Our Education Needs a Revolution

Aylad: Ah, ninth grade English. I liked my ninth grade teacher, a lot. She got fired from the Catholic school I was going to at the time.. for having too many ideas.

Trina: That's exactly it - in the box thinking. The best teachers try to teach around this, but they have a system that is structured to inhibit their success. It is sad, really, because it is human nature to want to absorb new information. I love to learn, but wasn't really fed in my fifteen years of schooling. I was taught to memorize. That was easy, but what was next?

Randi: I'm sorry, Randi. I don't have the space for a guest post today! Just kidding. I know exactly what you are saying. Teaching to a schedule is ridiculous. Staying on task is important, obviously, but so is taking the needs of the class into account. That's another problem right there. Class sizes are far too large as is to be effective. Even the best teachers have so much stacked against them from day one that meeting bare minimum standards becomes something to celebrate. All I know is that it's not good enough. We could be doing better and should be a bit more embarrassed that we're not.

Patricia: You are keeping up. You have embraced new technology and are using it to carry out a dialogue. My state is one of the richest regions in the world and one of the poorest academic performers. Money isn't the issue as we throw barrels at the problem. LA Unified teachers are the highest salaried in the country. The drop out rate is at half. That is inexcusable.

Quinn: Yes, kids need to learn that stuff, but it doesn't happen through osmosis. It happens through excellent teaching. There are a lot of teachers that do not care working in systems that do not work. Yes there are countless quality teachers as well, but what can they do when forced to use their least dominant hand while holding the other over both eyes? The problem is, education isn't evolving and it really needs to. Now more than ever.

It's a little weird to post right after my mom, but here goes... Chase March is absolutely right that kids need to learn how to attend to information. Kids are downright professional at scanning information to select the small pieces they are interested in (think of a web page surrounded by flashing ads and ads embedded in the middle of text, kids can ignore hundreds of these before noticing one), but what is happening to the attention it takes to get through a novel and examine all its fine details? Kids need to learn how to keep up with constant adaptations as much as they need to learn how to explore the depths of a topic. There are many people out here trying to figure out that balance and many schools trying out new roles as "schools of the future" where kids learn in small learning communities that engage many subjects in the study of one concept or idea. There are a lot of students right now who are being lost in the American Education system, but don't be too hard on the educators. Not only are they trying to meet the needs of highly skills students and average students they are trying to keep the lower achievers from disappearing altogether. The best thing the US could do right now is make the teacher career a well-payed, prestigious, and competitive market. The more enthusiastic and intelligent people who can be encouraged to join the field the better off students will be.

I took my kids out of public school as no one noticed them or what they needed and bought a computer....My youngest would not have made it through school with out a computer and she has nearly graduated from college.

Attending is an important skill is finishing work started...and learning how to relate to other people. My Father was state director of special education when I was born...he would have loved what he sees now, but he could not even describe it to people when he was alive -"Every child deserves and Individual Education" was the law he wrote...and was fired for taking that position....Too bad President Kennedy and My Dad died so young they were a dynamic team....

Our public school were #10 in the nation when my father was fired the first time....30 years later and all the politics we are #47 and all the smart and wealthy kids go to private school....Oh yes and all the "Christian" kids go to their schools...

My oldest two are working on how to change education one as a software engineer/the other as a librarian...

I am in awe....I just hope I can keep up..

Good post I will be watching all week

This topic has been on my mind so much the last few months!

Growing up, I was educated in both the public and private school sectors. As each of us four children approached high school, my dad said, "You can go to public school or private school. The private school has much better education. I can't afford to send you to private school. If you want the better education, you will have to pay for it yourself." The three girls in our family chose private school. My brother said, "Pay for school? Are you kidding?"

To this day, I am so grateful for the education I received. It is almost inherent in a private school setting that the students or at least their parents, value education, else why pay extra for it? I also noticed that competition is stiffer, which in me at least, encouraged my growth.

Just like public schoolers, I had to take classes in subjects that at first glance have nothing to do with my life today. I don't use geometry, trig, math analysis, statistics, or chemistry lab on a daily basis. But the thought processes I learned in those classes are invaluable to me. Learning how to follow a logical sequence of events in geometry enabled me to do many of the jobs I've had as an adult. I never use the mathematical equations I learned in statistics, yet I learned in that class--one of the hardest I've ever taken in my life!--that I can conquer any subject!

