This week’s TIME column looks at education and the presidential election. Other than this week’s political sparring about student loan interest rates you’re not hearing a lot about education from the campaign trail. There’s a reason for that but it means a lot is getting left on the table.
According to a recent poll, 67 percent of registered voters in swing states said education was “extremely important” to them in this year’s election. Parents of high schoolers and college students are particularly worried (or they should be) that the interest rate on federally backed student loans is set to double in July, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Meanwhile, only 8 percent of low-income students even make it out of college by age 24. Business leaders agree America needs to do a better job educating its kids if we want to remain competitive globally. Yet despite all that, President Obama and Mr. Romney aren’t talking about education’s hard questions. They aren’t even talking up their own successes. Why? Because education reform doesn’t fit well with the overall argument either candidate is making about why he should get to sit in the Oval Office next January…
Want an easy fit? Click here and you can read the entire column at TIME’s site.
You want educational reform? Consider the lessons about teaching from jazz-band instructors. The way music is taught by jazz-band teachers has special relevance for all teachers. What I learned about teaching in general from attending a high-school jazz- band festival in Texas is shared in a recent blog at Psychology Today. See http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/memory-medic/201204/what-all-teachers-should-learn-jazz-band-teachers-1
Edu-reform.
Parents are happy with their schools. They are unhappy with the rest of the schools in the nation.
Case closed, R.
Your life’s work is headed to the ash heap. So, what is your next career move. Who is next on your reform list?
When do you plan on pulling on the black hat, the black waistcoat, the black knickers, the high black socks, and the white shirt complete with ruffle? And the black shoes with big buckles?
Choice never came at the end of a baseball bat. And your national prescription for edu-reform is exactly that.
As a parent, education reform is my biggest worry. In fact, I started bringing my sons to an alternative tutoring and enrichment center in my area. It is called Brainy Academy (http://www.brainyacademyny.com).
I enjoy it because their methods are the opposite of the public school system, and I feel that at least this way, my children are getting the education they need. Brainy Academy uses the Singapore Math Method, which builds problem solving skills, which makes children actually want to do math. They also have the Montessori system for younger children, which expands their cognitive, motor, math, and reading skills.
Check out a tutoring and enrichment center in your area.