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When I signed off the other day I had every intention of continueing my thoughts on education but I went off track and am just now getting back.

Some of the polititions that are abusing us with their egregious ads on TV have jumped on the bandwagon for education, just as pols are inclined to do every election time.  If we ever do get our education on the road to improvement the pols will have to get a new dead horse to beat. Every year they come up with the same old song about how they are going to improve education and every year the education system gets worse. This year the local pols are keying in on changing the situation with busing, only because there was such a disasterous first day of school that made all of the local news venues.  Assuredly, that was a travesty but even if busing the children was abandonned entirely by Monday morning, that is still not going to improve the quality of education.

       It is not a problem that can be solved by passing laws, nor is it going to be solved by rewarding teachers if their students can pass certain tests. Some of the hardest working teachers are trying to teach a population of students that do not want to learn and many that look upon having to go to school as some sort of punishment. Children that are total strangers to discipline, to respect, to acquiring knowledge that would help them be successful in life, children that have no desire to reach goals other than to get out of school. Pity the poor teacher who struggles all day each day trying to convince a student that school is more important than playing Play Station ll or some other video game.

       A child's education should begin with the parents, they are the ultimate educators of their own children. Getting the parents involved is one part of the triangle: parents, child, teachers. The child will learn and do his best if he is supported on both sides of his endeavor.If he is supported and encouraged at home,and at school, his chances of succeeding are far greater. Parents need to set goals for their children.  Parenting is a skill so maybe we need to establish parent classes as a requirement for parents of failing schools or maybe all schools. Classes for parents of children when they first enter school and then again for middle schooler and then high schoolers. Most colleges and universitys have "parent oreintation" classes for college age students.It should be manditory.

As for teachers, we have some excellent people that have chosen teaching as their life's work, and we have some teachers that do not belong in the classroom. Teaching is a profession that should only be entered into by people who have a calling to teach. Just as we expect to have doctors that have an interest in healing people, clergy that are called to preach, nurses that have the compassity to give loving care to people that are suffering, there are many more that I could site.

There should be a grading system for teachers. School principals, parents and even students at some level should be allowed to assess the teacher's performance. They should be graded on their ability to convey the subject matter to the student, to maintain order in the classroom, to have a thorough knowledge of the subject they are teaching, on their demeanor in the classroom, on their ability to organize the students and on their empathy, on their goals for the individuals and for the class as a whole. They could be assessed by a simple grade of : Excellent, Very Good, Good. or Poor If they don't make the grade in certain subjects then they should be removed from that area, if the overall grade is' poor 'they should be advised to seek another occupation.

I know the schools have failed miserably at math and science, as I stated way back in my first blog, the Chinese have been so far ahead of us in math for years but I'm sure if the truth be known they are far beyond us in speaking our own language when they learn it in their schools. Not only the Chinese but other countries ,also.  I have a friend from India that speaks English perfectly. Correct usage of noun,verb agreement, proper use of adverbs, and gramatical syntax etc.  When I asked how he became so proficient in our language, he said the Jesuits had taught him in India and they were"the world's best teachers". We are sorely in need of some Jesuits. Talk to many graduates of our high schools and hear them say,"Me and my dad," "We come here to play," "He should have went," "I done what I could," those are just a few examples of their egregious language skills. How did they spend 12 or more years in school and still speak this way? Their teachers speak this way ,too in some cases and even if they do speak correctly they ignore the poor usage by their students! Why does this matter? I've known people that have lost the opportunity for  good jobs because their poor grammar usage tags them as "uneducated"!

Watch the news and see the subtle message when the news people want to characterize an interviewee as an uneducated person, they will choose a person that uses poor grammar. So also do job interviewers and many others. Let's teach our students to speak English!

There are different styles of teaching and certain students that adapt better to one style than another, try to group the students to 'fit' with the teacher they are assigned to. Some teachers prefer the Socratic method of teaching because it teaches the student to think, others prefer rote teaching first and then go for the in-depth analysis of the subject. Language skills are very important in teaching math concepts, ,and  math comprehension; math computing skills  can be taught by rote teaching.

There are three types of learners, visual learners, auditory learners, and tactile learners. Teach the teachers to determine which kind of learners he/she needs to teach to so that the students have a greater chance of accomplishment. Success is the greatest motivator.

We need an overhaul of education in this country so that we can compete globally! Let's get going! There are many other ideas for change but once again I'm hungry and need to move on! Ciao