Been to a school board meeting lately???? I haven't since my kid got out of high school but when he was still there I did go quite often....The meetings were mostly about the business of running the school, appropriations, expenditures, how to get money or equipment from this or that agency then towards the end of the meeting sometimes there was an issue or two actually concerning educational issues..... Guess that's probably just a result of the government's hand in education........

Teach the test, no child left behind, and many other issues are school issues, right??? Wrong, IMO they should be parent/educator issues. How many parents just regard school as nothing more then a place to keep the kids busy while they're at work?????? Education is not just the goal of the school but it should also be an issue for the parents..... Is there even such a thing as PTA anymore???? Are the schools failing, or are we failing as parents????

Not meaning to sound like a dinosaur but when I was in school, I came home from school, did chores, ate dinner, did homework, and if there was anytime left then did other things..... Good grades were mandated around our house, if not then someone was going to have a conference with the teacher involved and find out why, Lord help you if it was your fault and you just flat weren't doing the work..... When someone failed a course or was held back a year, the school wasn't blamed, the kid was..... Dad had his own way of "encouraging" all of us to be involved in some sort of activity, sports, band, debate, chorus, or something..... Even when cars and racing became an obsession with me in school, if I wanted to have a part time job so I could afford to race karts or cars in the summer then there were certain things that HAD to be accomplished in the school year.... I was a troublemaker in school and paid the consequences with both the school administrators and Dad....guess who's punishment was the worse of the two??? Also, helping a younger brother or sister who was having problems with a particular subject was also mandatory around our house.

The curriculum has changed, as Uncle Bob said very few if any vocational ed type courses are even offered here anymore.... Waaaaaay too much emphasis on sports and not enough on the acedemic basics of reading, writing, and math.... It seems the one's who excel academically due so more from their own efforts then because it's what the school system does.... Pressure from parents for good grades still seems to be a motivating factor. The parents who regard the school system as a baby sitting service usually end up with a child who's education reflects it.....

We're fortunate around here in that the school systems for the most part are still small enough that the faculty takes a sincere interest in their job.... With what teachers are paid around here they certainly aren't in it for the money!!!!!!

I do agree that when discipline was taken away from the schools, it was the beginning of the decline in the quality of education recieved..... Kids need discipline, from home and from the schools. Eventually they will learn to discipline themselves, if they don't I doubt success any any endeavor will be easy to achieve...

I don't claim to have any of the answers, but the government running things sure as heck isn't it!!!!!! IMO the only way the schools systems can be returned to their former level of performance is if the parents become involved and demand it and through the government the heck out!!!!!