When I moved to a rural area eleven years ago, I had a decision to make. Do I enroll my children in the public school? Do I homeschool after work hours? Luckily I found a homeschool co-op, and have placed my children there.

Why do I say luckily? As a manager of a business, I was responsible for hiring new employees. I was appalled at what I saw coming out of our public school system. Many young people and even adults would respond, "What's a resume?" when I asked them to bring one in. Too many resumes looked like this: "Honors: class Valudictoan. Hobbies: Just hanging out. Experience: I done many things for lots of places. I could of did more but I had basketball." [sic] My favorite was this one: "Special Skills: I like to laugh. Sometimes I will just sit around and laugh to myself."

I gave every applicant a basic math test. I needed to know if he or she could do simple computations if the power went out. Over 75% of the applicants failed! These were not difficult questions, but were things like:
"If a customer's purchases come to $25.98 and they pay with a $50 bill, how much change do you give?" or
" A cell phone case costs $20. If the tax rate is 6.25%, how much does the customer owe?" Many times applicants would handle the math test back to me blank, saying, "Sorry--I don't know how to do story problems. Do I have to know how to do them to work here?"

Off to the homeschool co-op went my children. For the past two years I have taught there. But even the homeschool co-op environment gives me heartburn on occasion. Why? Because the parents want to run it in the only way they know how----as a public school system clone.

I have a 5th grade student who fails every spelling test I give him. He no longer even tries. He just says, "I suck at spelling." If I had my choice, I would give him a third grade spelling book and let him rock and roll. Nope. I have to give him an F, semester after semester. If he's in 5th grade, he has to do the 5th grade book. Ludicrous, I say. Why not let him work at his own level?

I have a 5th grade girl in my class who breaks my heart. The whole time I am teaching, she has her hands in her desk manipulating tiny pieces of paper into beautiful origami. On every assignment she turns in, are beautiful intricate pictures of clothing she has designed or exquisite flowers. She rarely hears a word I say. She's too busy in her creative world. After reading Eric Hamm's article on ADHD, I realized that she is "scratching the itch." So I told her that as long as she maintains eye contact with me or the board, I will no longer take away her paper. She can fold paper to her heart's content as long as she pays attention. She is so much happier! She was also a terrible speller until one day when I caught her muttering to herself as she spelled a word. I asked her, "What did you just say?" She replied, "This word is easy because I can sing it." After asking her many questions, I finally was able to determine that she hears a melody in the pattern of certain letter combinations. Now, in spelling, I try to help her "hear the music." (a good example would be the way we all "hear the music" when we spell Mississippi." )

For both of those kids, I know I am doing them a disservice. Yet most of the parents want to see results in the textbook. "How far are they in the book?" "Are they on track for finishing the book by the end of the year?" "I noticed that the fourth graders are further ahead in the math book than the fifth graders. What's the problem?"

We do get behind at times. We got behind in spelling because the words all related to documents in American History---declaration, constitution, amendment, etc. Yet none of the kids had ever read the Declaration of Independence. They had no clue what the Constitution said. We spent three history class periods, explaining the significance of their spelling words. And now they know better than to let anyone take away their guns. :) The downside was that we were now officially three days "behind" in the history curriculum.

What's the answer? How do we encourage questions and answers and exploring and experimenting and researching and hands-on discovering while making sure THE BOOK gets finished? How do we get parents more involved when most of them feel it's "not their job" to educate their children? (I actually heard one person say that she wants nothing to do with her son's education. That's what teachers get paid for.)

You raise some very interesting questions...the same ones that drive me crazy day after day.

