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Education
Let's get back to basics!
Youth - It's time to go back to teaching children to use their minds through memorization and problem solving. Basics may be taught using a simple set of tools: The McGuffy Readers, The Constitution, The Book of Virtues, history books, maps, mail exchange with other schools, arithmetic and multiplication tables. For all other subjects, each school should run a farm. (There is some medical science supporting the idea that rural activities increase the quality of life link) There students can learn about the sciences, from biology to meteorology to physics to chemistry and geology. They can learn about responsibility and work ethic, cause and effect and economics. Physical education is a given. Each and every child will learn quickly and in a hands-on environment. Plus they will be learning useful skills.
Children memorizing multiplication tables in a calm environment
And to all those adults who are overly concerned with political correctness - stop it! Children don't need to keep learning about our differences, and we need to stop pointing it out. Children will learn tolerance by learning together. When humans are compared to other creatures instead of one another, humanity is one. It's time to break the cycle of discrimination. Humans are humans. Dogs are dogs. Cats are cats.
People should judge one another on how they behave, their thoughtfulness, their kindness, their willingness to help one another. When we start there, we lose discrimination. Tolerance will not be taught, it will be lived. Intolerant students will be forced to clean the barn until the message gets through to them. People are people, cows are cows, sheep are sheep.
This farming method is an important one considering we are facing conditions not seen since The Great Depression. With millions out of work and homeless, production from these schools will help feed those in need, starting with the students and their families. Teaching basic survival skills in this world gives children the necessary tools to live independently from the government welfare system.
Sixth graders of the 1940s tested better than high school graduates of today. And the kids aren't getting dumber. So let's bring back real education and not waste time with social posturing. Abraham Lincoln learned by writing in charcoal on the back of a shovel. Our kids can do with less doo-dads and more learning.College - The higher education system is a mess. It is unwieldy and expensive. Students run up huge debts to learn a profession and charge huge fees once they are out in order to pay their loans. America needs to provide the first two years of university just as it does the rest of the education - free of charge. Once a specialization has been chosen, it is time for the student and their families to contribute. Of course, if high-school is turning out well educated graduates, this two-year extension might not be needed.
If America wants a well educated work force, America needs to contribute. Public universities need to be public - anyone can get in who makes the grade requirements. And their funding should also be public. And a priority.
Alternatives - For those who are not interested in professional careers, alternatives must be available. Job training will be offered under a master guild system. Students may choose their area of expertise and work through apprentice, journeyman and master certification programs. Training can include mechanical (repair, installation, maintenance), biological (medical, animal, environmental), caretaking (child, special needs, elderly), production (food, material, data), emergency (medical, fire, police, hazmat, disaster) service of all kinds and other important, non-degreed professions. This plan provides for all Americans who want to be trained for their future that opportunity.
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