Dropout Nation

[Dinner]

I don't normally read Time magazine but this weeks cover story was just to interesting to pass up. It was an indepth look at America's screwed up education system where approximately 1/3 of all students drop out before finishing high school. Among black and latino students an alarming 50% will drop out before they finish high school. What's worse is that schools are so under funded (the average text book is 15 years out of date) that even the ones who do graduate get the worst education in the industrialized world.

What the hell is going wrong?

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1181646,00.html

[TCO]

Lots of people aren't cut out for HS. Especially for a HS that is college prep oriented. We should have more trade schools and should let more people work at 16.

[TCO]

Too many farking commie libruls in San Diego listening to Al Franken and thinking in terms of Yale or Jail. I blame it on them. Oh...and the territorialists at WindandSea.

[Dinner]

Huh, San Diego has one of the highest graduation rates of any large city in America. We also have a high college attendence rate. I'm not sure what you're getting at since I was quoting national statistics.

BTW San Diego has a very solidly Republican city and we can't even get the bastards out of office after a mayor resigned for cooking the city's accounting books to hide $2 billion in liabilities, a Congressman was convicted in the largest bribery scandle in the history of the US, two City Councilmen were arrested (one convicted while the other was convicted on lesser charges) of accepting bribes, and a third has been dealing in insider trading. Our local Republicans are as corrupt as they come yet the city is so far to the right we can't seem to get Democrats elected.

[TCO]

Go to the Murph. Watch a game.

[Dinner]

That got renamed Qualcomm stadium around 10 years ago. Besides it isn't football season.

[TCO]

Go surfing at the Voltaire parking lot. Then eat a burger at Hodads. Put that red sauce stuff on it. Then listen to some bands at Winstons.

[TCO]

The Padres play now...duh!

[MrFun]

I can't wait for Cal or PA to come into this thread to claim that these statistics reinforce their notion of real differences in intelligence between races!!

[Dr Strangelove]

Things have improved sooo much since I was a kid. Our history books all ended at or before WW2. Our chemistry books used the old electron orbit theory instead of SP shells.

[Q Classic]

Asians are more intelligent than whitey and the other mudraces. Duh.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
Asians are more intelligent than whitey and the other mudraces. Duh.

Yes, but we are the ultimate dudes. Good at sports and books.

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by TCO
Too many farking commie libruls in San Diego listening to Al Franken and thinking in terms of Yale or Jail. I blame it on them. Oh...and the territorialists at WindandSea.

ROFL

[Pekka]

you just need to demand more from everything. Demand books that are up to date. Demand books, so that everyone has those books. Why is it impossible? It costs so much? Yes yes, but how much wars cost? This is not 'get out Iraq, buy books', but just facing the facts that I think you can afford it, you are the richest nation in the world, you CAN afford books for students that are up to date. For everyone.

It starts from there. Now that you have the necessary tools, I mean without these, it can't be accomplished. Next most important thing, look at where people study, what the school is like. Is it some run down place? If it is, fix it. It costs, but they payback is greater so it's a worthy investment.

Next up, teachers. how is the level of teachers in general? Demand more. It's a job of calling. Demand high standards. Pay them accordingly also.

These are absolute necessary things. After this is taken cared of, we can move forward and start cracking down the problems.

IF these aren't taken cared of, this IS the problem first. About problem areas and kids who don't want to learn and stuff, we can move to that when everyone has books, yes?

[Ted Striker]

Our school system sucks

Some have claimed there is an overt effort, conciously and subconciously by the privitization whores to make public schools fail so they can privitize them

Whether that's true or not, there is an effort to :

1) Trash public schools
2) Attack teachers
3) Push standardized testing

From speaking with teachers who have been in the game for 20-30 years, most of them have said that it has changed dramatically during that time.

The standardized testing has got to go. It's nice for special occasions but WTF are 2nd and 3rd graders doing with standardized tests? Our kids are becoming test bots without actually learning anything.