What American Parents Think About Public Education

The one who know has a great advantage against the one who doesn't, that's the fact. too bad, it was very difficult (if it's not impossible) to get that kind of wisdom at school.

We agree...and by the way look out for China!

Did we fail to prepare our children's education...and became lazy in the world market-place. Maybe American's became lazy and just want easy money. No-body seems to want to "earn-it"
these days.

Why do we have an English language problem in America or people in cultures that in a simple task dont' know how to drive or care to respect our laws. The same school of thought.

Human resource is the major factor that will urge your economic to grow fatser. For example, you are a billionaire, you need a doctor to cure s.o's desease, will you hire s.o who graduted from economic university that full of mathematic knowledge? Let's make it easy by just asking " Which part of your body that you think it is most important than other parts? Your stomach may says " I'm more important thatn others", but the hands will ask " What if I don't pick up the foods to feed you?" , and the legs will ask " What if I don't move to the dining room? ".

There are many problems with America's educational system but I think that it really boils down to two. The first problem is inadequate funding. Education is paid by taxes and no one wants to pay more taxes. Often we find people wanting to know what the minimum adequate amount is needed to pay for education, then as soon as times get hard, they want to know what we can cut from that minimal amount. With that approach, in tough times, they will cut essentials. What one person deems an essential, another deems a frill. The second major problem is that schools want to deal with the average child. All the research is based on the average child and the average child does not exist. Ironically, schools may function more economically if the school adjusts to the child rather than the other way around. We devote a lot of time and attention to discipline in our schools, and when discipline does not work, then we try medication. We don't really know the long-term effects of this medication on our children.

Donald Trump says- Love What You Do. Children love to learn when they are learning about their passion. Children love to learn when the teaching style matches their learning style. I can see this in my religious education classes. Most people say that this is the most boring class that they have ever attended, but my students love my classes- they are turned on and excited by what they learn- and each takes something different from the class. Some come out loving religious art- some come out with a love of prayer- some come out singing- some come out loving the Bible- some just see how to overcome the hurdles through faith- each to their own abilities. When you love what you are doing, then discipline is not a problem. We need the money to build a quality education for our children. We need to be able to tailor our education to the natural abilities and talents of our diverse children. We do not need a generation of cookie-cutter children. We need every generation to come out of school prepared to reach their maximum potential. And schools that can adjust to individual differences. Maybe we will find that this solution is the best way to minimize the taxes that need to be paid for a quality education.

Public Education is not only for kids but Adults too. I've been trying to educate the public for decades about resource conservation. I know how to save billions of quarts of refined motor oil right on the engine without draining it out, taking it to a recycling plant .,where they perform the same task that my Engine Oil Recycler that I just received Patent #7,396,473 unchallenged with 3 claims granted. . I wish that this information would be forwarded to Mr. Trump. Thanks , Mr. Stacy Guynn, P. O. Box 8790,.Longboat Key, FL 34228. 941-387-1438, 941-504-8414 cell

We are leaders in education. We have a lot to be thankful for. Our public schools offer students a diverse learning experience. We have unique problems such as finding a way to communicate with students from other cultures. We also have the freedom to move and find a more suitable school for individual preferences.

Together with teachers, we have community help. Many businesses, non-profits, social and religious organizations donate time and money to support all kinds of activities. School trips, summer camp, sports related events to name a few.

Health professionals keep alert for contagious diseases, or dangers that can affect the safety of students. And many more professionals are on stand by in case of an emergency.

What do American parents think about this? I'm hoping they have an attitude of gratitude, and work together to make improvements where needed.

A well rounded liberal arts education is exactly what I was taught. It shows one how to problem solve, how to read and process information. So when I took my first Logic class in college and simply said to a classmate; "this is a breeze and very similar to trigonometry and algebra!" and they looked at me dumbfounded, I knew I had the advantage. But alas, now living in the blue collar town of Sheboygan,WI, I'm seeing most of the kids taught skilled trades. And those like me, who have a post- graduate liberal arts education, have moved or, if stuck here, are being paid much lower than factory workers in let's say, Kohler Company. I think it should start with the state and local governments and BUSINESSES! Just my opinion and I hope I've stated it well.

I am with Mr. Trump regarding the well rounded education. However, I come to this conclusion via a different pass. You see, I am a US Naval Academy graduate. At Navy, we take engineering studies pretty seriously. So much so, we refer to English, History, Foreign Language Studies, Economics, etc. as "Bull Majors". The clear and intended reference is these are for folks who aren't so serious about their academic endeavors.

Almost 20 years after graduating and beginning my career as a true engineering "bigot", I was forced to conclude this is not the best path. For my money, strong communication (defined as reading, writing, speaking, and presentation skills) and well honed competitive skills define successful people.

