A Comment About Our Educational System

[mamabearCali]

No arguments here on that. Not everyone should go to college. It is a waste of money and time for many many. What every teen needs is to sit down with someone that loves them and figure out what they are good at, what can they do, what are their strengths and think if they need to go to the time and expense of college.


Now I don't think that educators are the best people to figure that out, I think it needs to be a parent. A person who loves and cares for that person and has their best interest at heart.

[The_Busy_Mom]

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Here is my (probably unpopular) take on the subject.
Years ago we tracked students. If students showed an academic aptitude we set them on an educational track for college. If they didn't we looked at other tracks. Were they mechanically inclined? Put them in auto shop. Are they good with their hands? Put them in wood shop. If we didn't know what to do with them, we taught them to weld.
Those we tracked down these other paths could go straight into the work force after graduation or for next to nothing they could continue their education in local trade schools.
Meanwhile, the college track kids were being taught in classes at a much higher level than the other kids. But, somewhere along the line someone decided that every student should go to college. This brought an abrupt end to tracking kids. Every kid had to be taught the same courses at the same level. Well, 2/3 of the class would be left behind if we continued to teach the college track so we lowered our aim to the middle. Then came no child left behind and we lowered our aim even more.
Did more kids go to college? You bet. So many that trade schools all but disappeared. Now if you wanted to learn what you were being taught at the trade school you had to go to a junior college and take all those other core subjects you struggled with in high school.
Which brings us to where we are today. Bright students under achieving because of the low standards and jobs that used to be filled by trade school grads going overseas because college grads wont take jobs that don't pay enough money to pay off school loans.
We took a true common sense system and created a multibillion dollar nightmare.
BTW, you hear all these schools bragging about their high passing rates for state testing? Last year a passing score on the STAAR 8th grade math test was right at 35%. What an accomplishment!

I totally agree with you!! I have had many a discussion with my fellow teachers about how not every child's path leads them to college. I have made many of my teacher friends mad. But as a mom of 4, I can tell you that 2 of mine have the capability to do well in college; the other 2 will be more successful going straight into the workforce.

Our school district is moving slightly back toward the above plan, as we were schooled. On entry into high school, you can choose an academic path. This lets you take classes in a path that fits more with who you are, not who the state wants you to be. The program is just being rolled out for next year as a response to the changes in the House bills.

When I was in school in Lancaster in the mid-90's, I happened to get into a very good academic program that was not available to all students. It was called concurrent credit. Classes were taken in the high school, but I got college credit for them through the local Dallas County Community College. I had almost 2 years of college finished before I ever graduated high school. I wish more of today's schools would take advantage of programs like this.

TBM

[cb1000rider]

That's absolutely the wrong solution. The core of the problem is the taxpayers don't have enough say how their money is being spent on education. Voucher programs give taxpayers even less say how their money is spent.

School Vouchers = Taxation Without Representation

How do you get a very disparate group of parents from different economic backgrounds that have kids with a wide variety of educational needs to agree on how their money will be spent? They are the parties that have the most interest and that will feel the strongest. Throw on top of that the fact that parents can't agree on what should and shouldn't be taught in school.

I live in an area with a bunch of retirees. They've had their kid and paid their dues. The community has been growing the public schools are pretty overcrowded.. It was darn near impossible to get any sort of bond passed to fund a new school, simply because the majority of the community didn't want their tax money to go to education at all. Larger/better schools benefits people with kids, not retirees...

Yea, I see zero chance for agreement.

Give me a voucher and let me choose a school that fit our values. Otherwise I'm simply double taxed, which is worse than being taxed once without representation...

[cb1000rider]

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more than I can count. It wasn't a big deal.

It's a big deal when teachers spend 90% of their time focused on those tests... Your kids may have caught a break if they were gifted enough not to have to worry about it and your school system offered classes that could focus on other things... Cedar Park does have good schools generally speaking.

[mojo84]

How many of our fine upstanding citizens on here survived the complete and utter wasteland of public school? How many were homeschooled? What about private school?

I'm a product of public school.

[SewTexas]

That's absolutely the wrong solution. The core of the problem is the taxpayers don't have enough say how their money is being spent on education. Voucher programs give taxpayers even less say how their money is spent.

School Vouchers = Taxation Without Representation

How do you get a very disparate group of parents from different economic backgrounds that have kids with a wide variety of educational needs to agree on how their money will be spent? They are the parties that have the most interest and that will feel the strongest. Throw on top of that the fact that parents can't agree on what should and shouldn't be taught in school.

