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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]One of my pet peeves is people always wondering why we can't have nice things like Europeans.  Many of those nice things happen because of higher tax rates because they have social democracies, not all out capitalism.

And as for Japan, maybe they are more capitalist, but they are having a huge demographic issue because people don't even want to have kids.

I agree that we need structural reform, but it does not come free.  You get what you pay for and we don't pay/tax/invest enough to make that happen.
[/quote]

There is an element here of making the perfect the enemy of the good, though.

We don't need to just fully adopt French or Japanese education systems. Yes, a really healthy, high-quality school lunch program is expensive to administer and the money must come from somewhere. Ok, maybe it is not feasible to serve our kids gourmet meals every day at school. I personally can accept that.

But there is no excuse for schools to be relying on hours of screen time, daily, for elementary school systems. No excuse. It is not more expensive to offer in-person, experiential instruction. It's just harder. It is easier to plan the kids in front of a YouTube video or hand them an iPad than it is to engage them with instruction.

And it doesn't cost anything to simply NOT give the kids candy and junk food all the time. It takes self-restraint and developing better ways to motivate the kids to participate and work hard.

I don't need gourmet French meals in school. My kid packs a lunch anyway because she's a picky eater and probably wouldn't eat the gourmet French meal. I just don't want school to be endless screen time and candy and junk food all the time. It is really not too much to ask and it would do a lot to help these kids grow up with healthy habits.

And sure, some parents are giving them screens and junk food at home. Of course this happens. But are you really telling me that since some bad parents do this crap, it's okay for schools to do it too? No. We have a collective duty to these children and we are failing them.[/quote]

+100 and not to mention all the $ spent on ed tech could be re-directed to reward teachers to things like teacher salaries, lunch program, and who knows what else. Buying $millions of crappy, low spec laptops is suchhhh a waste of money!![/quote]

It's all a boondoggle for the education consultants and app developers and such. It's just third party vendors wooing administrators with tech and products and wasting education dollars on crap that does not actually make school better at educating kids. It's a distraction from the actual things that make school better -- smaller classes, well qualified teachers, well-maintained buildings, family and community engagement.

Teacher don't want to learn a new smart board/tablet/reading app/testing software/whatever. They want time and tools to actually teach. You know, the thing they went to school and got a degree to do? They want bathrooms that function and buildings that are properly heated and cooled. Outdoor play spaces with enough shade and grass and safe equipment for the kids. Age-appropriate curriculum requirements. Student and school assessments that do not eat up all the class time or force teachers to teach to the test.

No teacher needs another screen in their classroom. They don't need a stack of iPads for the whole class, especially if that class is in elementary! All of this just lines the pockets of people who don't even work in the classroom. Throw it out.[/quote]

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