I have a 5-point plan for reforming education. 1. Make standards NATIONAL -- If standards become national, every child across the country will learn the same things and students in every state will be able to compete with each other for colleges by having the same basic education and how they perform in high school will determine if they get accepted or not. 2. Emphasis on Math, Science, and Writing--The U.S. is behind in math and science while students struggle in writing. Schools should should try to get ALL their students to at least have a basic understanding in these subjects and work their way up until ALL students can thrive in these subjects. 3. Educated Teachers--One MAJOR problem with the education system is the people who are teaching our students. Some teachers are not as enthusiastic about teaching students and helping them thrive so that they can live successful lives. There should be strict requirements on how teachers are hired. 4. Schedule--Schools should change their schedules to make learning better and more efficient. There should be a 40-week school year split up into 2 20-week sessions for middle and high schools. Elementary schools should have 1 40-week session. These weeks do NOT include breaks such as winter and spring breaks. 5. Recognition and Support--Students should be recognized for their performance in school. This wil motivate them to do better and when one person does better, their friends will want to do better and that will make everyone's education become more advanced.
1. Keep Grammar School as in K-8th Grade for general education during this time they learn all a citizen NEEDS to know and explore interests. 2. After that replace High School with a five branch options letting students guided by mentors, parents and career planners to exploit these to become ready for full adulthood ending at age eighteen. Better public libraries, learning centers (replacing most High Schools) with teachers and classes taken as the student wishes under their learning goals, an apprenticeship system, science academies where government backed projects are done and students can work in and lasting a GED prep option to get the GED and just move on if they want to. If a student just is college interested I see no issue with a GED at 16 years old, go into a two year school then to a university its fine why waste time in High School? And for other students if Jane Doe wants to be a musician why not apprentice with a musician and while doing that work on other areas of education such as a reading program using a local library. Toss out the system and leave the student with guidance free to learn. 3. Make it child neglect as a 3rd degree felony to not take part in the educational of their child without a good reason for example military deployment. 4. Teachers would need to have INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE if you teach chemistry you better have worked as a chemist, but I would pay them more since they would be mentors and guide students choosing to be in their tutelage. Grammar School teachers would need to have a degree and be expected to run their class and trusted to educate the children with testing at every even grade for assessment purposes. 5. Make state universities free but set the standards high to get in, so only the top students testing in with good portfolios could earn a degree and this includes graduate and professional degrees. Say the top 8% of students age eighteen can get in and the same for advanced education.
Pretty much a done deal. The majority of states have signed up to use the Common Core Standards. Only Texas, Virginia, Minnesota, Nebraska and Alaska haven't adopted them. Already being done, at least in terms of math and writing. Science will always have too little emphasis. Educated teachers isn't the right term for it. Education has nothing to do with how enthusiastic a teacher is. Until we don't have teacher shortages in critical areas, there can be no strict requirements. I think we should reduce actual class time to 8-12 am. Have the afternoon for extra curriculars and homework. 40 week year not a bad idea. We currently have a 36 week (180 day) school year. Not in all communities. There are some communities in which doing better is looked at as selling out.
All public schools should be privatized. Public schools are run by an enormous bureaucracy of state supervisors and their assistants and deputy assistants, etc.; county supervisors and all their assistants; principals, assistant principals, etc., etc. All of them are being paid obscenely high salaries and don't do anything all day long. Only the teachers do any actual work. More people work at the school than go to the school. Fire everyone that is not a teacher.
Principals and assistant principals are the hardest workers in a school. They have to deal with teachers, parents and the upper bureaucracy, as well as keeping buildings and facilities running. Most get there half an hour before the teachers, and are still there two hours after the teachers have left (and often have to go to all extracurricular events (sporting and academic) as well). Good principals keep teachers away from as much of the bureaucratic mess as possible. If schools were privatized, we'd soon become a third world country. There is no First World country that doesn't have schools run by the government.
US pubic school edumacation system reform is a huge joke. Nothing will fix a system that has more political power than the citizens they are supose to serve. there is no fix for the broken US pubic school system. NONE. It is the destiny of what greed and power has created. A system that is run on massive tax payer money, no accountability, and government unions that rule over police, the courts, the politicians, and other state funded governmental organizations. The dumbing down of the US public will continue. And the rest of the world is laughing.
