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What did the NYT expect? When you gut the public school system (Florida is just a mess) of funds what did everyone think was gonna happen? In Florida, the most
by crag 15y ago
What did the NYT expect? When you gut the public school system (Florida is just a mess) of funds what did everyone think was gonna happen?
In Florida, the most important thing to teachers (and the school boards) is students passing the FCAT (state wide tests). The more in your district who pass the more funds you protect. It's no longer about teaching kids a good education. It's a ridiculous reward system to protect your job.
Most public schools have cut out "unnecessary" courses like; music, band, art, history (except American history - only teach what is needed to pass. You looking for an in-depth discussion of the civil war? Not gonna happen), advanced math (hell even basic math in some schools), the sciences, drama, english lit, etc, etc.
It's shameful down here. And I think it's a major factor in our "class divide".
You want your kids to get a good education, you send them to private school. If you can afford it.
- DilipJ 15y agoYou don't need to spend a lot for kids to learn the basics. Public school budgets in the US need to be gutted, they are way too bloated as it is. The issue today is that the federal government in the US has made it a priority that every kid go to college, including the ones in the lower half of the bell curve. That's a recipe for diluting the value of a college degree, which historically only the top quartile of students would receive.
- anamax 15y ago> It's no longer about teaching kids a good education. Do you really think that the system worked before statewide tests? The tests aren't perfect, but "the kids can pass the test" is a huge improvement over before. If you've got a better way, great, but if it doesn't have an objective way to verify performance, we already know that it will work out very badly.