Montalvo - Education

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Parents do not have an obligation to pay for their children's college. No way! Society puts WAAAY too much emphasis on the importance of a college education, squandering resources on many who shouldn't be there. Kids who SHOULD attend will always find a way to do so.

K through 12 education should not be separated by gender. When Johnny graduated from HS in the 50's and 60's, he could actually read....co-ed schools, no "new math", bigger classes, lower teacher pay. We've lost the recipe and are relying on gimmicks.

Meditation should not be incorporated into education. Lessee, Johnny graduates without learning to either read or write so you wanna ADD yet ANOTHER subject. Maybe he can meditate about how he'll support himself despite having no job skills!

Schools should not ban food and beverages with poor nutritional value. Bans might be appropriate for grammar schools. But if school is about "learning", why would you deny older kids the opportunity to make choices they'll be facing throughout their lives?

Higher education is a privilege. OK, true, you now have to go to college to learn to how to read and write. But how 'bout if we use any extra funds (as if!) to fix primary and secondary education? What a concept!

Computers in the classroom do not significantly enhance student learning. Student learning is dependent on competent instruction. A computer can make an effective teacher even better. For most teachers, it's wasted window-dressing.

States should be forced to fund the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act. NCLB requires that schools demonstrate students have acquired minimally acceptable achievement levels or lose federal funding. If states want federal funds, let them demonstrate a capacity to teach.

All-day kindergarten should not be mandatory. Another union effort to employ more teachers rather than having existing teachers do a competent job between 1st and 12th. How come kids USED to get a better education, even w/o kindergarten?

Failing public schools should not lengthen their days. Little is gained by giving students 185 days of inept instruction rather than 175 days of inept instruction. But the teachers' unions love it...more pay for those incompetent teachers!

School districts should give parents a choice of schools. A free market allows effective companies to succeed and the rest to whither and die. We desperately need the same to happen with schools.

Prayer should be permitted in public schools. For today's lazy students, prayer is the only hope they've got when taking tests! And so long as it's individually initiated and doesn't interfere with instruction, it's protected speech.

Race should not be a factor in the university admission process. Correcting racism by being racist...yeah, that'll work! Only educators could come up with such a nutty concept. Gotta wonder how they'd correct teenage promiscuity!

Reading should be taught through the phonetics approach. Assuming that you somehow learned to read, check out "Why Johnny Still Can't Read" by Rudolf Franz Flesch, a sad commentary on our educational system.

The public school systems in America would not be improved if they were federalized. You trust the Feds to deport illegal immigrants, eliminate illicit drugs, regulate our banking system and win in Iraq, so why wouldn't they do the same great job educating our kids, right?

Sex education should begin during middle school (6th-8th grade). Kids shouldn't enter puberty without knowing the stuff that irresponsible parents haven't shared with them about the changes their bodies will encounter and the dangers involved.

College entry exams should play a major role in admissions decisions. Grades are notoriously inconsistent. Extra-curricular activities are mostly fluff and difficult to assess. Entry exams, while not perfect, are the only objective measure.

Education should not have a higher priority in the federal budget than military spending. Education should be wholly funded at the state and local levels. It's distressing that the Feds need to employ a program like NCLB to get school districts to finally focus on results.

Abstinence-only sex education should not be taught in schools. I don't mind kids being taught that abstinence is a viable position to take to avoid pregnancy, STDs, etc. It's the abstinence-ONLY part that's stupid. Who are we kidding here? Not the kids!

The government should offer cash incentives for better student performance. But only if the incentives are deducted from teachers' salaries. Motivating students is part of a teacher's job. If they're so inept that they have to resort to bribes, fine...but let teachers pay.

I rate America's education system "Unsatisfactory." Those who answered anything other than "unsatisfactory" are either a) tangible proof that our schools didn't teach them to be objective thinkers, b) teachers or c) both.

The No Child Left Behind Act has been effective. NCLB testing has given us tangible evidence of how thoroughly ineffective our public education system has become. But critics spend more time shooting the messenger than on teaching Johnny to read.

The classroom is not an appropriate venue for teachers to express their political opinions. Teachers clearly need every second they can get to simply teach the basics, since our HS grads are largely illiterate. Keep the soapbox out of the classroom.

Schools should not practice social promotion. C'mon, people! Shouldn't the lesson of George W. Bush have taught us something about the evils of social promotion?

There is political bias in academia. There's political bias in EVERY institution but academia has honed it to a fine art. And being safely ensconced in the ivory tower ensures that their biases are hopelessly impractical.

Arts programs are not an essential part of education. Not until after you get that "Three R's" stuff down pat. In other words, you can stick it in during the second year of grad school.

Schools should not punish students for not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Not unless they drop that "...with liberty and justice for all" stuff at the end. Otherwise, we're talking MAJOR hypocrisy.

There should not be a foreign language requirement in public schools. Look, I'd be satisfied if they just taught ENGLISH (which, if you haven't noticed, IS a foreign language for the majority of our students these days).

The No Child Left Behind Act should be reauthorized. I know, you can't stand to see test scores telling you that your child has 3rd grade skills despite getting straight A's in high school. Your answer? Stop the testing, of course!

High school students should be required to pass an exit exam in order to earn a diploma. Wouldn't it be terrific if students could actually read and write when they graduated from HS? Hey, that'd be an improvement!

Teachers should receive performance-based merit pay. Currently, teachers get extra pay for what education they've had, not how well they do their jobs. That's a big part of why our schools have become increasingly ineffective.

Standardized tests are an effective tool for measuring student learning. The opposition to these tests is lead by the unions responsible for defending teachers who aren't even able to teach basic skills to HS graduates. Deplorable!

It is acceptable for courses on the Bible to be taught in public schools. But only if it's exposed for what it is: an overly-influential collection of legends written by ignorant peasants 2000 years ago and then heavily edited by self-serving clergy.

Sex education should begin during middle school (6th-8th grade). Kids shouldn't enter puberty without knowing the stuff that irresponsible parents haven't shared with them about the changes their bodies will encounter and the dangers involved.

College entry exams should play a major role in admissions decisions. Grades are notoriously inconsistent. Extra-curricular activities are mostly fluff and difficult to assess. Entry exams, while not perfect, are the only objective measure.

Parents do not have an obligation to pay for their children's college. No way! Society puts WAAAY too much emphasis on the importance of a college education, squandering resources on many who shouldn't be there. Kids who SHOULD attend will always find a way to do so.

UNKNOWN: Should the government issue vouchers for private school tuition?

UNKNOWN: Should private schools receive public funding?

UNKNOWN: Should the federal government increase higher education subsidies for low-income students?

UNKNOWN: Should American schools offer bilingual classes for native Spanish-speakers?

UNKNOWN: Should universal preschool be free in America?