Problem Solving: "Insider" Input Requested

[Granny]

We have a lot of problems that need solutions - many of which end up as political or idealistic arguments and no consensus as to any good solutions. None of the problems will be solved overnight but something needs a starting point. I have not completely thought out this particular issue and would very much like input from people with knowledge based experience. I'd like to not see a "dog fight," name-calling, and nothing but angry negative responses in this thread but won't hold my breath. It's intended to be a positive idea thread.

Many of our problems overlap each other and fuel the continued ballooning costs of all of them - whether financial or behavioral.

At the risk of being beaten to death by angry teachers, I would like to start with education. I realize that schools are already way overcrowded and that teachers sometimes have a workload from hell. Because the vast majority of welfare recipients are not very educated, why can't we start by mandating that those parents must to go to school as a condition of receiving welfare support? Why not have those parents in the classroom with their children every single day of the school year - a "learn as your child learns" sort of thing. In the case of multiple children there could be a "weekly rotation" sort of thing so the parent can have classroom time with each child. The parent could sort of supply "individual attention" that teachers simply cannot do. The parent would be responsible and accountable for their child's classroom behavior - maybe it would result in less classroom disruption, bullying, violence, etc. or reduce continued violence in the home and in the streets. It would mean that these parents and their children will at a very minimum get 12 years of education, a diploma, be more capable of finding a job that will reduce or move them off the welfare dole. Home Ec. should cover a broad spectrum of issues and be a required class for parents - a least one day a week - maybe they would learn some good healthy eating habits and also be wiser in how to get the most out of their food stamp dollars (learning to budget) - might help with the obesity problem.

It was a "toss-out" idea - needs input especially from the "experts."

I forgot to mention this in the original post but homework time could be "family time" - child/parent interaction and it could lead to other "family time" activities. I couldn't afford to buy the "cool stuff" for my kids but we did have board games and we played cards, etc. Homework should be a "turn-in-the-papers" proposition - I don't care if it's just printing the alphabet - it gets turned in.

 

[PoliticalChic]

We have a lot of problems that need solutions - many of which end up as political or idealistic arguments and no consensus as to any good solutions. None of the problems will be solved overnight but something needs a starting point. I have not completely thought out this particular issue and would very much like input from people with knowledge based experience. I'd like to not see a "dog fight," name-calling, and nothing but angry negative responses in this thread but won't hold my breath. It's intended to be a positive idea thread.

Many of our problems overlap each other and fuel the continued ballooning costs of all of them - whether financial or behavioral.

At the risk of being beaten to death by angry teachers, I would like to start with education. I realize that schools are already way overcrowded and that teachers sometimes have a workload from hell. Because the vast majority of welfare recipients are not very educated, why can't we start by mandating that those parents must to go to school as a condition of receiving welfare support? Why not have those parents in the classroom with their children every single day of the school year - a "learn as your child learns" sort of thing. In the case of multiple children there could be a "weekly rotation" sort of thing so the parent can have classroom time with each child. The parent could sort of supply "individual attention" that teachers simply cannot do. The parent would be responsible and accountable for their child's classroom behavior - maybe it would result in less classroom disruption, bullying, violence, etc. or reduce continued violence in the home and in the streets. It would mean that these parents and their children will at a very minimum get 12 years of education, a diploma, be more capable of finding a job that will reduce or move them off the welfare dole. Home Ec. should cover a broad spectrum of issues and be a required class for parents - a least one day a week - maybe they would learn some good healthy eating habits and also be wiser in how to get the most out of their food stamp dollars (learning to budget) - might help with the obesity problem.

It was a "toss-out" idea - needs input especially from the "experts."

So glad you started this thread, as education is one of our most pressing problems.

I hope you don't mind a slight digression: these words of Professor Milton Friedman on the topic-

"1. The effective literacy rate in the United States today is almost surely less than it was 100 years ago. Before government had any involvement in education, the majority of youngsters were schooled, literate, and able to learn. It is a disgrace that in a country like the United States, 30 percent of youngsters never graduate from high school. And I haven't even mentioned those who drop out in elementary school.

a. [The voucher campaign is] going much too slowly. What success we have had is almost entirely in the area of income-limited vouchers. There are two kinds of vouchers: One is a charity voucher that is limited to people below a certain income level. The other is an education voucher, which, if you think of vouchers as a way of transforming the educational industry, is available to everybody. How can we make vouchers available to everybody? First, education ought to be a state and local matter, not a federal matter. The 1994 Contract with America called for the elimination of the Department of Education. Since then, the budget for the Department of Education has tripled. This trend must be reversed. Next, education ought to be a parental matter. The responsibility for educating children is with parents. But in order to make it a parental matter, we must have a situation in which parents are 'Free to Choose' the schools their children attend. They aren't free to do that now. Today the schools pick the children. Children are assigned to schools by geography—by where they live. By contrast, I would argue that if the government is going to spend money on education, the money ought to travel with the children. The objective of such an expenditure ought to be educated children, not beautiful buildings. The way to accomplish this is to have a universal voucher. As I said in 1955, we should take the amount of money that we're now spending on education, divide it by the number of children, and give that amount of money to each parent. After all, that's what we're spending now, so we might as well let parents spend it in the form of vouchers. "
(emphasis mine)
https://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2006&month=07

 

[peach174]

Yes! We have to get rid of the Dept. of Education. Ever since it was created in the early 70's schools hae gone down hill and cost has gone up.
One idea? Have high School taught by computer with teacher's online. With the ability to make sure that each high schooler really is online and not with the computer just turned on so that they can go play somewhere or go the movies so and so forth.
Gives more room for schools for kindergarden through 6th grade, without having to build more schools.

 

[Granny]

Yes! We have to get rid of the Dept. of Education. Ever since it was created in the early 70's schools hae gone down hill and cost has gone up.
One idea? Have high School taught by computer with teacher's online. With the ability to make sure that each high schooler really is online and not with the computer just turned on so that they can go play somewhere or go the movies so and so forth.
Gives more room for schools for kindergarden through 6th grade, without having to build more schools.

That might be a good idea for pupils who want/need tutoring or extra credit. Actually, some of the tutoring could be done student-to-student and have teacher oversight. The trick is, the students must WANT the tutoring or extra credit. They have to be achievement and goal oriented. If they don't want it, then they are not going to participate over the computer any more than they are participating in the classroom.

 

[Madeline]

It seems to me the fundamental problem with our city schools here is students and parents. I'll go out on a limb and say if you receive any sort of government aid, you should be semi-permanently sterilized. There is no bigger predictor of a child's failed future than to be born to an unwed teenaged mom.....so let's eliminate such births.