Free Public Education Through Graduate School

In Maslow's hierarchy there is described a pyramid of human needs.



At the base levels are the really fundamental needs such as food, warmth, water, safety, shelter, health, human touch. We can't live survive without these.



Next up are things like education, knowledge, influence, work, friendships and relationships. We can survive without these things, but it is a sad life.



Finally at the top are things involved in 'self actualization'--being able to fully express one's inner thoughts and feelings through, for example, art or writing, etc. Unfortunately, many never have the opportunity to develop to this point.



Education is a country's best insurance for its own future. The US has been able to 'survive' with only a mediocre education system for the last 30 years, but that may not last forever.



Yes, education when I was young was generally too dry and could have used more energy and interest from teachers, but if students 'applied themselves' they could get a lot out of it. So, this where I start; no matter what millennium we are living in, students DO in fact have a responsibility to do their part in the classroom. Treating them--as we do now--as helpless and brainless receptacles who need to be coddled and spoon fed is insulting and does students NO FAVOR.



Secondly, our K12 system has confused the terms 'entertaining' and 'engaging'. We endless seek to entertain kids in school, but entertainment means sitting back to see if something is amusing. In contrast, 'engaging' means sitting forward in anticipation of how you might be able to contribute to a situation. My best teachers (6th grade teacher, 8th grade math, 9th grade math, and grad school neuro-biology) all had this gift of engaging myself and my classmates, and it was a pleasure to attend these classes. This is what we need more of--and this requires NO TECHNOLOGY AT ALL.



Third, we somehow ignore the fact that about 30% of US students never graduate from high school--and especially the fact that many of them are just fine, not only because they work hard and have common sense, but also continue to learn in the 'real world'. The infrastructure of both the social and physical aspects of the US are in fact manned by a very necessary foundation of young people who choose to go into apprenticeship programs when they are 16 to become our carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc. We have come to look down on them, but have you seen plumber's rates lately?



Fourth, our feminist, politically correct, and secular progressive K12 system is failing to teach young people the three staples of education: a) rigorous and complete facts as we know them; b) how to critically think about those facts to make decisions, solve problems, and effectively communicate; and c) how to be good and responsible stewards of our society.



Fifth, read this about the California Teachers Association:



http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=8013comments />


The Worst Union in America by Troy Senik (CITY JOURNAL)



Basically, it's how the California Teachers Association has completely changed from a reasonable organization of the 1960s to an unbridled Protection Racket, which viciously and unabashedly puts its own greed ahead of the most precious resource the US or any nation has--its own children.



Worse yet, California has long been a bell weather for what will happen across the United States.



Once we needed teachers unions to ensure our wonderful teachers were able to make a decent living and weren't exposed to unreasonable conditions--now they have become a force in ruining the US.



The modern principles of feminism, secular progressivism, and political correctness—ME FIRST, LAST, AND ALWAYS; THREATS; VICIOUS ATTACKS; NO TOLERANCE FOR DISAGREEMENT; AND CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED—are part of the foundation for this scourge on our society.



Finally, we have lost the concept of just how important knowledge is to humans. The light of knowledge and reason, coupled with compassion and respect are the forces that move humanity forward not backward. As an educator, there is nothing more precious than seeing the light of knowledge in a student's eyes for the first time, and knowing that this young person will never been the same.



Our over-technologized K to College system has replaced instilling students with a yearning to learn and a yearning to earn, with infantilizing them into a constant fixation on convenience, ease, entertainment, gratification, and an artificial sense of 'self esteem' and 'entitlement'--what my father used to call 'getting something for nothing'.



To me, it is our children's inalienable right to have the opportunity for a good and rigorous education, but if they are to ever reach that highest of Maslow's needs for self-actualization, they must be equal and relentless participants in their own struggle for enlightenment.

All we're doing here, Bill in Va, is spending hours proving that our belief systems and our world views, are fundamentally opposite and fundamentally opposed. And, we are both preaching to our respective choirs.



Fortunately, one thing we have in common is we are both critical of government. You're opposed to most uses of government and I'm opposed to bureaucracy, waste, and the lack of transparency. For this one reason, we may just be able to fix our government, and if that's the only thing we can achieve together, that may be enough for our country to survive.

Hell.. I feel like a bit of debate.. Have ya ever considered the decay of the family fiber as a root cause for the demise of the cultural infastructure of the US?... I lectured on the theory of "Taxi Cab Parents".. Gone was the role of a parent to project a loving and caring relationship.. but was replaced by a X-gen expectation to be carted around to gymnastic classes, cheer classes, football games, horse back ridding, ....name it... The parents 30 or so years ago abdicated their roles as role models.. Loving caring nurturing.. And instead became nothing more than "Taxicab Drivers"... Tis a sorry state of affairs... Bill in Va.

OLGP.. I wouldn't mind sitting around a campfire debating these issues.. I'm totally convinced neither of us would walk away with a changed opinion but I'm sure we'd both walk away somewhat influenced with a perspective that was well debated... Or at least I would..LOL... Bill in Va.

You live under the illusion that a college degree equates to being informed and educated.. We have the bulk of our college grads that have survived their sense of the gauntlet.. in order to delay life decisions... For the most part sponsored by the parents or what Obummer is trying to pass as a free pass in forgiveness of student loans... (Ya think he's trying to get back the youth vote there?)...



