Quote:Agreed the finances of college and debt are a different issue then the education problem we have. I think, like you've pointed out, the problem starts much earlier in our system.
I think the problem is we don't have many good teachers because it's not an attractive job to get into. My wife makes decent money, but when we've got 5 kids, and a house payment to make.. that decent doesn't feel so decent. (She'll make a little more once she gets her masters, which she is going to do next spring). Of course everyone's definition of 'decent' is different (and of course, we live in an area that has a VERY high cost of living. That'll effect what people view as 'decent'.) The teachers in our area are leaving in DROVES because the salary isn't adequate compared to other areas. My wife would leave, but we recently bought our house, and we live so close to her job that she can walk if she so chooses. Which she enjoys. Despite being there just 7 years (after this year), she's been at the school the third longest of the people in her department. Failing schools need to attract good teachers, more than anything else.
Teachers get disrespected, and treated like crap. And that's just by the parents! That's not to mention the kids.
Another problem is that parents either don't get involved enough, or get TOO involved and try to control what their kids learn.
Personally, I always ask my kids what they've learned in school. I make sure they do their homework, and I try to help them when I can. But I also let teachers do their job. If I don't like how something is being taught, I'll talk to my kids about it, rather than complain to the teacher.
Special Education programs are also incredibly underfunded, and too much relies on ADD diagnosis. I remember when I was in 1st grade (ancient history lesson!) I had trouble reading. I was behind the class. I was fortunate enough that I had a special ed teacher who could come in and help me learn to read. Eventually not only did I catch up with the class, but I surpassed them. I was reading at higher than grade level. Thanks to a specialized teacher who was able to work with me 1 on 1, I learned to read. Instead of remaining illiterate. And of course I also have my teacher to thank for that, because she recommended me for it, and my mother to thank for it because she agreed to put me in the program. I'm glad my kids didn't have the same problems that I did, but I'd like to think that if they did, a teacher like the one that was there for me would have been there for them. But often there's just not enough of them available.
And of course you have parents who don't want their kids in those programs. My wife had a student who was dyslexic. She realized it when she figured out why the student's tests were left mostly blank. The student had difficulty reading. And of course she told the parents, and the parents were like 'Oh yeah, we know. Other teachers have told us the same thing. It just means our kid is dumb. Our kid doesn't need school anyway." The program would have allowed the student more time on tests, as well as specialized help.
There are a lot of parents who don't feel their kids need schooling. They have kids who are going to get into this, or get into that. But school is important for more than just getting a job. At least that's how I feel.
And there are parents who kick their kids out. A friend of mine was kicked out before he finished high school, and he wasn't 18 yet. Another friend of ours was kicked out, and she was just 16. Her step-father kicked her out. She was fortunate enough to find a place to stay, but my other friend wasn't (ETA: A teacher of ours DID offer him a place to stay, but he turn it down). So he still works at a fast food place because he never got a high school education.
And then you have the over-involved parents. The ones who think its' their job to tell teacher's how to do theirs. They disagree politically. They think that their kid should get an "A" on everything. Their kids are perfect angels, and if you tell them otherwise, you're just wrong! Little Johnny? Having a problem in math? No, he's the best math student ever. Why he learned his multiplication tables in pre-school. Any subject Johnny isn't good at, isn't a subject worth learning. (History is a major victim of this. WHY DOES MY KID NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GEORGE WASHINGTON?)
I think that a major part of the problem is the views of education by adults. IMO, there's never something that someone 'doesn't need to know'. I encourage my kids to learn everything they can (as long as it's age appropriate, and if it's not, I tell them to wait until they're older). Education is incredibly important. I know there are many who will disagree. That's fine. They're entitled to their opinion. But I for one feel the world would be better off if more people learned all they could, than if we just learned what you need to know.