toldailytopic: In your opinion, what is the ONE worst thing about public schools?

[Nydhogg]

Communities might school children themselves without governmental involvement.

Mutual aid is the only thing that might conceivably work against poverty, violent crime and a whole lot of other ills. Why not for education?

Those who are qualified to teach the various crafts and sciences could do so part-time. In our current culture and environment it looks inviable, but without governmental/corporate overhead and operating costs, people could very well attain the same level of prosperity while working fewer hours.

Part of the time thus earned could be spent in useful stuff, like not handing out kids for bureaucrats to "educate".

 

[Dena]

Oh, and a very close second? For all the money we throw at the system, these schools consistently turn out a lousy product.

Agreed.

 

[MrRadish]

That's not neccessarily true. Many homeschooled kids are quite allowed to socialize with other kids their own age, they're just not handed over for the Government to educate'em.

Not everyone who homeschools their kids does it out of nutty fundamentalism.

Indeed. I've got a few homeschooled friends - I know not all home-educated kids are locked away in a cotton-padded cupboard. The point is, though, that their interactions with other nippers tend to be controlled ultimately by their parents, certainly in terms of when they do and, broadly, with whom.

I also happen to think that allowing the government to educate children is, in many ways, quite a good thing - or at least it has the potential to be. Whilst a national curriculum undeniably has its problems, it has, at the end of the day, been created by a large team of educational professionals, who are IMO much better qualified to say what's useful to learn and when than most parents. It's not as though parents are entirely forbidden from teaching their children, and I think it's good to have a wide range of influences as part of an upbringing. Broadens the mind, or so it seems to me.

 

[Dena]

The time waste. Bus rides, wasted lectures on lessons already learned, chaotic environment for doing school work means less done there, home room... and undoubtedly more, but that's all a total waste of time. My kids get loads more free time and get to use it in fun, often productive ways. And they get enough rest.

I see way too many high school students who are wiped out from too little time to get their school work done and trying to have a life as well. I seriously doubt that their retention is much helped by all that fatigue.

I agree here too. My aunt drives a school bus for the public schools. It's amazing how much time these children spend on the bus. She has some students spending three hours a day on the dern bus. It's craziness. I don't know of the solution but surely there is another way? Perhaps? I mean, aside from all those parents homeschooling but I know that isn't realistic. Some have to work, some are single, some have less than stellar abilities to teach, etc.

I also think public schools beat the individuality out of children. They all go to the same place, do the same thing, with the same people, day in and day out. That isn't to say some public schools offer them the ability to learn and be themselves. Some do. We have one hear that is great and I hope when we have children old enough, they will be able to attend this particular school. If not (they have to pass a test) then I have no idea what we'll do. I don't think my husband will allow me to homeschool for high school and I'm not sure I'd want to anyway.

 

[Dena]

The fact that they cannot seem to get a grip on bullying. Hold parents accountable for their children's words and deeds.

I can't figure this out. Why are children so mean and why do schools have such a difficult time preventing it? I think you make a good point.

As for homeschoolers, most of the ones I've known are very intelligent and outgoing. But..I have some friends who I think are going down the wrong path. They are not letting their girls interact with other children, period. Nada. None. Their boys have very limited interaction, a couple hours a week but they don't really like that either. One is the fundamentalist conservative type the other is actually is a pagan leaning liberal sort. I don't get it.

I want to homeschool so my children have more experiences in the world, not to keep them from it.

 

[Traditio]

They don't follow Plato's curricula.

 

[tetelestai]

teachers union

:up:

Our tax dollars go to the school district, which pays the teachers, who in turn have union dues come out of their pay, and then the union gives money to the democrats.

IOW, because of teachers unions, our property taxes go to democrats, and our public schools suck.

 

[SovereigntyIsGods]

#2 worst thing: The parents who wouldn't give their kids the time of day, then get up in arms when the school refuses to create/implement policies which gives it more parenting responsibility than the actual parents.

#1 worst thing: OVEREMPHASIS ON ATHLETICS.
Holy GOD why do high schools in the lowest GPA percentile still have MULTIPLE sports teams?

I was a lucky public school student.
My hometown did have SOME emphasis on sports, but MUSIC (specifically, the band) got the big percentage of funding off the top.
I have yet to see it done to this extent anywhere else; people would come from everywhere to our football games, then leave after halftime regardless of how well their or our team was doing.

When you attend a 4A school, and the band is over 1/4th of the student body, with its own traditions going back five generations (as of this year's freshman class), and you're part of the band?

