Funding Education - Re: Why Socialism is Evil

[Kacey]

I am not a fan of our President George W. Bush. He ****ed up a lot of stuff. A lot. Schools and the economy are two things in which he didn't solely **** up. Those are two very important things in which the government merely took something bad and made it worse.

I am by no means saying that Bush is the source of the problem - but he certainly added significantly to it with his "landmark legislation".

There is a clear and evident class system in the public schools - especially in states like Colorado, where most of the funding is local rather than state-wide; communities with more money have better schools, because they are both more willing and more able to fund them. In addition, as a general statement (there are, of course, exceptions) better educated parents make more money - and parental level of education is strongly correlated with student level of achievement (note that I say correlated - not causal).

Are there governmental problems with the educational system in the US? Damn straight there are. There are also societal problems with the educational system in the US. Many Americans are not willing to pay up front for education - and instead they pay - and pay more - on the back side for programs to prop up those not prepared by their families, communities, and schools to be successful in life, as I said before, through programs such as Welfare and much of the judicial/prison system.

We, as a society, need to impress upon our leaders at all levels that education needs to be a priority in this country, and that it needs to be changed, systematically and strategically, or nothing is going to change. There are all sorts of wonderful programs and movements in place across this country - but they are largely fragmented and uncoordinated. I've been to training after training claiming to have "the answer" to the needs of my students - and they all have great information, and most of them echo each other. I went to one last week that purported to have "the answer", and there was nothing in it that I haven't seen multiple times before - in a different format, perhaps, or with a different emphasis - but none of it was new. We need to quit following fads and the "latest research", and work together for our children and our future - because they're going to run the country when we all retire.

More than that, education needs to be a priority across all levels of society - and it's not a priority in too many sectors; I have a student now who went to court last week because he has attended school 49% of the year so far - the judge's ruling? His mother has to come to school with him for a week... the fact that this was tried last year (when his attendance was around 65%) and she was kicked out halfway through the first day for being disruptive notwithstanding.

But right now, education is not a priority for many people, and the perceived failings of the education system (some truly the fault of the system and some not) are a big part of why so many people don't want to fund education. And it's cyclical - the more people see the schools as failing, the less support - financial, social, physical, etc. - they will provide to the schools, and the less students will see school as important - and we will continue to spiral downward.

 

[Makalakumu]

I agree with you on just about every point. The point of my long post above is that there is a group of well connected, very powerful, individuals who like the system exactly the way it is. THAT is why it doesn't change. It's not that people don't care, everyone WANTS to be successful and prosperous, that's not in the best interest of the oligarchy though.

The bottom line is that the Foundations that gave us our modern education system still exist. One hundred years ago they openly talked about creating a system to dumb people down and create a new social order of slaves. They still run the show and they haven't changed their game plan.

If we want to change the system, we need to know exactly what has to change...

...and then we need a revolution.

 

[Gordon Nore]

...There is a clear and evident class system in the public schools - especially in states like Colorado, where most of the funding is local rather than state-wide; communities with more money have better schools, because they are both more willing and more able to fund them.

This has been well-documented by Kozol and others. The disparities under this model are eye-popping. In and around 1990 the state education systems of Kentucky, New Jersey, and Texas were successfully challenged in the courts. I know that the KY system for sure, was ruled unconstitutional in the State Supreme Court. As you point out, Kasey, the problems in US education predate George Bush.

There are all sorts of wonderful programs and movements in place across this country - but they are largely fragmented and uncoordinated. I've been to training after training claiming to have "the answer" to the needs of my students - and they all have great information, and most of them echo each other. I went to one last week that purported to have "the answer", and there was nothing in it that I haven't seen multiple times before - in a different format, perhaps, or with a different emphasis - but none of it was new. We need to quit following fads...

I relate very strongly to this comment. I am sick of hearing the words 'success' and 'excellence' bandied about so much in describing model programs of old ideas whose worth or lack thereof was proven decades ago. Pick one that works, fund the Hell out it, and give to all the kids.

As I said, somewhere above, get those class sizes down to levels expected in affluent suburban schools, or those enjoyed by private academies, and watch literacy go up... everywhere. There is no dearth of information on teaching children to read and write or make computations. There is no latest thing we need to discover. Everything we need to do, we already know how to do.

But right now, education is not a priority for many people, and the perceived failings of the education system (some truly the fault of the system and some not) are a big part of why so many people don't want to fund education. And it's cyclical - the more people see the schools as failing, the less support - financial, social, physical, etc. - they will provide to the schools, and the less students will see school as important - and we will continue to spiral downward.

As I suggested above, there is an 'opting-out' trend. Affluent families create special charter schools, school their children in suburban enclaves, or simply send their kids to private schools. Parents who fared poorly look at the school they themselves went to, come back into it with their own kids, and come the conclusion it's not going to do a better job for their children.

 

[Cryozombie]

I think we should force all our children into public service as part of their academic training.

Oh wait. Someone else had that idea.

 

[Makalakumu]

Here are the UNs plans for education in the United States. Notice the collaboration between the DOE and UNESCO.

Here are UNs plans for every nation's education system. This page gives direct links to nations in Europe and North America.

The side bar on the left will take you to any region in the world.

Interesting reading, especially considering the fact that the same Foundations that gave us our modern education system, also gave us the UN. Lots of pretty language couching the same ideology, IMO.