I just had to return to add this one thought that occured during the video presentation. The stat regarding the amount of words during Shakespeares time compared to now...yet Shakespeare managed to make such thought provoking work, while it seems that modern society has more trouble communicating effectively. I know some argue that point with the way thoughts are conveyed via Twitter, leet speak etc. However, messages do get misconstrued with such style, plus more words in our language do not imply better communication. Now I will shut up before my communication is ineffective :-)

Just getting caught up here, as I have had my information over-load from other sources. Haha. Simply staggering, however the amount of information available is only useful if one accesses it. Certainly there are more devices in which to access the information, I wonder though about the percentage/type of information that individuals truly access. For example the MP3, cell phone toting youth are likely not accessing the information available on the CERN project in Switzerland. An assumption, I know. How this relates to education...yes, technology is advancing in staggering proportions, yes, schools have not changed in comparison. Not convinced that technology is the answer though. I think schools generally lack in the area of encouraging love of learning. "Complete the assignment accoring to the rubric, you shall succeed" ... how much in the box thinking is that?

Yes, I teach ninth grade English.

Aylad: Ah... for some reason I thought you were a principal. Faulty memory on my part. What grade do you teach. It is high school, right?

Hahaha, no, I'm "just" a teacher. I would never become an administrator: too much dealing with parents, not enough job security.

Lori: More isn't better, no doubt. Teaching students how to learn and then encouraging their innate eagerness to embrace new concepts and push their minds further is essential to our future. Unfortunately, I see this happening less and less. Too many parents assume the job will be done by the schools (a specious thought under the best of circumstances) and it simply isn't happening.

Christina: Einstein, Edison, and Franklin all had difficult in school. It is easy to see the correlation. Our schools do not encourage genius. In my specific history, they encouraged only boredom. I totally agree with you about individualized education. I think we need a new kind of curriculum that inherits the best of the old way while embracing the most promising of the new, rather than allowing one to simply deteriorate.

Hayden: I love Google, the internet, and the whole big ball of yarn. I would however add that at this point in our human history it is important that we acknowledge the cheapening of answers and start doing everything possible to stoke the value of our questions.

Aylad: WORD. You are a principal, yes?

Miguel: Me too, my man. I've had many of the same roadblocks as you. It is the worst kind of soul cancer to allow excuses to become a retaining wall before us. There is no doubt that modern life encourages laziness. You were also dead on with your comment about children and their confidence. My wife and I teach a room full of fourth graders each week and those with the most difficulty are those with the least confidence. It is easy to see from where their lack of confidence has been born.

Laurie: I'm looking forward to the discussion as well. I think, at the very least, it is a subject ripe for a tremendous amount of open dialogue.

Cindy: You are the finest teacher I have ever known and are single handedly responsible for making me reevaluate many of my opinions that were branded deep into the first two decades of my institutional experience. I applaud the teacher you are and am fortunate to teach alongside you. If every teacher in our nation paced the classroom as you do, we would be looking at a view from a far brighter vista. The engine itself would still need an overhaul, but at least it would be well oiled.

GreenJello: No, it isn't even close. However, too many parents write the educational system off as something that's handled by the schools and nothing more. Again, that's part of the system. We need a structure that is more demanding of the parents in this country. Many may think that's an unreasonable request, but this is only so because that's the way it has been forever. Other countries are more demanding of the parents, and they have to positive results to show for it.

Formal education, like in a school setting, is not the most important education a child will receive in his lifetime. REAL education begins at home, by learning language, proper behavior, and how to function in society. Children will learn no matter where you put them or take them-- the best learning occurs when parents explain how things work to children, read to them constantly, and model the importance of learning about EVERYTHING.

Learning in the age of computers is a very cool thing-- I used to use encyclopedias. Now my children have INSTANT information available to them, 24/7. I would have given anything for that opportunity.

As a friend of mine is fond of saying, "Learning everywhere, all the time." One has to think outside the public education system to see the truth of this statement.

Well it looks like Pandora's box has been opened. Education? It started with the parent that brought the child into the world. The parent is the first teacher. The parent pays the taxes or tuition to extend the first lessons. The parent has the voice and the power to ensure the process of the system is happening. Accountability requires time on task, effort and the actions to make a change. I teach in a state where teachers are the highest paid in the nation and has one of the largest districts in the nation with a drop out rate of 50%. Those numbers do not add up. We don't have time to play the blame game. We need to roll up our sleeves and take action. Bottom line. Does your child know how to read, write, communicate, compute and think critically while being a connected, contributing, socially responsible member of he community? Are we doing our job daily, consistently and to the best of our ability? "Can't lives on Won't Street." Our learning community will not be visiting that street. What can you do for your learning community to provide a pillar of support?

