Public education should be abolished

[Cornell]

I am very happy with the public schools that my sons attend, but if I lived in another state, I would have a different opinion.  I live in upstate NY, but if I lived in Georgia, I wouldn't be happy.  I have noticed that the schools are getting tougher each year.  What my 5th grader is doing, I wasn't taught until high school.  Obviously the kids are capable as he gets straight A's.

Didn't I read somewhere that it's easier to grasp new concepts the younger you are while your brain is still growing and developing?

The age thing you posted, jarmo, is surprising to me.  In the US, most kids go to kindergarten at age 5.  My one son went at 5 and the other at 4.  I really debated about the 4 year old, but he was bored to death in preschool so I told him he could give it a shot and if it didn't work, then I could keep him in kindergarten again the following year.  He did fantastic. 

The biggest negative thing that I see with people having options is social.  My son was 4 and there were kids 6 years old in his class.  He was fine given that he has an older brother and normally plays with older boys in the neighborhood, but I can see that being an issue at some point.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents! 

[gilld1]

What should be abolished is No Child Left Behind and all these tests needed for grade promotion and graduation.  What is happening is that students are being taught how to take these tests and they are not getting a well rounded education.  For example, the teachers in the district in which I teach do not focus on spelling because there is not a spelling component to the test.  These tests determine govt. funding so it's easy to see why good scores are important to schools but at what cost to the students.  Aren't all the tests through out the year that a student regularly takes in history, science, etc. a good indicator of whether a child has learned?

[Surfrider]

What should be abolished is No Child Left Behind and all these tests needed for grade promotion and graduation.? What is happening is that students are being taught how to take these tests and they are not getting a well rounded education.

Well, you don't abolish the test then, you simply change it to cover more things.  I think teaching to the test is the whole purpose.  There are certain things that you are supposed to learn in these grades, which is supposedly what they are testing.  Thus, if kids are taught to the test they are learning what they are supposed to learn.

For example, the teachers in the district in which I teach do not focus on spelling because there is not a spelling component to the test.

This should be changed then.  Of course, it will probably take sometime to get it perfect.

Aren't all the tests through out the year that a student regularly takes in history, science, etc. a good indicator of whether a child has learned?

That has been how education has worked for years, and it is no longer working.  Not all teachers are great teachers, and there is no way to determine it otherwise.