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The value of education and the Department of Education
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Anonymous
We are also told that US college graduates are unqualified. Must hire from other countries. |
Anonymous
So dumb. |
Anonymous
You want to get rid of the Dept of Ed so kids in the South can be even dumber? |
Anonymous
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As a teacher, IMO, most US citizens don't understand what the Dept of Edu even does.
The DoEd doesn't set the curriculum, or what is taught in schools. It doesn't develop curriculum or have mandates on what must be taught in schools. It doesn't set any graduation requirements or promotion requirements. The curriculum, rules for graduation and promotion, and mandates on what must be taught are all set at the state and local county levels. The state makes recommendations, and your local county Boards of Education adapt the curriculum and set the standards. If you don't like what is being taught to your kids, it's not the DoEd's fault. It's because that's what your local BOE voted for. It's what the local BOE thinks needs to be taught to improve learning and test scores. The DoEd tracks data. They track all the state testing data through NAEP and publish it so that states, policy makers, and curriculum developers have it available to determine what needs to be adjusted and taught at the local level. -The DoEd also provides grants and funding for special education programs like IDEA. -The DoEd provides funding and grants for Title I schools, those who serve kids in lower-income areas. -The DoEd is who is responsible for compiling all the data on scholarships and grants that graduating HS students can apply for to attend college and technical training programs. -The DoEd maintains FAFSA and administers grants, loans, and work-study funds to college students. -Most importantly, the DoEd enforces educational laws like Title IX, student Civil Rights/Civil Rights Act, IDEA, FERPA, etc. Education is the US is failing because parents and adults are failing the kids. There's too much early emphasis on technology-based learning in elementary school. Things need to revert back to when I first started teaching 20 years ago where computers weren't introduced until 4th grade. Kids looked forward to the 4th grade because that's when each class was allowed to visit the computer lab once per week. Kids in 5th grade classes were allowed to visit twice per week. Fourth graders received the most basic intros to computers and were then allowed to play educational games. Fifth graders received more in-depth computer instruction and then played educational games as well. It was setting them up for sixth grade when all students in my county had to take Keyboarding 1, 7th graders took Advanced Keyboarding & Computers, and 8th graders took Intro to Coding. Sure, elementary school kids are proficient with computers, but they don't KNOW computers. They don't know what RAM or motherboards are and they don't know how or why Chromebooks and Macs are different. They don't know how to type. They don't even teach keyboarding anymore in my county. Most graduating high school seniors cannot even type properly. They can fly with their thumbs if tasked with writing an essay on their phones, but they peck & poke on keyboards. Young kids should be reading physical books not eBooks. Young kids should be learning to write with pencils not Apple Pencils or electronic pencils. Kids should be flipping textbook pages not eText pages. They should be learning how to take notes, not highlighting on the screen. |
Anonymous
This. And I’m a teacher. The public continues to insist we should be churning out high achieving students when some of them are coming to school hungry or abused. What then? We’re not miracle workers. |
Anonymous
Yep, the well is dry here. "You can drive your chevy to levy but the levy is dry." There may be a value to education but the value in the Department of Education is nill. When ten out of ten University administrators want more H-1B postdocs, we've got a problem. I'm not funding that. They can go and get themselves some money from China to fund their research. |
Anonymous
Exactly some sort of warehousing is all we need, save money on teacher salaries while we're at it. Change child labor laws. Most people with ed degrees would be better utilized turning tiny screwdrivers. |
Anonymous
Agree. |
Anonymous
The humanitarian / social services should be handled outside DoEd ans schools. States and school districts need to focus on education, which is challenging enough. |
Anonymous
They never made any kid smarter. They did make teacher unions richer. |
Anonymous
A lot of the problems we have are not due to money or even the curriculum or the methods used to teach. All of the social and economic problems that our children face land directly on top of the public schools. |
Anonymous
Every state doesn’t have a teachers union. That isn’t the answer to the problem. |
Anonymous
Only Democrats believe we should be forced to enrich teacher unions. |
Anonymous
Don't forget the "experts" who do not let the teachers teach. And, especially, don't forget the teachers' unions who lobbied to keep schools closed during the pandemic. Have a disruptive child throwing a tantrum? The teacher cannot send the child out of the room, but must, instead, remove the other children so that the child has space and cannot hurt others. No punishment for children. Once upon a time, I taught school. Two minutes standing against the fence or by the teacher while the rest of the children were playing can do a lot. But, now you cannot keep a child from recess. (I believe all kids need recess, but a teacher also needs some tools.) Now, we have "restorative justice." The child has to write down what he did wrong and what he will do better. Some kids do this every day. |
Anonymous
+1,000,000 You made the world a better place by educating children, and no doubt their parents as well. Many thanks for sharing your wisdom here. |