This is just a sampling of the people who will be voting and attempting to enter the job market in a few years.

It’s Not the Student’s Fault!

It’s a systemic disease of the school system, and the accompanying bureaucracy.

The system is not just sick, it is terminally ill.

It can’t be repaired, we must replace it before it rots to kill us all.

It’s Not a Lack of Money

The U.S. Leads the world in per-student spending yet we are far behind in the quality of education.

Chicago teachers are the highest paid in the nation, yet Chicago schools are the lowest in performance

The Federal Government

Eliminate the Federal Department of Education

There is no Constitutional basis for this agency. Why should the states send their education money to the feds, just to have it plundered by an inefficient and corrupt political bureaucracy before the remainder is returned to them with numerous strings attached?

The NEA and Teacher’s Unions

Today’s classroom teacher is arguably the one profession on which our future depends more than any other.

When the quality of early education is improved, a larger, more well-prepared supply of technicians, scientists, salespeople, engineers, health care, finance, law and other professionals, executives and small-business owners will automatically and naturally follow.

Why is this critical profession unique in providing lifetime job security, insurance and retirement, even for practitioners who do not perform?

Teachers must be held accountable for their performance.

The concept of tenure, guaranteed job security within a few years, regardless of their performance and effectiveness is in direct conflict with both common sense, good business practice and worker motivation.

Only teachers and politicians are not subject to performance based evaluation, and even politicians can be ‘fired’ when they don’t perform. (Why we don’t do that is another topic.)

The world depends on each successive crop of graduates being just a bit more prepared than the last. Unfortunately we are regressing.

Of course, there are dedicated teachers who are outstanding, primarily because of their scarcity. They make the substandard teachers even more obvious by comparison.

Can you believe that one state actually ruled: “If a student is assigned a substandard teacher in any two consecutive years, they must be assigned a competent teacher for the following year.”

I have a better idea … Fire the Substandard Teachers!

Until the students, and not the unions and politicians are at the center of the process, this can’t happen.

The Parent’s Responsibility

I’ve been a fly on the wall at PTA meetings in a school of about 800 students. The turnout at the PTA meetings was usually 20 to 30 people. During the meetings, there were half a dozen or so administrative types, skulking around talking on walkie-talkies like undercover operatives.

These self-important people were at the vice-principal level, and the very people who needed to be participating, not playing James Bond on our time. During most of the meetings that I attended, education was never mentioned. The hot topics were.

• The poor quality of the school pictures.
• New uniforms for the football team (The band uniforms, old and ratty were not mentioned),
• The litter problem on the school grounds
• Suggestions for keeping the graffiti off of the rest room walls
• Whether students should be required to wear school uniforms
• It was, however, resolved that students would need written permission from their parents to enroll in “family education.”
• How to deal with the “problem” of unauthorized gifts of supplies, computers and science project kits directly to teachers — (It seems that all gifts must go to the school “system” which would determine where they go.)
• A fund raising drive to buy some new books for the library lasted about five minutes and was voted down.
• This last item was a noble effort, but if they got rid of just one of the walkie-talkie types they could fund the library for years.
• This very brief discussion of new books was followed up by a heated discussion of which books were no longer appropriate for the school library, and should be removed. Among those mentioned were Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. It seems that these somehow ‘became’ blatantly racist).One (Black) parent did have a creative and novel idea. Why not FEATURE the ‘racist’ books as the center of a student discussion of how attitudes have and have not changed since they were written.
• Three religious texts, specifically The Bible, Book of Mormon and Torah was suggested for removal, but no one mentioned the Qur’an. Further discussion disclosed that the former three volumes should best be studied at home, but the latter (Qur’an) was necessary because of current events.

Why not design a class around comparative religion, featuring all available texts?

These books all take on a new interest when presented together, as literature rather than gospel, and more so when placed into historical perspective.Why was the suggestion that the alleged ‘racist’ literature be used as cultural and historical learning tool so quickly dismissed?

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Funding The Schools

When additional money is given to a school system, it is usually used to hire another junior deputy assistant to the senior deputy assistant to the junior assistant to the secretary of the vice-principal for the 10th. grade. More for bureaucrats and more paperwork.

The school system should exist as a support mechanism for the duties of the classroom teacher.

Teachers who perform should receive the respect and the remuneration due a person who has had at least five years of specialized education. Those who do not should be forced to look for work elsewhere.

Having said that, however, along with great respect comes great responsibility.

Our teachers must fulfill this responsibility to their ultimate clients, the students.

The School Term

For the most part, the family farm is dead. They have been foreclosed into easy prey for the big conglomerates. The need for a National Summer Vacation is gone. Most children don’t have to plant and harvest. (In fact, most wouldn’t know how.)

