It is a matter of fact that the government schooling in this country is lacking. It is not some mystery. I am living proof of that. Due to poor grades at some point, the direction given to me was that of a factory worker. In a country that began wholesaling it’s factories overseas.
Nothing wrong in factory work, except that it is currently and, was then, a dying profession. Not to mention that most factories still operating in this country barely pay a livable wage in comparison to the ever-rising cost of living. The only jobs that seem safe to be organized and have labor unions anymore are those professions that cannot be shipped overseas. Certainly most everybody has noticed that.
Many of those jobs are being attacked as overpaid and there has been a call to break up the unions. Unions that help ensure a livable wage. Hmm…like teachers? Teachers certainly should not have a livable wage. Whoops, wait a minute, that is how this mess got started isn’t it? If taxes pay the government school system and if we were to study the overall failings of that system, would it not make sense to increase the funding? Or would you prefer we pour more money into the prison system? Oh wait, we’re already doing that.
What a relief to know that those dollars we don’t spend on our education system are not wasted after all! It goes to pay for the housing of those who failed in school and, perhaps, turned to crime or food stamps or whatever other government funded program of assistance they may use. We should breathe an absolute collective sigh of relief. Find solace in knowing that the money saved by not giving it to the government school system is being better spent on undereducated adults.
In other words, the government school system in this country is preparing people for occupations that simply do not offer an exisistence much higher than the poverty level.
The public schools are failing to teach the basics. Basics that are going to be needed to obtain further education so that one can become a gainfully employed and taxed citizen.
When one looks for work, there is always this demand for skilled labor. For those professions offering a wage above the poverty line, education beyond the high school diploma is required. It would appear that the government run schools are failing to prepare the current generation for higher education. Failing in great proportions, just as they have for many, many years. Why? Funding or the lack thereof.
Teachers salaries are rather dismal; tools of the trade are lacking as well. Yet we shuffle off each generation to a government school system and expect bleeding miracles. From an understaffed government agency! If my little rant here has you wondering, instead of looking at the high school drop out rate, look further and into the college drop out rate in conjunction with student loan defaults. One might not be so quick to assess I’m just talking out my arse.
Why are there twelve years anyway? After passing the first eight, the next four years should be solely designed for career goals. In general, it is not set up that way. While we are at it, what IF (and this is a big IF) “required” schooling stop after grade eight - the same equivalent as a G.E.D. Why is this there insistence that students continue (ahem, at tax payer expense) on another four years? If they drop out after a year or two of high school and go back to pay for a G.E.D., have they not accomplished the same thing? I truly believe that high school needs to be seriously revamped and not required, but an option. In fact, with college credits available to high school students as we are currently doing, would it not make sense to offer an additional two years in a government funded (or public if you will) high school/college? The country could truly benefit from an educated workforce. Certainly we all agree on that? So why not change it, but change it in a way that benefits all.
As for the student that graduated from the eighth grade and went to work, they should have the option of returning to high school/college up to two years after their eighth grade graduation. Why? How many people have you met that, a few years after graduating high school but not going to college or who dropped out in their sophomore or junior year were talking about how the job they have sucks, is a dead end, etc. and they wanted and understood that further education was the way to change that.
Yes, age fourteen or fifteen is young but, a lot of you know someone who knows it all at that age…perhaps you were one of those yourself. “I know what I need to and nobody can tell me different!” Why can’t that person have the option to leave after eighth grade instead of subjecting themselves to four more years of “boredom”. Then, once they have come to terms with their error in judgment, let them have the option to finish their schooling in the new public high school/college.
Is it the whole eighteen and legal adult issue that started the design? Not sure and not really looking for that information at the moment. Let’s look at how things are and ways to improve them. Obviously the system is flawed and in dire need of repair, but not entirely without merit. If the public school system is to survive it needs an overhaul. Not to mention real funding.
To all the teachers that just show up for a pay check and think that you are marking your time until retirement, or those that have trouble dealing with students that might challenge you, get out; you are of no use. You are a blight on the profession. Your impact on the youth of this country is long-reaching and borders on the criminal, not to mention those of you that are behaving in a criminal manner against students. If you are one of those teachers looking for the easiest way out…Get the hell out of the profession! Nobody needs your poor excuse that gives a black eye to those dedicated teachers who run circles around you.
To all those dedicated teachers that show up every day and try, every day, to make a positive difference, I thank you. You are truly American heroes facing incredible odds and criticism. I have my personal experiences obviously; the teachers who made the positive impact are the ones that truly changed my life for the better. I thank you.
Now lets get this bickering and squabbling about school levies over with and get busy talking about how to fix a system that was designed to improve the lives of the citizens.
