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Comment by rootusrootus | Hacker News Reader

It sounds like you have an opinion. Care to share it?

I'm not the original poster, but I'll share an anecdote from tutoring in a bad public school district. The kids, in the first 5 minutes of class (and these are the supposedly good, motivated kids - in an elective CS class) make more trouble than would have been allowed in an entire school day in a class entirely composed of the biggest class clowns from my private high school.

No amount of money fixes that culture problem. Better parenting does. I'm convinced that the only way to spend money to fix schools is to not give money to the actual school and put it towards social programs (which I am in favor of.)

I've always believed that schools should see themselves as community centers. They should invite everyone in their tax base for activities, especially parents. They should do little BBQs, potlucks, have little plays or movie nights, etc.

They should offer all children in their tax base breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner. They should encourage students to stay after for sports, to read in the library, or just to hangout.

Basically schools should be like libraries or churches. I hate that the culture is moving in the other direction.

Our school does much of what you suggest, but only for students. They are tightly locked away from the general public now, because some people think schools make a nice place for live target practice. I don't see this changing for the better anytime soon, it'll probably get worse. Guns are more popular than ever in the US, and with prevalence comes increased risk.

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