One of the best things to come out of the pandemic was learning pods. Parents getting together (maybe 10 of them) and paying for a teacher directly. No BS administration or politics, just the free market in action. (As an aside, the teachers end up making far more because they're getting paid directly!)
We did this tons for homeschooling years ago. Each parent signed up for something(s). I had been a teacher prior to having kids so I was doubly invested. The cool thing is, each parent really pulled their weight, as they had skin in the game, and subsequently really outdid themselves. After so many “pods” had done such cool things, the next pod didn’t want to be “half-assed” and lazy, so everyone shone. My kids learned far more in 4.5 hours a day than in 8 hours of school.
Many things are that way. Schools aren't working, the solution is to ditch the schools. The uniparty system of government isn't working, time to ditch the uniparty.
Yeah, it is going to be hard, and some people, indoctrinators and politicians respectively, will suffer crushing blows to their self worth and maybe even ability to survive. But that is a price I am willing to pay, or for them to pay. Seriously, the woke bullshit would come to a screeching halt double fast and the idea of transgenderism would be the first casualty and thank God for that.
I am really intrigued by learning pods. At back -to-school night this year I learned that each student at my kids’ K-5 gets $45k in funding. My daughter has 30 kids in her class, so the school gets 1.35M combined. Imagine how far a fraction of that would
Until the 'pods' start deciding they have to compete with expensive sports programs, high architecture schools, etc. All the same stuff that has eaten away at what public schools are intended to be. Maybe some parochial schools can refuse to hear the siren song but I'm losing faith in that too.
That's not what has eaten away at schools. Teachers not knowing anything, and compensating for their guilt for that by emulating activists, is what has eaten away at schools.
I was shocked too, but it came straight from the principal. (We live in Silicon Valley, one of the most expensive places in the country. Don’t get me started on real estate prices...)
But the American citizen/slave is still paying the huge taxes for the government school system. And what percentage of citizens/slaves go to school board meetings, raise hell about what the schools are doing to the kids, and vote the bums out?
My husband is on our local (very small district) school board. The same few parents attend all of the meetings. Everyone complains on social media, but no one shows up to do anything when it's time. They're all talk but no action. My husband ran for school board because he didn't like what he saw. If only others would show up and speak up with him, maybe change can happen quicker than it is (because it's such an incredibly slow process!!).
Good on you and your husband. I ran for board once and my spouse twice. Dirty tricks by the superintendent and board members and other residents. We watched our signs being torn down by the superintendent and the daughter of a board member (on our own property). Our five year old daughter was harassed by her bus driver. We attended all board meetings for years. Finally took our kids out and put them in private school. Still had to pay our money to the rotten school though
Too bad the signs being taken wasn't caught on camera - because it's illegal. The dirty tricks played by people when it comes to politics is astonishing.
I was very concerned that my son would be targeted by teachers. Thankfully he wasn't. In the end, we did decide to pull him out anyway (he's now in a Catholic school while my husband still sits on the public school board) because the changes we were hoping to see are just taking too long to be implemented and his education was suffering. Not to mention the hostility among the kids. Sheesh. They're just mean. Period. When did we stop teaching kids, at home, to be nice to other people? He's NOT seeing the same meanness in the private school as he saw in public school. Maybe it's just not tolerated in the private school. I don't know the reason but it's definitely not there like he experienced the last few years.
In an island just north of you there will be municipal elections Oct. 15. There appears to be an awakening and there are a number of new candidates for school trustees who are not impressed with the status quo.
Our structure is a little different than yours, with the BCTF being a major supporter of the NDP (socialist, woke) government, and the Minister of Education can dismiss non-compliant school boards.
Very few. The easy way is the path typically chosen. Many years ago, schools and communities were linked together toward a common goal. We let the schools go under cover and shut us out and never complained as long we had day care while we were at work. We are paying the price now. Honestly, if parents want better, it's already available within the existing public education system. They simply have to demand it and do the work. Or they can demand school vouchers for profit enters (pods in 2 years).
Now that's REAL choice. Not corporate P3 choice that runs on Skinner Box behavioral algorithms, known as Human Capital Markets financed by the likes of Bloomberg, Omidyar, and other globalists.
First came prisoners turned over to HCMs. First one in US was 2012, Riker's Island (Goldman Sachs). That's also why Soros funded DA races to accelerate "geofencing" with continuous monitoring. Then inner city schools were next. Now it's healthcare. Overall, a very powerful undercurrent to create the 4IR Technocratic "Great Reset" while we're kept distracted with political theater.
Were these pods populated with kids with parents of limited means who were actually working 40+ hours a week and still paying taxes for public education? The affluent already have access to tutoring programs, etc. Until and unless we put a premium on quality education we'll never get it. And we should demand it for all.
No, honestly most of them were middle to upper class incomes, or they were ones who made extreme sacrifices to have mom stay home to raise the kids, returning to work when they’re grown though we did have a few kids who were kept with other families and schooled with them. I agree that we need quality education for all.
There was a time not long ago when staying home to raise kids did not require sacrifice. Please don't read too much into this comment, I have worked for many years. But in hindsight I see who profited from that labor and mostly it wasn't me or my family.
I suppose it depends on what you mean by 'sacrifice'
Is getting a small 1950s size house instead of a 2200 square foot in a swanky suburb with a $1k a month property tax bill a 'sacrifice'
People don't realize that a big reason why you could support a family on a single income is not because those incomes were especially high, its because people had less, bought less, did less.
