So it's okay for farm kids to be illiterate? Or the children of miners and unskilled factory workers?
ROI (return on investment), where is it? What need does someone who spends their life on a farm have for Ancient Greek? As long as they know the basics of we consider "education", they're all set. Why spend years sitting in a classroom when one can be out earning and learning? If it is not applicable to enhansing their productive capacity, it's a waste.
ancestors who instituted public education didn't think so and neither do I.
Great idea, since govt does everything soo well, let's put them in charge of education.
Nice story. Citation?
Give me some time on sources. I'm in CT for job training right now, which is probably the most useful education I've ever gotten, so I'm not in NH where all my sources are. I will come through though.
The overwhelming majority of children in this country can read, write, do mathematics, and grow up to be productive citizens.
Productive? Most people cannot comprehend even basic level economics or finance, and I cannot think of a more important topic for one to be educated about. People are not trained in what it takes for a business to be successful, so how will they know what they should be investing in? They are taught dependance, and that is why we are sinking further and further into a state where everyone is dependant on the govt nipple to provide for them, because they cannot provide for themselves.
Source? From where are you pulling this? Show me that this widespread problem, as you see it, actually exists. For every child you can show me who graduates without being able to read, I will show you thousands who can. The business world has people who slip through the system while being ingnorant and/or incompetent too. Does business not "work?"
I've personally know people who were issued diplomas who could barely spell, and my uncle is a teacher in NYC, and I hear horror stories from him as well. Yes, most others will be able to read, but just being able to read at 17 isn't a tremendous accomplishment IMO.
There are those that slip through the cracks of the business world, but don't get me started on "cracks" and "govt". Govt run anything is one giant crack. Compare Enron, worldcom and any others to the US federal govt and tell me who's doing a better job with their books.
My school is very poor, and we are squarely in the information age, thank you very much
It's great that you can use a computer, but the most significant factor of the information age is the way businesses will have to change and compete, and they have been dropping the massive costs of pension plans and turning the responsibility to the employees themselves, which they are not prepared to handle. I want to know how what child X is learning, and why it's applicable to their survival in the real world. Business are the one's that have to pick up the slack in educating people, to teach them what they must know on order to be successful.
Just becasue a legislature abolishes an clause doesn't make that a good idea, either.
Nope, so I guess we'll have to compare objective data on govt schools v. non-govt schools and see which are more cost effective.
It had the chance and it didn't work. If free-enterprise had been providing effective and widespread education, public schools wouldn't exist in the first place.
Why is it that non-govt schools exist right now, yet they are far more effective than govt schools?
Also, your reasoning is extremely flawed, almost like saying that having limited govt and freedom didn't work, since we now have the opposite of that. Things in general weren't groovy when the govt decided to get into the education business, but are we doing better becuase of or in spite of the govt running education? 100yrs ago, most families didn't have indoor plumbing and electricity, and the average lifespan was far shorter, so does that mean that low taxes and limited govt was the reason why that was so, just because the two existed concurrently?
