Read the post Fund Schools According to Need by Anonymous on July 13, 2024 - 1:39pm.
Then read:
Re: Fund Schools According to Need
Anonymous on July 13, 2024 - 3:47pm
"Michigan? Don't they give an extra tax break to filers with schoolage kiddies? Why don't they delete that extra tax break but then reserve the additional funds collected for education spending?"
You were aware from your subject line that there were two different Anonymous posters.
Then you come up with "as for the extra breaks I have never seen any except the standard deduction" but you are given a link that shows a kid would allow a $3,200 exemption but an elementary age kid would qualify for an additional $600 exemption.
Your response to that in part says "I don't think of that as a tax break for education."
No one said it was but it is an extra exemption. Then they moan about funding schools. I say compromise. Let the parents contribute more to educating their young. I don't want the money to go to pay raises and pensions for those who pass your laws but why should parents demand more funding for schools yet get to pay less in taxes?

I don't think of that as a tax break for education, It is given becuase a child earns no outside work income until about 13 it is applied however way to long IMHO. Yet, said child or children cost a small fortune to raise from one to eighteen the estimate is something like $100,000 dollars. It is applied not to offset education but to offset the cost of raising a non producing member of the family. But I can see your point about exemptions for children but children prior to working incur costs and produce no income. I think maybe imposing a scaled back deduction after 13 and a complete elimination after 18 will provide the extra taxes we need. That I would have no problem with. I am in college and the generation that followed mine has a sense of entitlement that is beyond belief. and if you are single and maybe if you have your tubes tied or a vasectomy then I would have no trouble giving you a break for that.
Beyond that you won't ever get them to change the tax structure to even a neutral stand on procreation.

Things are better in threes (unless it's on a match.)
I was curious so I went to this site.

http://www.mi.gov/documents/MI-1040_144980_7.pdf

Look at 9. a. and then look at 9. d. Sure looks like an extra tax break to me.

You mention "I know we give seniors a write off because it was considered unfair for grandpa and grandma to pay for kids education when they don't have any" but why not apply that to single people especially when they have no intent to procreate. As for grandma and grandpa they must have had children if they are "grand" parents.
If a private school is only about basic education I would support state funds going to a school that had good teaching success. If they offer a religion class or press a political agenda I would say no.

The reason is the state sales tax effects everyone and the value of your house has no effect on what you pay. It does hit the poor harder but we exempt two things that the poor buy most of.
That is the problem what you might define as a need someone else places as a want. It should be based on performance not on need. We have this marxist mind set in public schools of "each according to his need" which makes everyone else responsible for the failure and not the teachers, parents, schools this does not resolve the issue I put forward my comments because another person said it is the same old discussion and no solution so I put four down, as to the later comment no we do not get breaks to send kids to private schools the state constitution bans any state funds from going to Private schools in the k-12 arena( Power of the MEA is Omnipotent, Just ask our current senator about what she had to do to just try to run for the senate) as for the extra breaks I have never seen any except the standard deduction, I know we give seniors a write off because it was considered unfair for grandpa and grandma to pay for kids education when they don't have any, Which I am sad to say is changing as grandparents adopt their grandchildren due to negligent parents.

Michigan? Don't they give an extra tax break to filers with schoolage kiddies? Why don't they delete that extra tax break but then reserve the additional funds collected for education spending?
I agree that other factors aside from seniority should also be considered in teacher retention. I have seen burnout after two years and after 20 years in the classroom. I have seen enthusiasm after 25 years of having taught and a lack of it in the first year.
I think teachers need to connect with their students but I have seen some who seem more like playmates than mentors.

I live in Michigan. I don't get why we must fund schools using only a specific tax like the property tax or the sales tax?

Why not have all forms of revenue be available and let the Legislature allocate funds to education according to need.

Maybe even a little more to some schools than others, since there are some schools that really need it, while some are doing great.

