Do we not put enough emphasis on education?

S

Sidekick

New member
Recently there was an international coding contest, and the finals were completely dominated by Russians and Chinese.

We have a GDP of about 14.5 Trillion, while we only spend 50 Billion a year on education. By %, that isn't very high compared to other countries. We're the richest (by far) country in the world, we should be able to get our kids the best education. 3 out of 4 Academics in the US, come from foreign countries. We seem to put more of an emphasize on the military than we do with anything else.

We completely fall behind in everything. The only thing we seem to be good at internationally, is sports, while the majority of our population sinks behind the rest of the industrial world in academics.
 
we spend more per student than any other country in the world. money isn't the problem. parents need to get involved, they should have choice. look at the d.c. program they're dropping. students attending private schools are doing better than students living in the same neighborhoods attending public schools. tenure is a problem, teacher's unions are a problem, we need to look at things that work and duplicate them, not continue to duplicate things that don't work by throwing more money at it and hoping things get better. that plan doesn't work in any segment of society.
 
States take care of education and the government should not be involved. We need to eliminate the Department of Education. Education has gone completely downhill since its inception.

Please, before you go blaming anyone for the dismal education in this country, look at the parents. Most parents are to blame if their child drops out or fails to succeed.
 
States take care of education and the government should not be involved. We need to eliminate the Department of Education. Education has gone completely downhill since its inception.

Please, before you go blaming anyone for the dismal education in this country, look at the parents. Most parents are to blame if their child drops out or fails to succeed.
 
It's not the money, but the dems and lefties have destroyed the curriculum with "Heather has Two Mommies" and "Conflict Resolution" classes while the Chinese study math, physics and science. The left has been in charge of education for the last 50 years, so be sure to send them a thank you note...

Thanks to the Teachers union, also, for making sure you can't fire crappy teachers.

EDIT - Standards for completion have slipped so badly that a college degree is an expensive ticket to get you in the door to a job but means diddly squat about what you know.
 
In Ca anyways, half of the budget goes to education (at least this was the case for the past 20 years), yet the drop out rate here is insanely high, the highest being 57% in cities like LA.

Meaning it's not a money issue.
 
We absolutely do not put enough emphasis on education in the United States. 50 Billion Dollars a year is a good bit of money to spend but the way we are spending this money is debated.

Ridiculous testing (such as No Child Left Behind) should've never been created yet alone continued.

Writing is not emphasized enough in education, especially in high school. Other subjects such as Art, Music, Drama, Social Studies, Chemistry, and Physics are being pushed aside for more Math and Reading classes.

What makes America unique is that we learn a broad array of topics and have a very specialized education in many subjects, not just all Math and Reading.

The root of the problem lies in the curriculum and the students. The teachers must motivate the students. The students must motivate themselves. The curriculum must be challenging enough in order to want these students to achieve.

In particular, there should be a 'generalized' curriculum for elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools that every single school must follow.

In particular for high schools, equal time should be alloted for every subject. High school students, I believe, MUST take Calculus BEFORE they graduate on top of their other Math requirements, Physics AND Chemistry on top of their other Science requirements, and 2 (mandated) Writing classes as well as a Senior Portfolio that focuses 75% on Analytical Writing (Essays, Research Papers) and 25% on Creative Writing. Also, EVERY SINGLE STUDENT should take AT LEAST 1 AP or I.B. class BEFORE they graduate.

This curriculum would challenge our students greatly. Now, would their be an increased amount of high school dropouts? Yes. But, this curriculum focuses on the needs of an ever-changing world and allows us to be a global competitor. And the Russians and Chinese probably have a curriculum similar to this anyways.
 
Spending is not the solution; management is.

We spend more money on education per capita than any other country; however, our public educational system is horrible.

The problem with that is complex but the main cracks are known. At my school, for example, if a student fails a course, they give the student to do a project. Basically, a student does not have to go to school an entire semester and still get the credit by doing a project, which can be easily done with the help of the Internet. Now, tell me, is that student going to be a contribution to society? My answer is NO.

And how about for all the dropouts? Isn't it the largest waste of money ever to school and feed someone who passes his classes with a minimum grade and then, say at his junior year, simply leaves school and goes on the street to do drugs, and possibly get in trouble. So, look what we're doing, investing our money -- OUR tax money -- on people that will actually do more bad that good.
 
We don't put enough emphasis on learning...they just keep injecting more money and bureaucracy into the system w/ ZERO results.

They need to put teachers on merit pay -- get rid of tenure.

Abolish the Department of Education -- waste of money and space

Parents need to take a proactive stance in school -- be involved and help the teachers teach their kids rather than using the public school system as a daycare center.
 
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