You can chalk it up to age if you want, but that really isn’t the case until you reach 75 or 80.

Technology is great, but it stops us from using our brains. I noticed that someone misspelled practice. That is horrible, but we have got so used to using Microsoft Word that we cannot spell anymore. Tech is a double-edged sword.

I also like what William had to say. I also believe that the way we define “literacy” or “literate” definitely needs to be evaluated. What are the actual “core fundamentals” of knowledge that are needed now?

About technology, it is a tool for learning. I use it for personal studies and other things that can fuel the learning process. Anytime someone asks me how I know something, I tell them I looked it up. It’s as simple as using the technology correctly! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure these things out, as we may not have any left in the future. If you watch the movie Idiocracy, there is alot of truth in those situations. All of these white trash families with an adaptability rating of nil are going NOWHERE and they have the most kids. It’s going to be a very stupid future ahead and with the shape the US is in, in opposition to other world powers, we’re screwed on a grand scale.

Firstly, school programs don’t enforce learning enough. Parents complain and nothing gets done because the students don’t want to learn and nobody is making them. I see this all the time in Highschool and it makes me sick that someone who has a basic understanding of anything is considered to be a genius.

We’re on a very steep slope downward and I am sure that you all have come up with the same conclusions I have, but I had to put in my 2 cents as a student in the current public school system. I am telling you now, teachers don’t care. Students don’t care, politicians barely care, and nothing is getting done.

The kids don’t know where is Greece on the map, but they are able to find any information about it online, including an exact location + satellite view.

Who is the dumb kid now? :)

And the only way we will eliminate an elitist educational system is to demand change.

Teachers have been taking the blame for school failures for too long. But, to say that national change will only occur community-by-community is not only unrealistic, it is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.

If I live in an exclusive area (which I have) and attend an expensive private school (which I did) that MAY allow me to be well-educated (or have access to better drugs) but it does NOT stop the uneducated, violent and angry drop-out from across the city or country from entering my safe little haven and violating my “serene existence”.

One way or another, we will pay if we do not improve education nationally. Either we will be forced to build more jails, more security systems and higher walls, or we will forfeit our actual lives.

The time is coming when the ‘have nots’ will range farther and farther afield to scavenge or take by force from the ‘haves’.

I’m old enough to have seen the spread of crime from major urban areas into bedroom communities, then into tiny rural areas. There are no more ‘safe enclaves’, and we can blame the growth of ignorance.

I do agree, most gifted children come from parents that are not gifted; however, it’s unfair for you as a parent who did not like attending school to expect your child not be the same. Learners that are gifted are a small part of the system, and to be really honest the majority of gifted children today aren’t even gifted. I am a teacher, and I see many parents push and push until their child is placed in the program. One of my peers teaches a gifted class, and only one of the students out of thirty are truly gifted. To be gifted, a student must be exceptionally bright and be creative in music or art (but not both). If they are very bright, but lack creativity, they are not gifted. Parents can’t get past that point, not every child is going to Harvard. It’s that creative component that makes the child gifted.

Back to the point, if you want the schools to change then take an active role in the community. We cannot change the system, because education is not one system. You have to attack it at the local level, which is where control comes from in the first place. If you don’t like that we teach to the test, which is connected to our funding, talk to the politicians that you voted into office. I think it’s unfair to blame the education system for the problems with education. Education begins at home, with a focus from the parents and the neighbourhood you live in.

I pay every month for my child to attend a private school. My daughter is in 4th grade, and students are already discussing which private high schools they want to attend. She realizes that her grades have to be exceptional and her tests scores must be at the 90 Percentile for her to go to the best high school. So, she studies hard, even this morning she was reading before school. You cannot expect this in a public school, because it is public. You want an exceptional eduction, where students learn to fight for an education, then try private school. Public schools cannot discriminate, which is what happens when we create an elite that run the nation. This has been the rule for over 200 years now, and I doubt it’s going to change anytime soon. So, join the club and do anything you can to have your children educated in the best system, even if it means moving into an apartment the size of a matchbox.

There is abundant evidence that our top students are not being sufficiently prepared to compete in a global environment. I have numerous articles and studies I could refer to, but I will simply include a link to two. Both of these articles, and the numerous studies done, show that we are shortchanging our very best students.

Two things that are even more sad, are:

1) That we delude ourselves that some schools are actually GOOD. (Thus the proponents of vouchers say to move a few children around.)

2) Even worse than the fact that we are giving our best students inadequate preparation for life – we are also LOSING 28% to 50% to 75% (depending on the area) of our students as drop-outs.

It is time for a COMPLETE REFORM of our education programs in USA public schools.

It can be done! Read “Set Our Teachers FREE! A Plan to Save Public Education” by Don Kingsland, or learn about The Kingsland Plan which is spelled out in the book.

Don’t take my word for what I have claimed. Please read the two articles mentioned here. And remember, these are just two of the hundreds.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/05/AR2007100501670.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/10/07/DI2007100700552.html

Yes! It’s true! USA schools were ranked 24th around the globe, when we sent our best and brightest. The only countries that ranked lower were Cypress and South Africa. This year, the USA is not even competing! Hmmmm!

Check out our blog: http:setourteachersfree.com

or our website:
http://www.thekingslandplan.com

This issue is CRITICAL to the future of our country.

Brennan