Yes! You are absolutely correct. I should have prefaced my comment appropriately. I was referring to the decline following the 60's. Alan Bloom's book "The Closing of the American Mid" was only one of the many observations that something was going wrong in the system. I do agree with your position on this. ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Gardner" To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2008 9:03 PM Subject: Re: [OT] Using vouchers to improve the quality ofschools(was:Education reform) >> No amount of funding has helped American schools to improve. Every year >> the >> school budget passes. The schools get millions more. The performance >> continues to drop. > > T'was not always so - The 1930s NYC-PS system was arguably the high-water > mark in the US. Where adequate funding was available the result was often > excellence. Witness the army of prominent professionals - Scientists, > engineers, > doctors, authors, academics, and God help us - lawyers, which sallied > forth from > PS ###, located in some NYC ghetto... > > So what happened? Long story short, the Public Employee Unions wrested > control > of the schools from the parents & school boards in the 40s, and it's > been downhill > since. > > Jack > > > > > > > On 3/16/08, Rich wrote: >> No amount of funding has helped American schools to improve. Every year >> the >> school budget passes. The schools get millions more. The performance >> continues to drop. I do not believe that the tragic failure of American >> education is due to lack of funds. I sent my kids to a private school >> because the education at the schools in our area is pathetic, in my >> opinion. >> However, I still pay for public education. Many people cannot afford to >> send their children to a private school and they are stuck with the >> public >> school system. The trouble with the public school system is not money it >> is >> politics. If we could take the politics out of the schools and introduce >> academics the students would be better education and the country as a >> whole >> would benefit. >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Vitaliy" >> To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." >> Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2008 7:45 PM >> Subject: Re: [OT] Using vouchers to improve the quality of >> schools(was:Education reform) >> >> >> > William "Chops" Westfield wrote: >> >> [...] if all the people who complained that private schools were >> >> too expensive for them were willing to donate, say, 50% of what they >> >> actually COULD afford to their public school, the public schools >> >> could be a lot better. >> > >> > Free Rider problem. And I don't think pouring more money in a system >> > that's >> > inefficient is a good idea anyway. >> > >> >> some of the red-tape associated with public money...) (at least >> >> here, the most common complaint about the schools is that they are >> >> obviously under-funded; large classes, old books in bad condition, >> >> lack of supplies, etc. Other areas may have other problems.) >> > >> > Do you know how much money the schools in your area get per child, per >> > year? >> > I imagine the cost of books is a small fraction of that money, which >> > means >> > the schools have misplaced priorities. >> > >> > Vitaliy >> > >> > -- >> > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive >> > View/change your membership options at >> > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist >> >> -- >> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive >> View/change your membership options at >> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist >> > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist