Quote:
Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl
It's too bad those kids don't get to enjoy peanuts and everyone has to bend over backwards for the sake of just one person.
If only there were some way to make schools more like stores and diners and things. Y'know, where there are just so many that there's something for everyone, everywhere, in every price range. A kind of market, you might say, butfor schools. One that would be free of the public sector. 
Nah, that would never work. Better to let the state handle it by throwing resources and proper legislation for good educational standards at the problem while we sit around scratching our heads and wondering why it isn't working. They'll get it right some day, I'm sure.
Alright, I'm done being a sarcastic ass for the moment (nobody panic, I'm sure the mood will strike me again soon). Seriously though, this kind of issue where the schools are doing something that not everyone approves of comes up often enough that one would think people would just naturally be agitating for a broader range of choices in schools.
And it's not like anyone is happy with the current US school system, anyway. The unions are never happy, the kids are never happy, the parents are never happy, our educational standing on an international level certainly isn't happy. But instead of actually doing anything about it we spend all our time arguing over who should get to tell whose kids how to learn what or whatnot.
It never ends. Should there be prayer in schools? Should there be a dress code? Is it ok to teach this, is it not okay to teach that? Are the standardized tests biased? Are the teachers paid enough? Would more pay help? Can we afford that? Which schools are underfunded? Which ones are overfunded? Why? Are the intelligent-designers idiots? Are the secularists morally bankrupt? And yes, should kids wash their hands more often? Et cetera et cetera. Back and forth. Over and over.
So why? For the love of God, or for the lack of it if that's your choice, will someone please tell me why we insist on this mandated institutionalization of public education? Why do people look at me like I've just grown a third head when I suggest privatization, or partial privatization, or even a voucher plan?
I could go on, but I'm sure we'll all agree this post is long enough for now. |
Why don't we just completely stop funding education? I don't just mean the vile public institutions, but even the noble and sacred private ones as well. This mean that now
you are
directly responsible for little Johnny's education; after all, he's
your kid. For any institution to survive would probably mean a several hundred percent increase in tution, since private and charter schools also currently receive substantial government subsidies.
What that now means is that if little Johnny's dream is to become a lawyer, it is his parent's job to make sure he can pass the collegiate entrance exam. No, of course not everyone is comfortable teaching every subject, but the free market solves that problem too. With legions of now unemployed educators milling about, tutors in every concievable subject will be readily available for private work. Of course, the best and most experienced ones will likely be very, very expensive, as they will be setting their own prices, but that is the law of the jungle. For others, there will certainly be some correspondence school flunkie willing to work for a pittance.
The end result is a society where far, far fewer people go to college. The ones that do will naturally be of much higher quality than what we see now. As a college professor who home schools his children, this gives me the best of all worlds both at home and work. And so I welcome this brave new world where always the strongest thrive. After all, as a career educator now working at the collegiate level, I am both uniquely qualified and of sufficient financial means to ensure that
my children will rise to the top. As to your [globally speaking] children, they are neither my problem, nor my concern.