America on Life Support!

PUBLIC EDUCATION in America has fallen from itslofty perch as the worlds best to a system that is just barely keeping its headabove water. Although educators must accept much of the blame for schoolsthat have lowered expectations, forgotten about discipline and consequences,and given into union pressure, our government must share in the blame forwhere we are today.Our federal and state governments have tried to mandate, stipulate, anddictate how schools should be operating. The government over-reach thatwe have experienced in all areas of our lives has made its way into ourschools over the last 50 years. The more schools are mandated to do, thefewer dollars they are given to make it happen. For our public education system to survive we must adjust to the demandsof the 21st Century. We must begin to think out of the box about how werecruit, compensate, and retain quality teachers. At the same time we mustreturn to the basics concerning discipline and expectations. There has been a significant increase in home schooling and charter schoolsin recent years. Public schools may be destined to becoming vocationalcenters with lower standards and expectations.