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Originally Posted by Kevin M
Re: home schooling. I support the option. I do not support the suggestion that anything more than a VERY small minority can produce successful graduates of such a program who go on to bigger and better things.
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What is interesting is that every decade the number of homeschoolers go up (doubled between 1990 and 2000), and so far all of the testing metrics show the students scoring much higher than average. OK, so we know that not EVERY household would be able to pull this off - but we have no idea where that percentage lies yet.
The point is, that a theoretical (unfounded) fear of wide(r)spread homeschooling is no basis for placing restrictions on it or to discriminate against it and its students (such as the Federal government attempts to do on a regular basis, hiding the language in education-related bills, and the typical cooperation level of the public education system on all levels).
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Originally Posted by Kevin M
I see the fundamental flaw in the education system as the insistence that everyone has to excel all the way through college. It's an unreasonable expectation.
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That's correct, people pass classes all the time who should be flunked - to make them work harder next time. For every person that truly works hard and still doesn't get the material (I almost never see this, the curriculum styles allow nearly anybody to "get it" in any non-technical subject), there are dozens if not hundreds of slackers that get pushed through. I am not kidding.
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Originally Posted by Kevin M
There should be space made for kids who can't even stand being in high school to go to a tech school, and essentially get an Associate's in HVAC installation or Welding or whatever up front. It's the opportunity to get as educated as one wants that should be vigorously upheld, not trying to push everyone into actually doing it.
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The ability to learn for all but the truly disabled comes down to how much you want to put into it. If you don't want to learn anything in High School, then you probably aren't going to want to listen to the lectures on welding exotic alloys or checking all run-out points on a piece of machinery. Basic technical education is called the WORKPLACE for these types, and it teaches much faster than a classroom will. Again, anybody in the workforce can choose to go through community college if that is what they desire - at $6/hr in the 90's, I somehow made it happen.
I also am convinced that public High School performance does not dictate ability, as mass public education has become more of a social exercise and babysitting service than preparing kids for real life. People perform at their best in various environments, and unfortunately High School replicates almost nothing in real life.