People build/buy more than twice the house these days, and load them down with all kinds of embellishments (fancy roof, more than 4 corners, stonework, etc) that while attractive add significant cost to build and maintain. Double the house don't be surprised if you need double the income
Yep. At one point, before we built our home, we were looking at slightly upscale homes, to more upscale. I remember thinking WHY have a McMansion if you’re rarely able to stay home to enjoy it? And why have a McMansion if it means you can’t go out to eat & to the movies when you’d like to, or that you HAVE to take every extra work hour that comes along.
"People don't realize that a big reason why you could support a family on a single income is not because those incomes were especially high, its because people had less, bought less, did less."
inflation is the prime cause of why it so hard to do now. over the last 50 years the dollar has lost nearly 100% of its value.
Price to income ratio was about 2 to 1 in the 50s/60s with average size of about 1000 square feet between the two decades(houses got bigger through the 60s, but were still quite simple in design/layout)
Price to income ratio is about 4 to 1 today and average size is over 2000 square feet last I saw, with all those embellishments.
While inflation has played some part, building double the house is more the problem.
I think people who lived close to it realize it, what you describe has been normalized for younger people. After all, we are a 'consumer economy' right? Get more buying power going to feed the corporate coffers at the expense of experience. Except I think now, consumerism is becoming obsolete. They don't really need us anymore.
income no kids to single income, 3 kids. I did work 1 day/week and occasionally 2, but my mom kept the kids. It was fabulous bc they were very close with my mom and I did like having the extra spending $. I wouldn’t trade those years for all the paychecks in the world. Many a time I’ve thought women’s liberation didn’t liberate many women. Most of my friends stayed home or longed to do so. A few did want careers and persued them, but I think i’m hindsight, they regret having done so.
Yes, the parents are already paying for public education that wasn't educating any children. This option was available to everybody equally, but obviously not utilized by everybody equally.
Il guess my point is, how man of these parents are service workers that have little latitude in how their days or dollars are spent? The affluent have always had a way and many have chose to grease palms instead of demand excellence. We all pay for and accept a public education that produces little for students.
While that's true, that's not the fault of the parents who decide to scrap together an alternate way to actually educate their kids when the 'teachers' were refusing to go to work. Parents directly paying for their teachers is a way that we return efficiency to the market. If public schools can't manage to teach their students, what are we paying them for? Just have the money follow the children.
Of course it's not their fault. But your solution is not available to all, or probably even most. I love the concept, I'm all for it. I just think it won't take long for it to be tainted. I am perhaps too cynical these days, but I'd say given the events of the last couple of years, not without justification. Perhaps the only possible way is a tiered system where the serfs are uneducated and barely scrape by while the more affluent buy what they want/need and the serf/service class supports them. Perhaps that's inevitable. Tough for me to absorb
"[T]he federal report said 422,000 California public-school students would be victims before graduation — a number that dwarfs the state's entire Catholic-school enrollment of 143,000."
The federal report mentioned is from 2004. One can only imagine how much worse the problem is now that legions of "teachers" are so intent on exploring children's gender and sexuality rather than teaching them to, you know, read and write.
Funny how a more recent report does not seem to be available...
That is a very interesting point, and you are right this is not covered by the media. But after seeing how the operate the past couple of years I’d be very surprised if they did
SC, I wonder how these are working out in the inner cities and very rural America. Were a lot of parents in those areas able to do the learning pod thing?
Of course, with a voucher program, they could all do it. But through the pandemic? I imagine those kids got really left behind.
The pandemic is what really kicked it off. It's way easier to find a few concerned parents to 'homeschool' a group of kids than it is to persuade your local teachers union to open the schools.
Oh, yeah, agreed. I'm just wondering about poor kids, particularly those in single-parent households in the inner cities. Are we aware of learning pods there? Parents getting together to homeschool kids there? Their learning loss in particular has been criminal. I imagine theu didn't have such an option.
I had a friend, when I brought up these kids in a different but similar convo, say, "George, let's be honest, those kids didn't have a chance to begin with." She later apologized, but yeah, that's just not acceptable.
I'd imagine that pod-forming parents were the most motivated to prevent the learning loss. Although there are certainly exceptions, no doubt poor kids in single-parent households in the inner cities value education less than average.
Edit: I'm not sure there's a realistic way to fix this issue via government.
I was a little shocked actually, tried to talk her out of it a little but she was adamant and succeeded. In retrospect, I married into a shark family, she has shark roots from her dad's side that my family just does not have. My side - mechanical engineer types/creators rather than talkers.
I used to be adamant that we had to support public schools because democracy requires an educated public. And then I started teaching basic English comp at a college. I decided I'd made an assumption one couldn't possible make: that a public education system actually means an educated public.
As to your question: "are we really going to produce worse than this?"
No, no, we couldn't possibly. So give the money to the parents to send their children wherever they want to go or let the parents teach them at home. You can't possibly get worse than we've got. And you'll save taxpayers boatloads of money every year.
I literally didn't know the difference between verbs and adjectives until it was explained to me in college. My 3 and 5 year olds like playing Noun, verb, or adjective in the car and they get them right.
