I'm sorry if my comment above was too inflammatory - I meant to point out that both teachers & students are put in a difficult situation. The comment was specifically worded to target the 'education industry' (the profiteers who take advantage of student loans, which the submitted link is about), not the country's individual schools. 75 days ago I commented about an excellent teacher I had: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15181176
After I posted my little comment this morning, I took off on a road trip. NPR was rebroadcasting last Friday's show on the Ted Radio Hour. This week's episode was titled Simple Solutions [0]. Part 2 was "Sam Kass: Can Free Breakfast Improve Learning?" [1]. Part 3 was "Wendy Troxel: Does High School Start Too Early?" [2].
Apparently little things like improving the odds that all students are fed and rested can dramatically improve students' school experiences. But that doesn't fix the structural problem, which is...
> For the majority, you really have to force them to learn algebra and the 'boring but important as hell' stuff.
No no no no no. My dad's high school friend taught shop class. Some of his students loved his class, others would have rather been anywhere else ("Baking"), but shop was the only class that fit in their schedule. Forcing children to take "important" classes that they don't care about is a good way to elicit apathy.
I think John Gatto said "nothing of value to the individual happens through force." Gatto has some good insights. See my earlier comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15693047 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14425760
> Third, classroom time is not prison for children. If your kid thinks it is, find another school or talk to the teacher and the admin.
School was a prison for me, and I was good at it.
Thanks for your post.
[0] https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/564577402/simple...
[1] https://www.ted.com/talks/sam_kass_want_to_teach_kids_well_f...
[2] https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_troxel_why_school_should_sta...
First, lumping all public schools in the US together is not helpful. We don't have a federal system of education, we barely have a state level, and if we are generous we may have a local level. Massachusetts is a really good place to educate your kids, it's on par with Singapore in wold rankings [0]. Alabama is not. Basically, if your local schools suck, go to more PTA meetings and make them better. Bitching on the web is not a good way to do that. Getting out the message to up some tax in your local mill-levy is.
Second, getting rid of kindergarten is insane. Socializing is SUPER important to young kids. Yes, it costs a lot of cash. But so does having a stupid population. I think we all know that a stupid voter base is worse over even a 10 year time scale.
Third, classroom time is not prison for children. If your kid thinks it is, find another school or talk to the teacher and the admin. They aren't soulless bureaucrats. They are massively underpaid humans. Especially in those grades. They deal with a LOT of poop and illnesses.
Fourth, HS as community college would be a great idea for SOME kids. For the majority, you really have to force them to learn algebra and the 'boring but important as hell' stuff. You really can't have a 'major' in HS for most students. Most HN readers are not most students and probably could have a HS major. But public education is for all citizens, not just the smart ones, but the really dumb ones too. We all have a place in this society, even the dumb people, and we all have a right to be educated.
Fifth, the 'system' isn't very well constructed, so tear your's down. I agree that public education is not very well done in the US. But that is YOUR fault. Yes, you, the person reading this. If you think your local school is crappy, go fix it or move. In the US, education is SUPER local (by and large). Talking about US public education like a unified thing is nonsense. The taxes that support your local school are very local and very much something you and a few people can fix. Really, go round up all the patrons in your local bar. That's really all the people it takes to swing an election or get a new tax or measure passed. My SO works at a school that did not exist 6 years ago. The local residents just up and decided to make a new one out of a city park. They built and funded the whole thing. It took maybe 70 people to do this. Now there is a great school. They went out and fixed their local community. Democracy actually fucking works if you do too.
Sixth, no, we are not trapped. We trap ourselves. I mean, yeah, some state laws suck. So go change them. Look at fucking eric Cantor's primary sniping. That took like no money and no people to do. They upset in a primary the house minority whip. Like, come on people, this is OUR country and these are OUR schools. Don't get defeated by the shit you read online. Go make YOUR schools better if you want them to be better.
[0] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students... (source not here, but you can get a start there, hey, it's Sunday, ok?)