I also think we should do away with seniority. The best interests of the schools and of the students is to have the best teachers. Experience can help, but it is not the only factor so sometimes teachers who have been at the school for a longer time aren't as qualified. Lay-offs should effect who ever is least qualified.

In Michigan we tried to do just this by switching from a local property tax to an increase in sales taxes, In Michigan we have a moderately progressive sales tax it exempt non prepared ( ie not Fast food) from the tax and prescription medication but we still have inequity some schools are still spending approximately 10,500 per pupil while others are getting by on the state allocation in the $6,000 to $7,000 thousand range. Several districts are fighting the provision saying they can't live under the budget restrictions. What they do not tell the reader is A) they gave the teachers over the length of contracts a jump in value of btwn 2.5 and 3.5% increase during the next cycle knowing full well the appreciation in the same district would be about 1.2% if you do this math you will have deficits. I love the teacher who argue against vouchers saying they will only take the best and brightest. Well I am the living contridiction I was taken by the parochial systems despite having a 1.5 GPA obviously not the brightest tool in the shed. My grades improved but not substantial I struggled to get to a 2.0 ( if I was DeVos winner I would have been thrown out the first year) But it did provide me what I needed a nurturing enviornment where it did not matter is you were poor or rich, One Faith of the Other, all that mattered is you had potential.
So you want to kick Education in the pants here's how it is done and its name is simple Relevence if you are going to be shop type person you need the basics of Reading Writing and Arithmatic but it should be relevant to what you want to do. I took a number of screwy classes covering everything from the enviornment to the stars until I was in Parochial school where the only thing I did not learn was about computers ( we had one Apple I think it was donated) But I can run circles around a kid from the Detroit School system about African History and African American History both. We were taught to respect and appreciate the differences in our society and to that I am overly greatful.
I think we need to start first overhauling the accrediation system Because A) it has went from creating a set of standards to being an employment program for professors and professional educators and it needs to stop.
B) We need strict deadlines and performance reviews that are independant You fail in three years your funding goes bye and we farm the kids out to the local school districts that are meeting the objectives if not exceeding them. I say 3 years about it.
C)All College or Vocational Training must come with a mandatory internship paid or unpaid but it must be required to graduate.
D) and finally only those maintaining a 3.5 in their major are allowed to graduate failure after a year results in expulsion for Five years before readmission is considered ( it took me that long to figure out I screwed up)
And that will fix the system.

I would have to say that the biggest obstacle is not trusting that they money is being put to good use. I have seen at least two districts where new millages passed, yet there were no significant changes or improvements. The district we live in now has done significant improvments - so we see where the money is spent... something tangible. But...not all improvments are tangible (wage increases, supplies and such), and I understand that.

I have done some research into school funding and how it is directly proportionate to the property values in the communities being taxed. Of course the communities are going to push for higher value homes as they have the potential to contribute more taxes. Unfortunately, in the lower income neighborhoods and districts, there is little to no tax base so the schools are funded poorly.

I don't pretend to fully understand the in's and out's of school funding, but there has got to be a more simple solution to all of this. Better education for everyone will only improve the lives of everyone.

Such a long thread, and I can find nothing new. Same old discussion, same old arguments, same old, same old... Funny isn't it how the money, no matter where you procure it from, comes from the same pockets - yours and mine: the same pockets that end up paying for the professional athlete's exhorbitant salary (millions of $s). Want to fix education? Do away with "seat time". When they learn what you want them to know, send them on to college. Four years of High School? Who came up with that as the magic number? Let's be flexible - 1 year to however many years it takes to learn what we want you to know. Want to be disruptive in school? Go get a job. Sorry, I don't want to pay for your education. Want to come back and not be disruptive - OK. Believe me, politicians have no interest in the education of your children unless they can derive some personal benefit from it. (Money). The farther we get government out of education the better the education will be.

Lynn Rob has it right. Nlowell has it wrong.

