Education
This page is a work in progress, so please be patient while I summarize large amounts of data into a basic starting point for discussions about Education policy.
Before I had children, I expressed the desire to Home School them. I had read about people doing this and it seemed perfect to me. My complaint about school was that I spent so much time in useless exercises and couldn’t be free to explore what was important to me at the time. In fact I hated school. I have certainly moderated the extreme views of a teenager and understand that some guidance is needed, and I take a much more balanced position today, but I still believe that a one size fits all education establishment leaves many children floundering. My Parents were public school teachers, one set of grandparents were teachers, my siblings are teachers, and all the people who were friends of my parents were teachers or in the education arena. I have a lot of experience interacting with the education establishment, and have formed many opinions about it.
When examining the area of education policy I like to break it down into two areas, the interest of the family and individual student, and the interest of the state.
The states interest is simple; educated, motivated and culturally attuned students grow into productive members of society and eventually generate economic support and growth. Uneducated, less productive citizens can become an unruly mob and generate little value to the state. The state is motivated to provide education for these reasons, and in the United States there is also a history of education as a public good. This discussion assumes education in the broadest sense, including academic subjects through High School as well as trade liscensure and other specific programs for “job skills”.
The family or student interest is more complex.
There are many options in school today; Home School, Partial School, Tutoring, Charter and Private institutions, Traditional school and expensive “prep” schools, among other variations on each of these themes.
Money in education
Wash Post on DC vouchers and Deroy Murdock on the same.
School Choice
John Stossel’s recent article
The feminization of education and girls out performing boys
ADD/ADHD
Why one size fits all?