namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
I want to talk about an issue that I feel isn't being talked about quite enough, and that is Education. Yeah, both candidates talk about it, but let's face it, Education is an area that no president can really have a big lasting impact on just by his/her own will. ANY president would need the congress and, perhaps more importantly, the teachers' union to all be in agreement to make any big changes. Because of that, Education is, imo, one of the toughest areas to make big changes in. I am 20 years old, and two years out of high school, but I could have kids in ten years, and they could be in high school in 20-25 years. And the sad fact of the matter is that, in their current state, I wouldn't want to send any kids of mine to public school. So I felt the need to put out what I think should be done with regards to the public education system, in an ideal world. I apologize for the length. I know it's pretty radical.
1.Cut athletics spending by 50%. Schools complain about not getting enough money, but they're spending WAY WAY WAY too much of it on new football jerseys, hockey sticks, new gym floors etc, that they just plain don't need. I'm not saying athletics are bad, I'm just saying everything has a place and a time, and high school should be for getting educated, and unfortunately high schools are putting far too much importance on sports. It's also not good because it indirectly encourages sexual behavior. Come on, you don't think cheerleaders become cheerleaders because they're overflowing with school spirit, do you?
2.All text books and workbooks would be digitized into interactive files on computers, that could be read from and written to. There would no more hard copies anymore. Each school system could have a central server from which all text books and work groups used in their schools could be downloaded. This would lighten the load students have to carry on their back, save school systems exorbatant amounts of money from not having to pay what they would for hard copies, and it would enable students to do quick searches throughout entire textbooks for specific information with the click of a button. Also, it would make updating text books and workbooks much easier, and as such they would be updated more often, and students would never have to learn from ten-year-old text books anymore. This ties in with #3.
3.Schools would hand out a laptop computer to each student on the first day of school each year, and teachers would tell their classes which textbooks and workbooks to download. Students would be renting their laptop for the school year. All books, assignments, reports, etc would be read/done on the laptop. Yes, this would cost money. Let's say a laptop is $1000, and let's say there are 3000 students in a high school. That's $3,000,000 per high school. Now, before you have a heart attack, hear me out. In this ideal world, schools would only have to buy new laptops every five years, so that means only $600,000 would have to be paid per year. $600,000 divided by 3000 students comes to $200 per student. So I figure, each student's parents can pay $50, and a third-party corperate sponser can pay the other $150 per student in exchange for tax breaks, something like that. I believe that computers and the internet in particular, are literally the future of the world. I believe that using them needs to stop being an optional thing and start being a required thing. I believe that in the coming years, knowing how to operate a computer and use it efficiently and competently will be as essential as knowing how to operate a telephone. And I think being required to use them all year long would do a better job of accomplishing this than some tacked-on elective course in computing.
4.With the money saved from the athletics spending cut and the digitization of text books and workbooks, several things could be done. One, each school system could provide central heating and air conditioning to all its schools. No more having to have five box fans out in a classroom in may just to have a chance at being comfortable. Two, cafeterias and other facilities could be significantly enlarged. I have yet to see a high school cafeteria that is big enough. Also, the saved money from the athletics spending cut and the book digitization, that is money saved EVERY year, and it will compound and add up. This could enable teacher income to be raised, which could in exchange force school systems to be more selective about who they hire. That would result in teachers recieving more money for their job, and it would raise the quality of teaching in high schools. That means no more football coaches teaching world history, or other scenarios like that. Coaches shouldn't teach classes. I am against that practice. Students won't learn anything about Ancient Egypt if they're just listening to a coach who isn't really knowledgable on the subject read from a book. They'd be better of sleeping than getting that kind of education. This can apply to any subject.
5.Abolish study hall. Teachers complain about not having enough time to teach. So give them this extra hour every day, which would otherwise be wasted. A little homework never hurt anyone. And kids don't do homework in study hall anyway. Giving students an hour every day to throw crumpled pieces of paper at each other is utterly pointless.
6.Abolish major testing. I don't think students learn much from big midterm and final exams. All these exams do is cause stress, worry, and sometimes even resentment in students. They cram and cram and hope to hold it in their head until the test is over, and they end up learning nothing. I really think that if a smaller, 10-question test were given after every chapter/section, students would learn infinitely more than they would by having to study 15 chapters for two 50-100 monster exams each education period. Teachers don't like this because it means more papers to grade. Well, that's why I think these 10-question tests should be written and taken on the laptops. Computer software could grade multiple choice, true/false, and fill in the blank questions, while teachers could grade short answer and essay questions in typed word documents.
