The American education system was designed in the early 20th century around a pragmatic philosophy. It teaches practical knowledge. This is very important but is short of what is needed to prosper in the 21st century and beyond.
We need to spend more time on fostering thinking skills and critical reasoning. Problems that we have previously been unable to conceive of will confront us at an accelerating rate. If we don’t want this Tsunami to wash over us, we must be prepared to deal with it.
Somehow, we need to reduce the inequality of opportunities among various schools and districts. I know it’s hard to get a good educator to move to a school district 100 miles from the nearest Costco, but we must deal with this. It’s not just a matter of money, but that is a huge factor. Maybe visiting lecturers or rotating duty assignments, or anything else you can come up with. Maybe more remote learning or better education software. It seems a travesty to waste a good genetic foundation with inadequate nurturing.
Balancing state and federal budgets by reducing funding for secondary and post-secondary education is so short sighted. It reduces future economic expansion and saddles those who do get a college education with student debt, while the education is a benefit to society.
Pete's Wisdom 