Would you like to increase available classroom and lab space by 25% immediately? — Year Round Schools!. Even if a vacation is given, keep the buildings open all year. We’re paying for them, let’s use them. Rotate classes in and out over the year, after all, 25% of the school year is “off time.”

The School Day

Every hour (or in many cases, less) everyone in the school gets up and moves. This is not just inefficient, it’s plain stupid. By the time a kid gets to class, sits down, gets prepared, socializes and settles into what can only be loosely described as ‘learning mode,’ 10 to 15 minutes have passed. (From 15 to 25% of an hour long class.)

Ten minutes or so before the class ends the student’s minds begin to wander toward the forthcoming bell, and the next class. (Another 15% of an hour long class.)

What this means is that 30% to 40% of the classroom time is wasted. Extending class time could easily result in an immediate gain of 20 to 25 minutes. Multiply this by Three classes per day, and we have just added 60 to 75 minutes of teacher contact hours.

The Curriculum

No one denies that a solid core curriculum, firmly grounded in real world skills is a necessity. The way that curriculum is defined and delivered, however, must change.

Too much emphasis on rote memorization of obscure facts that will only come in handy should the student be a contestant on Jeopardy.

Who cares that the battle of Hastings was in 1066? “Around the year 1000,” is probably close enough.

What is truly important to place government and history into an accurate coherent time-line of cause and effect. How many of you could tell me the exact dates of the US Civil War. Isn’t “Eighteen Sixtyish” good enough?

The emphasis on memorization of minor details is primarily for the benfit of the “system” to enable standardized testing and facilitate easy grading.

Why is learning so much fun on The Discovery Channel, and such a task in the classroom?

It’s because The Learning Channel and similar media, make subjects interesting by exposing what really matters, the reasons, personalities, politics and sociology behind an event.

Outdated Age-based Grade Level System

As any parent or teacher can tell you, different children learn differently, and at different rates. Studies (and adventurous parents) have shown that children can read and comprehend simple text as young as age Two.

Expecting every child in a room of 25-30 Ten year olds to be on the same reading or math level is not just unrealistic, it’s absurd.

Some speculate that putting younger children in a class with older ones will result in bullying and violence. That’s also what they said about mixing races in the classroom. The only significant violence was perpetrated by the adults. (And I use the term adult loosely)

Holistic Education

When the history class is studying Medieval Europe, why isn’t geography there as well? Math and science classes could be studying the challenge of building a catapult, and actually using it, calculating trajectories and the like. That’s when you bring in computers as advanced computational tools, to make life easier only after the basic math skills are learned. (More on this later in the Computer Labs Section.) Other classes should be studying the arts, science and music of the same period.

Yes, this creates a huge coordination problem. These problems, however, are just solutions that have yet to be uncovered.

There are a few progressive schools breaking new ground in this area, but they are far from mainstream, and the NEA doesn’t like them one bit..

Real World Education

How about a class Skills for Living. Here students do their taxes, balance a checkbook, build a mailing list, or “buy” a house or car.

In the home buying exercise, they would have to fill out a credit application, negotiate a deal, understand the contract, figure the interest and deal with the lawyers. Students would take turns being buyers, sellers, bankers and lawyers.

These are skills that will serve them, and society well. I’m certain that many banks, businesses, law firms, real-estate agents and even used car dealers would love to volunteer and/or donate resources for this venture.

Some schools are attempting this now, but only as far as it fits into the “existing system” and in most cases it’s an elective rather than required class.

If the existing system does not permit easy integration of this type of “spot learning”, then the system is the problem, and must be replaced, not repaired.

Computer Labs

Strong computer skills are an absolute necessity today. Most school systems, however, treat computers as an end unto themselves. The average graduating student has no concept about how these tools are used on the job.

We tend to believe that all kids are techno-guru’s. That’s probably because the few that are even marginally conversant with computers are spectacular compared to much of the over 50 set.

Skills like sending text messages to your BFFs, posting photos to a FaceBook page or killing aliens in a video game, however, are generally not in high demand by employers.

The computer is a tool, a means to an end, and nothing else. Please stop teaching kids to write programs in obscure languages on outdated computers.

Teach them instead, to install and use a spreadsheet or project organizer. If a student wants to go into computer science, then teach them the internals of computing. Make sure, however, that the teacher is qualified.

In my high school typing class, (age alert) we didn’t spend half the year learning how the typewriter worked, or the history of typing, we learned how to use them. That’s why they have both driver’s education and auto mechanics. One is for the end users, the other for the fixers and builders.

“I hear Bill has a computer at home, we’ll let him run the computer lab.” So Bill does the best he can, and teaches outdated folklore as absolute truth.

Freedom of Choice — Privatize Education — Charter Schools Work!