Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell is an extremely opinionated conservative writer. He is very critical of the current administration, as well as their policies. In one of Sowell’s recent articles “Are We Serious About Education?”, he discusses America’s failing public education system. He cites specific examples of teachers who were punished for trying to change the status quo and introduce new styles of their own, even if they improved test scores. He claims that the education establishment has “vendettas” against educators who go against their wishes, and that they see schools as a place to “provide jobs to teachers, rather than education for students.”
Do you believe that America’s education system is behind the rest of the World? Are teachers punished for being innovative in their ways of teaching? Do you think that public education needs to be reformed?
I do believe that America’s education system is failing and should be reformed. For the most part, I agree that schools are just seen as a place to “provide jobs to teachers”. With a few exceptions, there is a great amount of teachers who hate their jobs and are just there to get paid. There is so much pressure put on students nowadays where education is just doing whatever it takes to get good grades rather than actually learning anything. I don’t know that teachers are punished for being innovative with their ways of teaching but I do know that there are a lot of teachers who don’t change their style of teaching even if they can see it is not effective.
Alex,
My columnist wrote a lot about public education as well. I don’t think that America’s education system is failing compared to the rest of the world. We are actually very ahead in education than a lot of other countries around the world. Other countries may be ahead of us in education, but not because of our teachers and definitely not because of their innovative ways of teaching. I do think public education should be reformed in that we use our time in school more wisely. I think we should be able to learn more throughout the school year than we do. We also should focus less on bullying and hazing in school because those meetings we have take away from education. Your parents are the people that should be teaching you to have good morals and respect. I don’t think that this is a teachers or a schools job.
I don’t think that America’s educational system is failing in anyway. I feel like we are one of the smartest countries and one of the main reasons why we are behind some countries is because we have around 2 months off in summer. I also don’t believe teachers get punished for trying to teach information in new ways in fact I think that it is encouraged if it works and I know some teachers that have there one way of teaching stuff and it works. I think our education does not need to be reformed and it works because we are one of the most advanced countries.
I do not believe that America’s education system is behind compared to the rest of the world; instead, I actually believe that America is one of the smartest countries found throughout the world and has ample amounts of opportunity for the citizens. Along with America having one of the strongest educational systems in the world, I also do not believe that teachers are being punished for teaching in new innovative fashions. As long as the school is receiving high or qualifying scores from the students in their subjects, then the teachers are free to teach however they please. However, in some ways I do believe that public education can be reformed by providing students with more subjects. By providing more subjects for the students, they will be able to become more educated and well-rounded.
I believe America’s education system is behind other countries in some ways. We do have breaks like Matt said, however we still learn a lot and have summer work to complete. I do believe that teachers are being punished for introducing new ways of teaching, however in many cases the old way is more effective. I feel that teachers are allowed to introduce innovative ways of teaching as long as they still teach the curriculum they are told to teach. I think some areas of the United States do not receive as good of an education as others, and those parts are behind the rest of the world.
I do not believe that America’s education system is behind the rest of the world. I do believe there are some issues and that our education system has the potential to be much more effective. I think teachers are being punished for being innovative in their ways of teaching. I feel like they are not given enough leeway to show their unique teaching methods. Schools are too afraid that they will be ineffective and cause the students’ educations to suffer. Maybe schools should allow teachers to propose new ideas and try them out for a year. This way, if they are successful, they can keep teaching this way. If the methods aren’t effective, the school can force the teachers to follow the old standards once again.
I do believe that America’s education system is behind from the rest of the world. Even though America is known for the “American Dream” I still think that other countries have better work ethics. For example, I met some students from Korea who had school from 7am-4pm six days a week without a summer break. If that ever happened in the Unites States there would be a World War 3. If a teacher is punished for being innovated in their teachings I think that is wrong. A teacher should develop a understanding of her students and teach what ever way she feels would benefit her students the best. I know plenty of teachers who do this and I don’t think they’re punished. I don’t think that public schools should be reformed because I think they’re as good as a public school could get.
I don’t believe that our education system is behind the rest of the world but i agree with Zach in believing that it could be much more effective. If teachers are being punished for being innovative then that is wrong. The American education system teaches us how to get good test scores and not how to actually learn, which is a fundamental flaw. It is more of a place to give teachers jobs than it is a place to let student learn. The school system could use a reform but to make it more effective because parts of the system run very well and shouldn’t be completely overhauled.