Senator Bob Graham was making the rounds recently, pushing his newly formed Center for Public Service, created partially to bring civics education back to public schools. Which is sort of funny, because back in 1953, educational philosopher Robert Maynard Hutchins said that is the whole point:
"The object of the educational system, taken as a whole, is not to produce hands for industry or to teach the young how to make a living. It is to produce responsible citizens."
To improve the performance of schools in the USA, No Child Left Behind went into effect in 2002. The Center for Education Policy says that since that mandated emphasis on reading and math, many schools have cut back on other classes. That has led to some folks crying that your kids need more physical education, more art education, more music education and band practice, and that current science standards are not enough. And that’s not all.
Eighty-eight percent of voters say they believe that schools can and should incorporate 21st century skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving skills, computer and technology skills, and communication and self-direction skills into their curriculum. Some schools now offer career academies, and career training.
Don’t forget about sex education. And driver’s education. And home economics. Or foreign languages.
Not everyone is happy with the basics, either. Some people say today’s students need more core math skills, while others want them to Just Read, Florida.
So with all that learnin’ to do, your children will have to stay in school all day long or all year long or both. Florida has added Pre-K classes, but it’s not good enough for some people. Still others say we need more relevant and rigorous courses for all students.
But along with all of that pushing and pulling of students in different educational directions, school teachers and administrators still have so much more to do. First the schools have to make sure there is a way to get the kids to school, and feed them healthy food. Then they must make sure kids pull up their pants, keep an eye out for suicide prevention, perform random steroid testing on the athletes, may soon have to enforce an anti-bullying law winding through the legislature, and hundreds of other non-educational pursuits that have been (or are being) forced onto the school system.
Meanwhile, kids are really learning less and less. They have no clue what’s going on with current events. And Mom and Dad are so busy looking for ways to lower their taxes, they can’t help with the parenting, and they can’t even afford lottery tickets anymore to help with the costs.
I don’t know if forcing all that stuff into classrooms will help produce better citizens. But without question, there sure is a need for some common sense in the educational system.
Patricia
1 year ago
Here, here!
Our schools don’t do enough in some areas and worry too much about others. Bizarre, but true.
I’d like the school district to take a look at highly-rated districts around the nation, or even private schools, and determine what they’re doing that distinguishes them. Then, let’s figure out what to keep (not much) and what to get rid of from our current system (a lot). And of course, how to pay for it.
Reality is the school district can’t do everything and no matter what they decide, someone is going to be less than ecstatic. But we’re scraping together monies to fund a private school education because there’s no way I’m allowing my kids to suffer through any more of Hillsborough county until they make more of an effort to get it right.
Steven Tamayo
1 year ago
Thats what happens when you let a Bush into office.
Rich
1 year ago
Government will never get it right. Too bad the voucher system was shot down. It would have opened up the private sector to education. It would have allowed us, as individuals, to choose the best way to educate our kids.
Just as an example, a friend that works in aviation electronics says there is a huge need in his industry. He is in talks with his company to sponsor a school for this very skill. They might not want to pay to train these kids but if they had a $7k voucher for each student to defer the cost then I bet they would do it in a minute. Allow students to finish grade 9 with emphasis on real world skills (money management,household budgeting,etc) and then let them decide whether they want to finish and go onto college or choose a vocational school (run by the private sectors)to train them for a real world job. Forcing them to take classes that they will never need(trigonometry) only encourages them to drop out.
The fact is our government is failing badly at preparing students for the real world. Time to let the private sector have a crack at it. Patricia, I’m with you. Private is the way to go. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people that aren’t fortunate enough to have this option.
Junior
1 year ago
All students need to be well rounded and be able to pick their own extra curriculum activities. THERE IS NO REAL THING CALLED COMMON SENSE. what one child or family thinks is common sense another child orfamily may not.
Patricia
1 year ago
Rich, we’re not that fortunate either. It’s called scholarship and digging under the bushes for what’s out there. Then, not assuming you don’t qualify but letting them make the decision. We were pleasantly surprised.
Junior, I have to disagree. There is such a thing called common sense. Folks tend to know when they’re crazy even if they stick to their guns. Basic manners, etiquette, civility, civic duty along with basic skills (reading, math, computer competency, gen science, and history at least up to the start of the 20th century) should be given to all children. Introductions to art, music, etc. along with emphasis on good health (physical education, nutrition). Then let kids decide where their interests take them.
Junior
1 year ago
Patricia,what you compared to common sense has nothing to do with basic classes. I amtalkingabout band ,art music football basketball, track swimming. I WENT TO SCHOOL AGOOD MANY YEARSAGO. My classes were basic academic courses. But I had home ec. and typewritting,because I knew it would come in handy when I went to OSU. But my favorite subject was library I took it for 4 years and earned one fourth credit every year,I learned the DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM AND SPENT MOST OF MY TIME READING BOOKS AND FILING BOOKS. My children never took this class,they were into sports. I never use the words common sense.
WP
1 year ago
Problem is, here again we as a society are abdicating the personal responsibility of preparing our children for real life to the State, the motives of which should without exception be suspect and questioned.
Some interesting reading may be found in The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto
tommy
1 year ago
To WP’s comment about govt’s motives, I would add questions about competence.