OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Sitting down?

1/2 to 1/3 of the 3rd graders in the state of Indiana cannot read well enough to be passed on to the 4th grade. What solutions do the brilliant PHD's running the Indiana school systems propose?
#1. Pass them anyway, it hurts their self esteem to flunk, and statistics show a much greater percentage of kids who fail a grade do not graduate from high school.
#2. More money for preschools.
#3. More money for better teacher training.

Lets address their solutions one by one:
#1. What GOOD is a high school diploma if the graduate cannot read, write, spell, knows nothing about US history or geography, let alone world history and geography?
That diploma tells a prospective employer NOTHING about the candidates ABILITY to do the required job.
#2. We are already pumping a trillion $ a year into government funded preschool programs. Apparently they are not doing a very good job. (Gee, that's a surprise)
#3. Maybe we should ask what's wrong with our teaching colleges that their graduates don't have a clue how to teach???

And just maybe, we should abandon the new methods of teaching reading that were authored by said brilliant PHD's (With absolutely no COMMON SENSE) and go back to PHONICS, which actually works.

I am about to tell you the two TRUE root causes of 90% of the problems in our school systems. With all the reading, watching, listening I've done over the years, I have NEVER seen a TV pundit, columnist, or talk show host or especially politician, admit this.
#1. LACK OF GOOD PARENTING

The job of a parent is not to be your child's best friend. THE JOB OF A PARENT IS TO RAISE YOUR CHILDREN IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY CAN FUNCTION SUCCESSFULLY IN SOCIETY by the time they become adults. Included in that definition is having respect for others, respect for the law, self reliance, self discipline, morals, ethics, and accepting responsibility for their own actions. (Hint: the Bible is a great teaching guide) Lack of discipline in the schools is just a mirror of lack of discipline at home.
Today's parents are not spending any time teaching their children anything. They don't even teach them to eat properly, hence the epidemic of childhood diabetes and obesity. They leave it to the TV set, video games, and the schools.

#2. CURRICULA DESIGNED BY ABOVE MENTIONED PHD'S

Ever try to figure something out with the "new math"? It's insane.
Tried to teach your child to read using the "new method"? Again, stupid! See above results of this. What we need to do is throw out every textbook except Science printed in the last 25 years and go back to the old books, WHICH WORKED!!!
AND quite spending valuable class time teaching 5th graders how to put a condom on, how to practice homosexuality, and that the world owes them a living because they happened to be born.

I hate to keep harping at ya'll, but we can gripe to each other about all these insanities till the cows come home and nothing will change. We've got to get off the couch and let our government representatives know how we feel.

Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead,
Dumb Farmer