From: stephen@sprunk.org   
      
   On 31-Mar-15 17:42, Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
   > Stephen Sprunk  wrote:   
   >> I'd agree there is a problem with the typical curriculum in our   
   >> public schools, but that is only distantly related to how well   
   >> students learn whatever it is we choose to teach them.   
   >   
   > What happened to teaching kids how to learn so they learn to teach   
   > themselves and develop a life-long love of learning?   
      
   That's what I remember from kindergarten, but that ended quickly.  If   
   anything, school teaches kids to _hate_ learning.   
      
   > Schools tend to suck the joy out of everything.   
      
   That's what happens when schooling is compulsory.  Most kids don't go to   
   school because they want to learn; they go because they'll literally be   
   arrested if they don't, and as bad as school is, it's not quite as bad   
   as jail.   
      
   >> I disagree with "college-ready" being the only goal for K-12   
   >> schools, but that _was_ the goal chosen by the politicians, and   
   >> Texas schools have done a great job--far better than they usually   
   >> get credit for.   
   >   
   > Yes, vocational education was destroyed, and today, we turn out kids   
   > who aren't ready to work upon graduating with a high school   
   > education.   
      
   The decline of vocational education is a problem, but schools don't even   
   teach basic life skills these days, which even those students who _are_   
   going to college will need.  In my parents' day, classes like Home Ec   
   were required, but by the time I was in school, they were all optional,   
   and today they're not offered at all; students simply don't have time   
   for them because they're so loaded down with academic requirements.   
      
   OTOH, the academics have gotten a lot tougher; my HS science and math   
   classes were more advanced than what my parents took in _college_.  Yet   
   their HS diploma was enough to get a job and support a family, whereas   
   today kids need a college diploma just to work at McDonalds.   
      
   >>> In my area, Mexican immigrants live in the suburbs, in much of   
   >>> the metropolitan area. It's not like the parents have better jobs   
   >>> or a higher standard of living or pay higher rent, although the   
   >>> suburbs that aren't drug re-distribution points have lower murder   
   >>> rates.   
   >>>   
   >>> They do better in suburban public schools.   
   >>   
   >> If the same kids with the same parents went to urban public   
   >> schools, they'd perform pretty much the same, on average.   
   >   
   > It's comparable income levels. Mexican families tend to be working   
   > class, not poor.   
      
   Statistically, the kids of working-class Mexican parents (or anyone   
   else) will do just as well in urban schools as in suburban or rural   
   ones; the _only_ thing that matters is their parents' income level.   
      
   S   
      
   --   
   Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein   
   CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the   
   K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking   
      
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