What is the future of education in this country?

[milestogo]

I get the feeling that the decision to have children now involves the choice to have one parent committed to home schooling. That's one less income to save for college. I can't imagine what public schools are going to look like. The government wants to defund education but still dictate policy.

[Skittles]

1. THIS

if repukes have their way

https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-press/bill-introduced-require-bible-reading-daily-idaho-public-schools-house-education-committee/277-49ef6829-84ce-4f12-a706-3135725cdad1

[milestogo]

3. Idaho.

Teach them to read, at least.

[GPV]

2. It's worse than you think. I work in a public school. We've been in trouble

for years, and COVID only made it worse. Even if we had the green light and full staffing to teach the best materials, we'd still be floundering.

[milestogo]

4. Not enough funding?

[GPV]

6. Also, not enough parenting and too much living in digital media. Today's kids

are strangely passive and helpless.

[milestogo]

9. Wow.

A few years ago I was working in an office that was consolidating space. There was a ton of unused office supplies going straight into the dumpster. One lady was going around to the dumpsters and retrieving 3 ring binders, folders, etc. I asked her why and she said her sister was a teacher, and teachers have to buy all this kind of stuff out of their own pockets. Its expensive. So I helped her gather it up and hide it so she could give it to her sister. Technically we weren't supposed to, but its really a shame what corporations waste when there are schools who could use it.

I don't know what's going on with kids, but I don't think social media is helping any.

[WarGamer]

10. exactly what I've heard.

[senseandsensibility]

5. They won't eliminate it completely

They want to privatize it so that their cronies can profit from it. It will all go to charter schools they approve of with little or no accountability to parents or children. They will break the teachers' unions (a main goal) and hire unqualified people who may or may not have college degrees for lower wages. It's been their dream for decades.

[Basso8vb]

7. Keeping people stupid and scared is all part of the plan.

[MustLoveBeagles]

19. It's all about control

[haele]

8. Also colleges and Universities that get government grants for research.

Those are going to be slashed also. Investing for Innovation purposes is not something that's immediately profitable.
Most corporations (unless they're strictly local) don't care about an educated workforce or quality of life. They can always drop underperforming goods, services, or locations and move on to "greener fields". Their duty is to their Corporate profits and stockholders.
Businesses will, because businesses tend to be locally owned and managed, even if that business is part of a corporation. Businesses will understand that a well educated workforce, vendors, and a surrounding community with decent wages will support the sustainable revenue that business requires.

The Billionaires aren't trying to run this country like a business. They're trying to run it like a Corporation, and they're the C-suite. And their investors, their "Stockholders" are other Foreign Corporate Organizations, including Governments, that can pay to play.

[FirstLight]

14. I thought the world of "Academia" would be more willing to pushback

...now I really wonder if I should even bother to try and finish my BA. I've been plugging away at ASU-online for about a year. They are asking us to fill out our FAFSA for this fall, and I am really thinking "why bother"...?

I'm 55, and I have enough wisdom and experience to get work if I have to. If things keep going the way they are, it won't matter a hill of beans anyway. I'd be lucky to get bird flu and die early before it gets really dark.

[haele]

15. The world of Academia in the USA depends on grants and sponsors.

They used to depend on endowments and state funding as academics were considered a social investment for local and state communities.

The state of Academia now is sad, considering how much the private sector has benefitted from the research Universities do in science and engineering, saving Corporations and specialty Bio-Med and Tech trillions annually by shifting research to the Universities and their lower paid Adjuncts and Grad Students.

[FirstLight]

17. ...yeah, and silly me, I was going for something in the "Librul Arrts"

Anthropology, to be exact. There's no money in old bones...so obody cares about that. And I am sure the NAGPRA efforts will be gone once the DOGE finishes their work

[Fyrefox]

11. The dumbing-down of Americans...

Even before they were winning elections, conservative Republicans were making education in general and teachers in particular their whipping boy. They were suspicious of the well-educated, harboring underlying beliefs such as "you don't need no college education, you need COMMON SENSE! " Common sense was something that they believed they had in abundance whereas those who believed in science and education had little of it. I have heard "college boy" used as a slur in my conservative area.

Conservatives are distrustful of education because they believe that it may make students question or challenge their "traditional conservative values," and don't want critical thinking taught in the schools in any form. They are generally opposed to any increases in funding for education, believing that it will be channeled into salary increases for teachers, who they believe already make "too much money." Another choice chestnut that I've actually heard voiced by an adult Sunday School teacher is that "A good teacher can teach in a BARN!" I walked out of that class after hearing that one, and never returned to it...

The stupidity, it burns, it burns!

[milestogo]

12. People without critical thinking skills vote Republican

and you can't reason with them.

[Xolodno]

13. Doesn't look pretty in red areas.

Vast majority of children when they grow up rebel against their parents religious fanaticism, granted this anecdotal, but I've seen it happen many times and I'm also one of them. The younger generation that is embracing religious fanatacism and having kids are going to be in one hell of a wake up call. Odd thing is, those embracing it were once slackers, barely got by in school, ditched class to party where underage drinking was looked the other way, girls had abortions. Now they act like Nuns and Priests. I know some are moving to red states because of "religion", but in economic reality, they lack the job skills that are required to earn a decent income.

Who knows, we may see more citizens doing immigrant jobs. Universities and colleges may close in red states due to a lack of students qualified. A rise in crime in those areas as well.

In the future, with the exception of blue states (and they are doubling down on education), they will be the ones with the skilled and technical labor. Problem is, its not going to be enough to fill, we have shortages as it is. A previous manager who was trying to hire someone with out doing the H1B paperwork was looking for almost a year to find an anlaytics professional until he decided to bite the bullet. When I left, I was picked up in less than two weeks.

[valleyrogue]

16. They haven't done anything. People, get a grip. n/t

[Skittles]

18. .....

you really don't see any danger in the plans these fascist fucks have?

[Initech]

20. They literally want mindless robots who are easy to manipulate.

https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/pete-hegseths-plan-create-christian-nationalist-educational-insurgency

Do you want terrorists? Because this is how you get terrorists.

[Skittles]

21. did you mean to reply to me

I agree.........

[Initech]

22. Yes, answering the question of "do you see the danger these fascist fucks are posing?".

Because that's their ultimate end game with education.