Two days ago, one of our readers wrote:
>NCLB, Great concept but DUMB implementation
I'm not all that in love with the concept of NCLB because of what it does. I hate to be a platonic elitist but, like you, I believe that all children should be seeking what they are good at and what their strengths are. We should figure out the bare-bones of what kids absolutely need to know and then get them into societally appropriate endeavors where they will be productive. Do all kids need to have Geometry and Algebra II? Do they all need to have Ancient History, World History, and US History? Can we feed them early on in their educational careers by having them fed by things like culinary schools or a sales academy, perhaps, rather than dragging their carcasses through a regiment of "what we think you need to know" think? What about giving kids who aren't real school-type kids the Cliff Notes' version of education, with the appropriate credit, of course, and get them doing more stuff that might make a difference in their lives, and more importantly in the lives of their community.
Education as we know it is dead, or at least close to it. When in many urban and rural communities, over half of the children are dropping out between 7th and 12th grade (see they never give us the drop out rates of the kids who have never made it into high school), then you know that the*system*isn't*working. It's not about teachers, administrators, or parents, per se, it just means that what we are selling (in teaching) isn't being bought by America's youth.
In any event, I like NAF's Academy model or even CART in Fresno. Do you know that school. If you don't, you should visit it some time. CART is what I was basing some of my Agassi School ideas on.
About the environment. It's like ulcers. Remember everybody got ulcers back in the day. What happened to ulcers? We as a society work ourselves into conditions, illnesses, and diseases. We need to stop doing that. Global warming is one thing that we have created, like the Cold War, that truly exists and yet it doesn't. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall."
