Is education a right or a privilege?

[alan1]

He's not the only one who's claiming the compelled attendance and financing of gubmint schooling is a "right".

Try to stay on topic.

No shit, compelled attendance.
Let me tell you my (and my eldest daughter's) story about compelled attendance of high school.
My eldest realized that high school was a waste of her time. At 16 she wanted to get her GED, quit school and start college. I was all for it, but here is how the state forces kids to stay in crappy public schools. Here in NC, if you aren't actively attending high school, you are not allowed a drivers license until you are 18 (Or in possession of a valid diploma, GED's don't count). Now how the hell is she supposed to get back and forth to work and college if the state wont let her drive? She was forced by the state to stay in school for 2 more years instead of starting college early. That's just bullshit.

The people of your state allow that shit?

Evidently the state legislature thought it was a good idea at some point.

 

[DamnYankee]

No shit, compelled attendance.
Let me tell you my (and my eldest daughter's) story about compelled attendance of high school.
My eldest realized that high school was a waste of her time. At 16 she wanted to get her GED, quit school and start college. I was all for it, but here is how the state forces kids to stay in crappy public schools. Here in NC, if you aren't actively attending high school, you are not allowed a drivers license until you are 18 (Or in possession of a valid diploma, GED's don't count). Now how the hell is she supposed to get back and forth to work and college if the state wont let her drive? She was forced by the state to stay in school for 2 more years instead of starting college early. That's just bullshit.

The people of your state allow that shit?

Evidently the state legislature thought it was a good idea at some point.

Had to have a public hearing on it, yes? Or a vote?

 

[alan1]

The people of your state allow that shit?

Evidently the state legislature thought it was a good idea at some point.

Had to have a public hearing on it, yes? Or a vote?

At some point they must have, but I was unaware of it until she explored the possibility of starting college early.

 

[dilloduck]

Evidently the state legislature thought it was a good idea at some point.

Had to have a public hearing on it, yes? Or a vote?

At some point they must have, but I was unaware of it until she explored the possibility of starting college early.

The system by which we are supposed to be represented is BROKEN.

 

[DamnYankee]

Had to have a public hearing on it, yes? Or a vote?

At some point they must have, but I was unaware of it until she explored the possibility of starting college early.

The system by which we are supposed to be represented is BROKEN.

They don't want you to know, despite "sunshine laws". You have to go and dig the sun out of the clouds you know. Should organize a little demonstration at the capitol building.... LOL

 

[Old Rocks]

Is education a right or a privilege?

Given the fate of nations with uneducated populations, it must be a right for all that would work at being educated. Our present failure to ensure that all citizens that have the ability and ambition to maintain their grades get as high an education as those qualities will allow, bodes ill for the competiveness of our nation in the future.

 

[Old Rocks]

AP courses probably come closest to what used to be considered high school curriculum.

Why is that? The dumbing down of education across the spectrum. Then there's the 'education methodologies' such as teaching 'high level math' from K on up. Parents are under the impression that because they are seeing 'algebra' and 'geometry' added in early programs, that kids are learning 'so much more' than they did. Problem is there is no rhyme, reason, or logic to it. The kids are 'introduced', but are not learning the basics. It's wrong and as anyone looking knows, math scores are not improving, in many of the 'best schools' they have been falling.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a strong proponent of education for any that are willing to do the work and pay the price, both of which indicate the desire to reach a goal. When everyone can do it, the meaning, (standards), have changed.

Learning certain skills to operate a business, do a particular job or acquire a particular licenses do not always have to be done in a college setting. Sometimes short courses are a more efficient tool to learn depending on your abilities to study.

With the ability to self study one can pass many state licensing tests in many of the states. Real Estate, contracting and insurance licensing comes to mind. In certain states if one can even pass the bar exam they can get a license to practice law.

Rod taught himself how to build, repair and trouble shoot transmissions years ago. A friend gave him his books and he started in. He had people requesting his services for years and years after he closed his shop.

About ten years ago I wanted to learn how to make my own molds. I could not find anyone locally who could help me learn so I contacted a mold company. The older gentleman had me pay one of his employees for his day of wages and we made a mold of a project I had handcrafted. It was a crash course that cost eighty bucks and I had the mold afterwords to keep.

I agree, wholeheartedly. The 'cost effectiveness' of a college education has been falling for those that aren't in a professional course of study. As more people get degrees they mean less. While liberal arts to me are the courses that expand one's thinking, they won't get you a job, something very necessary in our world.

Interesting. As an industrial millwright, I have had to take courses, ussually company sponsored, sometimes on my own, constantly to keep up with technology. Things like laser alignment and vibration analysis that did not even exist when I first started working in this field. As a side note, the most useful courses that I have taken, in referance to my job, over the years in aquiring about 3 years worth of college level geology, was trig and chemistry.

In any trade, at present, the failure to adapt to new technology will result in someone else working at the job that you had.

 

[Smartt33]

I believe there is another category: "necessary". I believe it is in the best interest of America that all of our citizens are educated. That is why it is required for the first 12 years. Beyond high school, while it is still education, it is education that has had a jump start, and people can now go it on their own.

With regard to this topic, I don't believe you can place education and health care on the same platform.

 

[Kalam]

It's imperative that education be viewed as a right. A democratic nation absolutely cannot function properly without an educated populace. Public schools are necessary because they serve as instruments of social mobility; if the entire system was privatized, the quality of your education would depend almost entirely on the size of your parents' wallet. Movement between socioeconomic strata would be virtually nonexistent.

I don't believe that public education necessarily needs to be extended to the university level, however. If the K-12 system can be reformed to reduce the disparity between schools in wealthier suburban areas and schools in poorer urban and rural areas, all students will have an equal opportunity to succeed. Performance in college and in the workforce, rather than family wealth, will be the determinants of success.

"Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, — the balance-wheel of the social machinery." - Horace Mann.​