"To amend sections 3301.079, 3313.60, and 3313.603 of the Revised Code to include content on specified historical documents in the state academic standards and in the high school American history and government curriculum."
Students entering ninth grade in the fall of 2012 will be required to study The Declaration of Independence, The Northwest Ordinance, The Constitution of the United States with emphasis on the Bill of Rights, and The Ohio Constitution. Also included will be the Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist Papers for historical reference.
Really? We have to legislate this? I would think that teaching our founding documents in high school would be a no-brainer. Evidently, we have no brains in education. Or at least none in those positions that make curriculum decisions if we have to resort to this.
For that matter, why is the state making these decisions anyway? Shouldn't these decisions be made at the local school board level? Oh yea. That's right. We've turned all that over to the state and federal governments. And we wonder why so many kids can't read but graduate from high school anyway.
In my world, education would be privatized. Decisions would be made by a board made up of parents, teachers, and others who have a vested interest in how well the school performs. We could call it "The School Board".
Good teachers would be kept and poor teachers would be fired. Great teachers would be in demand and would ultimately make the most money. No more tenure. No more last hired, first fired. Teachers would have input about what to teach and how to teach.
The school board would make the decisions about what classes would be offered. If a school wants to offer classes in religion, they could do that based on the demands made by parents. Yes, God would be in more schools. The 'extra' classes that could be offered would not be limited. If a school chooses to offer a course in underwater basket weaving, that would be up to the board, parents, and teachers. The board could even choose to have parents teach some courses or be guest speakers. Try doing that now.
Funding would come directly from parents. Tuition payments could be made monthly, or annually if you prefer. Parents would become more involved because when they write out that tuition check every month, it would remind them to attend school board meetings. Scholarships would be available for those who need help with tuition funded by companies and anyone else interested in voluntarily contributing.
That's my world. For the time being, education is primarily a public service funded by taxes.
Under the current system of funding, the taxes are lumped in with all of the other taxes collected whether it's property taxes or income taxes and it's easy to ignore just how much you are paying to fund your failing school system. And everyone who owns property and/or works for a living must pay them regardless of whether or not you have kids in the school system.
A public school system would have a greater chance of success if we could get away from the notion that the state knows how to educate. They do not. We should allow the local school boards to make the decisions based on the needs of those in their district. What works in a rural district, probably will not work in an urban district. But in this country, we seem to think that what works for one, works for all.
But there are other issues as well. More parents must be involved in the workings of their school board. More citizens must become involved. We need to realize that the school exists to help the parents, not the other way around.
In the meantime, I do want to thank Senator Larry Obhof and Senator Tim Grendell as well as cosponsors Senator Keith Faber, Senator Jim Hughes, Senator Shannon Jones, Senator Kris Jordan, Senator Tim Schaffer, Senator Bill Seitz, Senator Tom Sawyer, and Senator Cliff Hite, for SB165. It's a good step in the right direction. Somewhere in Ohio, there may be a junior high student who will be inspired by those documents to lead the transformation of Ohio's school system closer to my utopia. But I hope it happens before then.
In Japan, a school's tuition is paid for by the family of the student that is attending said school.
ReplyDeleteWhile this is a step in the right direction, it should've been something already done and not have a bill passed to get these students to study or to know simple things.
Is it a possibility that by paying for school more directly, it would be taken more seriously by more students? Would parents be more demanding? Do we take education for granted because too many consider it an entitlement and 'free'?
ReplyDeleteI do think that people think its entitled to them and they end up dropping out their senior year, *cough dumbasses cough* But if they paid for it then maybe they'd realize just how important it is. Kids drop out thinking they can get a lot of money by start working early or popping out kids early so they can get on welfare.
ReplyDeleteI know I kinda took it for granted in high school and didn't take it too seriously my first time around in college but now I feel that I have no more chances left and this is the time to finish what I started and become what I dream to become.