CFO's, corporate presidents, successful entrepreneurs, government leaders, all seem to share Mr. Trump's well rounded experience and (even if self taught) education.

Don't get me wrong, I am a big believer in solid math skills. Technical capacity is a great road to a solid career. However, the path to get ahead is via a rounded education and a rounded experience. Life may be short, but it isn't that short. Gain experience that will give you an edge and confidence to be a leader.

Blake Ratcliff
The Apartment Guy
www.occupancy100.com

Funding Shmunding.. We have Traditionalists and Boomers teaching the millenials who are lightspeed ahead in anything that makes the world roll and they are bored out of their minds. Time for a re vamp on the ancient curriculum~ "We the People" need to start making our tax dollars work how we want them too. PS. Both of my Parents were teachers and would agree.

America has a great university system. It is enjoyed by the finest minds in the world- people from every land. In high-tech areas like computing and engineering, foreign students are becoming more and more dominant and our students have a hard time competing with them.

We know an extraordinary amount on how to properly educate our children- the research is excellent. We have the ability to cope with problems that have stymied the educational system for generations.

But for most of my adult life, I have seen America being more willing to invest in the present and not the future. This trend is becoming more and more prominent and is disturbing. Thank God, that in this election, I have seen evidence that both parties have platforms that address the future- this is a hopeful sign.

As far as being bored, I have talked to many brilliant people who have been bored by the public education system for the last 50 years- and I suspect that this has been true for the last 100 years. Edison, Einstein, and Churchill had problems with public education. Bill Gates would never have invented MS-DOS if his parents had not been able to persuade his high school to excuse him from homework so he would have time for his innovative work in his garage. I can't see that happening in my town.

Some local communities invest in their future. I grew up in such a town. But most do not. In Florida, we are faced with a mandatory reduction in the budget- across the board. Instead of looking for fat, programs that help the future that are already underfunded, have to find ways to reduce the budget even more. We are seeing programs that help disabled children cut entirely- this hurts the future because if the vulnerable children are not given the tools that they need to become self-sufficient, then our children are left with the bills for care later on.

Schools can be challenging- we know how to do it. But without talented teachers who can deal with the children of today- without schools that help each child reach his or her full potential- without the equipment and resources that are needed- we are crippling ourselves.

Another problem that I see, is that public schools were created to produce workers for the factories. They have an indoctrination mindset. We need an educational philosophy that will foster leadership abilities in children who show potential for leadership- that teach them to innovate instead of follow directions- to teach them how to research instead of how to read and spit back what the teacher tells them. Then we will be properly preparing our children for the difficult future we are creating for ourselves.

I absolutely agree with Mr.Trump.

We have no excuse.

And we have the power to make it the best.

I had the unusual privilege of being able to take a creative arts class from Michael Ballam at Utah State University. Throughout the course, my opinions on education changed drastically. It is probably no surprise that Ballam, as an opera singer and music advocate strongly believes that music is very important in a school environment. Schools have, in the past, redirected funds and class time from the arts into additional reading and math curricula, only to discover math and reading scores to drop further. (A sort of Laffer Curve type effect)

Hypothetically, in what is admittedly an oversimplification, lets say that there are two types of students - those who like math and perform better and those who don't and perform poorer. The school has recently revamped it's schedule to triple the amount of time spent on math to cover the same material so that everyone performs better on the end of year exam. The students who liked math are now having the same material repeated to them a total of three times even though they would have "gotten it" on the first go round. The additional repetition is boring and causes them to lose some of their zeal for math and perhaps even more prone to not listen at all when the challenge initially drops out. (I myself lost interest in math and fell behind because it was too easy) The students who did not like math, still don't like math and have no particular interest in listening anyway. They may have some gains that come from the additional time, but this is outweighed by the fact that other distractions and interesting parts of school have now been replaced with an extended version of something they didn't like in the first place. The end result is that they develop disdain for school in general.

I am a parent and am concerned about schools - so this topic is nothing new to me. I think the biggest problem we face here in America is a belief that we cannot fail a student who deserves to fail. I truly believe that there are students who will not attend, not pay attention and not do their assigned work under any circumstances. When the classes are designed so it is almost impossible to fail, then the entire class suffers to allow several students to pass who probably shouldn't have passed in the first place. Children need to be challenged mentally and expected to do work and complete assignments in a timely fashion. It's like the opposite of the idea behind "No Child Left Behind". I say, if someone fails a grade let them repeat it! Let the responsibility fall to the child / parent, let the possibility of the stigma of being held back be a driving a factor and stop slowing down the classroom to try to "save" students who may or may not come around.

