<< Parents are not victims. They have the responsibility to demand
the school system to provide a quality educational OPPORTUNITY >>
When I put my kid thru school, I worked two jobs. But, how do you demand a quality education? Do you do it at election time by voting for the right people? Do you storm the Board of Education, or the school and hold a gun to the principal's head? Do you enter your child's classroom and demand that the teacher quit her/his job because you don't think that they are qualified?
Parents try to trust the system to provide a meaningful education to their children. It worked when I was growing up. A high school diploma from the 50's was probably worth what a college degree is right now!
I demanded a quality education, I guess, by sending my kid to a private school, after I saw how bad the public schools were. But, a lot of parents don't have the background to judge the educational system. They know it doesn't work, but they don't know why. How do these parents demand that the school system works better?
<< Most of them treat their kids education in a turn-key manner. They spend more time going to their soccer games. >>
Welcome to the real world. Today's society has both mates working, some working two jobs. Many commute for hours each way. There's a limit to a human's elasticity. I praise the parents that are active in their children's athletic activities. Education, to me, involves athletics also.
Parents need to depend upon a well working educational system. It's not there in most public schools. What are they supposed to do to fix it? To me, the only answer is at the ballot box. The first step would be to allow weekend voting instead of Tuesday voting. Having elections on Tuesday is just a way of keeping voters away from the poles so that special interests can try to manipulate to vote.
<< As for the schools, they've been dumbed down so long to accomodate mediocre students. Both the school administrators and the politicians keep trying superficial fixes, such as "open classrooms", politically correct textbooks, prayer in school, head start, etc. They don't fix the basic problem of a poorly taught core curriculum and unprepared students. >>
Well said! Now, how do we fix this?
<< Clinton's proposal for 100,000 teachers to reduce class size will just make things worse by adding more unqualified teachers. >>
I agree. Ugly thought isn't it?
I'd like to see more testing and qualifications for teachers and principals and administators. A person running for the school board should at least be able to competently read and write.
Les, thanks for your response, Bob
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