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John H[_2_]

On Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:50:22 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:35:47 -0400, John H
wrote:

On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:25:46 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 11:16:09 -0400, X ` Man
wrote:

Well, of course...there's nothing more important to worry about, such as
your current governor's plans to destroy Florida's universities.

The system does need some kind of fixing. We have university
presidents making close to a million a year and running mediocre
schools. They just caught one of them (Walker at Edison) who was
playing fast and loose with course certifications and now, suddenly,
thousands of diplomas are essentially toilet paper. If the kids
actually want the education they thought they were borrowing money
for, they have to borrow more money and take some classes again.
Of course the bad K012 program that is feeding the university system
sucks too and that certainly isn't because we are not throwing enough
money at it. Lee County spends about $20,000 a student year, k-12 and
it still takes 5 years to get a 4 year degree because they have to
take a year of remedial high school in college.

Our problem is pretending for 12 years that all the students are going to college.

I do think high school should have more vocational classes.
These days that might be some basic computer skills and the concepts
of good customer service because we are creating a service economy.
For that matter college does not really prepare most kids for actually
getting a job, unless it is just witty banter over the counter at
Starbucks about art appreciation while you are serving a mocha latte.

And I think we should have the Netherlands (and German - maybe all of Europe) system of tracking
students after eighth grade based on their performance thus far. The best are university tracked.
The lowest are vocation tracked. The system sure keeps parents interested in their kid's
performance!