Education is continually on the back burner of importance to politicians. People keep thinking we are the smartest country, but look how many countries do better than us, some of which are much poorer than we are. One of the main problems is that there is no discipline. In school suspension, out of school suspension or detention do not help anymore. Why do they not help? Most parents will not discipline his/her child if they are punished by school personnel. Why? Either the parent is afraid because of our stupid laws or maybe the teacher wrote the child up for something stupid. For example, a local school that I use to teach at will punish a student in in school suspension if that person is a second late. How will this student learn from his teacher if our administration forces teachers to make the student go elsewhere? This school is 390,000 square feet and students have 4 minutes to get to class in a crowd. Then, many are told they can’t use the restroom. So where does the real problem come from? It comes from the top, the superintendents and principals. The superintendent where I live was somehow able to take out ethics from his contract, a principal on Sanibel Island forced ESE kids out of the school, my former principal hires only blonde women or just women and gets away with it. Eight principals and the superintendent double-dipped in the summer while teachers like me were laid off and received no money at all. So what is the solution?
The law needs to let parents discipline their children by spanking them, locking them in a room with no luxuries like a cell phone, tv, or video game. Children need to fear adults period. This way they will behave. How do I know? Just look at our education system since corporal punishment dissolved. Kids don’t care anymore and if a parent takes away a cell phone, the kid will ramp and rage….if they were spanked, this would be much more unlikely.
Also, regardless of what day Monday through Friday, children are at school for 7 hours per day or longer if they have extracurricular activities. Here, there is only 20 minutes for lunch. I had 45 at my school and we had the same amount of people. High school should be like a college, and middle school should still have recess. What is my reasoning? Well, labor laws say that we need a 30 minute break per 8 hour period, plus lunch. How many breaks do kids in public schools have? Absolutely none. See the problem yet? I’ll explain more. I taught in the Ukraine. They have a better literacy rate than we do. They enjoy learning because they are not in school all day. They get to go do hands on things within their school and in their community. They eat 3 times a day, sometimes two. They have between 35 and 45 minute classes. They are allowed to wear what they want and it is never distracting. Teachers are also allowed to wear what they want, but they do understand what not to wear. They don’t need to be told. They are allowed to have cell phones and use them on their breaks. They never use them inside the classrooms because if a teacher sees this, a parent is called, and when parents are called there, no child wants to go home. Also, they are graded by behavior and reading is not in high school. I mention this because principals here want us to GIVE, I repeat GIVE students who do nothing, good or better grades than they deserve. Actually, they force us to.
I do believe that all schools should be career academy schools so students can gain experience in whatever career they choose. The classes that should be mandated are writing, (not reading or literature) geography, math, history, plus whatever the student wants to take as a career. The previous 4 subjects are everyday life skills.
Charter schools almost have it right. At least, they have it better. Actually, (this just came to me) when I was in elementary school, we walked to our high school and were given swimming lessons. This was a great idea. This does not happen anymore. We walked = exercise, we swam = exercise, we walk back = exercise. Oh yeah, we had recess and P.E. everyday, too.
The best way to learn is to read about something, then go visit it. It used to cost a small amount from many states, even ones far away, to visit Washington D.C. For example, it used to cost a total of $250 for a bus ride and 3 nights in D.C. from Ohio. Now, it costs near $1000. It doesn’t matter how we get there, plane, train, carpool, people need to travel in order to be better educated.
My suggestion: An airline donate seats for a certain amount of students, seats that were not filled, to go to its destination. For example, if a plane’s regular route is from Orlando to St. Louis, students that learned about the history of the arch should actually go see the arch. Of course, government will say this costs too much money. Parents could pay a nominal school fee or schools could have intelligent fundraisers. Remember, I did say seats that weren’t filled. Of course, the airline could estimate how many seats are usually not filled and have a certain number of seats roped off for the students.
What if a student is afraid to fly? Well, a bus company or train could do the same as the airline. Something like this may even help these companies advertise. I think it is ok to advertise to students as long as they are taught what it is. Of course, they do see it on television everyday. They just need to know what is misleading, which is another thing I would like to get rid of if I was to become president. Look for my next post about commercials.
I forgot to mention. The No Child Left Behind Act is the most ignorant thing ever adopted for education. People learn at different levels. Previously, those who were left behind are those who had a harder time grasping the concept of learning. If we don’t do things right starting with education, then this economy will never get out a recession.