Thoughts on Education

Fact: The United States education system has a multitude of problems confronting it.
Slipping standards, poor teacher salaries, school shootings, the rising cost of higher education, lack of parent involvement, and a host of other issues face educators, students, and their families. So, the question facing Americans of all ages today is a simple one. How can we solve the problems facing education today? The answer is far more complex, and the process far from easy. Where to begin? We've tried to face problems of slipping standards and funding through the now infamous "No Child Left Behind" Act. Neither problem was solved, however, and all that was developed through it is a growing disillusionment as to the dubious methodology of our elected leadership. We must look at each child as an investment in the future of the world. Somewhere in an inner city may be the child who could, with the proper education, cure cancer, or AIDS, or send us to the farthest reaches of space. Nothing is beyond the reach of humanity's children, and yet they are our most neglected resource. Simply giving our education system more funding is like sending billions of dollars in aid to a nation that uses it to build palaces while the people starve. To throw more money at it doesn't fix the problem.
I have a few ideas. By no means are they perfect, but they are ideas for change which could actually be implemented in a reasonable amount of time.
What if our schools were run like a business with investors to whom they are beholden? Could our school administrators be given more liberty with school policies that would allow them to tailor to the needs of their communities? What if we started pilot schools that take on education from a completely different angle? Could we find a new formula for educating our children that would revolutionize the way we look at education? Why not require real world experience in a teacher's focused area before they can teach? Perhaps we could try more individualization of the learning process from an earlier age. How can we involve older children in the education of the younger? Would it be beneficial? How can we foster both a sense of community and of competitiveness in our young people? What if we required more reading? Could leadership development programs be made a requirement at all levels? Only a few? Which and why? What would happen if we privatized education? Just a few ideas I have. Next post I'll expand on a few, but in the meantime think, respond, offer ideas.
Don't forget to read up on education news and look at what's happening in America today.
Pursue truth.