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Exactly. We spend more than any other country-but have a poorer outcome. The real issue behind that? Parents that won't contribute to their kids education? Complete lack of discipline on the home front? School rules that prevent meaningful discipline and management of the classrooms? Rules that prevent the expulsion of the limited number of problem kids that prevent the rest from learning? Poor quality teachers and administrators? All of the above? Whatever it is, our system isn't working. Standards are being reduced year after year in spite of the fact that we spend more money year after year. It IS encouraging to see the increase in home schooling and the number of parents that are taking responsibility for educating their kids. But unfortunately many families can not have a parent home full time.
I know it's fun to trash people with degrees that don't pay well, but some of them deserve more respect and money, i.e. social services workers, who help the poor, young, old, and mentally challenged for substandard pay.
And it's not all the students' fault they have a bad degree. When I went to school even my educated boomer parents were among those saying "just go get a degree, any degree".
Norway is a country that knows the importance of striking a balance between their working adults being in the trades and white collar work. Germany is another country where the trades are respected and companies recruit high school students into their apprenticeship programs.
IMO high school students and even middle school could be much better served by their teachers if they were informed about ALL their career options. Not every adult is destined a guaranteed satisfying career through a college degree. And not every trade job is dirty (with constant contact with toilets) and dangerous. Teens should know all their future work options. And this would also be a good time to point out to them that hourly jobs in fast foods is not a career path and that the pay is not a livable wage. However, if they do enjoy cooking or interacting with the public, those job could be a stepping stone to a career in the culinary arts or sales.
And young people shouldn't be prejudiced against knowing how to fix a toilet or how to build a deck. My husband fixes everything that breaks in our house from 1918, and he fixes our cars too... and that saves us a ton of money!!! And one of my friends, a partner in a law firm, knows how to change a light switch in her house.
Every high school should have a mandatory class in life skills. Personal finances, home repair, small business accounting, cooking healthy, how to use and apply for credit, how to have good credit scores, auto repair and maintenance, how to deal with the police and the court system, how to write a resume and dress for a job interview... all that stuff, because their parents certainly are not teaching them all of that.
A happy and productive adult should know all sorts of life and work skills. In such a competitive world, a successful should be adaptable and able/willing to roll with all the random punches that life might throw at them.
At one time at least Great Britain was similar. Those going into engineering had to spend some time in the fields, working in the relevant trades. Mechanical engineers basically started with a machining apprenticeship before going into an engineering school. Here, I have worked with young MEs that had never even worked on their own vehicles, had no idea how to "swing a wrench" and no clue about how to design a part that could be machined.
In general we have a society that has become largely helpless regarding anything even basically mechanical. In the 70s, we spent every few Saturday morning changing spark plugs, points, condenser, cap and rotors and retuning our engines. Those parts needed replacement every 8-10k miles and most males had these basic abilities. And of course when we weren't doing maintenance, there was "hot rodding" going on, changing intakes, exhausts, carbs, etc to get more performance.
These days we have a generation where half the men don't even change their own oil. There are kids that can't even change a flat tire. Replacing an electrical outlet or a toilet, or other basic home owning tasks? Beyond the skillset of far too many. Actually build something and do basic carpentry? Not likely. But post on Instagram? They have that nailed.
I know it's fun to trash people with degrees that don't pay well, but some of them deserve more respect and money, i.e. social services workers, who help the poor, young, old, and mentally challenged for substandard pay.
And it's not all the students' fault they have a bad degree. When I went to school even my educated boomer parents were among those saying "just go get a degree, any degree".
Given that advice, what would lead you to conclude that they were "educated" rather than indoctrinated?
At one time at least Great Britain was similar. Those going into engineering had to spend some time in the fields, working in the relevant trades. Mechanical engineers basically started with a machining apprenticeship before going into an engineering school. Here, I have worked with young MEs that had never even worked on their own vehicles, had no idea how to "swing a wrench" and no clue about how to design a part that could be machined.
In general we have a society that has become largely helpless regarding anything even basically mechanical. In the 70s, we spent every few Saturday morning changing spark plugs, points, condenser, cap and rotors and retuning our engines. Those parts needed replacement every 8-10k miles and most males had these basic abilities. And of course when we weren't doing maintenance, there was "hot rodding" going on, changing intakes, exhausts, carbs, etc to get more performance.
These days we have a generation where half the men don't even change their own oil. There are kids that can't even change a flat tire. Replacing an electrical outlet or a toilet, or other basic home owning tasks? Beyond the skillset of far too many. Actually build something and do basic carpentry? Not likely. But post on Instagram? They have that nailed.
Good point. The thing is... none of that is all that hard. Can't people figure it out on their own? Maybe watch a few YouTube videos if they're still confused? I'm female, have had no electrical or plumbing training, and I can replace an electrical outlet and just recently replaced the tank to bowl bolts and rubber washers in one of my toilets because they were old and worn out so the toilet was leaking from where the bolts are located.
I know it's fun to trash people with degrees that don't pay well, but some of them deserve more respect and money, i.e. social services workers, who help the poor, young, old, and mentally challenged for substandard pay.
And it's not all the students' fault they have a bad degree. When I went to school even my educated boomer parents were among those saying "just go get a degree, any degree".
Agreed with both parts of your post. Thing is, part of the reason for low pay in those fields is that they are flooded with applicants. Supply and demand, no difference than anywhere else.
As far as the parental advice-that goes further. All those decrying today's "millennials", the lack of discipline and the decline of future generations-we (well, my generation-I don't have kids) raised them. The whole "let them find themselves, spoil them rotten, never spank them" parenting plan doesn't seem to have worked out so well, at least in a lot of cases.
Your article in that link shows that in the US, parents pay more into education versus parents in other countries. The government in the US has cut education funding, forcing parents to pick up the slack.
In the US, public spending covers 70% of education spending whereas in other countries, public spending covers 84%.
Per the CBS News link:
Public spending accounts for just 70 cents of every education dollar in the United States. Parents picked up another 25 cents and private sources paid for the remainder in 2010.
A decade earlier, the public's share of education spending was 72 cents on every dollar.
The average OECD nation spent 84 cents of every education dollar, down from 88 cents a decade earlier.
Your article in that link shows that in the US, parents pay more into education versus parents in other countries.
Yeah, via real estate and state income taxes. That's how public schools in the U.S. are funded. Even in countries in which a national government funds schools, it's still money coming from taxpayers. The people are paying, not some abstract amorphous government blob that somehow has a magical money tree.
Yeah, via real estate and state income taxes. That's how public schools in the U.S. are funded.
The statistics have taken into account public funding (including real estate taxes and state income taxes) and they came to the conclusion that that US is behind other countries in public funding. The additional 25% that US parents pitch in is not coming from real estate taxes or state income taxes because those taxes are included in public funding.
Good point. The thing is... none of that is all that hard. Can't people figure it out on their own? Maybe watch a few YouTube videos if they're still confused? I'm female, have had no electrical or plumbing training, and I can replace an electrical outlet and just recently replaced the tank to bowl bolts and rubber washers in one of my toilets because they were old and worn out so the toilet was leaking from where the bolts are located.
Agreed. I've taken on a lot of projects only after watching Youtube videos and reading from other web sources. I did a walk-in shower with a "mud base" (tiled floor, not premade pan). Put it off for quite a while, was nervous about taking it on and having a problem. Like most things, not really all that hard once you read through it and understand what's involved.
Even simple things like an oil change on a new bike or vehicle is easier when you can see how it's done ahead of time.
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