Secular Café: Maybe Schools Should Stop Sucking, Ever Think of That?

Secular Café For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world

Maybe Schools Should Stop Sucking, Ever Think of That? Aug 21st 2012, 05:05 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/ed...ment.html?_r=2 Quote: Originally Posted by NYT Enrollment in nearly half of the nation's largest school districts has dropped steadily over the last five years, triggering school closings that have destabilized neighborhoods, caused layoffs of essential staff and concerns in many cities that the students who remain are some of the neediest and most difficult to educate. While the losses have been especially steep in long-battered cities like Cleveland and Detroit, enrollment has also fallen significantly in places suffering through the recent economic downturn, like Broward County, Fla., San Bernardino, Calif., and Tucson, according to the latest available data from the Department of Education, analyzed for The New York Times. Urban districts like Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio, are facing an exodus even as the school-age population has increased. Enrollment in the New York City schools, the largest district in the country, was flat from 2005 to 2010, but both Chicago and Los Angeles lost students, with declining birthrates and competition from charter schools cited as among the reasons. Poor public schools :(. It must be rought having students go to charter to schools. Maybe public schools should stop sucking so bad. Look at all the terrible things that will happen because of this: Quote: Originally Posted by Same Article Because school financing is often allocated on a per-pupil basis, plummeting enrollment can mean fewer teachers will be needed. But it can also affect the depth of a district's curriculum, jeopardizing programs in foreign languages, music or art. Oh no! No more Shakespeare studies for Johnny. Quote: "The fewer students we have, the fewer dollars we're getting" from the state and federal government, said Matthew E. Stanski, chief financial officer of Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland, where enrollment has fallen by almost 5 percent in five years, despite sharp gains in nearby counties. The fewer students they have, the less money they should need. At least following teh logic of "We have more pupils so we need more money" which these guys usually don't shy away from. Quote: Originally Posted by PAGE 2 In Los Angeles, the district has dismissed more than 8,500 teachers and other education workers in the last four years as enrollment fell by about 56,000 students. The Mesa Unified District, which lost 7,155 students between 2005 and 2010, has closed four middle schools in the last three years, delayed new textbook purchases, and laid off librarians. That kind of sucks, since the mission of the school system is to employ people. :dunno: Looks the introduction of a modicum of competition into education reveals what a failure the system is. On the whole, what do you guys think of this?

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