Stossel: Are American Kids Stupid?

NewsMax ^ | 1/7/06 | NewsMax

[wagglebee]

Perhaps if schools focused on teaching rather than leftist indoctrination this would be different. Better yet, get the federal government out of the education business altogether.

[DoughtyOne]

I agree on both points. DO IT TODAY!

[Almondjoy]

Wow.. a free market system.. I'm suprised this even made it on the air on ABC.

[Third Order]

Don't ignore the culture at home. If the parents value education, the kids are more likely to do well.

[Gordongekko909]

Ahem.

[grania]

Add to your list DISCIPLINE. Kids are natural learners, if the environment is conducive to it. And, discipline would actually save money.

I've reached the point where sometimes I wonder if the government-controlled education doesn't strive to identify a small percentage of excellent students, and let the rest learn just enough to be good, un-questioning, dependent worker-bees.

[satchmodog9]

If the parents are vapid, pop culture loving sub-morons, the children are doomed.

[darkangel82]

That's what socialism does to you.

[Third Order]

Doesn't help when the parents don't speak English either. Kinda hard for the small kids to practice reading when their parents can't help.

[bmwcyle]

It is not just the kids. I teach adults on computer systems. We get side tracked on other topics. They adults do not understand current events or history to save their lives.

[staytrue]

you can’t fire him

I had a teacher in high school who was insane from day one. They never did fire her. 1 year after I graduated, she checked into the nut house.

[Beowulf]

American kids are not growing stupid. Their public educational system is failing.

[freedumb2003]

"I think it has to be something with the school, 'cause I don't think we're stupider ..."

Deliberate irony?

[Squawk 8888]

I'm suprised this even made it on the air on ABC

I'm not. Stossel has been a fixture there for at least a decade.

[MarkL]

The Kansas City, MO school district lost its accreditation in 1999, and to the best of my knowledge, the district still hasn't met the standards to be completely acreddited by the state.

This means that no college in the country has to accept a highschool graduate from the KCMO school district. The "best part" of this is the fact that more money has been spent in the KCMO school district, due to a desegregation lawsuit 25 or so years ago, than any other school district in the country (to the best of my knowledge). The federal courts have ordered BILLIONS of dollars be spent, and there's been practicly no measurable imprivement in the last 25 years.

Mark

[Dad2Angels]

and let the rest learn just enough to be good, un-questioning, dependent worker-bees.

Unlike Simms, to the guvmint an educated consumer is NOT their best customer.

[sono]

The real story behind Jaime Escalante dovetails this piece by Stossel, one of the MSM's little appreciated treasures. Stand And Deliver Revisited is a must read for anyone concerned about our kids.

[mulligan]

The public school system must have failed. Look what we have in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Could it get any worse than that?

[abclily]

Students in the United States are not stupid. They are uneducated. They are ignorant of who they are and of where they are.

[who knows what evil?]

They are the product of a public school education.