Originally Posted by mrnumbersman

Education has its real problems. Start with the 10,000 pound elephant in the room. Get rid of NCLB. Right now, by the year 2014 all students will be required to be on grade level. That sounds great but it will NEVER happen. Let's be real. If all students are performing at grade level then the standard is set too low.

Also, depending who is in charge of the White House and Congress, NCLB is going to bring about some drastic changes. 1) Education will become nationalized and everything will be dictated from a national level or 2) All students will have complete choice to pick the school of their liking.

Look at the problems with the students today and address those problems. The next biggest thing in the room is the drop-out rate which hovers around 30%. Address the problems with these students and you will solve most of the problems with education. It does not require more money all of the time. It does not require busting up teachers' unions all of the time.

As I have stated before, when the state of Indiana looks at 3rd grade reading scores and builds prison cells based on that, then something is desperately wrong. While that is a great use of statistics it is also very telling about what happens when a kid can't read by the time he is in 3rd grade. Several other states do the same thing.

Someone suggested we get rid of electives. Why? What is the purpose of getting rid of an automotive technology lab (an elective) that trains students for the world of work? I had a student last year that graduated from high school, went to work at a large service department making $60,000. Eighteen years old making $60,000 the honest way. He is finishing trade school in May and will be making in excess of $90,000. Nineteen years old, doing what he enjoys and will be making $90,000 the honest way.

Why get rid of art? I had a student who took 4 years of art in high school. She received an art scholarship to a school in Florida. Graduated two years ago and is into an advanced form of graphic arts. Not sure of the details. She is making a comfortable living ($60,000+).

Why get rid of culinary arts (another elective)? How about metals? What about band or orchestra? Mythology?

I, too, have problems with certain courses that are more directed at behavior (ie sex ed, etc) that academic courses that many consider electives.

Look at how we are educating students now. Boys comprise the largest segment of the drop-outs. Ask yourself why then you will see that the way we teach boys needs to change. We don't lose in middle and high school. We lose them in the 5th grade or earlier. Most elementary teachers are female. Kindergarten skills are now more verbal than ever before. Boys are not as developed verbally as girls. So guess what? They become "behavior" problems because the female teachers want the boys to act like the girls. For goodness sake they are boys but now the common "sex change" is to drug them with Ritalin so they become more compliant, more like girls. If they don't get drugged then they go to the office because the female teachers do not know how to teach boys.

Before you say I am off my rocker, think about it. Check the stats. Check the number of referrals to special education. Check the number of discipline problems that are referred to the office.