Jay Honeck wrote:


This works okay, to a degree -- but one result is all the bad kids
(AKA: The ones without caring parents) end up in the same schools.
All the good parents move their kids OUT of the bad schools.

Hmmm market forces at work? Perish the thought!

This, of course, leads to other problems. High teacher turnover/
burnout becomes a real problem. You would think more resources would
be poured into the bad schools, but because the student count drops,
they actually get LESS money, unless extraordinary efforts are made.

And there has been the solution... throw more money in a black hole.
Sigh... we can't save everyone. Try as we might (and it has been tried)
we can't make everyone equal... unless of course we just dumb everyone
down to the lowest common denominator. Not a plan for building a great
country (much less a great economy). I'm not being cruel, those are
simply the facts and submit human history as my evidence. Darwin's
theory can only be subverted for just so long... until the money
runs out.

Because of the totally screwed up employer/employee relations between
administators and teachers, there is little hope of a solution coming
from that quarter. The teacher's union stands in the way of
innovation -- union contracts don't permit too much in the way of
experimentation with staffing -- and the administrators are just as
bad or worse.


I'd fire 'em... get rid of the department of education. What business
is it of the FEDERAL government to get involved in education anyway?
Where in the Constitution is that function assigned? Sounds like
Communism to me. Same thing with 'Universal Health Care" (something
to look forward to I guess).


"Administrator" is just a fancy name for "bureaucrat" -- and by their
nature bureacrats do not want anything to change, unless it means more
money and less work. These bureacrats, therefore, appointed by our
elected school boards and supposedly safeguarding the People's money
by working in their best interest, end up working in collusion with
the teachers unions to make sure that nothing actually changes. In
the end these two forces -- seemingly in conflict -- tend to work
together to ensure that no solutions are forthcoming.

Agreed.

Throwing private schools into the mix of "school choice" -- without
fixing the underlying conflicting interests in this employee-employer
relationship -- would be a disaster, IMHO. And that's just not going
to happen in today's political climate.


Disagree. Sorry... the private sector will do a better job and
results prove it. Government schools are the disaster.

But you are right... it won't happen in todays political environment
because the average voter is too stupid. After all, they went to
government schools.