American Public Education is Failing...and Getting Worse Every Year

[Unkotare]

MSN

I apologize for the length of this article, but it is a good explanation of how bad our public education is, when it started its latest decline (don't blame Covid - that's just a lame excuse), and how pervasive it is.

In other forums you can read about how aggressive other countries are with their public education, their successes, what they expect of their students, and the contrast with our system, where more people care about the record of the school's ******* football team than their test scores.

Who and/or what are to blame? Teachers' unions are at the top of the list; no significant changes can be made unless they benefit the teachers, which makes real change a non-starter. Government employment in general, where the goal is always to make yourself (i.e., the school administration) look good. Two-income households, where the parents can't be bothered to play an active role in their children's education. The cornucopia of extra-curricular activities that take the focus away from learning. Cultural rot, especially in the Black and Hispanic communities.

Colleges are part of the problem as well, as they keep lowering their standards to accept marginally-educated HS grads, which carries through with their course and major offerings, and produces a generation of ignorant people with sheepskins that are close to worthless.

There are some schools that do well, but in many cases, the parents are delusional about how well they are doing. The best public schools are in the suburbs, where the only "diversity" is an influx of Chinese and/or Indian professionals. But if you cannot afford to live in one of those posh suburbs, the best solution, if at all possible, is to send your kids to a private or parochial school - maybe a Charter School if a good one is available.

And one cannot fail to mention that great, involved parents can produce great students in almost any school (district).

For everyone else, get your kids out of regular public schools, before it is too late.

This OP ^^^ doesn't know anything about the students OR the parents he presumes to disparage, of course.

 

[Unkotare]

MSN

I apologize for the length of this article, but it is a good explanation of how bad our public education is, when it started its latest decline (don't blame Covid - that's just a lame excuse), and how pervasive it is.

In other forums you can read about how aggressive other countries are with their public education, their successes, what they expect of their students, and the contrast with our system, where more people care about the record of the school's ******* football team than their test scores.

Who and/or what are to blame? Teachers' unions are at the top of the list; no significant changes can be made unless they benefit the teachers, which makes real change a non-starter. Government employment in general, where the goal is always to make yourself (i.e., the school administration) look good. Two-income households, where the parents can't be bothered to play an active role in their children's education. The cornucopia of extra-curricular activities that take the focus away from learning. Cultural rot, especially in the Black and Hispanic communities.

Colleges are part of the problem as well, as they keep lowering their standards to accept marginally-educated HS grads, which carries through with their course and major offerings, and produces a generation of ignorant people with sheepskins that are close to worthless.

There are some schools that do well, but in many cases, the parents are delusional about how well they are doing. The best public schools are in the suburbs, where the only "diversity" is an influx of Chinese and/or Indian professionals. But if you cannot afford to live in one of those posh suburbs, the best solution, if at all possible, is to send your kids to a private or parochial school - maybe a Charter School if a good one is available.

And one cannot fail to mention that great, involved parents can produce great students in almost any school (district).

For everyone else, get your kids out of regular public schools, before it is too late.

The private schools this OP ^^^ urges people to have their children attend cost money. Not everyone can afford that expense. In the same breath, this ^^^ asshole criticizes parents for needing two incomes. What a douche bag.

 

[Unkotare]

The OP probably hasn't set foot in a school since the Carter administration.

 

[Jarlaxle]

You really have no idea, yet you keep shooting your ignorant mouth off. Think about that.

No one from any union has ever told me how or what to teach.

Covid is NOT "a lame excuse." It (and more to the point the response to it) was a disaster that set a generation of kids back at least several years. There is a mountain of evidence about this.

"Other countries" are NOT the US in too many ways to list, but significantly "other countries" to not accept, support, include, or test ALL students the way we try damn hard to do here. It's pointless to compare.

This OP ^^^ has been whining and bitching about school sports here for years. One can imagine he spent much of his youth stuffed in a locker or with his head in a toilet. Regardless, "physical" has been an integral aspect of education since the ancient Greeks.

Extracurricular activities have always been an important aspect of education. There is ample evidence of the benefits of studying music and art, for example. Other activities can introduce students to trades that they may ultimately pursue. Clubs and such can provide highly beneficial social and community ties that can connect back to academic success.

Most people who post here derisively about "Black and Hispanic communities" have never been near them, let alone worked closely with students and families from such supposed communities.

No one has to go to college. It is a choice, and in the case of private universities, it is a business. Conducted as such.

