[rawland]

Good education is politically discouraged.

That is my impression, too. It is very very disappointing, as I am at the beginning of the trajectory John C. Beck just ended. His decision and words do not surprise me a bit...

I didn't find out why, yet. The gist of my current theory is, that this crumbles down from old minds in politics getting more and more detached from what is actually happening in and around the {academe/increasingly digital} world.

[jqm]

Have you ever watched George Carlin's bit on why education is so bad in the US?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMqJvhmD5Yg

Of course Carlin is a comedian and there is no evidence (that I am aware of) of a conspiracy to dumb down education. I think it's probably more of a case of a noxious wilting blight disease called bureaucracy. Education certainly isn't the only institution stunted and crippled by this infection either.

The bottom line is... if you want a good rounded education, you are going to have to do it yourself. An institution might help with this but isn't going to be the whole answer...and, they are becoming less helpful it seems. Although there are no doubt some corners of the academic world that have so far proved resistant to bureaucratic blight... these are becoming less and less frequent.

[NewZealandRocks]

It seems like the opportunity is ripe for disruption in this educational community. The cost of education is becoming prohibitively expensive and our public schools are not preparing students well for the real world.

I think if more emphasis were placed on the importance of career development early on, students would have better focus. In addition, teachers need to do a better job at demonstarting how learning can benefit their students. It is in everybody's best interests to have an informed and educated society.