I just watched the most amazing video from 20/20 about American kids becoming increasingly more stupid -thanks to big government and the public school systems. It is 40 minutes long, but worth the time & commercial free to boot!
Wait! Let me get out my soap box.......
There.
It makes my blood run hot -the lack of education that American children are receiving.
As it is, in America, the schools are staffed with seriously under-trained & undisciplined teachers, the curriculum is anything but challenging and the monies allotted schools are managed poorly by bureaucratic officials -going mostly to facilities and NOT to books, tests or programs that directly affect learning.
As a home-schooling parent, I know first hand that the government doesn't want to make it easy for, much less help, children to get an education unless our money goes to the state school that we're "assigned" to because of our zip code. Even then, if you're lucky enough to live close to a "good" school the standards are sub-par and, in my opinion, not an option for my children.
If, indeed, schools competed for enrollment by staffing outstanding teachers with challenging curriculum, and the schools were disciplined and safe and offered a range of activities, and each teacher- each school -was held accountable for failures with the threat of being shut down, I think we might actually see progress in our students, instead of the shameful amount of drop-outs or illiterate teens that we see today. If, indeed, money was not limited within district boundaries, but attached to the child with freedom of choice of institution, then the education -the learning- would be limitless.
Now, I don't mean to offend anyone who is an excellent teacher. I have many friends that have chosen that as their profession, and I love and admire them. However, I think...No! I know, that, sadly, excellence is becoming the exception rather than the rule in education today. It's hard to point the finger at any one area. Poor parenting is hugely to blame. However, until there are significant improvements and choices and freedom in government funded education, I have no choice but to educate my children at home -which is the way it ought to be and was decades ago anyway.
End of rant. Thanks for listening.
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