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Nikita Bush's career as a public school teacher came to an end when she faced the decision of how to educate her own children. Having been told for years that American public schools would eventually get better for black children, the number of African-American homeschooling parents like Ms. Bush has doubled in little over a decade.
As Patrick Jonsson of the Christian Science monitor reports, studies show all kinds of public school problems disproportionately affect black children, and many parents have decided to take matters into their own hands. Even single parents are forming co-ops to make it possible to educate their children together outside of the public school system.
What do you do when you feel the system is failing your child and their education?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 22 2016, @05:02PM
You're missing a few points.
1) Sure, schools aren't the decision-makers on what sex education will look like. This is true. Who is? A government agency. You're really just proving his point that the government is successfully buggering schooling for everyone by trying not to offend anyone (and failing).
2) Wilderness survival is about a lot more than roughing it out in Alaska with a beard your axe couldn't cut. It's about knowing how not to be stupid when your car stalled out down a dirt road in Arizona. It's about knowing whether the snake that just bit little Jimmy is venomous or not - and if so, what to do about it (if anything). It's about things like recognising and treating hypothermia in someone you've just pulled out of a river. These are real, practical concerns today, and the fact that they happen to overlap with general wilderness survival skills makes that a coherent skillset worth teaching.
3) Sure, science matters. I'm all for that, both on a theoretical and a practical level, but for day-to-day decisions, I'd actually say that a foundational set of courses in philosophy might have more value. What the hell, get the philosophy of science in there as well, to help kids pick out hucksters.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 22 2016, @06:38PM
3) Sure, science matters. I'm all for that, both on a theoretical and a practical level, but for day-to-day decisions, I'd actually say that a foundational set of courses in philosophy might have more value. What the hell, get the philosophy of science in there as well, to help kids pick out hucksters.
Not GP, and I'd agree that philosophy would also be a good thing, although the philosophy of science is science to a large degree.
But I'd argue that on a day to day basis, science is more important. What kind of light bulbs are going to save you the most money? Should you leave that meat out on the counter or put it in the fridge? Should you store it in an air tight container? Should you get your kids vaccinated? Are flush toilets and fresh water really worth the expense? Should you buy property in Florida with the expectation it won't be flooded in a century? Which is better to use for birth control, condoms?, the pill? , the rhythm method? How about for STD's? Should you wear seat-belts regardless of the legality? Bike helmets? Motorcycle helmets? I could go on all day, but you get the idea.
Science is so ingrained in our lives that we don't even think about it.