Hi Ryan, as you were just saying about Re: STREET PEOPLE....
RB> RT> Why do you think the system "......keeps grinding more and more to a 
RB> RT> complete halt"? I see you bitching, but I don't see any 
RB> RT> *constructive* criticism from you. What do you feel should be fixed?  
RB> RT> How would you do it?  What do you feel the monies should be spent on?
RB> 
RB> The problem is that schools too badly need money, and they are too
RB> much a  political entity. For instance, take standardized testing.
RB> So the legislature  imposes new restrictions on kids to graduate,
RB> but they do nothing to improve  the quality of education being
RB> received, which means that  many kids are set up  to fail. 
Agreed.  Standardized testing is important, however without the
education behind it to raise kids to those new standards it is an empty
promise.
RB> The other problem is that schools are turning over their
RB> curriculum to  corporations, in their pursuit of money. Maybe you
RB> heard the news that a kid  was suspended from high school for
RB> wearing a Pepsi shirt on 'Coke Day' at the  school, where Coca-Cola
RB> came in and threw a bunch of money  and PR around. This  is symbolic
RB> of the commercialization of school, including things like Channel 
RB> One.
I agree with you here again.  Too many athletic departments are
selling their souls for the Nike swoop.
RB> The final problem I see is that school is not for education,
RB> school is a  vocational training ground, period. 
When I went through schools, the course curriculums were different
depending on whether one was doing college-prep or vacational training.
 Are you saying that is no longer true?
RB> Its the bottom
RB> line,  whether you are there  for pre-college training, or flat-out
RB> job training. How can  you expect kids to  ever care about history or
RB> advanced math when that conflicts with everything  else you're
RB> teaching them? This is why you hear so many kids say, "why do we 
RB> have to know this stuff, we'll never use it in real life." 
I am not sure what you are saying here.  I do understand the feeling
that the kids don't think that they will ever need to know to figure
out the height of a building or where Croatia is.  The only problem is
that the basics taught in those courses are used everyday.  How many
mothers (and fathers) do you think really knew where Vietnam was while
their kids were over there?
What I don't understand is what you mean by "...when that conflicts
with everything else you're teaching them."  Can you be more specific? 
RB> And, of course, the overwhelming problem is that schools 
RB> are run like miniature
RB> 
RB> dictatorships, with, as I said, police dogs, police officers with
RB> guns, metal  detectors, etc. 
Some yes, not all schools.  BTW, why do you think that those schools
are that way?
RB> The rights granted students in the
RB> Tinker case have all but  been totally eroded, and kids are taught
RB> exactly what kind  of democracy we live
RB> in: one in which most people don't count.
I hear some of what you are trying to say, but I still don't see any
proposed solutions from you.  I asked what you thought should be done
and your only 'fix' was more money.  Liberals been doing that for years
and here we are.  Obviously just throwing money at the problem is not
the fix.  
I asked you, "What do you feel should be fixed?"  and "How would you
do it?" You obviously don't like police presence in your school but you
haven't given me an alternative.  You haven't given any ways to
alleviate the social conditions in the schools so that the police
presence is no longer required.
I also asked, "What do you feel the monies should be spent on?".   You
have not given me any answer other than throw more money at it.  
I am truly interested in your ideas.  I would prefer to discuss them
over in CIVLIB as most of what we are discussing here is probably
somewhat off topic.  
RD 
sandman@azstarnet.com 
http://www.azstarnet.com/~sandman
A well-educated Congress being necessary for the governing of a free
state, the right of the people to read and write books shall not be
infringed.
--- Maximus/2 3.01
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