14 'facts' Louisiana students will learn at school

[Aeson]

There is substantial evidence that home schooling children causes major issues, like the study I mentioned to Ben above that you completely ignored.

I'm sure you'd find close to 100% of the parents who home school their children believe otherwise. Without more to go on I'd say that "study" is essentially just as meaningless. (I can't source it within 10 minutes of my slow internet connection sorting through the spammy references to it.) Hopefully there is more to it than just asking superintendents what they believe ... anyone who answers that question that home schooled students are "emotionally unstable, deprived of proper social development and too judgmental of the world around them" without qualification would be a very dubious source indeed.

[The Mad Monk]

You'd surely have gotten along much better with an education that included Jesus riding dinosaurs instead.

That would easily beat what did happen.

This. Many parents are ****ing horrible role models and extremely stupid people. The idea that their rights are more important than the kids pisses me off. If every kids gets a decent education, then at least they have a chance at a decent life, even if their parents are stupid rednecks.

Unless the system decides to put them in the ****** class for the crime of being bored.

[kentonio]

Unless the system decides to put them in the ****** class for the crime of being bored.

So elect people who'll actually fix the system instead of trying to tear it down.

[The Mad Monk]

They've had a century to fix it, we're fixing it another way.

[DaShi]

We're? They?

[DaShi]

Unless the system decides to put them in the ****** class for the crime of being bored.

Hmm, most people I know who had this happen to them benefited immensely from the extra attention. In fact, they tended to take advantage of the opportunity to hone their skills. However, these were truly exceptional people who went on Ivy League schools and advanced degrees. They were truly bored.

I did date one girl who was a true genius. Her teachers wanted to put her in a special ed class because she was "bored," but her mother wouldn't have it. She ended skipping the grade instead. Of course, you need parents who actually care about their children's well-being to get these kinds of results. Most poor performance in skill can be traced back to the child's home.

[giblets]

Unless the system decides to put them in the ****** class for the crime of being bored.

I doubt there are very many systems that do that.

[The Mad Monk]

Why not? It's a great way to get rid of troublemakers.

[Ben Kenobi]

I doubt there are very many systems that do that.

Seen it myself.

[regexcellent]

Molly, I don't give a **** about your taste in music, and neither does anyone else. Although electronic dance music is pretty ****ing terrible and you should be ashamed.

Molly "I'm smart because I can write long winded unrelated posts toasting my own ego" Bloom.

Back on topic:

So the solution to some areas having ****ty school is to take the kids out of school, not improve the schools?

The solution is to put the lives of children in the hands of people who actually care about them. Some parents may be misguided. But the simple fact is, there's no real reason to believe the government will make better decisions about kids than their parents. There is no natural authority to which the government can appeal to stake the claim that its curriculum is what students should actually learn, and that it knows better than its citizens who elect it.

If parents believe that their children need to learn religious studies as a part of their curriculum, there is no reason for those parents to trust the government over their own judgment. And on the whole, I think parents are better at deciding what is good for their kids because they have an actual interest in what happens to them, whereas the school board really doesn't. In fact, the school board in most places is mainly interested in employing teachers and supporting teacher's unions rather than actually educating children.

As for the government paying for religious education, that's not really what's happening. Two things are happening:

1) The government, thinking everyone should be educated, mandates a certain level of education for all children
2) The government, thinking that it is important that poor people have as good access to education as rich people, pays for this education

Vouchers accomplish both things: students get educated, and the poor get it paid for. It also accomplishes something else: parents decide, within reason, what schools their children can attend. This is good because it busts teachers' unions and puts the decision in the hands of people who care about it.

[giblets]

As for the government paying for religious education, that's not really what's happening. Two things are happening:

1) The government, thinking everyone should be educated, mandates a certain level of education for all children
2) The government, thinking that it is important that poor people have as good access to education as rich people, pays for this education

Vouchers accomplish both things: students get educated, and the poor get it paid for. It also accomplishes something else: parents decide, within reason, what schools their children can attend.

And if they can use the vouchers for schools that teach that Jesus rode around on a dinosaur, then the government ends up funding a religious education.

[The Mad Monk]

That's actually irrelevant.

The government cannot bar vouchers from a school on religious grounds, anymore than a state can ban the teaching of evolution on religious grounds.

[giblets]

Those things are not the same. One is censorship and the other is the government refusing to fund a religious activity.

[The Mad Monk]

Refusing to fund a school on religious grounds that otherwise meets criteria is censorship. Try harder.

[giblets]

No it's not. They're not entitled to any checks from the government. If someone wants to spend their own money on that crap they are entitled to that. Also, if someone wanted to teach that humans walked around with dinosaurs, on secular grounds, I would still not want the government to pay for that.