(First entry for the day)
Thankfully, there is a way for all parents -- the phonics crowd, whole language enthusiasts, creationists, defenders of Darwinian dogmas, etc. -- to get their way: privatization. If governments were to let parents choose their children's schools, then fights over educational standards would disappear, becoming matters of consumer choice, not political power. If the state of Georgia decided tomorrow to disband its public schools, divide the funds that it currently spends on education equally among school-age children, and issue a voucher to every child, we would see a lot of positive things happen. Educational controversies would be resolved between parents and educators, not by court order, parents would no longer be set against each other in a struggle to determine what their children are taught. And schools could get on with the business of educating children.
I have some problems with this, but I think having a set of minimum standards all schools have to meet would fix those problems.
OK, maybe someone would start up a school that teaches creationism, or geocentrism, or a flat earth. Someone else may start up a school that teaches crystal healing, therapeutic touch, iridology, etc. The people who graduate from those schools will find they can't get admitted to serious science programs without serious remedial education.
If schools have to prove their students have at least a nodding familiarity with a standard set of ideas and facts, at least people won't be led too far into left field.
And frankly, the way some schools are working, it's hard to see how anyone could do much worse.
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