MM>> VH> Without any prompting, they told me their number one problem
MM>> VH> was "teachers who can't read."

MM>>I mentioned NZ's new regulations for ensuring teachers were
MM>>literate and numerate before being allowed into a classroom ... it
MM>>occurs to me after I'd posted that reply that a similar bit of
MM>>legislation would solve a great many of society's ills...

 VH> But how do you do that?

 VH> In Europe, they measure literacy by the number of years of
 VH> school completed -- one doesn't have to be able to read in
 VH> order to be classed as literate.

 By that standard, the US was the most literate country in the
 world. The average level of achievement was tied with Canada as
 the highest.

 VH> Here in the US, we have used teacher tests -- but the
 VH> teacher's union bitterly opposes that and erects all sorts
 VH> of obstacles.

 In about half of all states, the teacher's unions have limited
 power. In about a dozen they have little or no representation.
 In some it is well below 10%, like Texas where it is less than
 1%.

 So the union can do nothing about teacher exams in those states.

MM>>How about insisting on parents demonstrating both skills and
MM>>theory in bringing up babies before the first offspring births ?

 VH> Again, how do you do that?  Especially in a society that
 VH> has rewarded women for having children out of wedlock?

 Couple points on that. Unwed birth rates in the US have been
 going up since 1941. Well before there was any reward for it.
 Birth rates for unwed black women peaked in 1961, and have
 declined since, with the only exception being Reagan's family
 values second term. Overall the rate went down about 30% between
 1961 and 2001. The rate for white women peaked in the late '90s.

 It had gone up almost 300% from 1961 till 2001.

 The overall unwed birth rates rose pretty well evenly from 1941
 on, with two significant jumps in the rate of growth. The first
 was in Eisenhower's second term, the second in Reagan's second
 term.

 Both Eisenhower's second term, and 1961, when the rate for black
 women peaked, were before the Great Society.

 All figures from the Statistical Abstract of the US, and
 "Historical Statistics of the United States, from Colonial Times
 to 1970."

MM>>I keep trying to have basic child-rearing introduced into the year
MM>>0-12 curricula here  -  a very lone voice,  I'm afraid.

 VH> Both child-rearing and economics -- so they can support
 VH> their offspring.

 I wonder how many economists have trouble balancing their
 checkbooks. Just wondering.


BOB KLAHN bob.klahn{at}sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... "all the world's economists, laid end-to-end, could not reach a
conclusion"
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