This OP ^^^ doesn't know anything about the students OR the parents he presumes to disparage, of course.

The private schools this OP ^^^ urges people to have their children attend cost money. Not everyone can afford that expense. In the same breath, this ^^^ asshole criticizes parents for needing two incomes. What a douche bag.

The OP probably hasn't set foot in a school since the Carter administration.

STOP SPAMMING THE ******* THREAD!

 

[Unkotare]

STOP SPAMMING THE ******* THREAD!

The OP was whining and crying about not receiving a suitably comprehensive rebuttal. Now he's got one, but he ran away from his own thread.

What are YOU here to whine and cry about?

 

[Woodznutz]

My kids had a great public education and all were well prepped for further education so they didnt have to start out at $17 per hour for an obviously al

$17/hr. is pretty good starting pay.

 

[Woodznutz]

You really have no idea, yet you keep shooting your ignorant mouth off. Think about that.

Unk, when will you acknowledge that you teach in a bubble that transcends all other academic situations.

 

[Woodznutz]

Extracurricular activities have always been an important aspect of education. There is ample evidence of the benefits of studying music and art, for example. Other activities can introduce students to trades that they may ultimately pursue. Clubs and such can provide highly beneficial social and community ties that can connect back to academic success.

Lots of "cans".

 

[Woodznutz]

MSN

I apologize for the length of this article, but it is a good explanation of how bad our public education is, when it started its latest decline (don't blame Covid - that's just a lame excuse), and how pervasive it is.

In other forums you can read about how aggressive other countries are with their public education, their successes, what they expect of their students, and the contrast with our system, where more people care about the record of the school's ******* football team than their test scores.

Who and/or what are to blame? Teachers' unions are at the top of the list; no significant changes can be made unless they benefit the teachers, which makes real change a non-starter. Government employment in general, where the goal is always to make yourself (i.e., the school administration) look good. Two-income households, where the parents can't be bothered to play an active role in their children's education. The cornucopia of extra-curricular activities that take the focus away from learning. Cultural rot, especially in the Black and Hispanic communities.

Colleges are part of the problem as well, as they keep lowering their standards to accept marginally-educated HS grads, which carries through with their course and major offerings, and produces a generation of ignorant people with sheepskins that are close to worthless.

There are some schools that do well, but in many cases, the parents are delusional about how well they are doing. The best public schools are in the suburbs, where the only "diversity" is an influx of Chinese and/or Indian professionals. But if you cannot afford to live in one of those posh suburbs, the best solution, if at all possible, is to send your kids to a private or parochial school - maybe a Charter School if a good one is available.

And one cannot fail to mention that great, involved parents can produce great students in almost any school (district).

For everyone else, get your kids out of regular public schools, before it is too late.

The irony is that the education system can only be redeemed through (wait for it)... better education. Not more money or rearranging the desks.

 

[Unkotare]

Unk, when will you acknowledge that you teach in a bubble that transcends all other academic situations.

When I do.

 

[Woodznutz]

When I do.

Well, that's a start.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

Oh, come now, folks.

Today's school children know more different genders than any school children in history!

 

[Woodznutz]

Oh, come now, folks.

Today's school children know more different genders than any school children in history!

Kids today are too smart for their own good.

 

[initforme]

$17/hr. is pretty good starting pay.

Oh it sure is. Now that IS funny. Thats a pittance. Nothing.

 

[Woodznutz]

Oh it sure is. Now that IS funny. Thats a pittance. Nothing.

That's $35K/yr. which is starting pay for a lot of college grads.

I could build an empire on that starting pay.

 

[Jarlaxle]

The OP was whining and crying about not receiving a suitably comprehensive rebuttal.

You didn't rebut anything. You washed down a bottle of laxative with a quart of prune juice, dropped trou, and spun in a circle, spraying shit in all directions.

 

[initforme]

That's $35K/yr. which is starting pay for a lot of college grads.

I could build an empire on that starting pay.

35k is poverty. Abject piverty.

 

[Unkotare]

35k is poverty. Abject piverty.

If it's your second or third job? If you're living with someone who has a much higher paying job?

 

[Unkotare]

You didn't rebut anything. You washed down a bottle of laxative with a quart of prune juice, dropped trou, and spun in a circle, spraying shit in all directions.

Ask the OP.

 

[initforme]

If it's your second or third job? If you're living with someone who has a much higher paying job?

Living at home with ones parents, working full time then its ok. Thats a great option for todays young workers.