Georgia Homeschool Athletic League's #1 Priority is God

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Ah yes, sorry, it's slightly part of the discrepancy between french and english, because you see, we have a word for pointing someone ("tu, toi") in particular, and another word for pointing a group of people ("vous"), whereas english only has "you" , which counts for both.

I would worry. Most schools down south are rather poor anyway. I mean most schools down here in Florida are C and D scores. Being based on FCAT (State- Standardized Test Scores.) As well as the fact that in the Tampa Bay Area most schools only have about 30% of the student population on reading level. You also forget to mention the fact the teachers literally preach in the classroom about the "Right Religion" and so on. A friend of mine got kicked out of Art Class after mentioning to his friend the Buddism was his religious affiliations. He wasn't even preaching but was just stating a fact that he was buddhist. I mean even people who have "Masters Degrees" can be rather ignorant in Florida. Especially the intolerant ones as well as the countless amount of English teachers who use slang in class and so on.

Hm. It depends- there are some very excellent primary and secondary schools in parts of the US. However, I agree that our public system probably fails considerably more than it succeeds.

Our universities kick ass, though.

I do agree - Both creme-dela-creme institutions in France, the ENA and the Ecole Polytechnique, are state schools, the same is to say about the ETH in Zurich and other institutions. It is just too simplistic to pin this complex matter down to private-vs-public education.

BTW: I went in Germany to state schools and I consider my education quite reasonable.

Public schools are a populist institution. They take a one-size-fits-most approach. As a result the mentally deficient and the mentally superior get short schrift. The mentally deficient get some help (since they are pitied) by the gifted have to fend for themselves. The result is institutional mediocrity. That is why over half the student body at M.I.T. come from abroad.

ruveyn

But this not necessary invested into a state school system: I went to state schools which were highly selective and specialised in their subjects. They were state schools, but it was needed to pass a test to enter the school, the school was six or seven times oversubscribed and with the fist year 50 % were kicked out, because their grades were not sufficient for the next stage.

I do not see a reason why a school can't be a state school.

You are right in theory. However in the U.S. the approach to public schooling is egalitarian and populist which magnifies mediocrity and minimizes excellence. The European state-run schools tend to be much more elitist than in the U.S. In fact in the U.S. we are anti-elitist.

ruveyn

There are still less "elitist" state school "for the masses", but those more "elitist" schools often were founded by state to recruit civil servants (typical example the ENA in France, founded by Napoleon to recruit the bureaucrat elite for his new France), but also much earlier the "Fuerstenschule" (Princes's School) in Saxony of the 16th century.

In the 19th century other schools with a emphasis on engineering and natural science were added to supply the industry and research with qualified personal to strengthen the economic base of the state.

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At the end any well functioning state needs a kind of elite to run the affairs - a state run and sponsored system of elitist schools does diminish the class barriers for children of the lower classes to enter those elites. State run elite eduction is at the end the most egalitarian thing to do, because the better off will always find a way to provide their offspring with the best education.

I wish I was homeschooled, because I'd be able to teach myself, and do a better job of it than school (which is a 'special' school). Unfortunately, my parents didn't have the time (my mother works at a high school as an Art teacher, my father was doing a PGCE [something which would make him a teacher, can't remember what it stands for but it qualifies you for the job] in Religous Education, and got 90% through it, so they were too busy teaching other people ). I aced the 11+/SATs/whatever, but I was already at the school (it's got a primary and secondary component) so I was trapped there, and it didn't really mean anything.

It doesn't matter how you get the knowledge, right, so long as you have it? Ironically, Einstien was the most famous failure of the current testing system used, based on exams (he failed it when Edison got him to try it, or something like that). That was when he responded "why would I need to carry a figure such as the speed of sound around in my head, when I can just look it up in a book?" That's why I like the OU science short courses, because it doesn't test whether I can remember the information; it tests whether I can find it and articulate it in writing.

Nah - taking the cream of the cream worldwide will give MIT more future Nobel Prizes than merely taking the cream of the cream from the US. The US has only 5% of the world's population ... if you want extremes in intelligence or basketballability, it is necessary to cast a wider net. MIT is not focused exclusively on serving the US; it is in the game of expanding knowledge and being excellent in science and technology.

I have been in public schools that practiced tracking - the brightest students were put together to learn, the average students were put together to learn, and the slow students were in a separate group (and there was also special ed for people with more profound issues). This led to better outcomes for all ... I realize that such practices are sometimes criticized as 'elitist' but they do work.

Also, my daughter has been in a private school that did not have tracking policies (although it may have been invisible tracking, as students were not admitted unless they were bright to begin with). I think that is a big advantage with private schools - they can choose who they accept, which has a huge effect on outcomes.

So I think these generalizations are not useful. A public school in a troubled neighborhood tends to have poor outcomes, but a public school in a vibrant suburban area tends to have good outcomes.

With regard to the original photo; what concerns me most is not that some moronic coach has put the sign there, more that no-one has seen fit to deface it.

Whatever happened to respect for private property?

ruveyn

Someone has already defaced the sign...the printer. I have trouble believing those are mistakes.

Watch out for the acedemic. It's an infectuous disease that kills millions every year. It killed my grandpa.

No need for me to worry then. I would think an acedemic might only kill one.