If you want a few reasons why the American educational system needs a wake-up call, please go to you-tube and watch the movie, "Two Million Minutes." This is a documentary about 3 students, one from the US, one from China, and one from India. It follows each of their educational paths. The insights are well worth the 55 minutes that is takes to view this movie!

Knowledge is as they say power. It made a large impact on me to learn how high the parents in US rank education, pleasure to see it in such high place!

I believe very much in this proven leader of real estate. How do I enroll in the school, I have very little to invest and have been in the field of real estate for 7 years. However now it seems like no one with decent credit can get a loan? I want to know more about commercial real estate, short sales, forclosures, and tax sales. Is John Beck the real deal? We really don't care that much about public education or we would be paying the taxes without complaining. I think private is much, much better. What about assingments of contracts?

It amazes me to see the united states ranked so low in certain subjects in the world education rankings. We are to great of a country to have this poor of a education system. I believe we need to revamp the way we teach our children starting with the criteria the state mandates our teachers to teach them. Some incentive plans for the teachers I believe would work wonders in our children grades alone. Start getting these teachers pumped up to teach our children instead of worrying about wheather or not there levy is going to pass so they can keep there job.

I tolally agree that a well rounded education is the best way for a child to learn. I also think that guided independent learning works very well in building a child's character.

I started homeschooling my daughter because the school principal stated that she would have to be placed in a special education class simply because she has legal blindness in one eye. This is corrected quite simply - helping her to remember to clean her glasses, making enlarged copies of her worksheets, and sitting her at the front of the classroom. But the principal refused to give in, so I decided I would school her myself. I did a lot of research and discovered that there are a lot of methods to homeschooling...but the one I found most appealing was the guided independent learning that I mentioned above. I utilize technology a lot and don't feel guilty about this at all. Some homeschool curriculum programs shun use of computers altogether, but if my daughter is going to survive in the modern world, she will need knowledge of a technical nature. So, I found several programs that make learning fun, but still accomplish the task at hand. All of these also have a progress report section where I can see not only what areas are more challenging to my daughter, but also in which areas she is strong. I can also lock out certain areas so that she has to focus on the challending areas. I, of course, tell her I did this and why; and it works quite well for us.

I will probably turn to a more stringent and perhaps complete on-line curriculum for her high school learning, which is actually offered by many colleges and, instead of going to an "academically gifted" or "advanced" level class in a subject, she can take college courses, instead. This way she can begin earning college credits before she graduates. Many state school systems offer online curriculum programs to their students. I think it is the trend of the future. Also, as more parents move to telecommuting, this will be an option that will appeal to them, especially with their older children.

If more state school boards would be open to the possibility of distance learning at, at least, a middle school level, it would solve a lot of the issues that people have with public schools. As far as teacher's go, this may sound callous, but if you are not doing a good job, then you shouldn't be a teacher. A good teacher would realize the advantages to distance learning, the others don't deserve a chance. As far as the schools just focusing on math, science, and reading...that is what is tested to give the schools a "score" of their student's ability. However, it is often not the lessons I learned in school that have helped me in life - it is the lessons I learned through living and spending time with my grandparents and my parents and other family members.

OK Mr. Trump, you are right. Something should be done to improve our children's education. Now that you've identified that as a problem, who's problem is it really? Why is it government's job to solve it? Who is it affecting? What do you feel should be done about it? I'm not going to say put your money where your mouth is, because I don't think money is the answer to everything, and I don't think you should have to carry everyone, but I will say, with that superconducting batch of neurons you possess, there ought to be some great ideas that can help improve the situation, and I can't wait to brainstorm with you on this one.

I believe the responsibility for educating our children is everyone's - including our children's. I believe the quality of education our children receive will impact every American, from homelife, to employment, to government, to America's standing in the world. I believe it is the parent's responsibility to instill the value of loving to learn in early childhood, to support the school system's efforts, and to be active in the local school system as a volunteer in the classroom, on the school board.

I believe it is our children's responsibility to come to school prepared to learn, to question, and to do their best. I believe it is their job to give honest feedback to teachers, and parents.

I believe it is the community's responsibility to work collaboratively with schools to offer enhanced educational opportunities such as field trips, access to sport facilities, etc., and to give feed back regarding the skillset on the job performance of recent graduates, and to contribute special knowledge and skills in the development of school enhancement programs such as mentoring, tutoring, service learning, internships, etc., and to donate materials and equipment for the betterment of education.

I believe it is the schools job to hire the best possible educators, to clearly communicate needs to students, parents, the community and government, and to work cooperatively with all. I believe it is governent's responsibility to listen to the needs of education, work to secure adequate funding and resources, and develop necessary laws.