Did you go to public school?

[Againsheila]

I went to a US public school for one semester as a sophomore in high school. I knew more than the teachers in Geography, History and Civics. University (public) was more of a challenge.

I had a US history teacher in 10th grade who could not identify the original 13 colonies.

Football coach, naturally.

Oh God, I remember him. He'd come into class, tell us what pages to read, then leave, then show up again at the end of class. Never learned a thing in history that year. And worse, he couldn't teach football either, our team was last in the league.

 

[UKRider]

Yes, I did, and that is completely irrelevant so to whether or not I have the "right" to criticize the public school system.

Indeed!

I did as well, although the school system I went through seems to be different than the ones I see today. If anything, it gives me a greater understanding of the comparative critique than one who has not been through the system.

 

[boilermaker55]

Well, what a ray of sunshine among the darkened clouds that usually post on here about education. The operative statement in your post is, actually being in the school environment rather than standing 4 blocks away cursing and not knowing.

Personally, I never attended a public institution of learning until I went to a University.
Looking back then, it was amazing to me how many took their education serious at the University. After the students had solidified their spot in the classroom by attending the mandatory few weeks, it was utterly shocking to see the empty seats during lecture; only to fill up again when the syllabus of the professor had an exam scheduled.
Who is responsible for the learning?
Equal parts of educator and student; and if you take the concept back to elementary and secondary education please add into the equation parents.
Perhaps most of those who slime and ridicule the public education system have never put any effort into what is happening in their community.
ET TU, BRUTE

It seems that most in this thread went to public schools, if not all the way through then at least for a good part of the time. Most can write legibly and make themselves understood, even those with such extreme bigotries. As products of the public schools, they seem to validate public education.

But, most also seem to be fairly old, like me, and afflicted with the common Old Farts Disease which somehow produces "this younger generation is going to hell" kind of comments.

I wonder...how many of you so SUUURE that public schools are super bad have been in one lately? How many of you have kids or grandkids in public schools right now? If you do, how are they doing? Are the learning to read, do math, use computers?

Mine are. No, their schools aren't perfect, but they're learning what they need to learn in a safe and supportive environment. I just had lunch with two of mine at school the other day and I saw the same thing I see every time I go: Good teachers, concerned teachers, excellent staff, clean facilities, adequate equipment and reasonably good food in the cafeteria. I see students of all colors, from all backgrounds, from all ethnicities, repeating the Pledge of Allegiance every morning (in English). They know the National Anthem and they know who George Washington and Abe Lincoln are. They can write, they can think, they do research and make reports. And, NONE of them are any farther along than the 5th grade.

The public schools are not failing my grandkids, any more than it failed my kids or me.

What's different about YOUR local schools? Or, have you actually been down there to see?

 

[Katzndogz]

One of the worst failures of our public school system is that after graduating from that system, the ones who attended believe they have a good education. After all, they went!

School is NOT supposed to teach children how to function in society. That's the function of parents, churches and communities.

Millions of others have the same experience, which is why millions of others are both ignorant and illiterate.

Most of those who are 'ignorant and illiterate' are so because they expected to be given an education rather than earning it. You get out of your school experience what you put into it. That's the bottom line. You can blame all of life's failures on someone or something else; or you can take responibility for yourself. Gosh, don't I sound like a conservative so and so. Yet here are all the right wingers in this thread bitching, moaning, whining and complaining about what the public school system isn't giving them or didn't give them.

A teacher can say "read this book" or "put this condom on a banana". If a student complies with both requests, he will get an education from one, and nothing from the other.

Otherwise, just don't have schools or teachers at all. They are unnecessary. If there is a burden of learning on students, but no burden of teaching on teachers there is no need of teachers or schools.

Students today do not expect an education. They do expect a grade. That grade may or may not involve an education or a teacher.

 

[Flopper]

There isn't a question that the level of education today is poor. Just how poor is it really?

It is poor enough to imperil the nation.
How Ignorant Are Americans? - Newsweek and The Daily Beast

Young Americans? ignorance baffling - Columbia Daily Tribune : Opinion

The ignorance about our country is staggering.

According to one survey, only 28 percent of students could identify the Constitution as the supreme law of the land.

Only 26 percent of students knew the first 10 amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights.

Less than one-quarter of students knew George Washington was the first president of the United States.

It's the age of ignorance.

Age of Ignorance by Charles Simic | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

It took years of indifference and stupidity to make us as ignorant as we are today. Anyone who has taught college over the last forty years, as I have, can tell you how much less students coming out of high school know every year. At first it was shocking, but it no longer surprises any college instructor that the nice and eager young people enrolled in your classes have no ability to grasp most of the material being taught. Teaching American literature, as I have been doing, has become harder and harder in recent years, since the students read little literature before coming to college and often lack the most basic historical information about the period in which the novel or the poem was written, including what important ideas and issues occupied thinking people at the time.

