The current system for public education is broken, and no matter how much money is thrown at it, the system still does not work well.
I don't agree. Adequate money seems to work wonders. In communities where public schools have money, the results are often quite positive. Where can money go with proven results?
- Summer programs
- Smaller class sizes
- Better technology
- More skilled teachers (from salary and merit based increases)
- More gifted certified teachers
- Full time gifted programs
Just look at summer programs... some great research out there showing that low SES and high SES students make similar gains throughout the school year which are then lost over the summer by the low SES groups. We aren't really agrarian anymore. Year round school takes serious money, but can work and be a positive benefit for two income households in addition to learning outcomes.
I disagree strongly with your point and agree with Edwin. In general, our system is broken. Many of the points you raise are mendacious talking points pushed by the educational establishment. IF they repeat them often enough, people start to believe them.
Throwing money at the problem doesn't make it better overall. Sure, summer programs are nice, but they're also dessert. The state of California spends over half the state budget on education, which is in the neighborhood of $50 billion (
link here). How much more do the schools need before they can say they have enough? A HUGE problem is mismanagement of funds. Please don't argue per-student spending: Catholic schools spend way less and get better results, and so do many other countries.
Countries with schools that are much better than ours have much bigger classes. Am in the middle of meeting a deadline right now and can't post links, but I've done so before on this board.
Technology is largely irrelevant to learning how to read or do math. I still don't understand the iPad obsession, TBH.
Teacher's unions resist merit pay as though it was akin to being forced to eat plutonium. Increasing salaries isn't the problem (again, no time to post links but some searching might turn up my old messages on this subject). As for paying them more to get skilled teachers, I also disagree. Teaching is a dumping ground for poor-performing students (look up SAT and GRE scores for future teachers; they are ALWAYS at the bottom). Paying them more won't solve the problem. The problem is a culture that discourages excellence overall (yes, there are great teachers, but those test scores don't lie).