All I'll say for now is "wow" - that video is packed with stats that were news to me. Thanks for posting it. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts and the discussion to follow...

Yeah, I've seen this video before. Interesting stats, numbers and so forth. Tons of great points mentioned above. There's countless factors that go into what we call a "good education," whatever that is? Yep, it's what you make of it, or what you don't make of it, yeah- we can blame teachers or lack of resources.

Oh, what about flaws in the "system?" what are they? Yeah, education is a process and somewhere along that path things might go off track or maybe they stay on track- and that's somehow the problem? No no, it's video games. Society encourages laziness in children. Hey, guess what? I've gone through multiple issues as a child and teen (as we say- during this process). Some people for whatever reason (I have a few ideas) don't make it, make the wrong choice or join the wrong gang. Wait, they grew up in a broken home- check! let's see, what else?

Living situation, inner city? oh check again! I know, public schools- check! My point: I've completed my BA, working on an MA, overcame a bunch of rough life experiences and (bad & good) influences and continue to do everything possible to reach and achieve the goals, tasks, (whatever else)- I desire or believe to be right, or maybe simply interested in because I know they'll improve my life, which means it's not a means to just make more money. Anyhow.
Yeah, systems become outdated, methods need adjusting, lawmakers this and politicians that. cmon folks. Those are serious areas of concern. Yes, there needs to be modifications but those changes or policies won't solve all our problems or make our youth smarter. I know you all understand that (there's smart people here).

Part of (big problem) is with the individual. No one can't force to to learn or push yourself but someone can encourage you, say they believe in you and so on. Tons of these kids lack confidence (adults too). They don't think or believe they can do it or even have a chance. I used to live with that fear, lack of confidence and so on. I know what it's like and some of you still know what it's like. It's poison, causes you to fail, gives a lackluster performance- one never comes close to living up to their full potential. Without confidence, I don' care what you're doing: sports, writing- anything! You're defeated even before you start, period. :) Wow, this topic really gets me going.

-Mig

At this writing, the word "system" appears on this page 16 times. It got me thinking. Education is a system, like a computer is a system. It is a system in the sense that it depends on multiple, interdependent, functioning components to be useful.

Parents, teachers, students, administrators, lawmakers... these form the system that is our educational process.

In my "system," parents are too focused on their jobs, divorce proceedings, and mind-altering substances to function well. Teachers are too demoralized, cynical, and entrenched in dogmatic curriculum to function well. Students are too distracted by bad homes, cell phones, and sexual escapades to function well. Administrators are too intimidated by parents, frustrated with teachers, and out of touch with the students to function well. Lawmakers are too resentful of their educational experiences, ignorant of the real process of educating young minds, and distracted with other political concerns to function well.

Take a computer system -- any computer system -- and smash its mouse, keyboard, monitor, CPU, and power supply with a baseball bat. How useful is it now?

I know the video wants me to be slightly alarmed by the massive amounts of Google searches, but I am a child of the internet era. I think it's AWESOME.

Especially since I have a processing disability that makes it extremely difficult for me to connect memory/experience to language. Most people joke about not being able to remember things when they are older (or having something on the tip of their tongue) but I have NEVER been 'able to remember'.

I simply can't describe how FRUSTRATING it was, at the age of 16, to 'know' something and not be able to verbalize it. It isn't like what I wanted to communicate was of earth shattering importance, but the fact that I COULDN'T. Google gave me alternate ways to 'recover' this information, efficiently and quickly.

I think we need to rethink the entire concept of education. Today, innovation means how to use the same basic system and methodology to teach most of the same material, but in whatever new language the textbook publishers have thought up this year. That's not innovative. That does not keep up with technology. That does not encourage genius.