Not that American ignorance is limited to literature and history. They are equally ignorant of science.
Poll Finds Americans Are Ignorant Of Science - NYTimes.com

Many Americans also mistakenly say that laser beams are focused sound waves and that atoms are smaller than electrons, said Jon Miller, director of the Public Opinion Laboratory at Northern Illinois University, who conducted a nationwide survey for the National Science Foundation.

In a July telephone survey, 2,041 adults 18 or older were asked more than 70 questions on basic science. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Asked whether the Earth goes around the Sun or the Sun around the Earth, 21 percent replied incorrectly; 7 percent said they did not know.

But, every single dolt can regurgitate the last thing they were told about global warming!

Unfortunately for Americans, the rest of the world is not so hampered by liberalism. When American students go out into the world, they will be competing with job-candidates from India, China, Japan, all over the world and they aren't ignorant.

It doesn't make any difference whether a country leans left or right when it comes to the quality of education.

The current ranking of nations with the best schools based on student test scores are:
1. South Korea - liberal parties have been in control for over half a century
2. Finland - ranks among the most socialist countries on earth
3. Hong Kong - ranked as the most capitalistic country
4. Singapore - ranked as the second most capitalistic country

Best Education In The World: Finland, South Korea Top Country Rankings, U.S. Rated Average
Top 10 Most Socialist Countries in the World - Peerform Blog
List the 5 most capitalist nations - Yahoo! Answers

 

[Spoonman]

Yes. I went to a public high school and a public college. And I was lucky enough to play for the football team at both places. I not only recieved a good education, but, I was able to be on the football team where I learned things not taught in a classroom: Discipline, pushing through adversity, not quitting, physical and mental toughness, following directions, teamwork, leadership, etc, etc.

Millions of others had the same experience. A great investment with our tax dollars to provide a publicly accessable system to teach our children how to function in society, to give them a small foundation.

i'm guessing you had your bell rung a few times too many too

 

[Mr. Peepers]

My public high school produced at least 3 Harvard grads that I know of and one Rhodes scholar. And it was in North Georgia... But this was before "teaching to the test" was prevalent. I got a decent education, for sure.

 

[Dugdale_Jukes]

It seems that most in this thread went to public schools, if not all the way through then at least for a good part of the time. Most can write legibly and make themselves understood, even those with such extreme bigotries. As products of the public schools, they seem to validate public education.

But, most also seem to be fairly old, like me, and afflicted with the common Old Farts Disease which somehow produces "this younger generation is going to hell" kind of comments.

I wonder...how many of you so SUUURE that public schools are super bad have been in one lately? How many of you have kids or grandkids in public schools right now? If you do, how are they doing? Are the learning to read, do math, use computers?

Mine are. No, their schools aren't perfect, but they're learning what they need to learn in a safe and supportive environment. I just had lunch with two of mine at school the other day and I saw the same thing I see every time I go: Good teachers, concerned teachers, excellent staff, clean facilities, adequate equipment and reasonably good food in the cafeteria. I see students of all colors, from all backgrounds, from all ethnicities, repeating the Pledge of Allegiance every morning (in English). They know the National Anthem and they know who George Washington and Abe Lincoln are. They can write, they can think, they do research and make reports. And, NONE of them are any farther along than the 5th grade.

The public schools are not failing my grandkids, any more than it failed my kids or me.

What's different about YOUR local schools? Or, have you actually been down there to see?

Have studied education in some depth and served on regional boards as WV attempted to upgrade the quality of schools. No question the state succeeded in that. And no question the quality of education is lower.

It isn't easy to find evidence in the public domain, the AFT/NEA unions work day and night to sell their product, which one wishes was quality education instead of pro-bureaucracy horseshit. However, there is some evidence out there; what it is, is modern students taking tests students from the 1930s-1960s had to pass in math, science and geography to graduate - specifically in areas that haven't changed since the time the original tests were current.

Warning: anecdote.

Last week in a meeting I asked an engineer graduate of public schools and a decent engineering university who Teddy Roosevelt was. They said something like, "I'm thinking he was someone famous." A promotion vaporized right there. Cultural literacy is important. This individual has no business in a leadership position and isn't going to be in one until they are a little more attuned to the culture feeding them.

 

[eflatminor]

I don't think I missed very much and, in fact, believe I got a fine education.

You may "think" you didn't miss much, but unless one is exposed to the diversity of choice that only a free market can supply, how could you possibly know?

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Yes. Kindergarten through 12th grade, in NYC.

All in all, I'd say that I had a fantastic education. My elementary school was one of the best in the city, the magnet school I went to for middle school put me nearly a year ahead of the rest of my class in high school, and the high school I went to is famous for being one the best in the country.