The cost
of public school is too high and the outcomes are mixed. Too much money goes
buying land, building new schools, supporting a county school bureaucracy and
maintaining unsustainable pension plans.
Students
in K-8 can be grouped by performance, but low performers don’t learn basic
skills. This is the biggest problem public schools have. Students need to
develop enough self-discipline to take responsibility for their education.
Parents
need to enforce learning and make sure homework is done correctly. Teachers and
parents need to focus like a laser on basic skills for these students. Things
that compete with this focus should be eliminated. Liberal political propaganda trumps learning
basic skills like reading, writing and math. Too many students reach age 18
without developing these basic skills.
The
purpose of education is to allow students to discover their own talents and
motivated abilities with an eye toward their careers. This requires exposure to
lots of activities where these skills can be discovered. Successful people have
consistently confessed that they love their jobs. Students need to learn what
they love to do and what they’re good at.
Public
schools take all students, including students who have limited ability and
limited motivation to learn. They may have talent and may need to leverage that
talent to find an occupation that uses it.
Private
K-12 schools can “select” students and often do not admit students who are low
performers or problems learning. Private high schools have entrance exams and
take top performers. Lower performers should not be expected to take college
prep courses
The use of
the internet for education has allowed On-line schooling and Homeschooling to
be implemented.
Homeschooling
is vastly superior to any other system, but it requires a parent to do this.
Most households require both parents to work, so only the fortunate will be
able to homeschool.
On-line
schooling can work for high-schoolers who are self-learners and like
homeschooling, it takes half the time it takes to attend the regular 8am to 3pm
school schedule, plus travel, 5 days a week.
I grew up
in the 1940s and 1950s. I was homeschooled until I was age 7 and entered 3rd
grade at Holy Child Catholic School in Queens NY. We moved back to St. Louis
and I went to Immaculate Conception Catholic Parish School. We had Loreto Nuns
on site teaching grades 1-8. There were
320 students, 40 students in each grade in a well maintained 100 year old
building and tuition was free. The school operated on income from church
contributions and parishioner donations.
I won a
scholarship to Christian Brothers College Military HS. We had Christian
Brothers on-site in a well maintained 100 year old building with 1000 students
and 40 students per home-room. Tuition was $500 per year. I started a Rock band
after 8th grade and made $45 per week playing 3 nights a week and
also worked Summer jobs.
I went on
the St. Louis University and attended classes in well maintained 100 year old
buildings. We had Jesuits teaching on site and tuition was $1000 per year. I
joined a Blues band and made $120 per week playing 6 nights a week at a night
club and also worked Summer jobs.
My
education was superior and affordable. I was able to pay all of my own
expenses. I was blessed and learned how to work. My work was actually play.
Our 6
children grew up in the 1960s and 1970s and were able to attend Catholic
Schools until 1983 when we moved to Atlanta. They worked in restaurants, retail
and lifeguarding. They weren’t able to pay all of their high school and college
expenses, but they did graduate without student loans to pay off.
Our 15
grandchildren began to arrive in the 1980s. Many are working, but they are
facing unsustainable college costs and a weak US economy.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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