I think the first thing we need to change is the idea that every student needs to learn the same things as every other student. Ideas like No Child Left Behind, and grading schools and students by the standardized test ensure that children merely get a standard education. Is average all we hope for? Because if so, then average becomes the cream of the crop, and standard means only adequate, with no special talent ever rising. Our perspective needs to change, to become MORE personalized, not less. And we have an increasing attitude in the US these days that stresses less personalization. What would Einstein, Edison, and Franklin have accomplished if they had spent thirteen years learning how to pass a test, instead of exploring their areas of interest and genius?

And what's even more significant to the topic, where would society be if Einstein, Edison, and Franklin had been trained to strive for average?

Very thought-provoking video. And to think I still remember TV with 4 channels.

Three thoughts:
More is not better.
Developing good character, perseverance, and a willingness to learn helps students excel no matter what the conditions.
Teaching students to love learning allows them find what they need to learn.

Shanel: No doubt. I love it too. It is important to approach our coming future from the right angles though. It would be easy to allow ourselves to be bombarded. We need the ability to sift through the data with discretion and intelligence.

Bud: Jokes are supposed to be funny.

Lisa: Yes, I've never believed that schools held the answers for my children. I saw them only as a supplement to what we as a family must to at home. The problem is that most people think that school will take care of everything and end up with far too little.

Kip de Moll: Excellent question. I don't have the answer, but it is a skill we need to learn and one that modern education stays as far away from as possible.

Jamie: Drats! You found the bugs. (Must find new place to hide them). You said this really well, Jamie. I totally agree. Skills are outdated by graduation. It's sad and getting better rather than worse. Cindy has been at the front lines for twenty years, a large chunk of that time spent embedded in the institutions responsible for instituting change. In her words, "In twenty years the amount of things that have actually changed is an embarrassment."

Chase: I'm positive you are a terrific teacher and wonderful influence on your students, but not every teacher feels the way you do. Many of them are watching the clock and counting the minutes... until the end of the day if not until summer. I agree that we are less patient, there is no doubt about it, but our schools are not dealing with the modern world or its culture. Period. I live in Southern California where the most money is spent for the poorest results. Our teachers are the highest paid in the nation and we have a 49% dropout rate. That's crazy and embarrassing. The public school system is grossly inefficient in its management of time and resources. The first example that comes to mind is textbooks. We have discarded a horrifying amount of textbooks in California in the last decade. Absolutely horrifying. New textbook adoptions are a regularity, putting the needs of the publisher first. Curriculum can be updated now as easily (and inexpensively) as a software download. I'm not saying we should abandon all the old as there is supreme value in earnest tradition, but it would be disingenuous (for me) to not acknowledge that the system is broken. We are steadily slipping. If we expect our nation to maintain its place, we have a lot of work before us.

Aylad: "too often, schools fail even to make the attempt." My favorite comment on the thread so far. We don't expect enough from our students or from our teachers. Too much of the system is running on autopilot and that is a dangerous mode to run on.

SteadyMom: I agree. Our children are in a public program that I love. I'll talk more about it tomorrow. I'm thrilled with it, but I will add that it was terribly difficult to get into, with a long waiting list, and that we were extremely fortunate to get in. I think the program we're in, or something similar, should be available to any taxpayer. Period. And you're right, it's our job as parents to raise our children not our arms in expectation that our local school district will do our job for us.

Kyddryn: I was waiting for you, Kyddryn. I knew you'd have something to say. The evil genius is lucky that he has you to shape him. I've no doubt you are guiding him in the right direction. There is a lot of apathy in public schools (and private schools are not free from mistakes). I don't believe homeschooling is the right choice for everyone, but I do believe it is a viable alternative for many and should be embraced more readily by our culture. I think we'll see a shift as more online learning environments become available.Shanel: No doubt. I love it too. It is important to approach our coming future from the right angles though. It would be easy to allow ourselves to be bombarded. We need the ability to sift through the data with discretion and intelligence.

Bud: Jokes are supposed to be funny.

Lisa: Yes, I've never believed that schools held the answers for my children. I saw them only as a supplement to what we as a family must to at home. The problem is that most people think that school will take care of everything and end up with far too little.

Kip de Moll: Excellent question. I don't have the answer, but it is a skill we need to learn and one that modern education stays as far away from as possible.