I believe you because I discovered that problem when I was teaching English comp as an adjunct. But now I edit for an educational publisher. You would be surprised (or not) at the number of *Ph.D.s* that can't use English properly, and I"m not talking ticky-tacky little details like how to properly use the words "comprise" and "myriad." I'm talking the basics, like what constitutes a full sentence.
I keep coming back to the fact that leftists hold two absolutely contradictory views at the same time: 1) “everyone is too dumb to make the correct decisions for themselves” and 2) “me and the “experts” must choose for them because, not only are we smarter than everyone else, but we can even predict what choices these people won erroneously make, and therefore we can foresee the future, and avoid its pitfalls”. They’re ridiculous
u have just described the entire political/religious movement called Leftism and the enlightened wisdom of its Vanguard class--just do what we say, hand us total power, and utopia is sure to follow (bc we've read the right books).
This circumstance is what is being passed through colleges and universities universities every semester. This level of ignorance is more consequential than even climate change. If not for irrational amounts of extra credit the college degree completion statistics would be even more abysmal than they already are. Degrees are essentially sold like Otezla, Prozac and Januvia-- “go tell your professor you need a BS degree”. I witnessed a college class make their own exam and miss their own questions. These specimens will be the persons you will be expecting to fix your car properly, handled your lab sample correctly, make sure your information is secure, calculate your check properly, get your order right, give you sound investment advice. Yes we are F’d.
I teach part time in 2 yr college-Intro to Psych. today I asked " how many of you have ever worked on a car?" 2 out of ~35. one male and one female. On one of my exams I asked "at which university was the Stanford Prison Experiment done?" about 20% get it wrong. some of these kids are very bright but overall it makes you wonder where we are headed.
How about “name any unit of temperature” (under the same circumstances you mentioned) this is in an allied health related class of 10( there is a ranking process that qualifies the top 10 performing candidates out of 500-600 vying for the 10 available slots, aka the top 10) Answers such as meters square, pounds per square inch, hertz were heard-only one person came up with a correct answer- he was in his 60’s.
The colleges have responded to (artificial) demand and poor applicant stock in two major ways: 1) They create all sorts of faux degree areas—ethnic studies, social justice majors, environmental management, etc., and 2) They reduce admissions standards and lessen standards for degrees in traditional areas of study—Sociology used to be fun, now it’s full of crazies.
There are simply too many students pursuing a college degree. I’ve read that our latest generation entering the work force is the most credentialed yet—estimated that approx 50% holding some sort of post secondary academic degree. Now really, is college something that 50% of the population should be attending. Remember, only half the population has an above normal (100) IQ?
I don’t necessarily fault the university system. They are responding to demand and their egalitarian ideology. But think about it. What is college all about? Is such attendance a national good, or a waste of time and money for society?
We need to push trade school much more heavily than we currently do. We will always need people to repair hvac systems, repair cars, wire buildings, install plumbing, etc. Always.
Yep, but first—or in parallel—we need to *stop* elevating white collar work and putting down blue collar work. There is dignity in *all* work. The question is, are you good at your job? Do you do your best? Do you support yourself?
I could go on, but you get the picture. Support for the post secondary academic “industry” needs to be pushed more towards what we call the “trades”, although even that term has become a slur of sorts. This needs to change. And I think the corporations who now employ much of the higher level “blue” collar work force would be happy to partner with government in this endeavor. They too are looking for employees of quality.
The most frustrating aspect of the interviews is the fact that the votes of those morons are as effectual as mine. If you offer any one of the free stuff, you will no doubt gain their loyalty. Screw voter ID - move straight to voter IQ before allowing people to vote.
I am speechless. It seems like this video cannot be real but sadly, I think it likely is real people with real lack of knowledge. I guess I am left to wonder how not doing something and expecting a different result is better than changing things up like they have done in Arizona. The way I understand it, recent legislation there allows families to take their school age children's funds and use them at any school. School choice has to be better than producing far too many no-nothing kids.....
It's part of a much longer video that runs the gamut of "how many weeks in a year" to "where is the Panama Canal located" to "what is 15 percent of 100."
I learned a few years ago that in Canada, there are teenagers who don't know how to sign their names because cursive writing is no longer taught in schools. I heard this from a bank rep who told of his experience with a mother and son opening up a bank account for the son where the son, 15 or 16 didn't know how to sign his name when asked.
When I wrote a letter about this to the school board, they replied with some word salad answer about having to pick and chose what to teach kids. Cursive writing not a priority so X marks the spot.
It's the same here in the US. I just found that out recently on a family zoom call when my little cousin was dissing most of her classmates whose parents never bothered to teach them how to write in cursive and the schools (at least in their area of the country) don't either. I am pretty sure the next thing will be to ensure kids don't even know how to read and write in block printed text. "They" really do want the majority of people to live in Idiocracy land. Everything will be short video/audio clips and graphic point and click menus. If people can't even read, then history will be any damn thing they want it to be, and can change any time they want it to. And literature will be gone forever. No more word problems in math or applied physics either! (who is gonna rebuild that bridge?) Nothing but shitty rap music and trashy video game/experiences in the metaverse.... Heaven help us!!!
Prior to the Nat Turner revolt in 1831, there were few states with restrictions on teaching slaves to read and write. Things changed after that bloody event. Literacy = freedom. It would be well to keep that in mind.
