wkfan;905853 wrote:And if schools have the money to offer a 'Life Skills' class....I would agree even though I think this is the parents responsibility and not a school district responsibility.
However, unless a district is operating with a huge surplus (i.e. plenty of money for technology, no pay-to-participate fees, etc), a class like this should be the first thing to be cut.
What is the district's responsibility? It is more important IMO for young people to understand basic economic fundamentals such as interest rates, depreciation, and the like. It isn't just an important subject, it is an essential subject.
If we are to reform the money-sucking dinosaur that is the U.S. public education system we need to do this:
1) Introduce foreign languages at an early grade, French and/or German or Mandarin would be great, these are the languages of business internationally aside from English. Not every student has the capability of learning a foreign language, but the option should be available.
2) Consolidate math and science in the intermediate grades into a half-day applied math/science curriculum. Continue through grade 12.
3) Combine liberal arts into an appreciative Reading program. This includes traditional history courses. We waste hours upon hours re-learning the same crap over and over again. Every history book I had post grade 4 has some entry about the "X" uses that George Washington Carver invented for the peanut. Too American-centric and no one gives a $&*%.
4) Dump writing altogether post grade 3. If kids can't write by then they never will.
The amount of time spent on reading/writing and rote memorization is astounding in comparison to real world applications. If we are truly serious about educating our children rather than pushing more false jingoism on them then we need to radically change the system.
