Comment by spike021 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by spike021 | Hacker News Reader

I won't go into much detail because I would wind up ranting and only be somewhat understandable..

However, as an American citizen who went to public schools as a child/teenager and am now finishing up at a public state university, I'm inclined to say that the education system here is a complete wash.

It works for some people who fit the one-size mold that the system here seems to target, but there are a large number of children/teenagers/college-aged students for whom it does not.

That isn't to say one set of students are anymore gifted than the other. Just that the approach to education is deeply flawed. It works for the type of student it is set up for, and has little to no appreciation for other types, least of which if they even exist. The approach needs a serious revolution in order for our country to have a successful academic system.

source: I am from California and the state university I currently attend and am almost graduated from is in CA as well.

There are a few different ways in which the public education system doesn't work for people.

Some students want to learn but don't do well in the "system" of public education. This is a pedagogy issue; we're not teaching those kids in the way that they will learn the best. Those kids might benefit from "unschooling", homeschooling, or other forms of self-directed learning.

Some students, mostly in areas of concentrated poverty, are going to struggle in school because of the emotional turmoil of living in poverty. Unsafe neighborhoods, neglectful homes, etc. The school system can't "fix" that by itself.

Lastly, there are students that are simply not smart enough to thrive in academic learning. If you accept that some kids are smarter than others, the natural corollary is that some kids are not as smart. That doesn't mean their worth as human beings is less. It just means we should not be shoehorning them into this terrible "everyone must go to college" meme.

This may be true, but oddly enough it might not really matter. If math such as investigated here is required then those skills can be outsourced to those who are so gifted. The most important thing is the gift of enterprise and entrepreneurship which schools around the world are desperately trying to pick up from the US. Math is great, but ultimately it must be used as a means to some ends and that is where US students continue to excel.

Or perhaps it does matter, middle and lower incomes in the US have been stagnating for a long time.

How would you suggest it change/whats the biggest problem.

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