation should be expected. Rather than seeing this as a camel's nose under the tent, it should be seen as a logical means of providing moral and spiritual guidance children are lacking. The parent would have full choice in the matter. Separation should not be viewed as freedom from religion, but rather as freedom to determine the religion taught to their child. Moral guidance and inspiration offered by a private instructor could never be matched that of a civil servant. A civil servant is not free to make and break rules to ensure the misbehaving student receives no quarter. In most public schools, as long as the student does not act out, they are free to fail or even not attend. A private instructor paid directly by the parent will take a far greater interest in the outcome. This interest would apply to the performance within the public sector as well to win the parents trust and confidence. The public schools would require less funding as each student enrolled in this private classes would reduce the burden 20%. Vouchers offer the problem of no immediate alternative facilities for a transition. This partial private instruction within sanctioned regions of the public school campus would allow full utilization of present public facilities while still offering the parent greater options in receiving the help they need for their child.

Leave it on a local level. Stop the intrusive federal government and NEA from any more corruption.

Elimination of the public school system as a whole. The private sector and the free market are fully capable of not only providing inexpensive education, but higher quality due to the competition between schools. Those who want to have kids and NOT pay for their schooling have made their own bed. If you can't afford a child, and you didn't plan ahead, it is nobodys fault but your own.