mojo
06-03-2006, 09:54 AM
One of the most ignorant and bullshit laden ideas that has ever been spawned in this country is the idea that education is free. When some parents don't feel that the education their children are getting is the best, they chalked it up to "what do you expect out of a free education?" I assume these nimrods don't understand how local, state, and federal taxes work.
Because of this lackadaisical mentality, compounded with the idea that the government somehow is supposed to magically raise the kids while at the same time have its hands tied in terms of discipline, our society is turning out more an more apathetic graduates. People that eventually are not going to be able to qualify to get into the higher level programs (medical, lawyer, computer) programs because our brighter students were forced to be "mainstreamed" into classes with lower achieving students. Ah yes, mainstreaming, where the higher end students suffer because they don't get the stimulation that they need because the coursework is watered down for the lower level students. Dumbing down a class to make a couple of students feel better about themselves is ludicrous.
Foreign students are getting themselves into the higher level programs because they have the competitive hunger. These are also the kids that were in the higher level classes in their home countries, so they're coming into the program with a higher background level of knowledge. Do you realize in some countries.....god forbid.....students are still required to remember formulas for Physics and Chemistry? God, if we didn't print those formulas on our standardized tests in this country, the wailing and gnashing of teeth would be heard from sea to shining sea.
At the same time, they won't be able to get manual labor jobs because they'll be out competed by the Mexicans who will be willing to do the work for less, and probably will work harder. Why? Well, let's put it this way, when a student is put on an I.E.P, has their work watered down even further, only has to do half of the work given to them, and is praised for half assed class participation, then what do you think they're going to do when they go into the job market?
So, what would be a step in the right direction? SHOW PEOPLE THAT EDUCATION IS NOT REALLY FREE!!!!! Instead of taking a percentage of monies collected from local, state, and federal taxes, how about have a bill at the end of the year that is solely an education bill. Then, make people pay this fee IN CASH ONLY!!!! NO FREAKIN' CREDIT CARDS (that's another issue) so that they can actually see how much money they are giving out to their child's "free education." I hear parents and kids bitch about high school fees. Wait until they realize how much they're paying for their kid to go to school. Maybe we'd see more parent involvement. God forbid, we might see kids that get disciplined at home for screwing around in school on their parent's dime..and then have the school's discipline be supported by the parents.
Because of this lackadaisical mentality, compounded with the idea that the government somehow is supposed to magically raise the kids while at the same time have its hands tied in terms of discipline, our society is turning out more an more apathetic graduates. People that eventually are not going to be able to qualify to get into the higher level programs (medical, lawyer, computer) programs because our brighter students were forced to be "mainstreamed" into classes with lower achieving students. Ah yes, mainstreaming, where the higher end students suffer because they don't get the stimulation that they need because the coursework is watered down for the lower level students. Dumbing down a class to make a couple of students feel better about themselves is ludicrous.
Foreign students are getting themselves into the higher level programs because they have the competitive hunger. These are also the kids that were in the higher level classes in their home countries, so they're coming into the program with a higher background level of knowledge. Do you realize in some countries.....god forbid.....students are still required to remember formulas for Physics and Chemistry? God, if we didn't print those formulas on our standardized tests in this country, the wailing and gnashing of teeth would be heard from sea to shining sea.
At the same time, they won't be able to get manual labor jobs because they'll be out competed by the Mexicans who will be willing to do the work for less, and probably will work harder. Why? Well, let's put it this way, when a student is put on an I.E.P, has their work watered down even further, only has to do half of the work given to them, and is praised for half assed class participation, then what do you think they're going to do when they go into the job market?
So, what would be a step in the right direction? SHOW PEOPLE THAT EDUCATION IS NOT REALLY FREE!!!!! Instead of taking a percentage of monies collected from local, state, and federal taxes, how about have a bill at the end of the year that is solely an education bill. Then, make people pay this fee IN CASH ONLY!!!! NO FREAKIN' CREDIT CARDS (that's another issue) so that they can actually see how much money they are giving out to their child's "free education." I hear parents and kids bitch about high school fees. Wait until they realize how much they're paying for their kid to go to school. Maybe we'd see more parent involvement. God forbid, we might see kids that get disciplined at home for screwing around in school on their parent's dime..and then have the school's discipline be supported by the parents.