I was reading by the time I started kindergarten. I remember an experiment where I was sent as a third grader to read "The Cat in the Hat" to the kindergarten kids. This was in 1964. It did not do wonders for my popularity amongst my peers, but soon they were all vying to read to "the little kids". Children need to learn that reading is not just a good thing, it is the NORM, it is what is expected of them. No more "participation trophies", no more dumbing down, we need to bring back the value of excelling and winning. A value that seems to be banished from public schools. That is the springboard to a lifetime love of learning.
Similar experience in the late 60's. Bored as crap in 1st grade while most everyone else was learning to read. By 2nd grade, they let me pick any books I wanted out of the library, regardless of their "grade level" and I did not have to read what the class was trying to read. I'm sure I'd have become what they called a "delinquent child" back then in very short order if they had insisted I had to study at the same level as most of the rest of the class. By 3rd grade they started segregating some of us into a special "G&T" class, and a few at the other end of the learning spectrum into "remedial" classes. To this day, I still think that's best. Not doing anyone any favors trying to force everyone to remain at the lowest common denominator learning level....
I have substitute taught every grade from preschool to twelfth grade on an Indian reservation, and I know firsthand that GATE - "Gifted and Talented" - classes have been the salvation of many kids who would have otherwise fallen into a lot of trouble.
I teach an intermediate-advanced pottery class at a local community center. Anyone that comes to me must have previous experience...I have two students now that mischaracterized their knowledge. Now I’m spending the bulk of the class time bringing them up to speed to the neglect of the rest of the class.
It only makes sense to put learners in groups with similar skills. It’s better for everyone.
"...fund kids rather than systems...FULLY FREE FROM ANY GOVERNMENT LIMITATION" [emphasis mine]
I can't process this because it's a political impossibility.
Okay well, that might be a slight overstatement. Just because there's never been, in the history of the world, a large government program free from strings, it's not strictly a metaphysical impossibility.
We have to stop talking about vouchers and demand total privatization. Asking for half a loaf never got anyone even a half a loaf.
It's sad. I feel like the older teaches who did actually teach are now gone or so outnumbered that they have given up and just riding it out until retirement. My 4 girls are grown but I have grandkids that need a good education and the public schools are not providing it!
Mandatory public education in its current form should end after the 8th grade, in my opinion. There's just not that much value added - for most people - in high school.
Academically gifted students may test into high school (and the academically talented of those may test into college).
For everyone else, trade/vocational school will be for everyone else.
Actually, I think 6th grade. After that, kids should have to work for two years in some sort of manual labor job. Middle schoolers need physical outlets during those hormonally squirrelly years.
I think the early years = kindergarten through 8th grade are the main ones that the public school teachers warp the minds of the children. High school's only advantage for public schools is the infrastructure for things like chemistry labs and sports facilities. However, the rural area I lived in from age 23 through 69 had the one room buildings still around (though mostly converted to homes) and communities that had baseball and football fields that were used by local adult leagues and by the kids during the day. Ya really don't need expensive facilities for kids to chase balls around. Bonus: some of those kids joined adult teams later that they could play in for years. Chem labs for the small 10 kid schooling could be easily budgeted for. Add botany with small garden spaces, add auto repair classes with local businesses, but start with bicycle repair- something most kids could use right away. Sewing, cooking, musical instruments easily found along with people willing to teach in the neighborhoods = Re-imagining education!
I agree. The longer you assume a person is going to stay in school, the more willing you are to pass him off to the next guy. Look at what an eighth grade education meant 50 plus years ago. At the very least nobody should be allowed to pass grade 8 without a firm knowledge of grammar, arithmetic, and civics.
One of the best things to come out of the pandemic was learning pods. Parents getting together (maybe 10 of them) and paying for a teacher directly. No BS administration or politics, just the free market in action. (As an aside, the teachers end up making far more because they're getting paid directly!)
This idea is really compelling to me. Direct, unadministrated, and localized.
Some additional info then :)
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/09/10/learning-pods-what-they-and-how-set-one-up/3435956001/
That's horrific Covid nonsense info I'm afraid.
Don't know if you read it.
We are talking about education which is quite the opposite of what that article entails.
Obv you couldn't print anything in 2020 without the standard covid nonsense.
but not usable except at the earliest grades.
We did this tons for homeschooling years ago. Each parent signed up for something(s). I had been a teacher prior to having kids so I was doubly invested. The cool thing is, each parent really pulled their weight, as they had skin in the game, and subsequently really outdid themselves. After so many “pods” had done such cool things, the next pod didn’t want to be “half-assed” and lazy, so everyone shone. My kids learned far more in 4.5 hours a day than in 8 hours of school.
This is the way. We have to exit the system entirely, even if it's painful at first.
Many things are that way. Schools aren't working, the solution is to ditch the schools. The uniparty system of government isn't working, time to ditch the uniparty.
Yeah, it is going to be hard, and some people, indoctrinators and politicians respectively, will suffer crushing blows to their self worth and maybe even ability to survive. But that is a price I am willing to pay, or for them to pay. Seriously, the woke bullshit would come to a screeching halt double fast and the idea of transgenderism would be the first casualty and thank God for that.
I am really intrigued by learning pods. At back -to-school night this year I learned that each student at my kids’ K-5 gets $45k in funding. My daughter has 30 kids in her class, so the school gets 1.35M combined. Imagine how far a fraction of that would
go with a handful of pods.
