Posts Tagged ‘ education ’

"Columnist David Brooks of The New York Times, now sadly a reliable lapdog of conservative statism, has come out, in his May 31, 2011 column 'It’s Not About You,' against college and university students regarding their education as a means for advancing themselves in their lives. No, he believes their education ought to serve society, the country, the nation, the public, humanity or some such vague purpose." (05/31/11)

"A government-provided education is not necessarily an education at all. It works well for some, but in all too many cases it’s just a way to socialize kids, teaching little more than obedience to authority or simply acting as a babysitter who is boring kids half to death." (05/24/11)

"There has been a truly mind-boggling increase in college tuition since 1960. For example, law school tuition has risen nearly 1,000 percent after adjusting for inflation .... Meanwhile, college students learn less and less with each passing year." (05/25/11)

"Full disclosure: The idea of schools without gifted programs fills me with visceral meritocratic outrage. In junior high and high school, tracking was the only thing that made my life bearable. In my memory, normal classes were a combination of Waiting for Godot and Lord of the Flies. So I thought it best to mellow out a few days before commenting on Arnold's recent posts on gifted programs." (05/16/11)

"We have crappy, violent schools because they don't have to be better. They have a captured audience and captured funding. Only when a blatantly awful thing happens, and can't be ignored, does it get attention. Otherwise it is business as usual." (05/11/11)

"One of the sad and dangerous signs of our times is how many people are enthralled by words, without bothering to look at the realities behind those words. One of those words that many people seldom look behind is 'education.' But education can cover anything from courses on nuclear physics to courses on baton twirling." (05/10/11)

"Suppose that we were supplied with groceries in same way that we are supplied with K-12 education. ... Does anyone believe that such a system for supplying groceries would work well, or even one-tenth as well as the current private, competitive system that we currently rely upon for supplying grocery-retailing services? To those of you who might think so, pardon me but you’re nuts." (04/24/11)

"The education bubble, like the finance bubble, is fueled by excess money looking for an outlet and unscrupulous promoters looking for suckers. Just as shady bankers lured people into mortgages that were beyond their means, the higher education industrial complex — through its affiliated high school counselors — lures kids into obtaining what seems to be easy money through Sallie Mae with the promise of higher lifetime incomes." (04/19/11)

"An interesting aspect of the Syrian protests shows, once again, the big success of public (i.e., government) schooling in America. Syria is ruled by a brutal dictatorship. Everyone agrees on that. The world is witnessing the power of that dictatorship today, as it employs overwhelming police and military force to suppress dissent and anti-government demonstrations by the Syrian populace." (04/20/11)

"Almost everyone graduates now. We see kindergartners today wearing the traditional cap and gown for 'graduation' up to the first grade. They 'graduate' with cap and gown from elementary school too; but most of them still can’t read." (04/19/11)

"You might remember that Harry Truman, when president, had a sign on his desk: 'The buck stops here.' Not Obama. His motto is: The buck starts here and he quickly passes blame on to everyone! Obama is a true egalitarian — which is NOT a good thing — he wants the equal distribution of blame. Unfortunately he wants the uneven distribution of power; taking it from those who have little and redistributing to those who have much: he, his fellow politicians and the special interest groups that fund his side of the political debate." (04/09/11)

"I am not a happy camper. I live in Wilmette, Illinois. School District 39 in the village where I live is facing a $5.5 million deficit this year. To offset the deficit, a property tax increase amounting to $6.4 million is proposed with the prospect of more tax increases in subsequent years because of increasing deficits. The Board of Education promises not to raise taxes in future years, even though it will have the authority in the present proposal. It reminds me of presidential candidate George H. W. Bush’s pledge of 'read my lips, no new taxes.'" (04/05/11)