"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in
:


"Han" wrote
The answer is not throw money at it. I realize you're not supporting
that notion. The answer is more parent involvement and some way to
encourage the kids to learn. Of course the current economy doesn't
really encourage learning much, but somehow the alternative of going
on the dole needs to be discouraged for those who can work/learn. Of
course also, teachers need to transfer enthousiasm to the kids, and
those who do that need to be rewarded, not fired.

I have a theory and I'm blaming some of my generation for the
problems. I was in high school in the early 60's. There was an
unpopular war going on at the time and a lot of kids did not want to
go. They went on to college and got deferments. They went on to
teaching and got more deferments. Now you have a lot of draft
dodging teachers coming into the school system diluting the good
teachers of the past. Over time, some of them went on to become
school administrators. That hurt the system even more.

Sadly, a portion of my generation did not do such a great job of
raising children. They just want to be "free spirits" and allow the
kids to be the same, as long as we don't hurt their self esteem.

I went off to college in 1963. Because that was always the plan.
Holland had a compulsory draft system at the time that a very large
majority of people of all ages didn't care for, but it was considered a
necessary evil. It has now already for a long time been replaced by an
all volunteer military. My draft "evasion" consisted of accepting
graduate work abroad. I consider myself a not so bad parent, although I
am, in contrast to my daughter and son-in-law, not a high school teacher.

While there may be potheads and slackers who just sponge of the system
among the teachers, I wouldn't blame draft evaders. Parts of the US
educational system stink, but why that is so is probably not easy to
define.

--
Best regards
Han
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