Young Americans today are badly served by their parents. From K-12 our educational systems have broken down and are a national disgrace. Over a period of time parents gradually have given up responsibility and control to the state. The "state" was not up to the job, and passed the responsibility to the "federal" government. The liberals in our midst told us that the federal government would devise a better system and better manage our schools. The nicest thing to say is that it didn't work.
The well intended "leave no child behind" concept, for example, has created a disaster in public schools K-12. It virtually eliminates competition in the classroom and the incentive for achievement. This concept is not the way to go - but that's where we are. In the grades kindergarten through high school it is clear that course work has been steadily "dumbed down". It is also clear that grades are commonly "inflated" to achieve advancement. School administrations are paid to increase enrollment rather than for scholastic achievement. This can't be right?
So . . . . Colleges and Universities have to devote their considerable assets to teaching "remedial" courses to qualify students for advanced upper level curriculums. Why are these prerequisite courses not required prior to admission in colleges and universities? This is getting to be a major reason for the skyrocketing costs of advanced education.
High School graduates with less than an average grade point average (GPA) probably should not be encouraged to go to a college or university, but government policies, social standards and parental pressure requires that every student do so. And in many cases the government provides student loans that make it possible. Now, for the first time ever, American students owe more in student loans than the entire country owes in credit card debt. This is not a good thing.
What do students really get for their money?
The well intended "leave no child behind" concept, for example, has created a disaster in public schools K-12. It virtually eliminates competition in the classroom and the incentive for achievement. This concept is not the way to go - but that's where we are. In the grades kindergarten through high school it is clear that course work has been steadily "dumbed down". It is also clear that grades are commonly "inflated" to achieve advancement. School administrations are paid to increase enrollment rather than for scholastic achievement. This can't be right?
So . . . . Colleges and Universities have to devote their considerable assets to teaching "remedial" courses to qualify students for advanced upper level curriculums. Why are these prerequisite courses not required prior to admission in colleges and universities? This is getting to be a major reason for the skyrocketing costs of advanced education.
High School graduates with less than an average grade point average (GPA) probably should not be encouraged to go to a college or university, but government policies, social standards and parental pressure requires that every student do so. And in many cases the government provides student loans that make it possible. Now, for the first time ever, American students owe more in student loans than the entire country owes in credit card debt. This is not a good thing.
What do students really get for their money?
More often than not they get a lifetime of servitude at a job that pays only the interest on their loans. These students become economically dysfunctional - trapped in jobs that barely pay their bills instead of working at meaningful jobs that help build the economy.
Isn't it time to:
- return competition to the classroom.
- insist on achievement standards to graduate.
- raise requirements for student loans.
- gradually eliminate 100% government college student funding.
Dixon
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