| I apologize for the lack of clarity. Didn't want to get too far into the weeds, but I think after school is a great place to start. My favorite example of this are Japanese cram schools (Juku), which serve a much larger and varied function than most people who have heard of them realize. Japan has an extensive network of for-profit after school programs that act as a check on the standards enacted in Japanese public schools. When the Ministry of Education decided to change its standards (which affect curriculum across the nation), the juku responded by offering tougher courses, balancing out any perceived weakening of the public schools. Rosegaard's book is my favorite on the subject of Juku: http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Education-Cram-School-Busines... There is some inherent unfairness to that system, mainly having to do with parents who can and can't pay for juku. But there are ways to mitigate the issues caused by socioeconomic differences. Some of those issues have already been somewhat addressed in America by the Supplementary Educational Services (http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/choice/help/ses/index.html) portion of NCLB. The program essentially forces failing schools to pay for after school tutoring. I'd prefer a better designed SES program, but I think after school could be more promising than charters or vouchers for several reasons: 1. After school addresses the reality that children are as, if not more, affected by experiences outside of the normal school day
2. It would help avoid many of the contentious issues surrounding teachers unions
3. It would allow for innovative approaches to curriculum and teaching without the burdens of having to supply everything we expect from a school (music, art, gym programs; extracurriculars, tricked out facilities)
4. It might stimulate a growth of small, education-oriented businesses in poor/minority communities (there are several successful, minority-owned tutoring companies in my hometown that rely on SES) This isn't to say nothing should be done to reform schools from the inside. I just think we could use a two-pronged approach. |
All it does is created socially retarded (in the non-derogatory way) children unable to deal with anything that doesn't come out of a textbook, with no discernible life skills whatsoever.
I've spent years unlearning things from that stage of my life, and I'm still not done. Every day I'm learning social norms and life knowledge that I honestly should have found out at age 12, not age 24. When you send kids to a public school for 8 hours, then spend the next 6 hours not interacting with people, and instead cramming for their next exam so they won't be hopelessly left behind, you're creating a massive social problem for later. When your children's only free time in a day is spent wolfing down packed dinner while the taxicab speeds from one cram class to another, you are doing yourself and your children a grave disservice.
There is a fundamental difference between school and education, one would be wise not to confuse the two.
More schooling is an absolutely ass backwards solution to our educational problems. The solution is better education, not slapping de facto mandatory private schools on top and making our kids work more hours than an EA employee.