Stupid In America
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Are you frustrated at the loss of freedom and responsibility in America, while the growth of government and taxes continues unabated?
Stupid In America
Always presenting very controversial subjects, the host of 20-20 gets people to really think about so many issues.
However, with our busy lives today, we often miss the documentaries that delve behind the scenes of current issues, so am sure many who read here missed this very controversial documentary regarding the American public school system
Over a year ago now, not sure of the exact date, John Stossel did a 20/20 investigation and documentary titled "Stupid in America" that highlights some of the flaws with the education system in the United States.
The story starts when identical tests were given to high school students in New Jersey and in Belgium.
The Belgian kids did so much better than the American kids that it raised many questions. The Belgian kids called the American students "stupid"....which set the title for the documentary.
Over the last few decades homeschooling has become the choice of more and more parents because they lost faith in our public school system.
The taxes to support the schools have been consitently raised, year after year and the news media reports all the great advances in buying more and more 'things' to add to the value of education within the public school system.
However, it has become more and more apparent that spending more and more on education is not improving the quality of education received by the majority of the students.
So what are the real issues? John Stossel explores by talking with school officials, teachers, parents and students.
I personally find the situation deplorable and cheer everytime I hear another parent state they are homeschooling, or have opted to send their kids to private school.
We've come a long way from the days of one room schoolhouses in this country and now have actual complexes costing millions of dollars for schooling our children and well...it's just not producing results that are acceptable to parents or even the students.
Where do we go from here?
My thoughts for many years now have been that we need to go back to teaching simply the three Rs....readin', writin' and 'rithmetic...and let all else studied be electives! I think we might be amazed at the results.
If a child cannot read yet, it does no good to put him/her in first grade and expect them to read the math, science, geography books, etc...and really learn those extra subjects.
Why not get them to at least a sixth grade reading level, basic math accomplished and the ability to write comprehensively first, then worry about them learning all the other things?
Comments? Any reports of groups/organizations or even the schools themselves, in your area making progress to solve the issues?
Would love to hear,
DJ
ColdWarBaby 3 years ago
Great Hub and a crucial issue.
Our grandson of five has just started kindergarten. There are 25 children in his class!
The single most significant problem with public education is the size of the schools and the classes. This is a result of the misguided belief in amerika that bigger is always better, which is a symptom of the disease called capitalism.
It’s not that too much money is being spent but that it’s being intentionally spent in the wrong way. More schools are needed and more qualified teachers. Schools must be smaller with fewer students and more teachers at every location. Classes need to be small enough to allow teachers the time needed to give each student the attention they need and to create an environment more conducive to learning.
There’s nothing wrong with public schooling. It’s the best way to educate a large population of students. What’s wrong is the way it’s being managed.
The government of amerika has been slowly, methodically destroying the public school system in an attempt to deprive everyone but the extremely wealthy of the right to a quality education. As you can see, they’ve been quite successful.