The federal government should be out of the education business. All education should be administered at the state or local level. I don't like going to Capital Hill with a tin cup in my hand asking for monies to perform local functions. Why send the funds to DC and then ask for them to return it? The funds are better off in state and local treasuries as we could eliminate the overhead incurred by the federal bureaucracy.

Education should be high on our national agenda.
What the federal government can do is organize a campaign to encourage learning. Make it important, something to aspire to, equal to being a sports star or an entertainment figure.
What state and local governments can do is invigorate education by taking a new approach to teaching:
1. Establish recruiting criteria that emphasize preparation in subject areas, rather than in education courses; offer an attractive pay package and sell the corollary benefits, such as satisfaction and vacations.
2. Do away with education requirements for teachers. Instead, set up an apprentice or intern system so that entering teachers will spend a year working as an assistant to a master teacher. (This would also help alleviate the problem of too-large classes.)
3. Support the learning process by every means, such as keeping non-teaching duties to a minimum (using volunteers would be one way), and removing to temporary alternative learning situations students who are either non-English-speaking or are disruptive.
4. In the classroom, use community volunteers and high-achieving students as tutors.
5. Encourage teaching that aims at a variety of learning styles.
6. Clarify what constitutes the basic education needed for a literate, educated workforce and provide assistance for students in choosing what direction to take beyond the basics--whether technical or vocational training, liberal arts studies, or preparation for one of the professions.

The population of the United States is by definition the most diverse in the world. As a result, the delivery and outcome of education to all children cannot be compared to other countries.

There is no commonality of goal or uniformity of background, so how can one Federal approach fit every county in the United States? Even a statewide approach won't work, because in South Carolina, at least, the poor rural counties with high minority populations have completely different needs from the beach areas which have different needs from the densely populated urban areas, etc. ad nauseum.

The only way in which "No Child Left Behind" got it right was that we DO have to have a uniform measure of the result of education. How we get the result should be left to individual school districts unless the district is completely unable to provide a positive outcome.

Oddly enough, South Carolina-of all places-has got it mostly right and is now tweaking the system to make it better. (When you are at the bottom of the heap there is no way to go but up.)

The legislature has just passed a law which will remove school funding from property taxes and shift it to the state level to be funded by a 1% increase in the state sales tax. This makes good sense since we are a tourist mecca, and average homeowners in desirable tourist destinations are being taxed out of their homes.

The other positive outcome of this legislation is that our poor rural counties which have a very small property tax base will now see their school funding rise to meet their special needs.

Total Outlays (M)
2005: 72,945
2006: 83,984
2007: 64,484

Detail breakdowns by spending project are at the end of the document. Something less than half of the budget appears to be going to K-12 education and programs.

Source: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy07/pdf/budget/education.pdf

It's probably not reliable but it IS the government's official number.

My Ideal is to get federal government out of the education business. Obviously, our opinions vary.

1) I'm not going to search other threads. If you care to
incorporate them here please do so.

2) Without knowing the source of the figure of $65 billion in federal funds my statement of "not knowing" the federal contribution remains intact. People frequently cite incorrect #s. A quick search on Google yielded me the sum of 56 billion and not 65 billion. Since that figure vaires from yours I'll make the assumption that various sources cite various figures. Does anyone know the true figure.

3) I'll reiterate - There should be no Federal contribution for elelementary and secondary education. My statement of "those funds would be better spent if they were collected as property vs. federal taxes" should be taken as a reduction in federal taxation and an increase in state and local taxation as a source for education funds. To me, education is a local and not a federal purview.

4) Fewer than 25% of Americans have a Bachelor's degree. I believe it's closer to 20% the last I read but that was several years ago. What % is appropriate for the general population to be college-educated or high school-educated? Is it 30%, 40%? What % is the goal? Perhaps (and I don't know) 20% is a good percentage. I know kids that had the opportunity to go to college and turned it down. They became auto mechanics, real estate sales people, enlisted in the armed forces, etc. Everyone is not capable of college nor is everyone capable of finishing high school.

