Public Education

[J.R. Brown]

Just going off of the thread on people who have negative feelings towards private schools, I personnally don't. I think they are excellant academic institutions. However most people cannot afford to send their children to those schools.

What are the major problems that public institutions face and what can be done to fix those problems?

I believe that the public education system is essential and needs to be preserved. It also needs to be better funded, especially in some of the inner city districts. A lot of the ciricullum and the structure of the current system are out of date and should be revamped in the next decade.

[dazzleman]

A big part of the problem with public schools today is that in many cases, we ask them to do the job of the parents, and then deny them the support (not monetary) and tools to do so.

We fail to recognize that parents, not schools, are every child's primary educator, and that schools cannot do their job in the absence of widespread parental support.

We think we can solve this problem with money, but that is just not so.

If you want to see the difference between good public schools and bad public schools, it is parents, not money.

Some people like to blame teachers and administrators when schools fail.  Good teachers and administrators certainly make a difference.  But schools that operate in a culture (such as the inner city) that is hostile to education cannot hope to attract or retain good teachers or administrators in the environment in which they operate.

The great disadvantage that public schools have over private schools is that they cannot reject students who are problematic, either academically or behaviorally.  In schools where significant discipline/behavioral problems exist, we must provide an escape valve because right now, we are allowing these problem students, and their disinterested or hostile parents, to ruin the whole school.

[J.R. Brown]

After school programs have done a lot to help with keeping kids out of trouble. I know it helped at my school. Funding those programs could help.

There are a lot of problems with the structure. The 8 to 3 school day is way outdated. It was originally set up that way for the farm kids in the 19th century. Study's show that adolescents go to bed late and sleep late naturally, its not just being lazy. If they would change the starting time to 9:30 or 10 that may help a lot of the serious students get the rest they need to function during the day. As for the trouble makers, they usually drop out before graduatioin anyway.