'Last Stop USA': How the Army Is Trying to Fill in for a Broken Education System (1 Viewer)

[Pyrite]

They couldn't. They haven't had control of the education system for 40 years.

Post #23

Geeze, my old-age mind comes up with a 12-year period when Republicans did "control the education system": 1981 through 1992.

And there was another 8-year period of Republican control: 2001 through 2008.

12 plus 8 equals 20. Looks as if your math is fuzzy, @Mycroft.

 

[Allan]

They couldn't. They haven't had control of the education system for 40 years.

Maybe Republicans had control the entire time.

 

[Pyrite]

When I went to school French was required from grades 1 - 6, optional after that.

Makes eminent sense.

We should have been doing and should do now a similar thing re Spanish.

 

[Hip octogenarian]

Yes.

That was before the DoE and before the liberals had control of our education system.

No, it was before Conservatives cut off funding for schools. It was before right wingers banned certain books from school curricula and from libraries. It was before teaching evolution was banned in favor of some nonsense called creationism. It was also before schools stopped teaching Civics, so someone like Trump couldn't pull the wool over people's eyes because they don't know how the Constitution works, and what the separation of powers and balance of powers mean. Let the DOE do its job, free from constraints put on it by Republicans, and our public school system can be better than it ever has been.

 

[Hip octogenarian]

They couldn't. They haven't had control of the education system for 40 years.

If not in control, they've had just enough influence to screw it up.

 

[PeacefulWarrior]

They couldn't. They haven't had control of the education system for 40 years.

They must be too dumb to get control of it.

 

[NWRatCon]

This exchange just made me chortle diet coke out of my nose thanks guys it burns.

[Wow, the most factless commentator on the forum made a factless comment. color me not shocked.]

 

[NWRatCon]

Wanna see how stupid really works?

Military Entrance Exam Sites Close, Reduce Hours Due to Hegseth Ban on Civilian Travel - NewsBreak

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Locations set up across the country to give military entrance exams to potential recruits have been for

www.newsbreak.com

 

[Cosmo]

While this particular article is more than a year old, the point it raises is particularly relevant right now. It points out a glaring problem that current "thinking" will make markedly worse.

Trump wants to eliminate the Department of Education, and bolster the military. Those are mutually exclusive goals. As the article notes, "For the Army to fill its ranks with aggressive recruiting quotas, it needs applicants who can meet a baseline of academic standards meant to be measured by the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB. A dwindling pool of young Americans can meet those enlistment requirements, forcing the Army to pick up the slack as it scrambles to get kids up to snuff."

So, poor education policy, for an extended period, has a myriad of knock-on effects. It's not just the military having to pick up the slack. Corporations have also started such programs. They are also looking to recruit overseas.

Remember when the US had an Education System that was the envy of the world? What we should be doing is investing in our people, not cutting of our nose to spite...
Well, just out of spite.

I love how you managed to work in Trump II into a year-old article about poor education policy, and the only solution you can come up with is to funnel more money into the system.

 

[Port & Starboard]

K-12 Reading and math levels were on a downward trend even before Covid.

Trending down since 2012 with a serious nosedive during and after Covid.



We need to fix this.

 

[SavannahMann]

Yes.

That was before the DoE and before the liberals had control of our education system.

Cool. Then here is what we do. We abolish the Department of Education, cut off all Federal Money, and leave it up to each State and County. Sound fair?

 

[Mycroft]

Cool. Then here is what we do. We abolish the Department of Education, cut off all Federal Money, and leave it up to each State and County. Sound fair?

Yes, though not necessarily cut off all federal money. Block grants would be a viable option.

 

[SavannahMann]

Yes, though not necessarily cut off all federal money. Block grants would be a viable option.

Nah. Let’s just leave it to the States. They don’t want to meet any Federal Standards and the Government is spending way too much money. We can’t afford Veterans Care, we can’t afford SNAP, or Medicaid, so Block Grants are out of the question.

You’ll figure it out.

 

[Mycroft]

Nah. Let’s just leave it to the States.

I agree.

They don’t want to meet any Federal Standards

There is no Constitutional authority for the federal government to set standards.

and the Government is spending way too much money.

I agree.

We can’t afford Veterans Care, we can’t afford SNAP, or Medicaid, so Block Grants are out of the question.

I don't agree.

Block grants are not out of the question just because we are spending too much money. The proper solution is to pick and choose what we REALLY need to spend money on, and educational block grants are not necessarily something we cannot afford.

You’ll figure it out.

Of course, it's not up to me...but you know that.

 

[SavannahMann]

I agree.


There is no Constitutional authority for the federal government to set standards.


I agree.


I don't agree.

Block grants are not out of the question just because we are spending too much money. The proper solution is to pick and choose what we REALLY need to spend money on, and educational block grants are not necessarily something we cannot afford.


Of course, it's not up to me...but you know that.

Federal money for education is not listed in the Constitution. There is no Constitutional requirement or authority for education. If your state wants to educate the kids, your state can pay for it. My own County has a special election coming up so we can decide on a special one penny sales tax. The millions of dollars expected to be raised is according to the propaganda going to be used for education, the Jail, public safety, and a host of other really great things. I’m voting no. They can cut their staffs and make do with less.

I don’t see why they need more of my money.

Educating the kids is not the responsibility of the Feds. No more of my Dollars should go to educate kids in States that are too cheap to pay for it themselves. They need to deal with their own problems without suckling on the Federal Teat.

 

[Quag]

PISA results from '22, show te countries who have outperformed the US to include Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Estonia, Canada, Finland, and several others. Finland and Canada are the only liberal countries who have outperformed the US.

How are those countires not liberal compared to the USA?

 

[NJBob]

Yes.

That was before the DoE and before the liberals had control of our education system.

And here I thought it was because conservatives cut funding for education.

 

[NWRatCon]

In the short term, though, poorly- or under-educated youths who have few employment prospects will likely flock to the military recruiters. Trump and today's GOP aren't known for prowess in the long-term thinking department. If recruiting numbers go up during trump's term - regardless of the quality of the recruits re education - that will be counted as "winning".

Yes, we should invest more resources in our public schools. Unfortunately, that's not and hasn't been a policy endorsed by many Republicans.

From the OP article:

"Most of the soldiers come from poor, rural communities, many from the South -- places with few promising job opportunities. Some dropped out after a quick stint in college as the price of higher education has skyrocketed. In one case, a gay recruit hoped the military could be the means to escape a judgmental family.

These are young adults from low-income or working-class families, the kind where parents work long hours and are not always able to help with homework, with tutoring sessions well out of financial reach."

Now, who controls those poor, rural, Southern States?

 

[NWRatCon]

Yes, though not necessarily cut off all federal money. Block grants would be a viable option.

This is how we no ur a fine produck of the pubic edification sisstem. Rocks are better informed.

 

[Jason Warfield]

They couldn't. They haven't had control of the education system for 40 years.

Except when conservative presidents placed Secretaries of Education and had input on education spending as well as state, county and local governments that were solidly rightwing for even longer than 40 years or those went red....