7.NO MORE IN-SCHOOL PEP RALLIES! Every few months there is a day when all classes are shortened so that all students may be crowded into a gym for a pep rally. For what? To watch cheerleaders jump up and down? To collectively wish their team good luck? What bearing on education does this have? None. Certainly not enough to warrant cutting class short and having it during the school day. Also, the indirect encouragement of sexual behavior via cheerleaders and football players all together, doesn't help students any. If this must be done, do it after school hours.
8.Any girl under the age of 18 that gets pregnant should be kicked out of school, as should the father of said baby since he too is responsible. 16 year olds shouldn't be having sex. This isn't a religious thing, I'm not religious. I don't care if you have sex before you're married, I'm cool with that. But teenagers shouldn't be doing it, not in high school. I think if it were in black and white that if you are under 18 and you get pregant, you are out, that the number of teenage pregnancies would at least be dented.
9.Both evolution AND creationism should be taught, and the kids should be able to make up their own mind about it. No more adults trying to impose one belief or another. And teaching niether is a disservice to students. Give them the respect of being able to make up their own mind.
10.School days should go from 10AM to 4PM instead of the typical 8AM-3PM. Students will be more alert at 10 than at 8, and their learning will be enhanced. Their free time won't be effecteed because they'll be able to stay up later due to the 10AM start time.
11.Schools should be required to use more common sense with issue of guns and knives and other weapons. An example to explain what I mean by this. I recently read about a high school student, who had taken part in a re-enactment of a Civil War battle. So he had an outfit that included a fake gun. So he puts this stuff in his trunk afterwards and goes to school the next day. While he's in class, search dogs find the gun in his trunk. School gets hysterical, suspends student for a week. For a fake gun he couldn't have shot if he wanted to, that was OBVIOUSLY only there because it was part of a Civil War re-enactment. Come on. Common sense. Use it. Don't be so paranoid. Paranoia doesn't help anything. And there shouldn't be dogs and guards doing random uninitiated searches in the first place.
That's about it. I realize it's very radical and I realize it will never happen, ever. But that's why I said 'in an ideal world'. Anyway, whether or not you agree with anything I said, I think we could all agree that education isn't getting the attention it needs.
1.Cut athletics spending by 50%. Schools complain about not getting enough money, but they're spending WAY WAY WAY too much of it on new football jerseys, hockey sticks, new gym floors etc, that they just plain don't need. I'm not saying athletics are bad, I'm just saying everything has a place and a time, and high school should be for getting educated, and unfortunately high schools are putting far too much importance on sports. It's also not good because it indirectly encourages sexual behavior. Come on, you don't think cheerleaders become cheerleaders because they're overflowing with school spirit, do you?
2.All text books and workbooks would be digitized into interactive files on computers, that could be read from and written to. There would no more hard copies anymore. Each school system could have a central server from which all text books and work groups used in their schools could be downloaded. This would lighten the load students have to carry on their back, save school systems exorbatant amounts of money from not having to pay what they would for hard copies, and it would enable students to do quick searches throughout entire textbooks for specific information with the click of a button. Also, it would make updating text books and workbooks much easier, and as such they would be updated more often, and students would never have to learn from ten-year-old text books anymore. This ties in with #3.
3.Schools would hand out a laptop computer to each student on the first day of school each year, and teachers would tell their classes which textbooks and workbooks to download. Students would be renting their laptop for the school year. All books, assignments, reports, etc would be read/done on the laptop. Yes, this would cost money. Let's say a laptop is $1000, and let's say there are 3000 students in a high school. That's $3,000,000 per high school. Now, before you have a heart attack, hear me out. In this ideal world, schools would only have to buy new laptops every five years, so that means only $600,000 would have to be paid per year. $600,000 divided by 3000 students comes to $200 per student. So I figure, each student's parents can pay $50, and a third-party corperate sponser can pay the other $150 per student in exchange for tax breaks, something like that. I believe that computers and the internet in particular, are literally the future of the world. I believe that using them needs to stop being an optional thing and start being a required thing. I believe that in the coming years, knowing how to operate a computer and use it efficiently and competently will be as essential as knowing how to operate a telephone. And I think being required to use them all year long would do a better job of accomplishing this than some tacked-on elective course in computing.
