Santorum bashes public schools, says they're stuck in factory era

[happyslug]

84. Yet when the man on the street is tested on his Math and Science level, the US beats almost all

Notice the test I am using, test of ADULTS on the streets, NOT the best and brightest that are still in school. The US has had some of the lowest education level for decades, but when people on the street are asked question, the US tend to score quite high.

The reason for this difference is primary HOW we educate. Most of the world follows the Prussian school of thought on education, the best and brightest goes to High School, Students who score lower on the test in what we would call Middle Schools are directed to the trades.

The US REJECTS this two track system and wants everyone in High School. The High School may direct some of its students to vo-tech training, but they still go to High School for general Education subjects.

The US method has the side affect of when you test High School students. you test both the students in most other countries's High Schools AND the students in other countries's trade schools. Thus the US will tend to be LOW in most comparisons for most Countries's High School Students EXCLUDE Trade school students. The good side affect is more US students are exposed to broader ideas talked about in High School and Collage. Thus the US STUDENTS tend to score low, but US Adults tend to score High.

As to actually improving Schools. I mention the choice the US Auto Industry (and most of the rest of the US industry) took in the 1950s, and the opposite choice the Japanese Auto Industry (and the rest of Japanese Industry) took in the 1950s. The choice was, do you go with the "Best and the Brightest" (what US companies did) or do you concentrate on improving the WORSE part of your production (The Japanese choice). BOTH options came out of mid century US industry research. The Japan took the word of several top US experts that one can NOT exceed the quality of your worse input, thus to improve quality look at your worse input and improve that part of your product.

American Industry took the opposite view, look at hiring the best and brightest and lets see what they can do. Thus you have the Mustangs, the GTOs, the Hemis of the 1960s, but the problem was quality declined. Great Engines, Large comfortable cars, but no quality control.

The Japanese cars of the 1960s were crap (my Father owned one, rusted out in two years, through the engine was excellent). The Japanese saw they problem and fixed them, concentrating on better paint, installing rust resistant parts in areas cars most often rusted out first, overall concentration on those areas of the Car Japanese cars were known to be weak in. By the early 1970s, Japanese Cars had left their reputation for rust behind them, and were noted to be better fit and finish then their American competitors. This is the product of seeing your worse input and improving on that worse input. American Cars concentrated on large engines, large interior rooms and "Bells and Whistles" i.e. Air Conditioning, radios with Cassette players, later CD players, wrap around sound, cushier sears etc, while overall quality declined (for example Chevrolet in the 1970s and 1980s was know to put parts on a car, with the parts produced in three different plants and painted at those plants, thus hard to get an exact paint match when the parts were assembled into one car).

Now why do I go into the above when the topic is education, the problem is today when you hear of people wanting to "improve" education, it is rarely mentioned about helping to lower the drop out rate, or to improve grades of the lowest 10% of students, i.e. the worse inputs. Instead all you hear is how to improve the "best and the brightest". The student who has been in three to four schools in a single year as that child's parents try to keep a roof over their family's head, is NOT even mentioned in this debate. How do we help the Student who can NOT get any help at home for his parents can not read and write?

No you do NOT hear of such problem students (in many ways Schools are encouraged to kick them out, thus improving their test scores), instead you hear of why can't my child go to an advance placement class? Why is an Advance placement class NOT offered? Advance placement is for the Best and the Brightest, and as a former Best and Brightest student, I can tell you I did NOT need such help. To a good degree I could do it on my own, the problem is the worse input, the lowest 10% of students grade wise. The issue should be how do we help them, and the silence on such help is deafening. These students cost the most to educate, they need support most Schools are NOT set up to provide (i.e. housing and a stable family environment).

Yes, no one wants to address the real problems of education for it will cost money, and the people helped are the least likely to vote (The poor and uneducated are the least likely to vote, the higher your level of education the more likely you will vote, and Politicians know this). On the other hand, such politicians are more then willing to "help" those people most likely to vote, thus the push for private schools. That is the best way to improve the education in the US, an education system in need of reform, but not the type being discussed.