Ain't no experience like it, as a cultivation of teamwork, as a cultivation of a good work ethic, to say nothing of cultivating appreciation of music itself.
I'm more than six years out of high school, and rarely a day goes by when something doesn't remind me of those four amazing years and makes me pine for that camaraderie and unity of purpose...and that epic music!

Thats how it should be. My highschool payed for an astro-turf football field (fake, low friction grass) which cost near half a million dollars, while the covers were falling off my text books.

 

[keypurr]

What a sick society.

We have GREAT public schools in New England. And we have the best teachers in the world here. I know first hand because I am living with one. My daughter has been teaching for 30 years and she has many students who keep in contact with her years after they graduate. And she is not alone, her teacher friends all have students who realize what a good teacher does to their lives.

God Bless the teaches of the world who point children in the right direction.

Now if they could only teach me to spell.

Peace

 

[Persephone66]

One worst thing? Just one? I work in public schools, I can give you a pretty long list!

Really I'd have to say the worst is that public schools are a government run, publicly funded, unionized monopoly. That's where a lot of the problems come from. Get rid of that and schools will be better.

A close second would be what Buzzword said -

#2 worst thing: The parents who wouldn't give their kids the time of day, then get up in arms when the school refuses to create/implement policies which gives it more parenting responsibility than the actual parents.

 

[Persephone66]

What a sick society.

We have GREAT public schools in New England. And we have the best teachers in the world here. I know first hand because I am living with one. My daughter has been teaching for 30 years and she has many students who keep in contact with her years after they graduate. And she is not alone, her teacher friends all have students who realize what a good teacher does to their lives.

God Bless the teaches of the world who point children in the right direction.

Now if they could only teach me to spell.

Peace

Well whoopty-doo for New England. Florida schools are quite the opposite, especially in recent years. More so in the district where I work. I'm getting the impression that I'm one of the better teachers, which is really sad considering that I'm a non-certified substitute.

 

[Lighthouse]

Indoctrination

 

[Prisca]

I hate that so many children in public schools become alienated from their families. That goes for private schools, too, btw!

 

[ragTagblues]

The fact that all mathematics teachers tell you that what you learn with him will help you in the real world . . . . . Damn I'd be utterly lost without algebra in my life.

Public schools lack of funding in sports compared to private is a worry and I was lucky enough to know from experience.

 

[Persephone66]

The fact that all mathematics teachers tell you that what you learn with him will help you in the real world . . . . . Damn I'd be utterly lost without algebra in my life.

Public schools lack of funding in sports compared to private is a worry and I was lucky enough to know from experience.

I used to tell my students the same thing my calc teacher in college told me - "You never know when you will be kidnapped by a deranged mathematician!"

Yeah, good for a laugh, but not all that effective. Showing them where they could use it worked best it seems, but only if it was something they are interested in doing. *sigh*

 

[ragTagblues]

Yeah, good for a laugh, but not all that effective. Showing them where they could use it worked best it seems, but only if it was something they are interested in doing. *sigh*

Not many takers then . . . . .

I can't blame them, however vital maths is towards life it is the most sinfully dull subject known to man.

 

[Granite]

I hate that so many children in public schools become alienated from their families. That goes for private schools, too, btw!

Is that necessarily the school's fault? I've known dysfunctional homeschool families, too.

 

[aSeattleConserv]

toldailytopic: In your opinion, what is the ONE worst thing about public schools?

Atheism.

While not all public schools have completely removed God from the confines of their buildings (the school district I live in still recites the Pledge of Allegiance with the words "One nation under God" included (someone contact the ACLU!), any mention of God in the more liberal school districts will send a student to the "re-education room".

Thank an atheist for replacing God with an armed police officer in most public schools. When confronted with the moral decline in public education, the Superintendent of the Seattle "Pubic" School District (cucumber/condom joke) responded to the idea of posting the Ten Commandments on school property by asking the following question:

"But where would we post them?"

That's simple: right after the metal detectors at the school entrance, and right before the armed police officers.

 

[Jukia]

Lack of parental involvement. That comment is directly from my wife, a public school teacher.

Well, unless of course, a teacher should happen to say something to your little angel that gets them upset. In that case the teacher should lose his job. Cause your child would never use that language.

 

[Aimiel]

The worst thing is the pace. They go ahead, before everyone 'gets it' and students get left behind, while others suffer being slowed by the pace. My kids are at Cornerstone Christian Academy this year, the first time we've had them in private school, and my daughter is able to continue to progress, rather than be held back by the other students or rushed through any lessons or concepts that might be puzzling to her. She's reading at a ninth-grade level, and she's ten years old.