Chris…
©2011
All rights reserved
Chris J Hutchins
Dog Hair Productions
Nothing wrong in factory work, except that it is currently and, was then, a dying profession. Not to mention that most factories still operating in this country barely pay a livable wage in comparison to the ever-rising cost of living. The only jobs that seem safe to be organized and have labor unions anymore are those professions that cannot be shipped overseas. Certainly most everybody has noticed that.
Many of those jobs are being attacked as overpaid and there has been a call to break up the unions. Unions that help ensure a livable wage. Hmm…like teachers? Teachers certainly should not have a livable wage. Whoops, wait a minute, that is how this mess got started isn’t it? If taxes pay the government school system and if we were to study the overall failings of that system, would it not make sense to increase the funding? Or would you prefer we pour more money into the prison system? Oh wait, we’re already doing that.
What a relief to know that those dollars we don’t spend on our education system are not wasted after all! It goes to pay for the housing of those who failed in school and, perhaps, turned to crime or food stamps or whatever other government funded program of assistance they may use. We should breathe an absolute collective sigh of relief. Find solace in knowing that the money saved by not giving it to the government school system is being better spent on undereducated adults.
In other words, the government school system in this country is preparing people for occupations that simply do not offer an exisistence much higher than the poverty level.
The public schools are failing to teach the basics. Basics that are going to be needed to obtain further education so that one can become a gainfully employed and taxed citizen.
When one looks for work, there is always this demand for skilled labor. For those professions offering a wage above the poverty line, education beyond the high school diploma is required. It would appear that the government run schools are failing to prepare the current generation for higher education. Failing in great proportions, just as they have for many, many years. Why? Funding or the lack thereof.
Teachers salaries are rather dismal; tools of the trade are lacking as well. Yet we shuffle off each generation to a government school system and expect bleeding miracles. From an understaffed government agency! If my little rant here has you wondering, instead of looking at the high school drop out rate, look further and into the college drop out rate in conjunction with student loan defaults. One might not be so quick to assess I’m just talking out my arse.
Why are there twelve years anyway? After passing the first eight, the next four years should be solely designed for career goals. In general, it is not set up that way. While we are at it, what IF (and this is a big IF) “required” schooling stop after grade eight - the same equivalent as a G.E.D. Why is this there insistence that students continue (ahem, at tax payer expense) on another four years? If they drop out after a year or two of high school and go back to pay for a G.E.D., have they not accomplished the same thing? I truly believe that high school needs to be seriously revamped and not required, but an option. In fact, with college credits available to high school students as we are currently doing, would it not make sense to offer an additional two years in a government funded (or public if you will) high school/college? The country could truly benefit from an educated workforce. Certainly we all agree on that? So why not change it, but change it in a way that benefits all.
As for the student that graduated from the eighth grade and went to work, they should have the option of returning to high school/college up to two years after their eighth grade graduation. Why? How many people have you met that, a few years after graduating high school but not going to college or who dropped out in their sophomore or junior year were talking about how the job they have sucks, is a dead end, etc. and they wanted and understood that further education was the way to change that.
Yes, age fourteen or fifteen is young but, a lot of you know someone who knows it all at that age…perhaps you were one of those yourself. “I know what I need to and nobody can tell me different!” Why can’t that person have the option to leave after eighth grade instead of subjecting themselves to four more years of “boredom”. Then, once they have come to terms with their error in judgment, let them have the option to finish their schooling in the new public high school/college.
Is it the whole eighteen and legal adult issue that started the design? Not sure and not really looking for that information at the moment. Let’s look at how things are and ways to improve them. Obviously the system is flawed and in dire need of repair, but not entirely without merit. If the public school system is to survive it needs an overhaul. Not to mention real funding.
To all the teachers that just show up for a pay check and think that you are marking your time until retirement, or those that have trouble dealing with students that might challenge you, get out; you are of no use. You are a blight on the profession. Your impact on the youth of this country is long-reaching and borders on the criminal, not to mention those of you that are behaving in a criminal manner against students. If you are one of those teachers looking for the easiest way out…Get the hell out of the profession! Nobody needs your poor excuse that gives a black eye to those dedicated teachers who run circles around you.
To all those dedicated teachers that show up every day and try, every day, to make a positive difference, I thank you. You are truly American heroes facing incredible odds and criticism. I have my personal experiences obviously; the teachers who made the positive impact are the ones that truly changed my life for the better. I thank you.
Now lets get this bickering and squabbling about school levies over with and get busy talking about how to fix a system that was designed to improve the lives of the citizens.
Chris…
©2011
All rights reserved
Chris J Hutchins
Dog Hair Productions
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