Tonight's segment on ABC's 20/20 about education in the United States was not enlightening to me - I had already known everything that was reported in that segment. It reinforced how desperately un-fixable the education system is here in our country. I watched teacher after teacher demand MORE MONEY!!! MORE MORE MORE!! for education, while John Stossel visited one high-school aged kid who remained stuck reading at 4th Grade level. During a meeting, the principal of his school felt he was performing satisfactorily. I wanted to bonk that principal on the head.
After a few hours with Sylvan Learning tutorials, the student jumped several grade levels in reading.
If you missed "Stupid in America" you can visit 20/20's website and view clips from the segment.
2 comments:
Rats. I missed this report. I'm really reluctant to put Alexander in the public school system. I'm just not convinced he'll get what he needs. I can't help but think I did well *despite* the system, and maybe Alexander could, too, but. . . Do I really want to take that chance? Why should I, if there are better options?
Chris has a point - competition can only help.
And for Calletta - I think you will see a familiar scenario reinforced in the segment featuring Belgian schools. The teachers in the Belgium segment stated that they felt they were under enormous pressure to perform. If they did not perform well or offer courses that the parents and students were seeking, their schools could lose government money, or worse, close. Guess what? The students are literate, speak multiple languages, and the standards in education are highly competitive all around, regardless of a student's economic status.
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