I live in an area with a bunch of retirees. They've had their kid and paid their dues. The community has been growing the public schools are pretty overcrowded.. It was darn near impossible to get any sort of bond passed to fund a new school, simply because the majority of the community didn't want their tax money to go to education at all. Larger/better schools benefits people with kids, not retirees...

Yea, I see zero chance for agreement.

Give me a voucher and let me choose a school that fit our values. Otherwise I'm simply double taxed, which is worse than being taxed once without representation...

I agree, zero chance for agreement. We've been paying school taxes forever and haven't gotten a dime's use out of them yet. I love the voucher idea. Force the government school to make the best use of their money.

and Dori, you threw an disagreement out there, but no solution, that's not playing fair around here, we tend to expect an decent argument, not "that's not the right way".

[jmra]

How many of our fine upstanding citizens on here survived the complete and utter wasteland of public school? How many were homeschooled? What about private school?

I'm a product of public school.

I attended a small private school in New Orleans due to the generosity of my Aunt, a school teacher in Ola, AR. I guess she had heard bad things about public schools in NOLA and couldn't bear the thought of us being murdered in the hallways.
My kids attend one of the largest charter schools in Texas. The school is one of the reasons we left NOLA and moved here. I started working for the school when my youngest started K-5. If I wasn't with them at school we would be doing a program at home. The biggest thing that keeps me from doing that now is both boys enjoy athletics.

[mojo84]

I think it's where you are and how much the students and parents put into it. My kids have been tremendously successful in our public schools. My son will be headed off to a private university and major in Biblical Studies. He will enter college with over 40 college credit hours and will be pursuing a dual track bachelor and master degrees in 4 1/2 to 5 years.

I have a friend that grew up in NO. I'll check with him to see if he was a product of public or private school. Either way, he's done quite well for himself and was the number two guy of a national organization with a name everyone of us has heard.

[mamabearCali]

How many of our fine upstanding citizens on here survived the complete and utter wasteland of public school? How many were homeschooled? What about private school?

I'm a product of public school.

I was homeschooled for a portion of my education. Then we moved and our circumstances changed and I learned nothing for 5 years of public school. I barely survived it. It was Lord of the flies. Horrible stuff......really really bad. Finally we moved again and I decided it was in my own best interest to know how to write a sentence and how to do basic math. So I got myself together, got some help, fought the system that had me in basic English (which was basically play scrabble for an hour) got into honors English and learned something. I learned in spite of the education system.

Now my community college courses were excellent.

[jmra]

I think it's where you are and how much the students and parents put into it. My kids have been tremendously successful in our public schools. My son will be headed off to a private university and major in Biblical Studies. He will enter college with over 40 college credit hours and will be pursuing a dual track bachelor and master degrees in 4 1/2 to 5 years.

I have a friend that grew up in NO. I'll check with him to see if he was a product of public or private school. Either way, he's done quite well for himself and was the number two guy of a national organization with a name everyone of us has heard.

our school requires parental involvement as part of the charter. Makes a huge difference.
A number of people I know from NO went through the public school system and were very successful, but I know many more success stories from private schools especially if we are talking post '70s.
My brother pulled his two kids out of Jefferson Parrish public schools in the late 80s after both had been attacked by school gangs. He moved his family to Texas and both kids went to public schools in Ellis Co. The kids felt like they were in the promised land.

[Oldgringo]

Are there any exemptions from the annual school taxes for us old folk who have, never had, any offspring in the local ISD schools?

[mojo84]

I know what you mean, I get pretty ticked off knowing I paid for some roads I've never driven on.

[Cedar Park Dad]

How many of our fine upstanding citizens on here survived the complete and utter wasteland of public school? How many were homeschooled? What about private school?

I'm a product of public school.

There was no such thing as "home schooling" when I went to school. Maybe it was an underground thing, but I never heard of it then or knew anyone who did it. Now there are quite a few more. With the exception of a church school for the first few grades, it was public school.

[Cedar Park Dad]

I know what you mean, I get pretty ticked off know I paid for some roads I've never driven on.

I'd eliminate funding for all roads I don't drive on, if we're going down this route (pun intended)

[MotherBear]

How many of our fine upstanding citizens on here survived the complete and utter wasteland of public school? How many were homeschooled? What about private school?

Yes, yes and yes. I was homeschooled K - 7th, private school in 8th, home again for 9th, and public for 10th - 12th. For me personally, private was the worst and home was the best. Just about went crazy in 8th grade suddenly having to ask permission to go to the bathroom -- seemed to me by the time you're 12 or 13, you ought to be able to handle that one on your own. Public was ok. I think the hardest thing was learning to be bored and waste time.