It is concerning to me that after approximately 18 years on earth and 12 years of schooling that the locals are still dumb. But as little as two to four more years of school can transform them into smart, well rounded, people capable of understanding complex social issues related to their city and beyond.
It seems the real shame is not that college is expensive, but that we've wasted the time of our youngsters.
I can't disagree with this. It's been a problem for a very long time.
When I first went to college many moons ago, even back then there were classes for the incoming students who needed to be brought up to college level. These classes were always full.
It always seemed to me that community colleges should fill that gap. Back then, community colleges were considered a joke and just a glorified vocational school. If that's changed, I'm glad. But I feel like if more money and effort were put into community colleges they could shed that stigma and provide a usable college education for everyone.
I was at an education conference a couple of years ago, and according to the speakers there, what's happening behind the scenes is the seeds are being planted at a high level to make community college a guaranteed (free) right in America, the way elementary and high school is. The reasoning is that back when K-12 was established as the norm, that was the normal education one needed to get by in life. Now a two-year degree is the minimum, and the government should step up and add that as well.
Naturally, the problem is always paying for it. But there were some people positing that more educated people get higher-paying jobs and pay more taxes, and somehow it will all work out that way.
i think proper college reform needs to start lower, and make proper adults out of our high school grads instead of requiring four years of paid-for university to accomplish that. unfortunately, i'm no expert and i don't have the foggiest idea where you'd start with that.
While this is anecdotally common, I can't say it's universal.
Where I went to school we were taught to think. I didn't appreciate it fully at the time, but I do now.
We were taught that knowing things is great, but it's equially important to know why things are the way they are. To this end, we had a lot of classes in history, geography, philosophy (a little) and civics.
Even in elementary school, we went through endless drills called "Fact or opinion" where we were presented with everything from single sentences to headlines to paragraphs, and learned all about weasel words and hidden meanings in the English language. At the time I hated it, and it was one of many things I never thought I'd ever need as an adult.
Today the schools need to teach that more than ever, but I doubt any still do. Even the ones I went to.