Which would benefit your nation more....

[tomsnowman123]

It is the students, not the teachers, that are the primary problem with the United States public education system.

Don't get me started on this. I have had teachers who have admitted to losing papers, complained about grading papers in the first place (um, that's their job...) teachers who have lied to students, and teachers who tell their students "no matter how hard you try, you will not get an A in this class." Teachers need to have higher standards set, we need career-long training, and increased pay. I am not saying that teachers are evil, society has to have part of the blame on not helping education, including teachers, at all. To place the blame all of the blame on the students, however, is unfair.

 

[bad_ronald]

Yes they are. That is why they should be given equal oppurtunity to suceed in life. That doesn't mean that they should be handed a free colleage ticket but they should have all their basic education covered and if they have proven themselves to be worthy then the government should pay for colleage education as they cannot afford it. It is the duty of the government to ensure all have secondary education and equal oppurtunities to education. Their socio-economic status should not restrain them.

I stated clearly that the aid should be based on merit. This doesn't mean, however, that teachers should be forced to pass people who fail or to keep students who are disruptive in their classrooms. They are still provided with an opportunity but not a free ticket. Also, since you've agreed that people are born unequal, you must realize that an equal opportunity at success will not cause parity in attaining it, and disparate outcomes among lower and upper class students are to be expected – favoring upper class students.

Don't get me started on this. I have had teachers who have admitted to losing papers, complained about grading papers in the first place (um, that's their job...) teachers who have lied to students, and teachers who tell their students "no matter how hard you try, you will not get an A in this class." Teachers need to have higher standards set, we need career-long training, and increased pay. I am not saying that teachers are evil, society has to have part of the blame on not helping education, including teachers, at all. To place the blame all of the blame on the students, however, is unfair.

The blame lies primarily with the students, not exclusively but primarily. The anecdotes you've provided are not exclusive to inner city public schools. For example, if the student had a grade for the semester low enough that “no matter how hard [he] tried, [he would] not get an A in [his] class” then that's a reasonable thing to say – the teacher is merely explaining the student's prospects. The only thing you've written that's unreasonable is lying to the students (the other two are minor complaints) which shouldn't be tolerated.

In inner city public schools (at least in Philadelphia), it's not possible to be expelled. I know this since many of my friends who were expelled from Catholic schools (which is common: fighting, brining a cell phone to school, having cigarettes on you even if you're eighteen (let alone drugs), or talking back to a teacher would get you expelled) went there and had no reason to ever show up for class – they would pass them, anyway. They even have absurd “in school” suspensions. Such students do not deserve a chance to go to college or make better lives for themselves. Even having such people in environment where other students are there to learn does the good students a disservice. This situation is unacceptable and the only solution is to kick them out and let them live their lives without a diploma – their job opportunities may be very bad, but it's their own fault.

 

[Evil Tyrant]

It would depend on the nation, I live in the USA and we already have more nukes than we know what to do with, so I would say education.

 

[JohnRM]

Every man for himself. Anyway, a strong military protects rich and poor alike.

It is not the job of the government to educate its citizens. It is, in fact, a frightening thought.

 

[tomsnowman123]

I For example, if the student had a grade for the semester low enough that “no matter how hard [he] tried, [he would] not get an A in [his] class” then that's a reasonable thing to say – the teacher is merely explaining the student's prospects.

I should rephrase this. The first day in one of my classes sophmore year, about ten minutes into class, our teacher said "no matter how hard you try, you will not get an A in this class." She was addressing the whole class. Doesn't that seem a little unfair to basically say nobody will be getting an A no matter what? Jumping to conclusions?

I agree, it's a two-way street (student and teacher), eeven a three-way (parents, student, teacher), but I think the "misbehaved teenagers" get an unfair share of the blame.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

if no one in the class gets an A, she is either a bad grader or a bad teacher.

 

[GenMarshall]

I feel that education should be the top priority of the US.

 

[Blazer6]

I am bitter from my poor education. I had several teachers who would rather pass me along than help me. What good is it when the government can strike down your future with discriminatory policies and lying politicians?
If my future was determined by how many A's I got on my report card, I would be screwed. Stop throwing money into the fire that is education and overhaul the Department of Education.

 

[Winner]

...A ten year program to develop a new type of nuclear bomb, which will cost $400 billion, or taking that $400 billion, and using it to pay for a ten year program to provide a free college education to the nations poorest citizens?

Well, if I lived in 1938 situation (essentially when you have only enemies all around you), I'd choose the bomb. For today's Czech Republic, nuclear weapons are unnecesarry - we have only our EU and NATO allies all around us.