Jamie: Drats! You found the bugs. (Must find new place to hide them). You said this really well, Jamie. I totally agree. Skills are outdated by graduation. It's sad and getting better rather than worse. Cindy has been at the front lines for twenty years, a large chunk of that time spent embedded in the institutions responsible for instituting change. In her words, "In twenty years the amount of things that have actually changed is an embarrassment."

Chase: I'm positive you are a terrific teacher and wonderful influence on your students, but not every teacher feels the way you do. Many of them are watching the clock and counting the minutes... until the end of the day if not until summer. I agree that we are less patient, there is no doubt about it, but our schools are not dealing with the modern world or its culture. Period. I live in Southern California where the most money is spent for the poorest results. Our teachers are the highest paid in the nation and we have a 49% dropout rate. That's crazy and embarrassing. The public school system is grossly inefficient in its management of time and resources. The first example that comes to mind is textbooks. We have discarded a horrifying amount of textbooks in California in the last decade. Absolutely horrifying. New textbook adoptions are a regularity, putting the needs of the publisher first. Curriculum can be updated now as easily (and inexpensively) as a software download. I'm not saying we should abandon all the old as there is supreme value in earnest tradition, but it would be disingenuous (for me) to not acknowledge that the system is broken. We are steadily slipping. If we expect our nation to maintain its place, we have a lot of work before us.

Aylad: "too often, schools fail even to make the attempt." My favorite comment on the thread so far. We don't expect enough from our students or from our teachers. Too much of the system is running on autopilot and that is a dangerous mode to run on.

SteadyMom: I agree. Our children are in a public program that I love. I'll talk more about it tomorrow. I'm thrilled with it, but I will add that it was terribly difficult to get into, with a long waiting list, and that we were extremely fortunate to get in. I think the program we're in, or something similar, should be available to any taxpayer. Period. And you're right, it's our job as parents to raise our children not our arms in expectation that our local school district will do our job for us.

Kyddryn: I was waiting for you, Kyddryn. I knew you'd have something to say. The evil genius is lucky that he has you to shape him. I've no doubt you are guiding him in the right direction. There is a lot of apathy in public schools (and private schools are not free from mistakes). I don't believe homeschooling is the right choice for everyone, but I do believe it is a viable alternative for many and should be embraced more readily by our culture. I think we'll see a shift as more online learning environments become available.

I can't run the video just now as I'm having computer issues, so I'll have to respond blind. What else is new??

My niece was taking a jewelry making class to gain graduation credits. No kidding. She had to quit because some of the other girls in the class decided they didn't like her any more because she refuses to drink, do drugs, or engage in sexual activities like they do...so they began making terroristic threats toward her. When she was out of school one day and the teacher had left the room for a moment, these girls cut up all of her projects, wrote profanities on her equipment case, and scattered everything about the classroom after taking what they wanted from her supplies. The school's response? "Oh, well, we'll look into it." She's in a different program, now.

Have I mentioned I'm homeschooling the Evil Genius? Because I am. Because I don't trust this old, outdated, fractured public school system and I don't have the dosh for a truly good, secular private school. Sigh.

I wonder what would happen to the educational system in this nation if parents were given the choice to form homeschool cooperatives (we can do so now, but not legally in most states), or at the very least, if the funds followed the children instead of remaining with the school?

If the funds follow the child, then parents could use the power of consumerism to help reward good schools and shut down the ones that simply act as holding pens for kids. Schools and (one would hope) the unions so entrenched in "this is how we do it" would be forced to take a look at what's drawing the crowds, and therefore the dollars, to a certain district or school. Yeah, yeah, pipe dream.

Shade and Sweetwater,
K (who would love to see reform in the system but isn't holding her breath)

Talk about information overload!

The goal of parents and educational systems should be to teach children HOW to think, instead of teaching them WHAT to think. That is often the problem of the traditional conveyor belt educational system. But those who know HOW to think can solve whatever problems come their way.

This is what I aim for in my children's education - and parents need to recognize that no matter where they send their child to school, ultimately the responsibility is THEIRS. The problem with our typical educational system is huge, but alternative educational philosophies are exciting and plentiful.

If parents take the time to research alternatives, if they are open to doing things differently, then we can look forward to leaders emerging from the next generation. And those leaders will change the world! I know, I'm raising three future leaders here at home....