Exactly. The math very quickly becomes favorable to real teachers responsible directly to parents. Imagine that!
Until the 'pods' start deciding they have to compete with expensive sports programs, high architecture schools, etc. All the same stuff that has eaten away at what public schools are intended to be. Maybe some parochial schools can refuse to hear the siren song but I'm losing faith in that too.
That's not what has eaten away at schools. Teachers not knowing anything, and compensating for their guilt for that by emulating activists, is what has eaten away at schools.
I do not think these costs are correct.
UT Austin here is $13k tuition +$18k room board etc., $31k per year at University of Texas.
$4.5k sounds more reasonable, $135k/year for the class. But would like to know more.
I was shocked too, but it came straight from the principal. (We live in Silicon Valley, one of the most expensive places in the country. Don’t get me started on real estate prices...)
That's actually $135K combined.
45,000 x 30 = 135,000 ???
in new math
But the American citizen/slave is still paying the huge taxes for the government school system. And what percentage of citizens/slaves go to school board meetings, raise hell about what the schools are doing to the kids, and vote the bums out?
My husband is on our local (very small district) school board. The same few parents attend all of the meetings. Everyone complains on social media, but no one shows up to do anything when it's time. They're all talk but no action. My husband ran for school board because he didn't like what he saw. If only others would show up and speak up with him, maybe change can happen quicker than it is (because it's such an incredibly slow process!!).
Good on you and your husband. I ran for board once and my spouse twice. Dirty tricks by the superintendent and board members and other residents. We watched our signs being torn down by the superintendent and the daughter of a board member (on our own property). Our five year old daughter was harassed by her bus driver. We attended all board meetings for years. Finally took our kids out and put them in private school. Still had to pay our money to the rotten school though
Too bad the signs being taken wasn't caught on camera - because it's illegal. The dirty tricks played by people when it comes to politics is astonishing.
I was very concerned that my son would be targeted by teachers. Thankfully he wasn't. In the end, we did decide to pull him out anyway (he's now in a Catholic school while my husband still sits on the public school board) because the changes we were hoping to see are just taking too long to be implemented and his education was suffering. Not to mention the hostility among the kids. Sheesh. They're just mean. Period. When did we stop teaching kids, at home, to be nice to other people? He's NOT seeing the same meanness in the private school as he saw in public school. Maybe it's just not tolerated in the private school. I don't know the reason but it's definitely not there like he experienced the last few years.
I'm all for that! Just remember that you'll be considered domestic terrorists for doing so.
In an island just north of you there will be municipal elections Oct. 15. There appears to be an awakening and there are a number of new candidates for school trustees who are not impressed with the status quo.
Our structure is a little different than yours, with the BCTF being a major supporter of the NDP (socialist, woke) government, and the Minister of Education can dismiss non-compliant school boards.
I know. We spent many years fighting the crooked, lying bums in our kids' government schools. But we fought alone.
The huge taxes are not for school--they are for military expenditures and the billions spent in government-ordered Covid jabs and tests.
Very few. The easy way is the path typically chosen. Many years ago, schools and communities were linked together toward a common goal. We let the schools go under cover and shut us out and never complained as long we had day care while we were at work. We are paying the price now. Honestly, if parents want better, it's already available within the existing public education system. They simply have to demand it and do the work. Or they can demand school vouchers for profit enters (pods in 2 years).
Now that's REAL choice. Not corporate P3 choice that runs on Skinner Box behavioral algorithms, known as Human Capital Markets financed by the likes of Bloomberg, Omidyar, and other globalists.
First came prisoners turned over to HCMs. First one in US was 2012, Riker's Island (Goldman Sachs). That's also why Soros funded DA races to accelerate "geofencing" with continuous monitoring. Then inner city schools were next. Now it's healthcare. Overall, a very powerful undercurrent to create the 4IR Technocratic "Great Reset" while we're kept distracted with political theater.
You're completely correct. And because there's still some semblance of the free market, we're still able to reject that.......for now.
Were these pods populated with kids with parents of limited means who were actually working 40+ hours a week and still paying taxes for public education? The affluent already have access to tutoring programs, etc. Until and unless we put a premium on quality education we'll never get it. And we should demand it for all.
No, honestly most of them were middle to upper class incomes, or they were ones who made extreme sacrifices to have mom stay home to raise the kids, returning to work when they’re grown though we did have a few kids who were kept with other families and schooled with them. I agree that we need quality education for all.
There was a time not long ago when staying home to raise kids did not require sacrifice. Please don't read too much into this comment, I have worked for many years. But in hindsight I see who profited from that labor and mostly it wasn't me or my family.
I suppose it depends on what you mean by 'sacrifice'
Is getting a small 1950s size house instead of a 2200 square foot in a swanky suburb with a $1k a month property tax bill a 'sacrifice'
People don't realize that a big reason why you could support a family on a single income is not because those incomes were especially high, its because people had less, bought less, did less.
People build/buy more than twice the house these days, and load them down with all kinds of embellishments (fancy roof, more than 4 corners, stonework, etc) that while attractive add significant cost to build and maintain. Double the house don't be surprised if you need double the income
Yep. At one point, before we built our home, we were looking at slightly upscale homes, to more upscale. I remember thinking WHY have a McMansion if you’re rarely able to stay home to enjoy it? And why have a McMansion if it means you can’t go out to eat & to the movies when you’d like to, or that you HAVE to take every extra work hour that comes along.
