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I don't know, but I do know that education is 100% publicly funded in Cuba. Do you want to know what their literacy rate was prior to being publicly funded, 60-70%.
100% public funding means nothing, in contrast with America's education system.
I can recall (1960-70), public schools, which were 100% public funded, had graduates with far lower proficiency, than the private schools (i.e., parochial). Spending per pupil was far lower in the private schools than in the public schools.
Spending more does not equate to higher scores, nor higher literacy.
Nor does government control insure better performance... at least in non-communist countries.
We all like to say politics is behind poor education (I agree it is partially to blame) but what about entertainment media that worships the stupid? There are many people who honestly believe school is worthless and i think many get these ideas from entertainment and sports. I have always attributed attitudes like this to entertainment personalities like rockstars and rappers who drop out of school to pursue stardom. Professional sports is even worse. How many times do we have to listen to an athlete (who in many cases is in a top college) in the media when said athlete cannot intelligently put a complete sentence together.
Of course politics is partially to blame for the poor education in this country. but it is not the only one to blame.
I mean seriously, how many idiotic statements do we have to hear come out of Gwyneth Paltrow's mouth before we realize education needs a serious tune up in this country.
I can recall (1960-70), public schools, which were 100% public funded, had graduates with far lower proficiency, than the private schools (i.e., parochial). Spending per pupil was far lower in the private schools than in the public schools.
You mean kids that go to private prep schools do better than kids that go to public schools? NO way. Harvard produces better students than a community college? End public education now!!!
Then we will be left in a society where only those who are rich can afford an education.
Bull. Public education is needed to educate those who could not afford it.
What we need to look at as a society is why we paying athletes multi-million dollar contracts yet school teachers have to get by on $30K a year and have to pay for school supplies out of hteir own pockets
What we need to look at as a society is why government wants to spend money on building and lobbying sports teams, when public schools are not getting the supplies they need to fix broken desks and windows, and get text books into classrooms
What we need to look at as a society is why parents would rather leave their child in front of a TV than to sit with them 20 minutes a day with their school homework
Public Education is needed ; a huge reform is needed, but part in parcal it fails because PARENTS fail at being PARENTS and being apart of the PROCESS of learning.
I agree with your assessment.
But, we also need to realize that Tenure allows for teachers to relax and rest on their laurels. They lose their distinction as honorable public servants when unions are overly involved. Unions make the teachers' benefits a greater agenda than the pupils they are advancing.
Tenure does not promote competition. Competition breeds successful participants. Therefore, Tenure will not create a successful system. Tenure does create a lackluster work environment filled with politics and personal agendas.
We have governments who want to pay millions of dollars to woo sports teams to make a home in their city, yet will cut the budgets by millions of dollars for the schools.
It's been shown time and again that spending increases do not necessarily produce better results. I'm a firm advocate of publicly funded education but the system is broken especially in the inner cities. We need to change how we fund education. One taxing body at the state level that distributes a full voucher to every student, empower the parents and let them send their kids where they want whether it's a public or privately run institution. Poorly performing public schools go bye bye and the void will be filled by private schools.
It's been shown time and again that spending increases do not necessarily produce better results. I'm a firm advocate of publicly funded education but the system is broken especially in the inner cities. We need to change how we fund education. One taxing body at the state level that distributes a full voucher to every student, empower the parents and let them send their kids where they want whether it's a public or privately run institution. Poorly performing public schools go bye bye and the void will be filled by private schools.
There is more than one approach, and I agree with part of your suggestions.
I'm of the belief that more alternative schools need to be provided. Face it, not all students can learn in an enviornemtn like a classroom. Some are not "book" ready students, but are practical learners (meaning they learn by DOING, not by reading, memorizing and taking tests)
And I dont believe in closing down poorly performing schools. I believe in overhauling or changing the ways of teaching in those schools.
As for alternatives, I want more Charter and/or Vocational type of schools.
Charter schools do wonders for children who can't learn in a traditional environment and have a more "focused" curriculum, without the heavy handedness of unnecessary subjects forced upon a student who has no interest in those subjects in the first place.
Vocational schools i believe should be offered from 8th grade. Where some students who just dont want to seek higher education, can start learning in fields of study they wish to pursue. Most Vocational jobs like automotive repair and such are a given, but there are other vocations that can be done like Computer repair and programming, mechanical maintenance and repair (everything from copy machines to as big a machines as printing presses), Construction, some type of art classes, music, etc.
And I dont believe in closing down poorly performing schools.
The key with the full voucher is they'll have no choice in the matter. If they fail to attract students they'll have no choice but to close, liquidate the assets and return the funds to the taxpayers.
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Vocational schools i believe should be offered from 8th grade. Where some students who just dont want to seek higher education, can start learning in fields of study they wish to pursue
By arming the parents with the funds I would suggest you would have an explosion of schools offering educations that cater to the students needs whether it's music, sciences, vocations or whatever.
The key with the full voucher is they'll have no choice in the matter. If they fail to attract students they'll have no choice but to close, liquidate the assets and return the funds to the taxpayers.
Sounds like a contradiction. How can you return the taxpayers funds when you give it to private schools in the form of vouchers?
Sounds like a contradiction. How can you return the taxpayers funds when you give it to private schools in the form of vouchers?
This has to do with the public schools in existence, with the full voucher since their funds are no longer guaranteed you will have schools that have been invested in by the taxpayers that will fail and you'll need to address that.
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