Thread: Bin Laden Dead
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Re: Bin Laden Dead
Old 05-03-2011, 07:57 PM   #42
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Default Re: Bin Laden Dead

Quote:
Originally Posted by Teuthida View Post
^ Is that system for how money is distributed still in place?
No child left behind changed it a bit, but yes, its generally how it works. I know if Philadelphia the highest dollar amount per child is spent in the worst districts.

Quote:
Which also goes back to your earlier point about money not being an issue. In many countries there are state-funded free colleges. That makes a huuuuuge difference. Both my parents were from working class families and the only way my mother was able to go to college was because NYC's were free at the time (which isn't the case now). (My father's college was paid for by the Air Force.)

There's also the poor salary of teachers, or rather they go where the pay is better. For example I know one can make more teaching on Long Island than here in the city.

You might find this interesting. I went to this middle school which I only just learned was founded as a court-ordered experiment in racial integration.

And there's that whole deal with Texas dictating what goes into the country's text books which is messed up on a number of levels (and was discussed in an earlier thread). We can go into the Christian right hijacking science as well, so even a child who wants to learn might be getting the wrong information.

There are a ton of other factors too which could easily be improved (and would of course require more money), such as longer school days, or shorter vacations (kids forget so much over the summer break). There was an article about some Korean school in the NYTimes maybe a year or two ago. They spent about 12 hours at school 6 days a week. Now that's what I'm talking about.
Keep in mind, there is no such thing as "free" college, "free" healthcare, etc. Someone pays for it, and usually there is massive waste and debt involved. This is why New York no longer pays for college and part of the reason why California is in financial crisis. "Free" = unsustainable.

Most of what you describe is the result one the fatal flaw in the public school system: There is no choice. If you live in a certain district, your children go to a certain school. If you want options, you have to pay above what you are already paying in school taxes. More often you have to move to get out of them, and in the most poor areas (the areas that need choice the most) this is not a real possibility. The reality of no school choice affects the economy as well. A bad school poisons the real estate market around it, which poisons the businesses in the community, etc.

There is not a problem with the system. The system is the problem.
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