tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4041089218060371051.post199355131835686502..comments2023-10-25T04:32:52.345-04:00Comments on Just Blowing Smoke...: The Cost of EducationTimothy W Higginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17118861693269565715noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4041089218060371051.post-3610935183138998772007-12-29T21:35:00.000-05:002007-12-29T21:35:00.000-05:00Surely you knew I would stick my two cents in wher...Surely you knew I would stick my two cents in where education is concerned!<BR/> The educational system in not broken irrevocably, but it is certainly battered and bruised. There are many parties involved in this "assault with intent to kill". <BR/> The federal government has long made promises that it never intended to keep. The federal government has long made mandates (requirements/services) on the educational system and agreed to pay the states 100% of the cost for providing these. Some of these, just to mention a few, are ELL (English Language Learners) classes and services for non-English speaking students, SPED (Special Education) services for handicapped, children with learning disabilities, tutoring, speech/language, etc.(also including gifted programs, which continue to be cut to fund the others), Free/Reduced Breakfast and Lunch programs, and on and on ad nauseum. After ordering these mandates, and agreeing to provide the funding to the states, they walked away and have never paid more than 17% of the bill any year since they began. This goes on year after year, and no one does anything about it. On the other hand, we have earmarks stuck on every bill that goes through Congress to fund more important things like the "Bridge to Nowhere" or building a museum to honor the inventing of Ketchup or some other stupid thing! (I love Ketchup, or Catsup, as much as the next person, but a museum?) Billions and billions of dollars in mandates every year! People talk about Social Security? Take a look at the education system if you want to see a crime!<BR/> Next we have teachers! Young and movtivated new teachers come out of college every year, and most are done teaching within three years! They are so burned out by the system, the lack of a decent wage, the behavior of students, the lack of backbone in the school districts, and the lack of parent support, that they end up going back to school to get an additional degree outside of the education field. The dedicated teachers who hang in their are reaching the retirement age and will soon be gone. Others who are left should have never been teachers to begin with. Not a bright outlook!<BR/> Next in the pecking order are students. Many students now come to school because they have to and will do as little as possible while there. They will text on their phones;speak disrepectfully to teachers and staff;start fights;steal other classmates cars, calculators, purses, bookbags, shoes, etc.;bully; threaten violence (and more often then not, follow through on that threat); and basically do anything but study. They don't do homework because "they're too tired", don't pay attention in class, don't sleep enough or eat properly. The kids who actually come to school to get an education are so limited by those around them, that they are forced to dumb down, shut down, and finally become one of the many. It's a tough roe to hoe!<BR/> Last, but most certainly not least, we have parents! Now I am a single parent and I worked as my kids went through school. I still found time to volunteer at the school, attend sporting events, get to know the teachers and my kid's friends-basically participate in the education system. Today, many parents want to send their kids to school and want them to come home when it's over and don't want to hear about it PERIOD! If their kid is failing academically or socially, it's the teachers fault, the school's fault, the School Board's fault, anyone but their child's fault, or God forgive, the fault of poor parenting. Some are afraid of "parenting" because if they do try to discipline thier child in any way, their child can pull the "children's services card" or someone else will. (It's a real threat. Parents who want to parent can't because other people keep interferring in what should be normal parenting practices!) Parents who do participate at the schools are so overwhelmed by the need and the lack of help that they burn out by the time their oldest child hits 4th grade.<BR/> The first step to fixing the educational system has to start with the home. Be a parent, don't be your child's friend. They have friends, they need a PARENT! Two, be a responsible parent and hold you child responsible. If he/she is failing, take away the TV and the game system and the car and the cell phone and everything else they hold dear. All you are required to provide is food, shelter, education, and love. The others are EARNED! Make your child do homework and study. Make them go to bed at a decent hour. Make them eat breakfast before they go to school, even if it's just cold pizza. Brains need fuel just like cars! Get involved and know what is going on in your school and your school district. Ask questions and get answers. Join your school's PTA, Site Council, Booster Club, etc. Know where your kids are and who they are with. Know their friend's parents. <BR/> These are just jumping off places, but they will make a difference. Hold everyone to a higher standard-your child, yourself, your child's teacher, your child's school and school district, your state educational system, your state legislators, the Congress and the President. Our educational system is becoming unaffordable at the same time it is being laughed at all around the world. We are supposed to be the only "Super Power" left. I guess that depends on how you look at it. If we have to go to Japan, Russia, and China to get our scientists, researchers, and mathematicians, and our own children come out of school unprepared to enter the workplace, what is so super and powerful about that? I quote the philiopher Earl Pitts, "Wake Up America!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com