RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Why do the schools need to change how things are taught, when phonics and all of the original stuff is still the best way to do it? Is it because they're trying to keep it interesting for the teachers, who end up doing same thing, year in and year out? It's not working. They need to go back to the basics, like it used to be. Also instead of repeating everything they need to teach it and move on, take for example math, it's pretty much the same thing taught, grades 4-7th. Most other countries don't do this repetitive stuff. By 8th grade they could be doing calculus, if they stopped teaching division and fractions every year for 3-4 years. The kids should know this stuff already, if they learned it once.

Going down the tubes. Dumbed down kids will make great cannon-fodder if the neo-cons get their wishes. What's going on in our school system is downright creepy!

Give. . .me. . .a. . .break. . .The education system is always going to be like a large-service-cafeteria instead of a good restraunt- quality suffers due to the sheer number of customers. Deal with it and take some responsibility for your own kids education. Who messed up the schools? American parents who stripped schools and teachers of their power to discipline and kick kids out. Only in America- everyone has an idea how to fix the schools, but no one (nary a politician or a parent) ever asked a teacher and implemented what he or she said. Schools are the by-product of the culture of entitlement that the SOCIETY created, not the other way around. Where do you think kids learned to not give a rat's ass about education? At HOME! Twenty years of declining literacy, math, and science abilities don't lie. . .

I don't think it's realistic to even consider dismantling the public education system, although I have some strong, and some mixed, feelings about what I have seen, experienced, and read about lately. There has been a lot written about lack of achievement in many public schools, and from what I can see, despite the whole No Child Left Behind program (which is a whole other issue initself), public schools really need a basic overhaul. My comments here are based both on direct personal experience as a substitute in the local (Chester/Berks Counties, PA) school district, as well as having read a lot (mostly in conservative publications, but in a few liberal as well). Even though I consider the district I sub in as pretty old-line in its thinking with respect to values and curriculum, the school adminbistrations in two of the schools I teach in seem to have progressive outlooks (which in practice amounts to making bad decisions about how to teach classes), which in practice really upsets the teachers who are really comitted to imparting useful knowledge to the kids. The principal and assistant principal in the middle school believe that basics, such as spelling, correct grammar, and individual work (they like group work) are not important - it drives the teachers nuts. Surly would be an apt word to describe the mood of many of the teachers with respect to the marching orders they have to comply with. The elmentary school I sub in has an entirely different management philosophy - the principal there believes in the basics and works very harmoniously with the teachers. This was reflected by the fact that the school won the Pennsylvania state literacy award just a few months ago - the kids read and reported on more books than any other school in the state, and were really proud of the fact. OK, these are personal experiences, admittedly limited, but even given a basically old time philosophy at the worker bee level, things are sad from sixth grade on. Also, in a much more general sense, there have been a lot of studies that prove, statistically, that most private schools scholastically outperform public schools by a wide margin, and at a much lower cost per pupil. Sure, they have their agendas, as one rater commented, but fortunately a large part of the agenda is to educate the kids rather than just cycle them through and proclaim them qualified after 12 years of mediocre schooling. Short version of my feelings (after the long-winded preface!): The public school system is necessary and is here to stay, but it needs a serious overhaul and needs to get back to basics.

I'll have to get back to you, I am trying very hard not to vomit after reading szinhonshu's answer.

The public schools had a lot to do with building this country. I attended the public schools in the 1940's and 1950's and they were excellent. We must re-examine our basic premises to determine the future course to take. It is fair to say much of what we are doing now is not working, but we must not abolish the public schools just because a bunch of morons have inserted a lot of drivel into them. Reform is the answer.

It needs to be overhauled. It works to educate the masses and give them enough skills to get by in the world, but for this country, it's wealth of money and knowledge, we can do so much better. Part of what needs to be done is that we need to get rid of the bad apples. Those who dont want to take Education seriously need to go, be removed from the system. I would never privatize the system. Private schools aleady exist and most have an agenda.

It should be dissolved for two reasons: 1) Anything run by the government is at best mediocre, and 2) it has become an enabling device for people who breed irresponsibly. If we privatize education the quality of instruction will be better and unwed mothers, unskilled illegal immigrants and the poor will know that the taxpayer funded babysitting mechanism (including meals!) has been closed down. And for this reason, they might think twice before popping out kids they can't afford to raise without dipping their hands into the taxpaying public's pocketbook.