4 ms·

I don't know where you grew up but where I grew up it was different. I went to Catholic school during K-12 while the rest of my friends went to public school in

I don't know where you grew up but where I grew up it was different. I went to Catholic school during K-12 while the rest of my friends went to public school in Brooklyn and Queens, NY. The teacher to student ratio was far greater for public school students and many did not have good parents or parents that cared. Teachers that live in the cities with large populations get paid nothing and they will not go out of their way for their students, which is needed. I was in a similar situation as you. I had lousy teachers making a lot of money and I came away learning particularly nothing from them. The school itself had protected me from outside influence which allowed me to learn on my own. Most of my friends, which came from the now defunct Jackson H.S. in Queens, have become drug dealers, ended up in jail, died or never went to college. These are people of white, black, Asian and Indian descent. The only friend that made anything of himself went to Brooklyn Tech and is now a medical teacher at Harvard. Even he went to Catholic school with me in K-8. In the major cities, teachers are going to have to be pseudo-parents. This is not worth the effort for a salary of $35,000-45,000/year.

randomdata 15y ago
many did not have good parents or parents that cared. A great point and I imagine that plays a huge role on disabling people from learning how to learn at a young age. I was very fortunate to have parents who enabled me to explore and become passionate about learning, well before Kindergarten age. But does pushing those unfortunate kids through a system that only emphasizes the regurgitation of information do them any good? When the teacher is gone, they are on their own. Teach a man to fish and all that... Most of my friends, which came from the now defunct Jackson H.S. in Queens, have become drug dealers, ended up in jail, died or never went to college. Quite literally almost everyone whom I still keep in touch with from high school is now a teacher themselves. Being a teacher may be more respectable then a drug dealer for sure, but I'm not sure it shows a success of the system. What do we gain from producing a society of teachers? A strong economy requires people creating products of value. Education itself has no intrinsic value.

randomdata 15y ago

many did not have good parents or parents that cared. A great point and I imagine that plays a huge role on disabling people from learning how to learn at a young age. I was very fortunate to have parents who enabled me to explore and become passionate about learning, well before Kindergarten age. But does pushing those unfortunate kids through a system that only emphasizes the regurgitation of information do them any good? When the teacher is gone, they are on their own. Teach a man to fish and all that... Most of my friends, which came from the now defunct Jackson H.S. in Queens, have become drug dealers, ended up in jail, died or never went to college. Quite literally almost everyone whom I still keep in touch with from high school is now a teacher themselves. Being a teacher may be more respectable then a drug dealer for sure, but I'm not sure it shows a success of the system. What do we gain from producing a society of teachers? A strong economy requires people creating products of value. Education itself has no intrinsic value.