5) High school dropout rates are rising fast? What is the rate? What's an acceptable rate because it will never be zero? Please cite the source of your statement. If true, is that the fault of the education system? Is it a societal issue vs. and education issue? Please inform. I know nothing of dropout rates.

7) The important work of education -How does education rank with regard to public safety, public health, malnutrition, housing needs, etc.?

8) "50 years of neglect" - The basis for that statement is ... ? What constitites neglect? What's neglected here that's not neglected in other nation's school systems?

The topic drifted a bit into a debate about actual solutions for schools, and the relative pros and cons of Props 81 & 82, but the general drift of the answer to my question seems to be summed up by toddpw such "To address your real question, though: I think everyone recognizes the importance of education, but we're burned out from repeatedly trying and failing to find solutions that (a) people agree on and (b) actually work." That would also be my guess as to the biggest problem - people have little confidence in the government to find a solution.

A couple of other thoughts:

When I view the international rankings data that everyone gets so wound up about, it appears that while our averages are relatively low, our medians and upper quartile performance is fairly respectable, which tells me that it is the bottom half/quartile of the scores that are really pulling our overall score down. Is this an indication that most of our schools are adequate, but we are underserving our most disadvantaged students relative to other countries? (or maybe that we have a larger challenged population than those other countries?) Therefore, most people wouldn't see a problem for themselves. They answer the opinion pollster according the media scare hype, but when it comes to paying for it they realize their school/student is doing just fine.

Or maybe it is also an issue of who actually turns out to vote. Maybe most voter's schools are quite adequate so they see little need for further funding - they send their kids to good suburban schools or private schools. The vast majority of the seriously troubled schools are serving (or not, as the case may be) populations that are so disenfranchised with the system that they do not participate in the political process and vote. Therefore, when a telephone poll is taken you capture many of those opinions, but the votes don't show up on polling day.

One further idea, probably a bit more cynical, is that only a small percentage of the country feels directly affected by the education system. At any point in time only a minority have kids in or about to attend school. While everyone admits to the import of the topic, only that group is willing to pay for it.

Any thoughts on the validity of these ideas?

Chris said, "I can't agree less with nlowell's litany of needs: smaller classes, teachers, more flexibility in the schools, schools that involve parents...,etc.

The litany translates into a single need - money. The way nlowell espouses this need it's as if that's the only need we have in this country."

Actually, my opinion is that this is only one of many issues that needs addressing. You can find my posts on other threads as well. And, yes, repairing 50 years of neglect will take a LOT more money than the half billion the US spends on public education today. With over 50M school age children in the US, that's $10000 per year per kid on average.

But that's the average and a very large number of school districts spend much less than that per student. My opinion is that it probably costs considerably more than that, especially in low SES districts.

Then Chris said, "I don't know what the federal government spends on education but all of those funds would be better spent if they were collected as property vs. federal taxes."

If you had read *all* of my post, you would have learned that the Feds spent $65B in Education in 2024. It was in the paragraph immediately following the litany you object to so much. The actual contribution of Federal dollars to local public education is about 1 in 10. The downside of course, is that that revenue may well be largely offset by the expenses incurred by Federally mandated testing. (Here in Colorado, the Feds contribute about $35M and the CSAP testing costs an estimated $31M per year) So you're already very close to your goal of having no Federal money contributing to public education in the US. Just not quite the way you expected, I bet.

Chris followed with, "Too much time is spent pummeling our education system's shortcomings and not enough on bragging about its strengths. I see plenty of intelligent, driven kids graduating from college every year..."

According to US Census figures only 85% of Americans over the age of 25 graduate from high school and fewer than 25% of Americans have even a Bachelors degree. High school dropout rates are climbing very fast in many school systems and are often being hidden from the public by creative definitions of "drop out."

Chris and I actually agree on his statement, "As for "no child left behind" - a foolish statement and an ideal but certainly not an achievable goal." This is particularly true with the current implementations of the objectives.

