I have had other Blogs on "Education" and I feel we need another. If you don't think we have a serious problem with education in the USA, stop reading right now because people like you are beyond help. That's right. No one can help you at this point because your mind has already stopped working, if it ever did. Of the top 10 countries with the largest economies or the highest per capita incomes, the USA is dead last when it comes to education. Only 60% of our kids graduate high school and many of those who do get complementary passes from grade to grade so the teachers will not have to deal with them. The real number of true graduations is no more than 50%. When you look at who are in the groups with the low graduation rates, you find that they are also the ones with the highest birth rates. Based on this the future is clear and it paints a worse picture. That is just one reason the situation is the most serious. I might also point out that the USA spends far more on education than any other country in the world. That is right. We spend more than anyone, so the problem is not the lack of spending. If it is not, then what is it? A very good question. If it is not money then it has to be something else.
If we are not doing a good job on education now, you might ask the question whether or not we ever did? I'm not so sure. How can I say that? To judge education, you have to put it into some kind of context. I am not trying to avoid the question, but to show it more clearly. First let's take the cave man. He had to educate his kids to that they could survive. He must have done OK because we are all here. The cave man needed to know different things than we need to know today, like making clubs and sharp sticks and where to find plants, eggs and that sort of thing. I contend that he was well educated. He could not read and write, but he had the education that he needed to compete and survive. Now today, since things are so much different, the education needs to be different and thus in the current "context" we are "not" well educated. This business of education is not a "looking back" proposition, but that is what we seem to be doing. Why would I need to study Latin? Do you know anyone who speak Latin? How about Spanish? Is there something written in Spanish that if you could read it would have a significant affect on your life? I don't think so. If you are following this, then you are starting to see that education is a dynamic thing and needs to not only keep up with the times but attempt to prepare the person for the "Future". Now do you think spending your time and the tax payers money learning Latin with better prepare you for the future. Simple answer is, No!!! So why are we spending tax payers money of worthless education like this? All of our schools, colleges and universities are full of "Bull Shit" like this and this is on are where we need to "Get Serious". If we don't get serious, I can tell you that we will fall even further behind on education.
Have you as a parent ever looked at the content of the actual classes your kids are taking in high school or college? I don't think so. You are all so pleased that your kid is going to college and that you can brag to you friends about how well he or she is doing. You don't know that many of the classes that you are paying for are 100% Bull Shit". I am not sure that you even want to know. If you want to puke, go to the University of Wisconsin web site and check thru their class catalog. I think you know what this is. It is loaded with Bull Shit majors that are no more than hobby classes like bowling. Would you pay for your kid to go to college and pay to learn how to bowl? I don't think so, but that is what many of these classes and majors are. It is up to you to do something about this problem. The UW people have a vested interest in keeping this thing going and only you can stop it.
The problem is even worse in another way. Your kids want to impress their parents by going to college, but they mostly want to do it in the easiest way possible. They "Gammed" you when they were kids at home and now that they are in college, they are still "Gamming" you by taking Bull Shit easy classes that count toward their watered down degrees. Because you have not taken the time to read the school catalog they can keep on "Gamming" you. For many of you parents, the chickens come home to roost when your kids graduate and can't get a job that pays enough to live on and pay back their loans at the same time. How about paying you back for the money that you gave them while in college? If they can't pay all that back, you have ask why you spent all than money on their college in the first place. Are you stupid and are your kids. These are ligimate questions that you should be asking.
The bottom line is that we need to get a lot more Pop for the buck in our education system. I'll be putting out future Blogs to voice my opinion on how we can do this without hurting "Real" education. Don't think we can get a bigger Pop for the buck? Just Wait.