Like Chase March, I haven't been able to view the video yet, as I'm at work.

Education should be about preparing minds for the future. Admittedly, this would be much easier if the future didn't change every couple of years (the computer skills I was taught in school are barely relevant now) but too often, schools fail even to make the attempt.

For example, students in my school are required to take math courses all the way up through trigonometry and quite advanced algebraic concepts... in fact, I took calculus before graduating here several years ago... and a frequent complaint can be heard: "when will we ever use this?"

The math teachers' responses are well-rehearsed and never vary from the formula: "You will use math in everything you do, no matter what job you have."

Yes, we all use "math" every day. Outside of certain math-heavy occupations, however, how many of us use trigonometry or need to find the derivative of a function? The math teachers always assume that needing to calculate a budget justifies learning how to graph a sine wave, but it just ain't so.

That's just one example. You should see the other course offerings we have at this school. I will grudgingly accept that there may be some academic merit behind taking one combined Health and Physical Education (P.E.) course, but why do we offer Intermediate P.E. and Advanced P.E.? Do we really give academic credit for running around a sports field for an hour and a half?

That's not even getting into the multiple levels of Weight Lifting or Weight Training or whatever we call that class now.

I shouldn't mention the Cosmetology class, which can be taken multiple times. Oh, whoops, I just did. Don't confuse that with a Cosmology class, which might actually expand students' minds. Yes, running dingy little strip-mall hair salons and tanning booths is a major source of income in this county, but maybe that's because girls who graduate with 6 or more Cosmetology credits don't have any other marketable skills.

Now that the U.S. economy is in big trouble, many schools are looking at how to cut budgets. What will happen in far too many school districts is the reduction of academic and life-skills teaching staff, resulting in larger class sizes and reduced student achievement. Meanwhile, students will still have their pick of Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced P.E., Weight Training, and/or Cosmetology. I respectfully disagree with Bud Hennekes that our educational system "is a joke," but it certainly does look like one at times like this.

I didn't get to see the video yet. I will catch it at home later. But I still have some things to say on this topic.

I don't believe that public education is outdated and irrelevant. I teach my students a lot more than just the curriculum, and we are the product of more than just our so-called outdated resources.

One of the problems with society in general these days is that we don't seem to have the patience for anything. We need to learn that we can't have everything right away and that everything can't be fun. Life isn't always fun. School shouldn't be a hi-tech place of edutainment.

We need to teach the children how to attend to things. They need to learn the importance of seeing things through to completion.

I'm not an old, stuck in my ways teacher either. I have fun with my class and engage them in ways that I hope will make them want to learn.

I'll admit things aren't always perfect here. But I think that in my classroom, we are doing a good job.

Okay, it's official, Sean, Cindy, you must have a bug planted in my house. Not even two weeks ago a went on a rant about this very subject.( I think I scared the poor PTA mother. :D ) We pay for private schooling for my son, and it is such a disappointment. So many teachers are content to teach things the same way they have been taught for the last 50 years. They don't see that my child will emerge into a world that has little resemblance to their college years, let alone the world we see right now. My child won't need to know how to balance his checkbook, but he will need to know how to download and export comma delimited files from his banking website to email to his accountant. In an online world, he'll need to know how to express himself very well- in writing. He will need to know about various cultures, because he will be collaborating with co-workers from all over the world.

I could go on for hours, but it has me frustrated enough that I am seriously considering homeschooling, just so I can teach him what he'll need in the real world, not a world that existed 25 years ago.

The statistics are impressive, such a strong message about the quantity of information available, staggering numbers. But how much of all that is "Quality"? How do we learn to sort through all the junk to find the gems? A good education teaches a mind to be confident and intuitive, to trust the self to sort through the cascade of information to absorb the ideas that resonate.

Education is what you make of it. Oh, a good school definitely helps, but education isn't all about school. It's about reading, questioning, and opening minds. It's about who we are inside as much as what is told to us outside.

The United States education system is a joke. :(

Very cool video. Well worth the time to view it. What does it all mean? We are in the age of information revolution, my friends. Fear it or revel in it. The choice is yours! I personally LOVE it!