We also agree on the statement that "You don't need more teachers. You need a lot more teachers."

But now that you've got it out of your system, Chris, are you saying that there is nothing wrong with education in the US? That we should stop messing about and get on with more important work than public education?

I can't agree more with the assessment to get the Feds out of the education business. Sending money to DC and then begging to get it back is insane. The money would be better off staying local and/or intrastate. If "all politics is local", that axiom is even truer when applied to education. Having a single nationwide syllabus for our school system is a recipe written in "soicialese".

I can't agree less with nlowell's litany of needs: smaller classes, teachers, more flexibility in the schools, schools that involve parents...,etc.

The litany translates into a single need - money. The way nlowell espouses this need it's as if that's the only need we have in this country. I don't know what the federal government spends on education but all of those funds would be better spent if they were collected as property vs. federal taxes. Too much time is spent pummeling our education system's shortcomings and not enough on bragging about its strengths. I see plenty of intelligent, driven kids graduating from college every year and have become ill listening to education "angst" from single-issue education supporters.

Anyone in education who doesn't keep screaming for more money is a fool. "Give me more" has become the American mantra. But these people are less foolish than those who respond to thier pleas and throw ever more money in education's bottomless pit.

As for "no child left behind" - a foolish statement and an ideal but certainly not an achievable goal. There are stupid (Yes, some are stupid.) kids out there, there are undriven kids out there, there are unguided kids out there and all of those kids - all - will all be left behind. That's not indifference that's being pragmatic. The perfect education safety net has never and will never be constructed.

Someone needs to create an achievable goal for our education system and eliminate the "pie in the sky" thinking that is so prevalent in this blog. Most kids in the school system thrive. Those of you who are looking for "more" wouldn't be satisfied if you had "all."

I think that this blog is being hypercritical of our education system.

Lastly, no one cares about "no child left behind". They care about their own child being left behind and if their child isn't left behind they don't care if someone else's kid is. Hence, the indifference of the public.

Come down and get your feet on the ground folks that's where everybody else is walking.

P.S. You don't need more teachers. You need a lot more teachers. A large portion of our teachers will be retiring as the baby boomers move on to claim what little is left of our invisible, social security reservoir.

As a California voter I can tell you that this had little to do with our committment to better education and everything to do with BADLY WRITTEN LAWS.

Prop 81 was going to use a ridiculous amount of debt to fund the construction of libraries. Prop 82 was a dubious improvement over preschool programs already in place, and had a trap in it that might force parents to pay the difference if tax revenue was inadequate.

Many of the propositions in Arnold's "special election" last year also had loopholes, traps, or pork. This has been a general problem in CA for at least the past decade.

To address your real question, though: I think everyone recognizes the importance of education, but we're burned out from repeatedly trying and failing to find solutions that (a) people agree on and (b) actually work.

The polls that matter are the ones where people cast ballots. Prop 82 was nixed partly because most people who vote do not want their kids forced to attend "universal" pre-school. The other reason being that people suspect that this year they'd tax the rich, next year they'd tax the middle class, and the year after that they'd raise everyone's taxes to pay for the previous years' shortfalls. Can anyone here blame them, or is this place awash with unwavering trust for government ?

And what in blazes did that Meathead character (Reiner) think parents of 4 year old were going to do, jump for joy at the prospect of sending their sons and daughters into public school warehouses a year or two early?

Mr. Scully makes good points. The problem with the 10th Amendment is that it was written at a time when people weren't so mobile. Now that 20% of the US population moves every year, maybe the Fed has a role in items of national interest (like having a literate, educated workforce).

Mr. John Patrick Scully, and yes you can call me Greg.
I see we agree on some principle ideas. Can you enlighten on this statement:
“In addition, It is an incredible waste for each and
every district to manage their own curriculum. (Or not
manage it and keep teaching an out-dated one).”

To my knowledge no state has ever given any school district complete control over core curriculum. Do you have knowledge that some state has given its power to all the districts are maybe just a few, and if so I would be interest to hear if student achievement went up, down or remained static.

