Posted on 01/22/2017 10:39:07 AM PST by Kaslin
If human nature weren’t as it is, I’d be perfectly content with tearing apart America’s educational system, root and branch, and starting over from scratch. Compulsory schooling? Gone! Federalized K-12 standards? Fini! Stafford Loans? Kaput!
But, given the fragility of such deep-seated things, I’m wont to hold back, arguing for cautious reform toward a more prudent position.
I guess that makes me a Burkean. Maybe a sucker. Perhaps both.
Anyhoo, a recent piece in the periodical National Affairs got me reconsidering why our education system is such a mess, and what it means for America’s future in the age of automated labor, eroded institutional authority, Chinese tiger moms, and vast economic anxiety.
In “The Fog of ‘College Readiness,’" Chester E. Finn, Jr., a former assistant U.S. secretary of education for research and improvement, gives a grim diagnosis of how well public schools prepare students for college. Spoiler alert: They don’t.
From the first day of kindergarten, children are told if they go through the rigor of schooling, pass the exams, get good grades, and impress all their instructors, they can matriculate to a university of their choice. Along the way, teachers, from first through twelfth grade, bolster the delusion by padding the path with grade inflation, coddling, inculcating an entitlement mentality, and outright gaming the system.
The fruits for such proactive college preparation? “[O]ur K-12 education system has never gotten more than one-third of young Americans to the ‘college-ready’ level by the end of the 12th grade,” Finn writes, deflating the great expectations of education enthusiasts.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
It all depends on what job or career goals people have, as to whether college is essential or worth it.
A degree in women’s studies, for example, has much less value in the job market, than a degree in accounting.
If you want to be a lawyer, you need college and then law school. Ditto for aspiring doctors who will need to go to medical school.
I’m sure there are many other examples. But if you look to college as a finishing school or just a way to be more well rounded , its not worth it to borrow tons of money to go.
On the other hand, college is worthwhile if your college education gives you education and credentials for jobs and career fields.
True, but look at some of the professors teaching people things like law - witness law school professor who wrote the article proclaiming the Electoral College to be unconstitutional. Utter lunacy - and he’s in charge of TEACHING people about the law.
You get training to be a better worker.
You get education to be a better person.
The problem is that our education system is filled with scared, lazy people.
Everyone could benefit from a college education.
If it’s done properly.
Yep there are liberal idiot professors aren’t there?
How can somebody say the electoral college is unconstitutional when the electoral college is defined in the constitution?? That dude clearly doesn’t understand the law. I wish he could be disbarred for malpractice.
A Masters Degree in Transgender Studies is not worth the cost of the paper it is printed on.
The world needs ditch-diggers, too.
Been saying this for years...had the same tagline for at least 10 years...
I encourage everyone to read Real Education Four Simple Truths to Bring America’s Schools Back to Reality by Charles Murray.
The problem isn’t too many people going to college.
The problem is colleges mismanaging their financial resources so badly that kids have to work up a debt load equal to 33% of all their future life earnings, just to attend.
I’m a heavy diesel technician at a large and successful company in the transportation industry. I went to a tech college to earn my credentials. It was worth every penny. In order to advance through different tech levels, you must study specific makes and models, and their systems and subsystems. Kenworth, International, Volvo, Freightliner, still cetera. Eventually, you can do some college and move into service advisor and service management roles. You get out of the diesel service industry what you put into it. If you’re a sh**bird, you remain a slabrat.
*et cetera
Its primary purpose is to employ people -- whether they educate anyone or not.
Going to a technical institute and learning HVAC, electrical, carpentry, masonry, etc. can be something that works for people, especially when construction and maintenance requires such skilled individuals.
Yes, and ditch diggers vote.
2 out of 3 kids in Swiss junior high go to tech school at 15. The Swiss are number 1 innovators in the world and their economy would be much stronger than Germany for the same population...
Probably $200k in student debt. Definitely not worth it.
An example of a college student that has his priorities straight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLxAzPgrH6k
I think the only reason the libs push college education for everyone is to finish off the global world agenda indoctrination that’s introduced in the public schools.
And we have colleges hosting sessions with legos, stuffed animals, coloring books, play doh, etc. to help the students cope with an election not going their way...these are grown adults being taught this by college administrators. If people like this are being awarded degrees, it diminishes the value of having a degree. I worked hard for my degrees and believe and know what I learned is valuable in having obtained it...but it sure doesn’t look like having those degrees is as much of an advantage or asset on a resume’ if those other folks also have them.
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