Clarification

In my last post I said "the American education system completely failed me". In retrospect I see that I have made a very strong statement without clarifying. I know blogging is supposed to be spur of the moment thing, and I try to put more thought, but not enough.

My children have been in the public school system for five years, and we have consistently met excellent teachers, whose commitment to their chosen profession is unparalleled. It is the "system" that has some issues but I have no good answers about what the best option is.

The state of Arizona has certain standards for education listing exactly what a child coming out of each grade should know. My daughter did not meet those standards in math at the end of 3rd grade. However, there was no consequence attached to that. If there was a threat that she would not be allowed to move on to the next grade, we would have smartened up and done something about it sooner. That would have been a good consequence for my family. But what about a child who has a genuine learning disability - I know children who couldn't read in third grade and it wasn't for lack of trying. It would be completely unfair and demoralizing to hold such a child back grade after grade.

In there lies the challenge of the public school system - there is a huge diversity in the learning abilities among all of the children in any grade, and one teacher and one set of standards cannot cover it all. But what is the solution? Establish a meritocracy like Singapore - only the smart kids get a comprehensive education, the ones with lower IQ go to trade school? Of course not. Or do what a home-schooling friend of mine suggests - abolish the public education system completely and let groups of like-minded parents start their own schools to teach their children how and what they want to teach. But what about those children whose parents are not at all involved in their education? Would it be fair to deny them an education? Maybe the current 2-tier system with public schools and specialized charter schools is the solution - all children get a good basic education, but if parents think their child needs something different, they go to a charter school.