You also realized that it’s not quantity, but quality.
"People don't realize that a big reason why you could support a family on a single income is not because those incomes were especially high, its because people had less, bought less, did less."
inflation is the prime cause of why it so hard to do now. over the last 50 years the dollar has lost nearly 100% of its value.
Price to income ratio was about 2 to 1 in the 50s/60s with average size of about 1000 square feet between the two decades(houses got bigger through the 60s, but were still quite simple in design/layout)
Price to income ratio is about 4 to 1 today and average size is over 2000 square feet last I saw, with all those embellishments.
While inflation has played some part, building double the house is more the problem.
Exactly. Was my single mother working in a disgusting metal shop to give us anything at all her whole life a 'sacrifice'? I certainly think so.
I think people who lived close to it realize it, what you describe has been normalized for younger people. After all, we are a 'consumer economy' right? Get more buying power going to feed the corporate coffers at the expense of experience. Except I think now, consumerism is becoming obsolete. They don't really need us anymore.
I agree 110%. We went from double
income no kids to single income, 3 kids. I did work 1 day/week and occasionally 2, but my mom kept the kids. It was fabulous bc they were very close with my mom and I did like having the extra spending $. I wouldn’t trade those years for all the paychecks in the world. Many a time I’ve thought women’s liberation didn’t liberate many women. Most of my friends stayed home or longed to do so. A few did want careers and persued them, but I think i’m hindsight, they regret having done so.
Substack stinks when it come to liking comments. Tried numerous times withou success to like yours.
Yes, the parents are already paying for public education that wasn't educating any children. This option was available to everybody equally, but obviously not utilized by everybody equally.
Il guess my point is, how man of these parents are service workers that have little latitude in how their days or dollars are spent? The affluent have always had a way and many have chose to grease palms instead of demand excellence. We all pay for and accept a public education that produces little for students.
While that's true, that's not the fault of the parents who decide to scrap together an alternate way to actually educate their kids when the 'teachers' were refusing to go to work. Parents directly paying for their teachers is a way that we return efficiency to the market. If public schools can't manage to teach their students, what are we paying them for? Just have the money follow the children.
Of course it's not their fault. But your solution is not available to all, or probably even most. I love the concept, I'm all for it. I just think it won't take long for it to be tainted. I am perhaps too cynical these days, but I'd say given the events of the last couple of years, not without justification. Perhaps the only possible way is a tiered system where the serfs are uneducated and barely scrape by while the more affluent buy what they want/need and the serf/service class supports them. Perhaps that's inevitable. Tough for me to absorb
Exactly how much do you think it would cost to hire a teacher for your kid's learning pod?
Not to mention government "schools" have rates of sexual abuse of children some 100x those of the Catholic Church.
It might be difficult to remember this, since CBS "News" memory-holed the 2009 article on the subject, naturally.
https://web.archive.org/web/20131030012556/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/24/opinion/main1933687.shtml
"[T]he federal report said 422,000 California public-school students would be victims before graduation — a number that dwarfs the state's entire Catholic-school enrollment of 143,000."
The federal report mentioned is from 2004. One can only imagine how much worse the problem is now that legions of "teachers" are so intent on exploring children's gender and sexuality rather than teaching them to, you know, read and write.
Funny how a more recent report does not seem to be available...
I really wish substack would fix the "like" button. Liked.
That is a very interesting point, and you are right this is not covered by the media. But after seeing how the operate the past couple of years I’d be very surprised if they did
SC, I wonder how these are working out in the inner cities and very rural America. Were a lot of parents in those areas able to do the learning pod thing?
Of course, with a voucher program, they could all do it. But through the pandemic? I imagine those kids got really left behind.
The pandemic is what really kicked it off. It's way easier to find a few concerned parents to 'homeschool' a group of kids than it is to persuade your local teachers union to open the schools.
Oh, yeah, agreed. I'm just wondering about poor kids, particularly those in single-parent households in the inner cities. Are we aware of learning pods there? Parents getting together to homeschool kids there? Their learning loss in particular has been criminal. I imagine theu didn't have such an option.
I had a friend, when I brought up these kids in a different but similar convo, say, "George, let's be honest, those kids didn't have a chance to begin with." She later apologized, but yeah, that's just not acceptable.
Single parents can and do homeschool.
I'd imagine that pod-forming parents were the most motivated to prevent the learning loss. Although there are certainly exceptions, no doubt poor kids in single-parent households in the inner cities value education less than average.
Edit: I'm not sure there's a realistic way to fix this issue via government.
That is AWESOME!
Awesome!
To those considering homeschooling and worried you'll screw it up: You literally cannot do worse than American public schools.
My home schooled daughter is a lawyer now. I raised a shark by accident.
My homeschooled son is an Aerospace engineer. I raised a rocket scientist!
Cool!
"By accident." Sure. ;)
I was a little shocked actually, tried to talk her out of it a little but she was adamant and succeeded. In retrospect, I married into a shark family, she has shark roots from her dad's side that my family just does not have. My side - mechanical engineer types/creators rather than talkers.
Ha - I know what you mean, but we need some sharks on our team too!
I used to be adamant that we had to support public schools because democracy requires an educated public. And then I started teaching basic English comp at a college. I decided I'd made an assumption one couldn't possible make: that a public education system actually means an educated public.
