thoughts from SR 97

STREAM OF CONSCIENCE

HOW CAN EDUCATION BE IMPROVED?

standardized tests are no bad thing.

arithmetic, basic grammar, a little spelling---if you cannot master those things first, you are never going to go beyond, or exhibit creativity.

this copout that standardized tests are killing creativity is just so much bunk.

give those teachers making that complaint a little test and you might find that they cant tie their own shoes.

you MUST get parents involved, and THEY must motivate the children(students).

take a look at the asian students who come to this country.

within a year or two, they are the top students in their classes.

why is that?

their parents make education a number one priority. they do their homework. they study.

they work hard or they dont get anything else.

in the average american household, the kid gets pampered with television and toys and what have you, and with rare exception, the dedication to homework and studies is low on their priorities.

there is no solution to that problem.

smaller classes wont help.

different exams wont help.

expensive programs wont work, except for their marketers.

there is no shortcut around parental priorities and emphasis on education.

the typical asian family highly values education. sloughing off, slacking in studies is really set upon.

if you take 4 or 5 year old students of every ethnic background, you'll find they all have the same basic intelligence.

why is it that certain ethnic groups come out typically at the tops of their classes, and others dont?

it comes down to families and priorities.

you DO NOT need fine air conditioned facilities, they're nice, to get students to learn.

the best studeNts in the world, in many cases, learned out on a lawn somewhere with a book under a tree.

THEY WERE MOTIVATED, AND THEIR PARENTS OR GUARDIANS REALLY CARE.

the people who dont do the job for the children have every dumb excuse in the world.

they blame the schools, the teachers.

"my little johnny had this bad teacher."

so what.

of course, they need good teachers.

START PAYING OUR BETTER TEACHERS MORE MONEY.

you cant do that with the socalled education unions out there who will go to any extent to protect the dumbest among them, and discourage recognition tor the best of them.

we have hundred of thousands of highly educated professionals, out of work, who dont happen to have a teaching credential, so they are not allowed to go into our schools.

we have seniors in our society with 40 or 50 years of valuable knowledge and experience in specialties.

are they allowed to go into the schools?

WHERE IN THE HELL ARE WE GOING?

you look at a lot of these socalled credentialled programs for teachers.

the theory of these socalled educators, is that, if you know how to teach, that's all you need to know.

to me, that's saying that you can train theoretical carpenters who've never driven a nail.

would you want a house built by a theoretical carpenter?

that's what you have in a lot of schools. that's what these theoretical education programs are.

president obama has mentioned lengthening the school year.

we are behind other countries, particularly in technology.

india and china alone are training over 3o times as many engineers and professionals as we are.

WHERE ARE WE GOING TO GO?

the next generation of this country, if it keeps going as it now is, (and i have no hope that it will change course),

YOUR KIDS WILL BE LUCKY TO GET A JOB WORKING IN A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT OWNED BY THE CHINESE OR THE INDIANS.

OBAMA MAY JUST BE RIGHT ON THE SCHOOL LENGTH ISSUE

.

I THINK THAT HE RECOGNIZES THE EDUCATION PROBLEM VERY WELL.

AS TO HIS BEING IN BED WITH THE TEACHER'S UNIONS, THAT'S AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MATTER.