Our classroom education system is
expensive, ineffective and obsolete. When you step back and assess the
state of our education system from K through 12 and then college, it is
shocking that we are just accepting
it. Is it so big that there is nothing we can do about it? Are we
left with no choice in determining the best course for our children and
ourselves?
Education spending by the US government
is more than defense spending. Unlike defense contractors, where there
is at least companies that compete in cost for work, there is no
competition to get funding in the
education field. With no competition, there is no need to improve
processes or reduce costs. Costs keep going up and up each year with no
end in sight. In our digital, connected world, there is no reason for
this. If you are connected to the internet,
you can learn how to do almost anything. If you don’t have an internet
connection, you can learn at a local library. Unless you are aspiring
to be a surgeon or engineer, any subject or major is available to you
for free. There is no reason to still be stuck
in the age of our parents and grandparents when there was no access to
information with the exception of schools and libraries.
Families want to make sure they live in a
town that has a “good” school system. What does that mean in this day
and age where schools are mandated to teach the same curriculum? It is
the same classes teaching
subjects that the students will never put to practical use. Real life
skills, such as budgeting, money, finance, saving, home economics,
physical fitness, nutrition, gardening, computers, should be the main
focus of education but are sorely lacking. Instead
the students get classes on English, Spanish, calculus, trigonometry,
physics, chemistry, history that they will never use again. If for some
reason the student do need that information, they can learn it when
they need it. It is high time that the learn,
test, and forget method be replaced.
College education is forced upon young
teenagers who don’t know any better as their ticket to employment.
Parents keep sending their children to colleges and universities because
it is what they did. The reality
is that most are paying enormous tuition costs for information that is
essentially free. They become saddled in debt that they may never pay
back but which they can never get out of. The kids come out of college
or high school 2.0 with no skills for all
the time and money they put out. The colleges are not held accountable
for the poor product they are offering. It is amazing how the
perception of college education is so engrained that families and
students continue to willingly pay for it and it has no
value unless you are going to medicine or engineering school. The
colleges keep raising the tuition bar higher and higher without any
improvements on their part and it is never questioned. Students and
families need to say no more. People need to demand
a change to receive some value in return for their money. Like any
other expense, there should be a money back guarantee for satisfaction.
Why do schools just get a free pass on this? There are so many
opportunities in the digital age. The crop of new
workers that colleges are putting out are not prepared for the skills
that are in demand by employers today. The fact is most of today’s
office jobs do not need a college level education. Digital technology,
computer work, spreadsheets, presentations, problem
solving, etc can all be learned at no cost, online.
The jobs that require in school training
are in the trades where students can learn “hands on”. Welding,
plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanics, auto body, electrician work are all
skills that are in demand that
don’t require 4 years of training. Medical school and engineering are really the only courses of study that require college based learning.
Education can progress toward providing
value to students, families and the country. The education industry can
adapt just like other industries have had to adapt through the
revolution of the digital age.
Disruption to the status quo will be painful, but think of how much
farther our country will advance when the outdated teaching methods give
way to a whole new digital paradigm. Education will need to start
being innovative just like any other industry.
The benefit to the whole will be enormous when we become free thinkers
and learners.
Posts