4.With the money saved from the athletics spending cut and the digitization of text books and workbooks, several things could be done. One, each school system could provide central heating and air conditioning to all its schools. No more having to have five box fans out in a classroom in may just to have a chance at being comfortable. Two, cafeterias and other facilities could be significantly enlarged. I have yet to see a high school cafeteria that is big enough. Also, the saved money from the athletics spending cut and the book digitization, that is money saved EVERY year, and it will compound and add up. This could enable teacher income to be raised, which could in exchange force school systems to be more selective about who they hire. That would result in teachers recieving more money for their job, and it would raise the quality of teaching in high schools. That means no more football coaches teaching world history, or other scenarios like that. Coaches shouldn't teach classes. I am against that practice. Students won't learn anything about Ancient Egypt if they're just listening to a coach who isn't really knowledgable on the subject read from a book. They'd be better of sleeping than getting that kind of education. This can apply to any subject.
5.Abolish study hall. Teachers complain about not having enough time to teach. So give them this extra hour every day, which would otherwise be wasted. A little homework never hurt anyone. And kids don't do homework in study hall anyway. Giving students an hour every day to throw crumpled pieces of paper at each other is utterly pointless.
6.Abolish major testing. I don't think students learn much from big midterm and final exams. All these exams do is cause stress, worry, and sometimes even resentment in students. They cram and cram and hope to hold it in their head until the test is over, and they end up learning nothing. I really think that if a smaller, 10-question test were given after every chapter/section, students would learn infinitely more than they would by having to study 15 chapters for two 50-100 monster exams each education period. Teachers don't like this because it means more papers to grade. Well, that's why I think these 10-question tests should be written and taken on the laptops. Computer software could grade multiple choice, true/false, and fill in the blank questions, while teachers could grade short answer and essay questions in typed word documents.
7.NO MORE IN-SCHOOL PEP RALLIES! Every few months there is a day when all classes are shortened so that all students may be crowded into a gym for a pep rally. For what? To watch cheerleaders jump up and down? To collectively wish their team good luck? What bearing on education does this have? None. Certainly not enough to warrant cutting class short and having it during the school day. Also, the indirect encouragement of sexual behavior via cheerleaders and football players all together, doesn't help students any. If this must be done, do it after school hours.
8.Any girl under the age of 18 that gets pregnant should be kicked out of school, as should the father of said baby since he too is responsible. 16 year olds shouldn't be having sex. This isn't a religious thing, I'm not religious. I don't care if you have sex before you're married, I'm cool with that. But teenagers shouldn't be doing it, not in high school. I think if it were in black and white that if you are under 18 and you get pregant, you are out, that the number of teenage pregnancies would at least be dented.
9.Both evolution AND creationism should be taught, and the kids should be able to make up their own mind about it. No more adults trying to impose one belief or another. And teaching niether is a disservice to students. Give them the respect of being able to make up their own mind.
10.School days should go from 10AM to 4PM instead of the typical 8AM-3PM. Students will be more alert at 10 than at 8, and their learning will be enhanced. Their free time won't be effecteed because they'll be able to stay up later due to the 10AM start time.
11.Schools should be required to use more common sense with issue of guns and knives and other weapons. An example to explain what I mean by this. I recently read about a high school student, who had taken part in a re-enactment of a Civil War battle. So he had an outfit that included a fake gun. So he puts this stuff in his trunk afterwards and goes to school the next day. While he's in class, search dogs find the gun in his trunk. School gets hysterical, suspends student for a week. For a fake gun he couldn't have shot if he wanted to, that was OBVIOUSLY only there because it was part of a Civil War re-enactment. Come on. Common sense. Use it. Don't be so paranoid. Paranoia doesn't help anything. And there shouldn't be dogs and guards doing random uninitiated searches in the first place.
That's about it. I realize it's very radical and I realize it will never happen, ever. But that's why I said 'in an ideal world'. Anyway, whether or not you agree with anything I said, I think we could all agree that education isn't getting the attention it needs.
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When I started gymnastics team as a freshman there were so many new people that we needed more competition leos (which are usually $50-$60) and warm-ups so we did a fundraiser. I actually made enough money and got some extra for myself!
