Where's Alaska?
 

Thats what our parts driver(20 yr old) asked me this morning after look'n at the newspaper weather map.
I kidd you not!!!
"Its way colder then California. And its right next to it.
Had to show him on a Road Altas to prove it was above Canada.

Shows you what kind of education the kids are getting for the trillions they are spending of OUR money.

ask him where Uganda is...or Romania.....and let me guess...he`s a voter?

We've raised a generation of idiots!

Where everybody gets a trophy just for showing up!

Haha wow. I may be 21 but common sense is a lost art in school. I'm on some other forums that usually have quite a bit of people around my age, and some of them spell words horribly. Some of them don't seem to know where the "," or "." keys are on a keyboard either.

Saw a report recently where the average 8th Grader can barely read at a 4th Grade level! It doesn't surprise me a bit that they do not know where Alaska is on a map.

If you cannot read well, it is much more difficult for you to write well in school.

THE REALLY SAD PART OF THE DEAL IS THAT THE "generation of idiots!"
YOU MENTIONED WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SUCCEED AT ANYTHING
other than a basic MacDonalds/ Taco Bell type job.

Tom Vaught

You guys are going to condemn the entire educational system consisting of millions of kids over the shortcomings of ONE? Now tell me again, who has the learning problem?

There has to be some parental accountability; it's not just our public education system's responsibilty to educate our kids.

Shared Responsibility
 

Looks to me that the parent(s) if both happen to be around share in the dumbing down of America. Certainly not all the educator's fault. What's really scary is that they vote at 18!!!

My 7 year old homeschooler knows where Alaska is. Uganda and Romania too, LOL! Just like private companies who take government money are now beholden to the federal government, children in government run schools are subject to the whims of that government. The public school system is more about social engineering and less about education. IMHO, the responsibility of educating ones children lies with the parents not the state.

Grant, My Father-in-Law was an Administrator in a school system, (several principals worked for him). My Wife is a Teacher, my Brother-in-Law is a Teacher, My Son is a Teacher (Teaches Commercial Pilots), My Co-Worker's Wife is a Teacher, and I could provide several others. They all would disagree with you Grant.

Education starts at home. If the father/ mother is typically a poor reader or student, the kid has a very hard task overcoming that poor start. Most schools today are "Day Care Centers" for the parents vs places for the kids to learn. Hard to teach when you spend 45 minutes of every class telling the bad kids to sit down and shut up.

Tom Vaught

If that's the case then WHY do I have to pay the local school and the state and feds throwing my money into public schools and colleges when I DON'T HAVE KIDS IN SCHOOL?

Grant. What does a geography teacher get paid for? apparently NOT for teaching.

Good question. Wish I had a simple answer. I will not ever have any children in the public school system but I will still have to pay into the morally bankrupt system, regardless. A voucher system would be nice.

Answer to question 1: An educated electorate is the key to a democratic government. Our founding fathers thought so anyway.

Answer to question 2: It takes an open mind on the part of the student as well as a good teacher. I don't believe that an open mind is something you would understand very well, so I won't be offended by your comments.

You're absolutely correct in stating that an educated electorate is the key to a democratic government, or more accurately, a representative republic. The problem is that the public school system has demonstrably failed in that regard.

You've got to gif him credit for asking you though , that shows he's willing to learn.
And let's face it who gives a s##t where Alaska is :)

Sorry, don't agree with you on that one.

Grant. Are you or somebody you know a teacher in public school?

How can the answer to that be anything other than "yes"?

with the overwhelming amount of information available to these kids today, shouldn't they completing the same schooling that took us 12 (13 including k) years in 7 or 8 years? i see some really smart kids that are joining the air force now, but run into some really dumb ones out around town. seems the intelligence spread has widened, with good and bad results.