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In Reply to: RE: Those who say schools have dumbed down are the dumbies. posted by tinear on September 26, 2014 at 12:03:48
Snippet: While critics tend to rely on the three-decades long decline of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) to document the dumbing down of American education, more alarming is our performance against the students of other industrialized countries. By virtually every measure of achievement, American students lag far behind their counterparts in both Asia and Europe, especially in math and science. Moreover, the evidence suggests that they are falling farther and farther behind. As educational researcher Harold Stevenson notes, although "the U.S. is among the countries expending the highest proportion of their gross national product on education, our elementary school and secondary school students never place above the median in comparative studies of academic achievement."
Follow Ups:
...there are a number of forces at work here, most from the religious right.
The questioning of science and the attempt to teach religious creation as science.
The starving of taxes for public schools to push for a voucher system to use public money for religious schools.
A lack of a consistent curriculum throughout the country as in others ahead of us.
There is no such thing as "public money". All money accrued and spent by various government/school district/hospital district entities is generated in the "private sector" by individuals and companies via the "send it to us, or else" approach.
Given that, and the fact that much money is wasted in public schools, it seems reasonable that some people would prefer to have a voucher which they can use toward the cost of schooling at an alternative educational institution, whether a religious school such as Catholic or Lutheran or whatever, or at some other school which is a private school.
There is a segment of society which purports to embrace "choice". Yet, many of these people vehemently object to choice when it comes to how our tax dollars are spent on what might be the most important tax expenditure of all - the education of our youth.
:)
...glad to hear you're pro-choice ;-)
Horse Feathers Isn't it odd that those most in favor of a voucher system are minorities looking for a better future thn what we're offeing at present
"Man is the only animal that blushes - or needs to" Mark Twain
Hey Dave, how you doing?
Minorities looking for a better future? I don't know about that here
in NC. Those championing that cause here are either fundamental
christians (bible beaters) or affluent (mostly white) people who don't
want their children attending public schools. For several reasons.
Private schools here are very expensive. Whether children receive
a better education at these private schools is also a debatable point
since they hire teachers from the same universities that the public
school systems do.
The problem I have with the voucher system proposed here in NC
has to do with the make-up of private schools. Many of them
are religious based. IMHO you have the right to believe in whatever
you want, just don't shove it down my throat or try to convert me.
I do NOT agree with taking any of our tax money to pay or subsidize
a private religious school education. The voucher programs proposed
here were never clear to me on this.
Thomas Jefferson's views on the separation of church and state
are very important to me.
Both of my children attended one of the higher ranked public high schools
here in Raleigh and IMHO received a much better education than I
did back in the woods of WV. So I have not given up on the public
school system here in NC yet. But it can always be improved.
Take care.
Bill
Nicely stated, Bill. Kudos too for skillfully avoiding the political quagmire.
I had written a response that elaborated on why your perspective on the use of tax dollars (or the exemption thereof) to fund private education should apply doubly so to organizations engaging in activities intended to influence the outcome of....oh, never mind.
The problem with the schools is the breakdown of the family which results from the collapse of ...
Choose One
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...the sequester cut of Head Start Program funding last year.
Growing up without any Federal programs, none, in the school system, and discriminated against for my ethnic background, I somehow managed to get an education in public schools, the University of Chicago and Magdalen College.
Of course, I didn't have 'important people' with $2,000 dollar suits that were paid for by telling me how disadvantaged I was.
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