School board wouldn’t be a bad idea and a good place to start holding someone accountable for all the wasted money. However the wasted money is well above the heads of the school board since it is higher up in the chain that it is wasted or burned away leaving very little for the schools themselves and the teachers.

I do think the public schools are an excellent place to begin major reform in they way they are structured and ran. They need to be more like private business and ran efficiently rather then the way they are now with over bloated officials who really don’t need to be employed.

There is plenty enough money in the current budget to bring all the schools up to par as far as repairs and giving teachers a nice pay raise as the vast majority deserve. They is enough money to do that and then still give some back to the tax payer its just a matter of making the public school system more efficient and one way is to get federal government OUT OF IT.

Yes, the federal government should fund it and set some state wide standards but that is all they are needed for, other then that they need to keep their nose out it…

It should have much more control locally and by the state and the teachers union should be disassembled and done away with to never be seen again. There is no reason for a national teachers union. Now I would still want something in place to protect the vast majority of teachers who are excellent and very much needed and to also protect them from non-sense type issues that “may” get them fired.

However with that, even if it were a local type union, there would still be standards for teachers to meet each and every year which would always override anything any type of local union may put into place.

Even if it is a “federal standard” type of test they must pass as well as using some type of measurement in how their current and past students have done it would be something with a set limit they must pass or they could “possibly” face dismissal from their job.

Many ideas, and I am sure many here could come up with more, or better ones but as far as I am concerned there is to much money spent on public schools for the very poor return we get on that money spent. Schools can produce better educated kids at a lower cost with higher pay for teachers with the money we currently fund schools with and still afford a cut in the budget.

They just have to learn how to run public schools smarter, more efficient with higher output (smarter kids) just like the real world does…

 

[QUOTE]
I do think the public schools are an excellent place to begin major reform in they way they are structured and ran. They need to be more like private business and ran efficiently rather then the way they are now with over bloated officials who really don’t need to be employed.
[quote]
The schools definitely need to be run more efficiently, but I am not a fan of privatization. I look at Enron and shudder to think what might happen.

Damn it why do you have to keep saying stuff I agree with!

Get out of my head!

The United States is supposed to be a world leader. I agree we can do a better job of educating our children, but I don't think we should cut funding in any way. There are European countries already spending a lot more money on education than we are.

I think our schools should be given all the money they need, so long as they are held accountable for where it is spent and so long as we know that it is not being wasted.

For the record, some kids are just dirt stupid

-Don

 

I could go along with out cutting school funding. I still believe there is more then enough for a better education therefore we could use the money left over from the basic education and use it in the public schools for more advanced courses for those kids that are “normally” brighter then others.

In my school system there would be NO MORE dumbing down of kids. You would have your regular courses that are mandatory for a proper education. Then if you still have some of the stupid kids that can’t figure out 2+2=4 you put them in a special class that is named to reflect they are “special”, you don’t give them good grades for effort, you give them failing grades to reflect they are indeed stupid and need to get their act together, or at least it would let the parents know that for some reason their kid is stupid and needs some extra assistance.

Then, for those that have their act together and are held back by normal classes you offer advanced classes in what ever subjects a school board may consider, could be science, math, business, technology and the list goes on.

Bring it back to the way it was, put the smart kids on a pedestal instead of the stupid kids and telling them ”It’s ok little Johnny that you don’t know what 2+2 is at least you tried your best”

My school system would take little Johnny to the side and explain to him ”Look little Johnny you are one stupid little **** and you are in major need of sitting your butt down and learning or you will have a lifetime employment cooking hamburgers at McDonalds…”

You have to be honest with them when they are young, when you can hand them the tissue to wipe their little tears because in the real world they don’t care about little Johnny’s tears and they will let little Johnny know that he is indeed a loser and it was his parents and schools fault for letting it get this far…

 

sorry, couldn't resist

 

Works for me. I'm telling you, you've got my vote

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/03....ap/index.html
Interesting article.

-Don