As to your question: "are we really going to produce worse than this?"
No, no, we couldn't possibly. So give the money to the parents to send their children wherever they want to go or let the parents teach them at home. You can't possibly get worse than we've got. And you'll save taxpayers boatloads of money every year.
Great comment and great name 💜
I literally didn't know the difference between verbs and adjectives until it was explained to me in college. My 3 and 5 year olds like playing Noun, verb, or adjective in the car and they get them right.
I believe you because I discovered that problem when I was teaching English comp as an adjunct. But now I edit for an educational publisher. You would be surprised (or not) at the number of *Ph.D.s* that can't use English properly, and I"m not talking ticky-tacky little details like how to properly use the words "comprise" and "myriad." I'm talking the basics, like what constitutes a full sentence.
I keep coming back to the fact that leftists hold two absolutely contradictory views at the same time: 1) “everyone is too dumb to make the correct decisions for themselves” and 2) “me and the “experts” must choose for them because, not only are we smarter than everyone else, but we can even predict what choices these people won erroneously make, and therefore we can foresee the future, and avoid its pitfalls”. They’re ridiculous
u have just described the entire political/religious movement called Leftism and the enlightened wisdom of its Vanguard class--just do what we say, hand us total power, and utopia is sure to follow (bc we've read the right books).
it is more or less slavery sold as liberation.
Both of you are spot on.
That's the story but it's more about the grift....
This circumstance is what is being passed through colleges and universities universities every semester. This level of ignorance is more consequential than even climate change. If not for irrational amounts of extra credit the college degree completion statistics would be even more abysmal than they already are. Degrees are essentially sold like Otezla, Prozac and Januvia-- “go tell your professor you need a BS degree”. I witnessed a college class make their own exam and miss their own questions. These specimens will be the persons you will be expecting to fix your car properly, handled your lab sample correctly, make sure your information is secure, calculate your check properly, get your order right, give you sound investment advice. Yes we are F’d.
I teach part time in 2 yr college-Intro to Psych. today I asked " how many of you have ever worked on a car?" 2 out of ~35. one male and one female. On one of my exams I asked "at which university was the Stanford Prison Experiment done?" about 20% get it wrong. some of these kids are very bright but overall it makes you wonder where we are headed.
How about “name any unit of temperature” (under the same circumstances you mentioned) this is in an allied health related class of 10( there is a ranking process that qualifies the top 10 performing candidates out of 500-600 vying for the 10 available slots, aka the top 10) Answers such as meters square, pounds per square inch, hertz were heard-only one person came up with a correct answer- he was in his 60’s.
But I'll bet you they can name each one of Kim Kardashian's husbands and sing every verse of Cardi B's "Wet Wet P*ssy".
The colleges have responded to (artificial) demand and poor applicant stock in two major ways: 1) They create all sorts of faux degree areas—ethnic studies, social justice majors, environmental management, etc., and 2) They reduce admissions standards and lessen standards for degrees in traditional areas of study—Sociology used to be fun, now it’s full of crazies.
There are simply too many students pursuing a college degree. I’ve read that our latest generation entering the work force is the most credentialed yet—estimated that approx 50% holding some sort of post secondary academic degree. Now really, is college something that 50% of the population should be attending. Remember, only half the population has an above normal (100) IQ?
I don’t necessarily fault the university system. They are responding to demand and their egalitarian ideology. But think about it. What is college all about? Is such attendance a national good, or a waste of time and money for society?
We need to push trade school much more heavily than we currently do. We will always need people to repair hvac systems, repair cars, wire buildings, install plumbing, etc. Always.
Yep, but first—or in parallel—we need to *stop* elevating white collar work and putting down blue collar work. There is dignity in *all* work. The question is, are you good at your job? Do you do your best? Do you support yourself?
I could go on, but you get the picture. Support for the post secondary academic “industry” needs to be pushed more towards what we call the “trades”, although even that term has become a slur of sorts. This needs to change. And I think the corporations who now employ much of the higher level “blue” collar work force would be happy to partner with government in this endeavor. They too are looking for employees of quality.
The most frustrating aspect of the interviews is the fact that the votes of those morons are as effectual as mine. If you offer any one of the free stuff, you will no doubt gain their loyalty. Screw voter ID - move straight to voter IQ before allowing people to vote.
Who is John Galt?
Exactly.
these dumbasses will know all the Kardashian names tho
Why would they memorise some Star Trek space-alien race?
cos they will be sure to vote one of them to be president in a few years
LOL!
I had the same thought!
I am speechless. It seems like this video cannot be real but sadly, I think it likely is real people with real lack of knowledge. I guess I am left to wonder how not doing something and expecting a different result is better than changing things up like they have done in Arizona. The way I understand it, recent legislation there allows families to take their school age children's funds and use them at any school. School choice has to be better than producing far too many no-nothing kids.....
Um . . . did you mean to say no-nothing? As in none, nada, zilch?
Was that a subtle joke?
It's part of a much longer video that runs the gamut of "how many weeks in a year" to "where is the Panama Canal located" to "what is 15 percent of 100."
I learned a few years ago that in Canada, there are teenagers who don't know how to sign their names because cursive writing is no longer taught in schools. I heard this from a bank rep who told of his experience with a mother and son opening up a bank account for the son where the son, 15 or 16 didn't know how to sign his name when asked.
