Do we really need more money and higher paid teachers for our schools? How about the facts in this blog?
If you were paid more could you run faster? If you were paid more could you jump higher? If you were paid more exactly what is it that you could do better? I don't think there is anything, but that is not how our politicians see it. They want to spend more on every thing so that it can be better. If we use our brains, we know that is not true. Here are a few facts.
Let's take literacy as our control point Now, let's look at North and South America and see how the USA stacks up. First off, we spend by far the most on education and for that you might expect that we would end up with the best results, but you would be wrong! Here is the data:
Cuba---------------------99.8%
Canada-------------------99%
Argentina----------------99%
Chile---------------------96%
Mexico------------------95.4%
Brazil---------------------93%
Guatemala---------------81%
USA----------------------79%
Check these numbers and ask yourself if the USA has a problem and if so are we on the right track? Is the teacher's union on our side and are the special teachers colleges doing a good job? Was it a good idea to lower the academic standards for entry into teachers colleges? Are teachers colleges even a good idea? Most of the rest of the world expects teachers to go to regular colleges.
I don't have the data, but it is clear that kids who are home schooled do much better than those who are in public schools. The same could be said also for those in private or charter schools, so why do we keep sending more money to the public schools who do not perform? Are we just that stupid? Don't answer that question honestly.
I think that most of us know that the currency of the future is intellect and the USA is far behind most of the rest of the world when it comes to preparing our kids for that future. Our schools are where it should be done and the score card is above. Do you want your kids and grand kids to be part of that failure. Just keep on doing what you have been and you know where the USA and your kids are going to end up!
PS----This is an economy reminder. The elements that determine a productive economy are:
(1) Competent work force (intellect and literacy) The USA is in danger on this one.
(2) Exploitation of natural resources. The USA wants to ban coal, natural gas and oil. This means we will compete on an equal basis with places like South Korea who has a 99+% literacy rate.
(3) Law and order. It looks like we are heading toward a third world country when it comes to crime. There are two kinds of "law and order", one that assures personal freedom and one that does not. It looks like the USA is headed down the loss of personal freedom road.
