How do you fix public schools in the US?

[tiffy33]

I have never stepped foot into a public highschool but I have friends who are teachers and of course you are always reading about how crappy they are. I was fortunate enough to go off to boarding school starting in the 8th grade. The classes were smaller and I think my largest class had 20 students in it. Teachers actually cared about the students. Also because they lived on campus it was easy to go see them and they were always there to hear a problem even if it was 3am. There were many activities such as ski trips in the winter, club activities on the weekends, and mandatory spots in fall, winter, and spring to ensure we dont become lazy fat asses. The meals were sit down family style with actual chefs cooking each meal. Also even though the school had kids from not only different parts of the US but also from all over the world somehow everyone managed to get along and fights were very very rare. There were no cliques. The students respected each other and it wasnt uncommon to see Blacks, Whites, Asians, and Hispanics all hanging out together and having fun. Finally the best thing was of course there were no retarded bullshit problems public schools seem to have like people getting pregnant, doing drugs, or even shooting each other.

I understand that 99% of the population probably cant afford a $40,000 a year tuition for boarding school. So the only obvious solution is to make public schools better. So how can this be accomplished? Or is it even possible? The government keeps throwing money at public schools but it doesnt seem to be doing any good. So obviously the problem seems less money related and more about the students. So is the only solution to just remove the problem students who just dont give a shit? That way you only have kids there who want to learn so average scores will go up. Also with all the thug trash gone crime goes down. I mean why waste time and money trying to help kids who dont want to be helped? Isnt that money better off being spent on focusing on those students who do want to learn?

Finally are our public schools really that bad from an outside perspective? I mean do public schools in Europe or Japan or Korea or China have the same problems?

[Rukentuts]

The teachers aren't as crappy as much as the students are. Success begins at home.

[tiffy33]

The teachers aren't as crappy as much as the students are.

yea I have a few friends who teach and it amazes me how much work they put into it. They spend most of the summer going to seminars and coming up with lesson plans for the fall. But what good is all that when you have students who dont care?

[breadisfunny]

yea I have a few friends who teach and it amazes me how much work they put into it. They spend most of the summer going to seminars and coming up with lesson plans for the fall. But what good is all that when you have students who dont care?

and more importantly special parents who think their special child is perfect who refuse to push their child to get better at life and instead whine and threaten to sue over every little thing.

[Alvito]

The teachers aren't as crappy as much as the students are. Success begins at home.

The type of people that go to different schools certainly effects the atmosphere. There are far too many parents that use school as their fix all one stop shop for knowledge on everything. If you think your child will learn all they need to know from a 24 year old making 25,000 a year then don't be surprised by the outcome.

[Naxere]

The teachers aren't as crappy as much as the students are. Success begins at home.

And how do you fix that? The number of single parent households has more than tripled since the '60s.

[steale]

This thread won't make it past the first page before it devolves into a discussion slamming inner city school districts.

OT: No problem with public schools in my area (Northern Virginia right outside DC). But then, I'm surrounded by 4 of the top 10 richest counties in America, so there's that.

[Lyllian]

So are public schools in the US as bad as state run schools, because in the UK public schools are privately run, fee charging establishments with a long and successful history, notably frequented by the upper classes. Examples would be Eton, Rugby and Warwick schools.

[Gsara]

It all starts at home. Parents overall need to pay better attention to what is going on and actually be parents, not a credit card to keep the kids quiet.

I also think better pay for teachers, good ones, should be a priority so we can actually get more people interested in teaching.

[Masark]

So are public schools in the US as bad as state run schools, because in the UK public schools are privately run, fee charging establishments with a long and successful history, notably frequented by the upper classes. Examples would be Eton, Rugby and Warwick schools.

Public schools in the USA are the state run schools.

What you call a "public school" is called a "private school" in the USA.

[Rukentuts]

I also think better pay for teachers, good ones, should be a priority so we can actually get more people interested in teaching.

You know people always like to say teachers are just glorified babysitters, imagine if they were actually paid like one.

[Gsara]

So are public schools in the US as bad as state run schools, because in the UK public schools are privately run, fee charging establishments with a long and successful history, notably frequented by the upper classes. Examples would be Eton, Rugby and Warwick schools.

Yes public schools are ran by the state and fed. Private schools are tuition like Uni.

[breadisfunny]

You know people always like to say teachers are just glorified babysitters, imagine if they were actually paid like one.

arent they already? i mean what with their meager salaries and all.

[Rukentuts]

arent they already? i mean what with their meager salaries and all.

Imagine something like $4-5 an hour, now imagine that per kid.

[Templar 331]

Separating the ones that don't want to learn from the ones that do is a good idea. But you still end up with problem children that grow up into problem adults. And it isn't always the child's fault. Sometimes parents are shitty and don't help in anyway. And then there's the parents who can't help even if they want to. If you have both parents working just to feed the children, it makes for a poor home experience. And looking at how much of the U.S. is at or around the poverty line, that can make for a lot of problems. In order to fix that we would have to raise the minimum wage.

Another problem is school funding. Hiring more teachers and building more schools would help reduce strain on schools now to properly teach students. But we can't have that because of all the "Taxed Enough Already!" people.........

[Masark]

arent they already? i mean what with their meager salaries and all.

No. If they were paid like babysitters, they'd make loads more.

$7.25 (federal minimum wage) times 24 students (average class size) times 950 instructional hours per year (that's the standard here, so I presume your's is similar) comes to $165,300/year.

[Tastyfish]

Worst thing for teachers? Summer vacation. Having to opt for pay over 12 months or not or however it works. Imagine having to cut your pay so you have money coming in during a mandatory stoppage of your occupation. lol

And the kids who are crazy, and the parents of crazy kids who don't think their kids are crazy ( it's not HIS fault he attacked that girl with a pen, you shouldn't of turned your back to write on teh chalk board, someone needs to fire you NOW) lol

[Kathandira]

arent they already? i mean what with their meager salaries and all.

Not in my area. Sure as a new teacher, you make something close to $25k, but you get annual raises and pretty awesome benefits packages. And the oh so lovely pension. Oh! and pay out for any sick days you did not take.

If you have tenure at a school in NJ, you will be making over $50k a year.

[Tastyfish]

Not in my area. Sure as a new teacher, you make something close to $25k, but you get annual raises and pretty awesome benefits packages. And the oh so lovely pension. Oh! and pay out for any sick days you did not take.

... you know in our state the pension thing totally changed, and what is there has been robbed by Christie too? LOL
A 60 year old on a pension now from teaching, has a totally diff situation then a 30 yearold currently in the job when they retire.

[Gheld]

Use technology to change the philosophy of education to a more student-centric system which expresses and challenges children's natural drive to learn, as opposed to turning them off of learning by forcing them to stew around in awkward social situations for 8 hours a day in order to earn a pre-defined certificate of validation(and then wondering why they all just become wage slaves instead of entrepreneurs).