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Shouldn't parents, regardless of political affiliation, have the ability to decide what's appropriate for their own kids?

toss1 5y ago
In general (i.e., with certain exceptions), I'd say NO. Especially in STEM areas. This would be taking control form specifically educated and vetted professionals and giving it to a group who are as a whole opinionated and uneducated as to how to transfer knowledge. Worse yet, the most opinionated, who are strongly correlated with the worst educated or most intellectually malevolent, are the ones who would wind up in control, regardless of the left/right wing bias. Especially when it gets politicized, it would not be long before control by the parents with veto power for any parent in the district, would result in it being literally worse to have school than to disband it and abandon schools altogether.
- zozbot234 5y ago
  > specifically educated and vetted professionals Come on, degrees in Education are a dime a dozen. They do not give you a specific education in the subjects you will be expected to teach, unlike an actual subject-specific major. How that can be called "professional" is beyond me.
  - toss1 5y ago
    I agree that a lot of it is very lame compared to other professions. Nevertheless, it is VERY far above the uninformed and often willfully ignorant rantings of parents, and there is some serious academic and real-world work done to improve teaching & curriculum. While parental input should certainly be considered, as a whole, parents haven't got even the first clue of what is needed for a sound education suitable for a highly complex society. Their expressed preferences are to shut down things they don't like, ignoring all consequences. And those shut-it-down impulses come from all sides. To reduce schooling to the lowest & loudest common denominator of parental preferences would be a disaster on the scale of societal collapse. We have the most complex society ever in the history of at least the solar system - and it is barely runnable as things are. The only way out of this will be to maximize the intellectual capabilities and scope of every generation. Increasing qualifications and especially requiring education in your teaching subject? Absolutely. But substituting a push for that with turning it into a "Parent's Choice Greatest Hits"? Nope, it'd likely be better to just shut it down.
  - manuelabeledo 5y ago
    > They do not give you a specific education in the subjects you will be expected to teach Is this something US specific? I recall that in many countries in Europe, to be certified as a high school teacher, one has to have a degree related to the area of teaching, plus a master's degree in teaching.

toss1 5y ago

In general (i.e., with certain exceptions), I'd say NO. Especially in STEM areas. This would be taking control form specifically educated and vetted professionals and giving it to a group who are as a whole opinionated and uneducated as to how to transfer knowledge. Worse yet, the most opinionated, who are strongly correlated with the worst educated or most intellectually malevolent, are the ones who would wind up in control, regardless of the left/right wing bias. Especially when it gets politicized, it would not be long before control by the parents with veto power for any parent in the district, would result in it being literally worse to have school than to disband it and abandon schools altogether.

zozbot234 5y ago
> specifically educated and vetted professionals Come on, degrees in Education are a dime a dozen. They do not give you a specific education in the subjects you will be expected to teach, unlike an actual subject-specific major. How that can be called "professional" is beyond me.
- toss1 5y ago
  I agree that a lot of it is very lame compared to other professions. Nevertheless, it is VERY far above the uninformed and often willfully ignorant rantings of parents, and there is some serious academic and real-world work done to improve teaching & curriculum. While parental input should certainly be considered, as a whole, parents haven't got even the first clue of what is needed for a sound education suitable for a highly complex society. Their expressed preferences are to shut down things they don't like, ignoring all consequences. And those shut-it-down impulses come from all sides. To reduce schooling to the lowest & loudest common denominator of parental preferences would be a disaster on the scale of societal collapse. We have the most complex society ever in the history of at least the solar system - and it is barely runnable as things are. The only way out of this will be to maximize the intellectual capabilities and scope of every generation. Increasing qualifications and especially requiring education in your teaching subject? Absolutely. But substituting a push for that with turning it into a "Parent's Choice Greatest Hits"? Nope, it'd likely be better to just shut it down.
- manuelabeledo 5y ago
  > They do not give you a specific education in the subjects you will be expected to teach Is this something US specific? I recall that in many countries in Europe, to be certified as a high school teacher, one has to have a degree related to the area of teaching, plus a master's degree in teaching.