Size of government?.. Who doesn't care about the size of government?.. Did you miss the TP movement of 2009-2011?... WHAT contributions to the economy does a government job create as far as increasing the GDP.. or jobs other than yet more government jobs.... The idea is to minimize the supervisors, increase the labor force (producers) and grow the economy for the benefit of all.. and yes.. the wealthy will proportionally benefit .. So.. come up with a way around that one if ya would... Bill in Va.

That you relate going to college primarily to jobs, instead of the benefits to an individual and to society of a university education is, I think, a common mistake. The more educated our citizens are, the more effective they are at self governance and the more resistant they are to propaganda, not to mention being able to expand ones horizons.



The problems of K-12 education systems in this country can mostly be attributed to bureaucracy and the politicizing of education, and I think you're not seeing the forrest for the trees. Hey, no one cares about the size of government, as long as government is efficient and transparent. That's what needs to be fixed. It's not the unions, nor is it the non-existent liberal conspiracy to somehow "grow" government. It's simply bad management and no oversight from the folks at home, who are not all that well educated. How about establishing a clear public policy, and then giving the responsibility to manage our schools, democratically, to the teachers who actually teach in them, instead of a board of education filled with political hacks and people who haven't been in a classroom in twenty years.



I hate it, too, when someone over-simplifies an issue, but quite often the solution to a problem is simple, and there's a HUGE difference between complex and complicated. We have smart people, usually college educated, by the way, who have no problem dealing with complicated systems and issues. Government "ain't" rocket science, but, if it was, we have plenty of rocket scientists, again, college educated.

OLGP.. I think you're close but.. (with me always a but).. but from a counter perspective?...

I'm thinking I'm close in age to you.. so do you remember taking shop class or home economics?.. That was foundational training for real life skills. Those programs are now gone... EVERYONE needs to go to college?.. I differ strongly... Today there is a bountiful oportunity for employment in the skilled trades industry... Welders, mechanics, electricians, plumbers, machinist... Professors of clinical psychology?.. not so many... Liberal arts majors?.. WTH?... True we should encourage mathematicians, scientist in chemistry, biology and all the other unknown disciplines... But to think that everyone should attend grad school is beyond the pale...

Jobs training begins early.. What we have going on is a perception that without a college degree, you have not lived up to your potential... All while someone that didn't mind the social perception of attending a trade school is now charging you $75.00 to show up at your house with a minimum 2 hr charge at $65.00 per hour... (My latest plumber estimate)... Universities and politicians have sold the American public on this track... not for the betterment of the populace but for the growth of institutions.. with ever rising tuition costs....



Another problem you seem to ignore is our K-12 education system.... or at least what I perceive as the core issue...... Since the DOE was formed, incurring layers and layers of bureaucratic oversight (there are now 28 federal programs overseeing teaching standards)... out test scores have fallen like a rock when compared to comparative world countries... All in the name to grow government..



Lastly... Teachers unions have implemented the most corrosive environment for teaching our youth... We have teachers in NYC, because of unions, that have been censored 6 times (for inappropiate contact with underage boys) and is still on the payroll... not teaching but the school district is forced to provide him class room facilities... So he goes to work, earning over 100K per year for NOT teaching and runs a business out of a state provided facility.....

Or how about teachers that say no to a transfer from one school to another 5 miles away because of union rules.... Why are they asked to transfer?.. Too many teachers at one school for a particular discipline...

How about lay-off's coming down the pike?.. Who goes first?.. not the least effective teacher,,, they have seniority.. but the one out on their butts?.. The new to the profession,, the most visionary... But.. the unions don't want that!... I'm getting off my soap box now..... Bill in Va.

p.s. I just hate when someone simplifies an issue, doesn't investigate various causes and effects and posts something that should have been investigated in depth before posting a "definitive" explanation of the issue... I hope I've given you food for thought... Bill in Va.

What's killing public education is bureaucracy, better known as Administration. You've got people who haven't been in a classroom in twenty years, if at all, telling teachers how to teach......and you've got so many of them, too. Why not let the teachers themselves run the schools democratically and save billions by getting rid of the deadwood?



I only had 4 or 5 good teachers when I went through school, but in looking back, I can now see why. School Boards. They're politicized and filled with overpaid administrators who contribute little if anything to the education of our children.



I agree with you about sports. A high school with no music or art program will still have a big budget for football and baseball. Personally, I think that's sad.

I sadly disagree, because of the dim intellects and weak educations of many K12 teachers. College professors are smarter, but grade on the curve and more and more professors are demoralised. There is an enormous emphasis on published output (I won't use the word research to describe writing that no one reads or cites), and on teaching that is tolerably popular. There is little emphasis on good or effective teaching, because there is no agreement on how to define or measure "good" or "effective."



The internet and Amazon Books have made self-education easier than ever before.



Two grave problems:

* the passion for interscholastic sports and other extracurricular activities;

* the growing belief that teaching formal English is politically incorrect. Things have reached a point that to learn English usage, you have to take a course in copyediting at a community college.



I am a baby boomer. Grade school was deadly dull. A number of my high school teachers were neither smart enough nor good enough to do a decent job.