Comment Re:oh this will be fun (Score 4, Insightful) 214
I hear the complaint of not enough money all the time, and that somehow throwing more money at it will magically fix the problem. What I would suggest is to actually look where that money goes. It goes to a bloated administration that continue to suck up all of the resources, and not to the teachers on the ground. Further, that massive administration also micro manages the teachers who are now so constrained on what they can do, and you have parents who demand every single child is put on an 'Individualized Education Plan' that the teachers must also then track and adhere to. This is not sustainable
Look down the line a bit from this one and there is an article how students are hitting college with not even being able to halve a fraction. This is middle school level math at best. So now colleges are being forced to offer remedial level middle school math to make up the difference. Clearly this great system we have here in the US is an utter failure.
I remember in the 70s when I was a child. They came up with this great new math idea of a drawer full of exercises that you would take from and complete at your own pace (even that wouldn't be allowed today). A handful of us were done with the year's exercises in a couple of weeks. We were then given 'self study' which meant us grade schoolers being sent to the library to entertain ourselves. You can imagine how well that went. Fortunately, after grade school we still split into different tracks of math classes where many of us were moved on an AP track, so things got better. Today, they teach weird techniques and tricks instead of core math, teach just to the standardized tests as that is how the administration gets its money, and basically cater to the lowest performers. Adding money will only make this worse.
If I had children I absolutely would homeschool. Public school right now is fundamentally broken and does need a reimagining. That does not mean throw it out and dismantle everything, but someone does need to tip the apple cart and realize what we have now absolutely is not working. We can't deny the outcomes.
Look down the line a bit from this one and there is an article how students are hitting college with not even being able to halve a fraction. This is middle school level math at best. So now colleges are being forced to offer remedial level middle school math to make up the difference. Clearly this great system we have here in the US is an utter failure.
I remember in the 70s when I was a child. They came up with this great new math idea of a drawer full of exercises that you would take from and complete at your own pace (even that wouldn't be allowed today). A handful of us were done with the year's exercises in a couple of weeks. We were then given 'self study' which meant us grade schoolers being sent to the library to entertain ourselves. You can imagine how well that went. Fortunately, after grade school we still split into different tracks of math classes where many of us were moved on an AP track, so things got better. Today, they teach weird techniques and tricks instead of core math, teach just to the standardized tests as that is how the administration gets its money, and basically cater to the lowest performers. Adding money will only make this worse.
If I had children I absolutely would homeschool. Public school right now is fundamentally broken and does need a reimagining. That does not mean throw it out and dismantle everything, but someone does need to tip the apple cart and realize what we have now absolutely is not working. We can't deny the outcomes.