Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - public education -- are we throwing money away?

sexymama · 09-18-2003, 04:13 PM

Every single one of you that have posted on this or any other site should first stop and thank a teacher. It is teachers that took the time to help you learn to read and write. It is a teacher that helped you develop your communication skill so you can "get along" in this society. Teachers, underpaid and underappreciated, are the people that give of themselves in order to educate future doctors, lawyers, and yes, even computer geeks.

Let me share with you a little of what today's teachers face in comparison to teachers less than 100 years ago. In the 1920s less then 50% of the adults in the U.S. graduated from high school. If a kid didn't like school, was too active, or just had a difficult time learning, s/he dropped out. In the 1950s through 70s, less than 25% of high school graduates attended higher education institutes. These were the students that took the standardized test to which we now compare test scores. In the 21st century college is no longer an option. In order to make a living wage, most citizens must go to college. Therefore, more than 80% of todays students (including those who would have dropped out in the 20s or chosen manual labor at a decent wage in the 50s-70s) take standarized college entrance exams. These are the test scores that are compared to those taken 40 years ago. Education data is weak and is like comparing apples to oranges.

When data is disaggregated, the results of public education are astonishing! Every minority group has had an increase in test scores in the last 40 years. The drop out rate has fallen substantially, more people then ever in our history are graduating from high school, and more citizens are attending college.

To say that our education system is failing is to not take an honest look at the tremendous results.

09-18-2003, 04:13 PM	#23 (permalink)
sexymama My own person -- his by choice Location: Lebell's arms	Every single one of you that have posted on this or any other site should first stop and thank a teacher. It is teachers that took the time to help you learn to read and write. It is a teacher that helped you develop your communication skill so you can "get along" in this society. Teachers, underpaid and underappreciated, are the people that give of themselves in order to educate future doctors, lawyers, and yes, even computer geeks. Let me share with you a little of what today's teachers face in comparison to teachers less than 100 years ago. In the 1920s less then 50% of the adults in the U.S. graduated from high school. If a kid didn't like school, was too active, or just had a difficult time learning, s/he dropped out. In the 1950s through 70s, less than 25% of high school graduates attended higher education institutes. These were the students that took the standardized test to which we now compare test scores. In the 21st century college is no longer an option. In order to make a living wage, most citizens must go to college. Therefore, more than 80% of todays students (including those who would have dropped out in the 20s or chosen manual labor at a decent wage in the 50s-70s) take standarized college entrance exams. These are the test scores that are compared to those taken 40 years ago. Education data is weak and is like comparing apples to oranges. When data is disaggregated, the results of public education are astonishing! Every minority group has had an increase in test scores in the last 40 years. The drop out rate has fallen substantially, more people then ever in our history are graduating from high school, and more citizens are attending college. To say that our education system is failing is to not take an honest look at the tremendous results. __________________ If you can go deeply into lovemaking, the ego disappears. That is the beauty of lovemaking, that it is another source of a glimpse of god It's not about being perfect; it's about developing some skill at managing imperfection.