"
By obsolete, I don’t just mean that our high schools are broken, flawed, and under-funded – though a case could be made for every one of those points.
By obsolete, I mean that our high schools – even when they’re working exactly as designed – cannot teach our kids what they need to know today.
Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today’s computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. It’s the wrong tool for the times.
Our high schools were designed fifty years ago to meet the needs of another age. Until we design them to meet the needs of the 21st century, we will keep limiting – even ruining – the lives of millions of Americans every year."
oprah winfrey recently aired a two-part show devoted to the state of education, with a focus on high school, in
oprah hit the nail on the head when she said that people rise to the level of expectations you place on them and by the same token- sink to the level of no expectations. my thought is that since education is compulsory in this country- all of the schools should be performing at the same basic level. same standards for everyone- not based on school districts. that plan is obviously not working. it makes no sense to have urban schools with broken toilets and no power and rural schools with a curriculum that is subpar with basic college freshman academics.
we as a country decided that every person who lives in this country is entitled to a high school education. predominatly white suburbanites fled the urban areas for a better life and it is precisely that mentality that is part of the bigger problem. you can't flee forever- and yes, you want better for your children- but so do other families. why not fix the problem rather than run from it? or is it just proof positive that white and affluent racism is still alive and well in
why are kids bored? could it be that they are being taught to take the tests that bush signed into the 'no child left behind' law? teachers teach to the test to keep their jobs and school districts bow to the pressure to get federal aid. why not have one uniform system in place that everyone pays into and get the same education for everyone? i own 2 properties so i pay school taxes twice. i would be for not raising my property taxes all of the time so that we can pay a district superintendent a three figured salary. get rid of the need for the teacher's unions and pay them a living wage so that inspired teachers are the norm instead of the exception. lets have a well-rounded school system that exposes kids to the arts, sciences and sports. get the kids excited to go to school and teach them how to learn. imagine the concept.
3 comments:
i agree with the statements written in this blog. i saw the oprah shows and i was disguested by what is happening to our young people today. it is a huge injustice to our future leaders and thinkers of this country. i know from experience how test based education can affect you when trying to find employment and live out in the real world. it was a rude awaking.
Say NO to standardized schooling! Shuffling money around is no solution.
The agents of disease in our ailing education system are 'same basic levels' which successfully establish minimums as valid goals, the bean-counters' pathological pursuit of a 'uniform system' and the resulting network of parasitic textbook and testing corporations that manage to suck the life out of learning at the same time they're draining the coffers.
It would be dandy if every kid were alike, if every community were alike - then nice, neat, orderly plans would work as the grown-ups in charge want them to. Our administration-heavy system has been functioning as if this were the reality for decades.
De-professionalize teaching and allow the most accomplished and motivated people into the classrooms. Teacher training is a humiliating, anti-intellectual and over-priced racket that not only repels the very people that ought to be in our childrens' classrooms, but attracts the dimmest bulbs coming out of our unimpressive institutions of higher education. And for the record - teachers make plenty of money. We're talking about a population of "professionals" who - for lack of ability, drive or whatever - would not find comparable job stability and salaries in the private sector.
Make schools and classrooms small enough so that children can be addressed as people instead of numbers. Give them real work to do in place of easy-to-quantify busy work whose sinister whisper is "YOU ARE UNIMPORTANT". Let them develop real pride through accomplishment instead of empty hubris through following directions. And most importantly, encourage children to discover passions and stay the hell out of the way while those passions develop.
i agree with you taryn but we need a fix now- and the most widely used system to 'fix' things in a hurry is to raise taxes in each school district. the entire system is broken and we don't need a quick fix to the problem. we do need a basic core in place for all kids- whatever their learning style- being able to actually read, understand arithmetic, and how to write the english language. for all children- not just the affluent, suburban schools. we are losing generations of human beings to a system that sucks the very life out of them. we need less prisons and more learning and opportunities.
Post a Comment