Public Schooling

[Toranaga]

Ok, so I was talking with my father about Public Schools in the America and had a good time hearing his points of view and his ideas for improvement. With that said, I would like to hear what the members of AO would like to say about the public schools: whether you think they work fien as they are or if they need improvement, and if they do, what can be done to improve them.

A few thoughts I had were transferring public schooling from being a local/state issue to a federal one, and then have one large budget that would be divided to each school, giving proportiona lamounts of money to the schools that need more. While I know this would greatly anger many of the people who pay large property taxes in some areas to send their kdis to school, this would also make everything fair, putting people on the same level.

Now for your opinions :)

[MayAMonkeyBeYourPinata]

Mediocore public schooling for all!

[SlipknotX556]

I have had public schooling all my life, the New York schooling provided me with a great education. I moved down to FL after 7th grade, let me tell you something Florida public schools suck more then anything. Florida spends all its money on preparing students for the FCAT(state test you need to pass to graduate high school). They prepare kids for this test you take your sophtmore year of high school when you are in kindergarten. They cut all budgets, so schools dont have money for anything, they cut pay for teachers, so teachers wont work. Last year, I didnt take 1 test in any class at all, because the teachers would refuse to work because of lack of pay. I watched movies all class, every day. Now in my Junior year of highschool, things are semi better, but our school still has no money for anything, we cant even afford desks and our school has 3,000 kids and we are expected to get 1,200 freshmen next year, my school is meant to hold 2,000 kids. The state has the money to build a 56 million dollar school, but not to stock it with equipment. Glad I only got 1 1/2 more years.

[MayAMonkeyBeYourPinata]

To expand on my first sarcastic post. Poor areas should get far more support from the state, but property taxes, being local are basically for education, and that money should not be given to less prosperous areas.

[Alpha]

How much do you all pay in taxes?

I have to take a foreign language for 2 years to pass highschool. I'm finishing up my last year now.

I barely passed that class. I hate foreign language, and feel that we should have a choice in what we're going to learn.

I bet by my senior year, I won't know what the hell achete means, and your tax money will have been wasted. I won't benefit from it.

Another tidbit... My school, and all its teachers keeps saying "You need to take x classes if you want to go to college..."

I know for a fact that I'm not going to college, and if I do, its going to be a bunch of NRA courses to learn more abotu gunsmithing. I alreayd know what I'm going to do.

Theres so much that they make us learn that is utterly useless and is just a waste of money.

[Toranaga]

In response to MayAMonkeyBeYourPinata: While I know and understand that property taxes are local and totally agree that more moeny should be given to the poor quality schools, where d oyou think that money can come from? Thats why i think it should be federal (Or at least state) where all the property taxes go to one giant budget, which is divided to each school in proportion to the schools needs.

While this would piss of those that pay high property taxes to get a good education, it would put everyone on the same level and be benificial for the whole country. On a mor epersonal question for you: Do you really beleive that (now all this is based on public, nto private schooling) jsut becuase you dont maek as much money, and therefore cnat live in the same area, your children should not get as a good an education?

[personman]

You get what you pay for..

[ascetic1]

Toranaga- You need to go back to second grade for spelling...lol j/k man

Anyways i think making schools a federal deal will mean a hell of alot more taxes, which in the long run will put us in another ****ty debacle over where tax dollars go to fund etc...State funding is working fine in my opinion, and you do get what you pay for..Been in public schools my whole life, and the education is perfectly fine..

Alpha- Forgetting what the teachers taught you is YOUR problem, and the taxes dollars paid for your forgetfullness is in fact caused by you, wouldnt you agree? The reason you take X classes is to give you a well rounded education, and taking a language gives you the opportunity to see another culture, and to have some fluency in that language incase your line of work requires it etc.. What if your air smith job doesnt fall through? you need to have SOMETHING to fall back on, and that is why you have to take a bunch of different courses

[AllAmericanMag]

While this would piss of those that pay high property taxes to get a good education, it would put everyone on the same level and be benificial for the whole country. On a mor epersonal question for you: Do you really beleive that (now all this is based on public, nto private schooling) jsut becuase you dont maek as much money, and therefore cnat live in the same area, your children should not get as a good an education?

What do we call that, children?

Communsim!

[CaptaiN_JacK]

Theres so much that they make us learn that is utterly useless and is just a waste of money.

If I had a penny for every time a kid in the US said that, I would be a billionaire. It's true, but only to a certain extent. The school has two main purposes:
1. To prepare us for our future education and careers (so we are successful)
2. To teach us basic principles so we aren't completely stupid when we graduate.

I put those in that order for a reason, and that is because #1 is a far bigger priority. You may not know it, but the school isn't expecting us to rememebr everything you are taught in school. In fact, we will probably only use a small fraction of our education in our specific careers. This is not only acceptable, but is also expected. The reason schools teach you so much is so that you can get a taste of everything so you can pick the career that you like most. If the job you wanted as a Kindergardener hasn't changed when you you graduate high school, the education system has failed you, or else you are just messed up in the first place.

Here is my plan for public schooling in Amreica:
1. Stop spending so much on the prison system in America (in any way possible).
2. Put all the money we save to public education.
3.
4. Profit.

If only it were that easy....

Edit: I always expect people to make fun of spelling errors in a post that talks about education in any form, so go ahead, make yourself feel a little bit better. Flame away.

[-=Squid=-]

Take away student rights. Really. I'm willing to take one for the team.

[Toranaga]

In response to those that said their education was perfectly fine: While this migh tbe true, go take a look at the rest of the country, a huge portion is getting a horrible education (if you can even call it that, in some areas).

And in response to ascetic1: While it is impossible to tell whether taxes would actually increase or decrease at all (remember, for what i mentioned earlier, it would be the same taxes, just divided proportional to need not area).

I also totally agree with everyone in regard to needeing a well rounded education, including foreign language. Not only does this prepare you for higher education, the studying of a forein language helps in understanding and appreciating other cultures, which is an issue with many Americans (which is why when Americans go to other countries they are often not well liked).

ANd lastly, in response to AllAmericanMag: do you really beleive that is comunism? Take a look at other countries, like France that use federal run schooling. Everyone there gets an equally good education.

Now incase any of you were wondering my background to better understand my points:
I'm 16, live in the upper east side of Manhattan. Parents do very wel lfor themselves and I go to a private school (Horace Mann).

[AcemanPB]

I think our public school system in my area is alright. It's really hard to find good teachers though, and thats what really makes it or breaks it. Our school has really grown over the last couple of years and GOOD new teachers are non-existent. Like Personman said, you get what you pay for.

[WickeDKlowN]

Apparently, here in Volusia they are trying to take 15 Mil away from school budgets because teachers are willing to work for less because we have a beach. Florida is a goddamn peninsula, the entire state has a beach

[Toranaga]

In response to AcemanPB and Personman: While it is true that you get what you pay for, do you believe that that is right? and if not, what do you think should be changed?