Panel Proposes Major Changes to American Education System

[Beet]

An ambitious proposal though quite possibly doomed to failure.

You mean absolute, positively, "death, taxes, and the failure of the 2006 New Commission and the Skills of the American workforce Comission plan" certain, failure, my name is Peter Pan, pigs fly, and killer tomatoes launch an invasion of the Seychelles certain, failure? George Washington rises from the dead just so I can have dinner with him tommorrow night certain failure? THAT certain failure?

You could be right.

Anyway, this is a good plan.

[Beet]

An ambitious proposal though quite possibly doomed to failure.

You mean absolute, positively, "death, taxes, and the failure of the 2006 New Commission and the Skills of the American workforce Comission plan" certain, failure, my name is Peter Pan, pigs fly, and killer tomatoes launch an invasion of the Seychelles certain, failure? George Washington rises from the dead just so I can have dinner with him tommorrow night certain failure? THAT certain failure?

You could be right.

Anyway, this is a good plan.

I can never be certain about anything, but I am very cynical nonetheless. >P

People tend to screw up whenever attempting to implement good plans, which is why I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

So we've screwed up civilization, eh?

[Beet]

This part of the plan seems to cater to the segment of the population who views school as free daycare. F-ck that.

Why not look at what's the best policy and not who it "caters" to? If the best policy is to start school at 3 then they should start school at 3. If it's to start school at 13 then they should start school at 13. You shouldn't oppose something just because it "caters" to something you don't like.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I once told a girl that I was interested in that I wanted to be a teacher. Her reaction was totally incredulous, "why?" I think at some level teachers are seen as losers, who couldn't make it in whatever field that they teach. Sure we say their job is important, etc. etc. but few ambitious people really want to be a teacher.

[Beet]

You shouldn't oppose something just because it "caters" to something you don't like.

I'll oppose what I want, and for any reason I want.

Oh, I never said you couldn't take a stance based on bullheadedness, only that you shouldn't.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I once told a girl that I was interested in that I wanted to be a teacher. Her reaction was totally incredulous, "why?" I think at some level teachers are seen as losers, who couldn't make it in whatever field that they teach. Sure we say their job is important, etc. etc. but few ambitious people really want to be a teacher.
[/quote]

I think most of the problem is money. Money provides motivation for the ambitious. Teachers salaries are based on their education and seniority. Further, it's a very safe job; it's pretty hard to get fired as a teacher. We ought to change that. Enable the firing of bad teachers, and pay the good ones more. The lure of more money may attract more ambitious types, while the risk of getting fired may repel the losers from the profession.
[/quote]

I agree.