Also in my never to be humble opinion, it is imposable for any core curriculum that teaches reading books, sentence structure (including grammar and punctuation) and math to go out of date. As far as I know, when Johnny threw the ball: Johnny is the subject, threw is the verb and ball is the direct object. Also, one plus one equals two. I don’t think those three concepts have changed in the pass thousand years (number three was you reading the two sentences).

I am sorry to here about you wife’s experiences in her primary education. I being a product of the Los Angeles Unified School District have great empathy for all students.

I restate my opinion as it pertains to a national discuss on education. The federal government has no business dealing with any educational issues.

If you and others here at Unity08 feel, education is a national matter than let us all discuss a constitutional amendment.

Off topic- Many of the discussion I read here at Unity08 are States Right’s issues. Are we as a country that ignorant of our Constitution or have we as a people evolved to the point where the 10th Amendment is irrelevant? I think I will post this comment as it is worthy of a nation discussion.

Hi Greg:
(I hope I can call you Greg)

There are many of areas we can agree on. Education is vital,
and we expect some form of government responsibility and oversight.
And I agree with your statement that “The primary education of
every child is first and foremost the parent’s responsibility.”
I feel that responsibility with my three wee-ones.

The government originally got involved in education in the “3R’s.
I believe the school system (federal or state) should be soley
focused on employability. It was my parents that taught me
how to be a good man. It was school that taught me the
skills I needed to be a software engineer.
I concede that the politics of education have turned it into a social
engineering lab. Much like the rest of our political climate,
the critical issues of math, science and technology are
being overshadowed by less important things like prayer
in school, sex education vs. sexual abstinence classes, etc.

The level of education (related to employability) is of national
interest. In these transient times, chances are that my kids
will not graduate from High School in the same district they
are about to start first grade in. Simply moving from one
district to another had a severe impact on my wife’s early
education. In addition, It is an incredible waste for each and
every district to manage their own curriculum. (Or not
manage it and keep teaching an out-dated one). The Federal
Government should set a national standard, and provide
tools to teach that core curriculum to the districts.

On Constitutional relevance, there is nothing else any
government could do, state, or federal, to “promote the
general welfare” then educate the people, and see to
their heath care. What else could it do?

I’m not a big government person. The federal government
should be solely focused on national defense, protection
of personal liberty, education and health care, and nothing else.
I would like to see much of the half-assed quagmire
of federal programs cut loose. I want the federal
government to do the things it does well: fewer things
than I can count on my fingers.

And feel strongly that education must be one of them.

Mr. John Patrick Scully, I think you and I can agree that education is vital to our country. I hope we can agree that there needs to some form of governmental oversight. However I strongly disagree that this is a federal issue.

Here is my argument. The primary education of every child is first and foremost the parent’s responsibility. A parent is responsible to educate their children in the areas of: personal behavior, grooming, faith, self reliance, cognitive thinking, emotional response and sexuality. The government original got involved in sub area of cognitive thinking and that was the “3 R’s”.

The parent is legally responsible for the education of a minor. What has broken down is holding minors responsible for there time in school or even getting there. If a minor has a problem getting to school it is first the responsibility of the parent to make this known to the school. It the school drops the ball it is on their heads.

Once a child suits up and shows up it is there responsibility and job to behave and learn. All responsibility and power should be given to the teacher in the classroom for that particular subject.

No longer should any administrator have power over a teacher. Only the core curriculum should be set by the District. The only responsibility an administrator should have is faculty maintenance.

The District should only have the power to set core curriculum and oversight of teacher performance. The State must be removed for setting the curriculum.

The State should only have the power oversight of District performance.

The federal government has no business in education and I propose that the federal government disband the Department of Education.

The 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
“No powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States representative, or to the people.”

