Nice. Mine would collect our homework assignment, show us what we were supposed to have done, then tell us to do the next chapter's problems for tomorrow's homework. That ain't actually teaching.

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There is no sig. There never was a sig. The sig is a lie.

Chan;

wonderful. do you apply this philosophy to other areas too ? if kids are raised believing in white supremacy, or islamic fundamentalism, or that it is neccessary to beat your wife into submission, should society do nothing about it ? perhaps we can "discard" the people that hold these views and try again with the next generation. or perhaps we can pursue society wide education that includes these people rather than writing them off as damaged goods.

you aren't. you are leaving it in the hands of teachers. i guess you will say the teachers are educated by government and paid agents of government so it is no different.

the government doesnt bother to give teachers books. the government doesnt bother to give teachers security or sufficient staff. do you really think they do bother to monitor everything they say in class to ensure they are following the white house agenda ?

if you are concerned about the quality of schools, why not increase their capacity and resources ? if you are concerned about "government indoctrination" what makes you think this is the agenda in the first place ?

Donkey Jote;

no, why should it be ? a crummy hospital is not an inherent fault with the concept of hospitals. a corrupt judge is not an inherent fault with the concept of the rule of law. a school has to operate with the resources they have. if you do not think it is good enough, better to boost their resources than condemn them for trying.

no, the concept of home schooling is safe. but the reality is that most parents do not have sufficient skills of their own to teach the next generation, nor are they naturally good educators. if the parents can, good on them, and the home schooling resources are available to help them out when they need it. for many home schooled kids, however, their education is not good. their parents lack the basics of many topics themselves, they have little idea of how to teach, do not know what kids are capable of learning and at what ages. home schooling is often used as a way of preventing their kids learning rather than education. keeping their children in the dark about subversive things, like evolution or other peoples religions.

home schooling works well with a small number of parents. in order to make it work for everyone, you would need a system to monitor standards, ensure variety and opportunity and exposure to different points of view, keep parents up to date and trained in the areas they are not competent, give access to social contact as well as academic contact. then again, that is what school is for.

alternatively, you can allow many parents to fail their kids and hope the pattern doesnt repeat itself. because, you know, human beings never repeat the same mistakes.

Other than the assault (beating one's wife into submission is assault), it's none of your damned business what parents are teaching their kids.

No. However, the marketplace will discard those who don't have the education and skills necessary for success in the marketplace.

No. Education is the responsibility of the parents.


Teachers in government indoctrination centers are the government.

Government is not just federal.

Why not let the marketplace improve quality through competition?

__________________
A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

In this case, part of the problem is not with the concept of schools but certainly with the way school is done. The one-size-fits-all, teacher lectures while students listen traditional methodology doesn't work very well.


Since education is the responsibility of the parents, it's none of your damned business what they teach or don't teach!

The marketplace would accomplish this on its own. Government needs to keep its nose out of it!

Eventually, the marketplace would correct this.

__________________
A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

Chan;

yes it is. i have to live with them, ride the bus with them, work along side them, employ them, be employed by them. kids grow into adults, with the attitudes they are taught as kids. it is in your interests that other peoples kids are taught well.

you will think i am pushing for indoctrination, that my personal beliefs and attitudes be instilled in every child. this is not my view, i think that damages children. but that is often the outcome of home schooling. school is a broader environment.

and what happens to those the market discards ? do they end up living on the street, begging and stealing because they do not have the skills to do anything else more productive ? this is your vision of success ?

parents do not (or should not) cease their responsibilities just because their kids go to school, sure. but if we are going to make it the parents responsibility, we have to know the parents are capable of carrying out that responsibility. often they are not capable of homeschooling.

so its teachers who run the country ? teachers who set their own salaries, who determine school budgets and standards of security and responsibility ? sounds like a paranoid conspiracy theory, teachers with their agenda of domination and submission of all to their will.

i never said it was. regardless which level of government has responsibility, they are not capable of interfering with an individual teachers class or directing what the teacher teaches. teachers are largely independent.

competition is not the issue. you could have a system where schools compete with each other, that might work. but competition between home schooling and school will fail a lot of kids. thats why we built schools in the first place !

Chan;

it does work for some students very well, and it works with some topics better than others. but school is not like this anyway, at least it shouldnt be. certainly the school my kids go to is not. but to make school broader and more educational takes resources and time to educate teachers, give them time with students, etc.

my fellow citizens are my business. not to indoctrinate, or control, or censor, but to ensure they have the things they need. that includes education and skills.

how ? by recognising that some kids have been educated appalingly, that they fail in numerous areas ? what will the response of employers be to that ? this destines a lot of people to poverty and failure because they will not, despite the best intentions of parents, have the skills to survive.