When I wrote a letter about this to the school board, they replied with some word salad answer about having to pick and chose what to teach kids. Cursive writing not a priority so X marks the spot.
It's the same here in the US. I just found that out recently on a family zoom call when my little cousin was dissing most of her classmates whose parents never bothered to teach them how to write in cursive and the schools (at least in their area of the country) don't either. I am pretty sure the next thing will be to ensure kids don't even know how to read and write in block printed text. "They" really do want the majority of people to live in Idiocracy land. Everything will be short video/audio clips and graphic point and click menus. If people can't even read, then history will be any damn thing they want it to be, and can change any time they want it to. And literature will be gone forever. No more word problems in math or applied physics either! (who is gonna rebuild that bridge?) Nothing but shitty rap music and trashy video game/experiences in the metaverse.... Heaven help us!!!
Prior to the Nat Turner revolt in 1831, there were few states with restrictions on teaching slaves to read and write. Things changed after that bloody event. Literacy = freedom. It would be well to keep that in mind.
obviously. but what say we start in the 1st or 2nd grade?
I was reading by the time I started kindergarten. I remember an experiment where I was sent as a third grader to read "The Cat in the Hat" to the kindergarten kids. This was in 1964. It did not do wonders for my popularity amongst my peers, but soon they were all vying to read to "the little kids". Children need to learn that reading is not just a good thing, it is the NORM, it is what is expected of them. No more "participation trophies", no more dumbing down, we need to bring back the value of excelling and winning. A value that seems to be banished from public schools. That is the springboard to a lifetime love of learning.
Similar experience in the late 60's. Bored as crap in 1st grade while most everyone else was learning to read. By 2nd grade, they let me pick any books I wanted out of the library, regardless of their "grade level" and I did not have to read what the class was trying to read. I'm sure I'd have become what they called a "delinquent child" back then in very short order if they had insisted I had to study at the same level as most of the rest of the class. By 3rd grade they started segregating some of us into a special "G&T" class, and a few at the other end of the learning spectrum into "remedial" classes. To this day, I still think that's best. Not doing anyone any favors trying to force everyone to remain at the lowest common denominator learning level....
I have substitute taught every grade from preschool to twelfth grade on an Indian reservation, and I know firsthand that GATE - "Gifted and Talented" - classes have been the salvation of many kids who would have otherwise fallen into a lot of trouble.
This is a common sense approach.
I teach an intermediate-advanced pottery class at a local community center. Anyone that comes to me must have previous experience...I have two students now that mischaracterized their knowledge. Now I’m spending the bulk of the class time bringing them up to speed to the neglect of the rest of the class.
It only makes sense to put learners in groups with similar skills. It’s better for everyone.
When you are in the line to pay for something, look at how our future generation holds a pen or pencil. Very few of them know how to hold a pen.
Yes, here in the States (Minnesota +), fewer are learning how to write; they print. :(
"...fund kids rather than systems...FULLY FREE FROM ANY GOVERNMENT LIMITATION" [emphasis mine]
I can't process this because it's a political impossibility.
Okay well, that might be a slight overstatement. Just because there's never been, in the history of the world, a large government program free from strings, it's not strictly a metaphysical impossibility.
We have to stop talking about vouchers and demand total privatization. Asking for half a loaf never got anyone even a half a loaf.
It's sad. I feel like the older teaches who did actually teach are now gone or so outnumbered that they have given up and just riding it out until retirement. My 4 girls are grown but I have grandkids that need a good education and the public schools are not providing it!
True. I'm reminded of the late great John Taylor Gatto.
John Taylor Gatto is a legend. Dumbing Us Down really opened my eyes.
but you sure are paying for it...
Great name!
best way to turbocharge students' ability to learn would be to end mandatory vaccination
Mandatory public education in its current form should end after the 8th grade, in my opinion. There's just not that much value added - for most people - in high school.
Academically gifted students may test into high school (and the academically talented of those may test into college).
For everyone else, trade/vocational school will be for everyone else.
Actually, I think 6th grade. After that, kids should have to work for two years in some sort of manual labor job. Middle schoolers need physical outlets during those hormonally squirrelly years.
I think the early years = kindergarten through 8th grade are the main ones that the public school teachers warp the minds of the children. High school's only advantage for public schools is the infrastructure for things like chemistry labs and sports facilities. However, the rural area I lived in from age 23 through 69 had the one room buildings still around (though mostly converted to homes) and communities that had baseball and football fields that were used by local adult leagues and by the kids during the day. Ya really don't need expensive facilities for kids to chase balls around. Bonus: some of those kids joined adult teams later that they could play in for years. Chem labs for the small 10 kid schooling could be easily budgeted for. Add botany with small garden spaces, add auto repair classes with local businesses, but start with bicycle repair- something most kids could use right away. Sewing, cooking, musical instruments easily found along with people willing to teach in the neighborhoods = Re-imagining education!
I agree. The longer you assume a person is going to stay in school, the more willing you are to pass him off to the next guy. Look at what an eighth grade education meant 50 plus years ago. At the very least nobody should be allowed to pass grade 8 without a firm knowledge of grammar, arithmetic, and civics.
Basically modern academia is a Midwit Generation Machine to keep the status quo going.
Some people will never get good education!
My son was homeschooled and he is now a world known game designer/developer.