Education is a federal problem? Ya right - NOT!. In truth, it probably is - since the federal government got involved, education has gone down hill - so the feds are the problem. I want the federal gov runing educations like FEMA, the ICE (INS) which cant even find 5 million visitors that overstayed their visas , and the Vertrans agency that just lost 2.5 million names and SSN's .. or the CIA that didnt see the Pakai's had a nuke.. or the ATF which burned down a church and murdered 110 US citizens in Waco .. and the IRS that doesn't collect $122 billion in defaults.. or the SEC which overlooked all the corrupt CEO's during the 90's. or the state department that allow the UN to grow into a monster. Turning our kids education over to the Feds makes about as much sense as letting them be babysat by Jeffery Dommer.

Education must be a federal issue.
It is a federal problem.

We cannot afford to look at
Education as anything that can remotely be
fixed by free markets. A free market
system must assume that a percentage
of people are priced out of that market.
Those people are not going to picked
up by the Libertarian Utopia of Charity
Education, they’re going to jail.
And that’s allot more expensive for us
than it would have been to educate them.

Lou Dobbs for President...

No socialist, centrally planned government-run system will ever work, and we have plenty of proof.

A voluntary, free market system, by contrast, would reward the schools and teachers that perform the best, make parents become more involved, give parents more power, and end the political squabbling over what should be taught to everyone.

With no property taxes, and a more efficient school system, private charity could help the children of poor families, and money raised would go to the best schools, not to unresponsive bureaucrats.

No federal monies should ever be spent on one Public School. No federal oversight should be allowed. Education is a “states” issue.

If you allow the feds to over see or give money, by virtue of the Constitution they will take over your school. For those of you who think President Bush’s policies in Iraq are misguided, then why would you want him to be involved in your school any level? For those of you who think a Democratic President would do it better, then by all means get your pocket book out and hand over the money.

The solution is as I have proposed on the “America’s Schools” post.

Sketch said, "[W]e need for the internet to become a tutoring tool whereby volunteers can interactively tutor students that need help on a subject, at any time of the day or night."

Actually this place already exists but only a few people know about it and/or take advantage of it. TappedIn is a community of educators (See http://tappedin.org) where there are people available to help students, teachers, technologists, and anybody else who's dealing with education in any way.

I wonder how many more of our problems already have solutions we don't know about...

better instructor/student ratios:
Some teaching is best done one on one. This is called 'tutoring'. More of this could be done if schools and parent-teacher organizations were more supportive of it. Tutoring would be particularly useful in teaching English, where the best why to teach this skill, as everyone knows, is "total immersion". That involves conversing in the language that is being learned, reading books and having one's pronounciation be corrected by someone who is listening. Three to six months of such instruction can turn any normal child under the age of 10 into a native speaker.

Tracking: Tracking will help the gifted to succeed. It should be complemented by having the gifted take some time each week to tutor those that are not. This will teach some of the gifted how to teach others, an important skill in many career tracks.

Computerization: Often this looks good on paper, but is not up and runninng. My wife spent a day pulling piles of donated computers and monitors the school had piled into a dusty closet and going through them to see which ones functioned, getting them up and running and cleaned up. It took weeks to get permission to do this. Too bad we don't have more community oversight to ensure that things like this are not happening. Ultimately, we need for the internet to become a tutoring tool whereby volunteers can interactively tutor students that need help on a subject, at any time of the day or night. Internet use is higher here than anywhere else in the world, and we can use this tool to connect volunteers to those who need help. This needs to be organized by a group of ngo's that do not have a political agenda, and should start with mathematics, because nobody will start screaming that their child is in danger of being brainwashed by learning geometry. The main need here is some accreditation system to protect children from criminals and sexual predators. There are a lot of good capable people out there, particularly retired people, that could donate a few hours a few times per week to help children with their homework on line. The only government role I see is setting up an accreditation system (background checks). The main obstacle is of course any in the educational establishment that see this as a threat to their predominance. They should welcome the help, but some will probably oppose it.

Respectfully Submitted,

Sketch