I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that most people agree that the public education system is in dire need of reform, and as a former teacher I agree. I thus have several proposals on how to address the issues facing our students and schools, as the true scope of the problem is much larger than most tend to realize. I will openly admit some of these proposals are lobbies for changes we’ve never seen in this country en masse before, while others of the proposals are widely held. Bear with me, this is a long one.
Proposal 1
A total restructuring of both grade years and the grading system. The current system is massively restrictive to both exceptional and special needs students, and the classic A-F system not only does not give any room for failure, it is a root cause for why kids can slip through the whole system without retaining any knowledge. First, middle school will become entirely focused on teaching the fundamentals. Math, Science, History, English. Essentially what students learn as late as even 11th grade today will be taught by no later than 8th. The entire curriculum from 8th down to Kindergarten can and must be advanced. Kids are not stupid, and treating them stupid is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Elementary education should be more hands-on and about the basics, Middle education more book-learning and complex.
Thereafter, High School will completely change the model (and will not use the A-F system nor the 4 grade levels system at all). Instead of signing up for roughly 8 courses on a semester-basis, locked in with specific requirements for graduation, each course will instead be broken up into units of varying length that can be as short as 4 weeks and as long as a semester. Each of these units will be focused on specific skills rather than traditional full subjects. For example, instead of taking “English 1,” a student may instead sign up for “Professional Writing” or “Rhetorical Argument” or even something specialized like “Long Form Fiction.” Every subject will be broken up so, and no classes are absolutely required. A student will then be free to completely specialize in even just one area of study (hence why middle school covers everything in this proposal).
Additionally, instead of being graded A-F and sporting a GPA, students will be evaluated by the teacher and given a certification in that specific skill (perhaps even allowing for modifiers like “expert” or “proficient”). After the allotted four years, there is no diploma. Instead, students receive a portfolio detailing their certified skills. They would then be free to use this portfolio to either A. apply for jobs that value those specific skills or B. showcase them for higher learning universities. In this model, university and college would become only necessary for highly specialized, skilled fields such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc.
Proposal 2
For the above model to succeed, full school choice must be established. To facilitate this, I believe it would be in the best interest to construct free, student-only dorms around every high school in the USA. This would free any student, anywhere, to leave their environment to pursue any school that they can be accepted to. Schools should be left to their own devices on how to evaluate students they accept, and there should be no standardized tests of any kind (at any level).
The Department of Education must be either shrunk or abolished as, in its current state, it’s a money hole. Even teachers generally agree that it doesn’t provide much help to them in any meaningful way. Schools should be allowed to determine which courses they provide, though it would be in best interest for them to have as many and as varied courses as they can, including studies in the crafts like metal shop, auto work, carpentry, plumbing, cooking, etc. Schools could then specialize to attract more students. To further facilitate this, any funding from government must be solely based on number of students attending, rather than local taxes. Schools may collect funds through bonds and fundraisers (and who knows, perhaps also through robust business courses with practical assignments).
Proposal 3
Teacher pay must be raised. Yes, you’ve heard this before, and it is vital to saving the system. If you have a problem with the quality of teachers today, you can thank low pay for that. Fewer people than ever are going into teaching, and even those who do aren’t staying as average pay has been far outstripped by inflation and cost of living. And before you say “well, they get summers and holidays,” keep in mind that teachers work far more unpaid overtime than any comparable field, often resulting in teachers working more hours even with those days off than the average full-time worker in the US does.
It’s a rule of economics. If you want to attract high quality workers, the pay must reflect that. Higher pay would mean more competition, competition means better quality, better quality means better education. The countries that have the best educational systems pay their teachers their worth. We should do the same.
Conclusion
The aim of the above proposals is simple: Educate our students efficiently, completely, and with an eye towards their success as adults. At the current state of things, at least one entire generation has been all but lost and another is following, and mass homeschool isn’t going to fix that. A robust educational system is the key to a successful country leading the world into the future.