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In the upcoming Californian ballot, the proponents are saying that we need to pass them because they have financial repercussions in financing our school system:
Make no mistake: if Propositions 1A-1F fail on the May 19th Special Election ballot, the ones hurt most will be It is our schoolchildren, public safety professionals, health care providers, senior citizens and working families – those who depend on a stable, adequately funded flow of public services – who will be put at the most severe risk.
I am always in favor of education over no-education, but this argument is probably a lame excuse to just expand the government budget and to raise taxes on this over-taxed state.
Let’s get this straight. No amount of money is going to ever fix the California, or US for that matter, education system. No matter how many new teachers we hire, no matter how many new books we buy, no matter how many new schools and libraries we build, or no matter how much money we dump… the system is NOT going to improve. And of course, how do we measure if the education system has improved (or has gotten worse)? By the number of kids who graduate. Or by how well kids do on tests.
Let me give an example: Asian students. Asian students are NOT just naturally smarter than non-Asian students. Asians do “well” in US relative to their non-Asian counterparts in US because of one and one thing only: STANDARDS:
… Asians excel at mathematics because their culture demands it. If other countries schooled their children as rigorously, they would produce similar results
In fact, Koreans may do well relative to American counterparts in US, they perform WORSE than their Japanese counterparts in Japan. Why? Different culture, thus different standards. If you’re in an environment where your standards are constantly challenged and raised, your mind will constantly find ways to improve and be more efficient. If you lower the standards, what happens? It goes down.
Perfect example: sports. If you’re good at basketball but want to get better, who do you train with? Michael Jordan or a 10 year old who’s never played basketball? Sure with the 10 year old, you might WIN but who are you kidding? If you want to get better, you play with the PRO whose standards are 10 times or even 100 times higher than yours.
I am not trying to impress anybody with this story, but i’ll use it anyway.
When I was 8-9 years old, I took abacus training. When I first enrolled, it made no sense because I knew how to use a calculator but I guess the abacus master was a good salesman. He sold my mom on the idea that kids who take abacus training are fare more likely to succeed in school than those who haven’t. So my mom signed me up and I start doing the abacus thing. Then it turns out I have a knack at this. I got so good that the abacus trainer actually put me one some regional abacus contest in Korea. I start winning them and pretty soon, I’m on the road to international championship in Japan.
(Side note: We’re talking serious number crunching here. We’re talking 10-20 digit numbers… and we MULTIPLIED them, not only on the actual abacus – JOO-SAN- but on our “mental” abacuses – AM-SAN.)
Here’s what the schedule looked like during the summer before the competition. Keep in mind
7:30 AM: Wake up.
8:00 AM: Eat breakfast. Exercise. Walk to school.
9:00 AM: Training begins.
12:00 PM: Go home and eat lunch. Quick 15 min nap.
1:00 PM: Training some more.
6:00 PM: Go home and eat dinner. Watch cartoon for 15 min.
7:00 PM: Yes, train some more.
9:00 PM: Go home.
Crazy? you bet! I was freakin’ 9 years old!
Asian culture places HUGE emphasis in education, especially science and mathematics. We’re not BETTER at it. It’s just our parents are a little crazy when it comes to achieving those A’s in school. Their standards for their children are HIGH. To get there, what do the Asian kids do? They hit the books! They don’t need to be told that they have to do their homeworks… or study for their tests and quizzes… or join extracurricular activities.. or have the school system ask for more tax funding to enhance the student-teacher ratio. The Asians kids proactively seek out resources (and hence being “resourceful”) to meet their cultural standard for academic excellence.
Here’s the irony: most of the Asian students in US come from lower socioeconomic class!
So.. here are all these proponents saying that we need more resources for schools and students, yet here are these students who, without much money or so-called resources, are able to achieve higher academic results.
Hmm.. the irony.
Forget more money/taxes. Raise standards instead. No more remedial anything. No more special eds.
Related posts:
- Racism over? Yeah, right.
How to fix US education system: Forget more money, raise standards instead.
In the upcoming Californian ballot, the proponents are saying that we need to pass them because they have financial repercussions in financing our school system:
I am always in favor of education over no-education, but this argument is probably a lame excuse to just expand the government budget and to raise taxes on this over-taxed state.
Let’s get this straight. No amount of money is going to ever fix the California, or US for that matter, education system. No matter how many new teachers we hire, no matter how many new books we buy, no matter how many new schools and libraries we build, or no matter how much money we dump… the system is NOT going to improve. And of course, how do we measure if the education system has improved (or has gotten worse)? By the number of kids who graduate. Or by how well kids do on tests.
Let me give an example: Asian students. Asian students are NOT just naturally smarter than non-Asian students. Asians do “well” in US relative to their non-Asian counterparts in US because of one and one thing only: STANDARDS:
In fact, Koreans may do well relative to American counterparts in US, they perform WORSE than their Japanese counterparts in Japan. Why? Different culture, thus different standards. If you’re in an environment where your standards are constantly challenged and raised, your mind will constantly find ways to improve and be more efficient. If you lower the standards, what happens? It goes down.
Perfect example: sports. If you’re good at basketball but want to get better, who do you train with? Michael Jordan or a 10 year old who’s never played basketball? Sure with the 10 year old, you might WIN but who are you kidding? If you want to get better, you play with the PRO whose standards are 10 times or even 100 times higher than yours.
I am not trying to impress anybody with this story, but i’ll use it anyway.
When I was 8-9 years old, I took abacus training. When I first enrolled, it made no sense because I knew how to use a calculator but I guess the abacus master was a good salesman. He sold my mom on the idea that kids who take abacus training are fare more likely to succeed in school than those who haven’t. So my mom signed me up and I start doing the abacus thing. Then it turns out I have a knack at this. I got so good that the abacus trainer actually put me one some regional abacus contest in Korea. I start winning them and pretty soon, I’m on the road to international championship in Japan.
(Side note: We’re talking serious number crunching here. We’re talking 10-20 digit numbers… and we MULTIPLIED them, not only on the actual abacus – JOO-SAN- but on our “mental” abacuses – AM-SAN.)
Here’s what the schedule looked like during the summer before the competition. Keep in mind
Crazy? you bet! I was freakin’ 9 years old!
Asian culture places HUGE emphasis in education, especially science and mathematics. We’re not BETTER at it. It’s just our parents are a little crazy when it comes to achieving those A’s in school. Their standards for their children are HIGH. To get there, what do the Asian kids do? They hit the books! They don’t need to be told that they have to do their homeworks… or study for their tests and quizzes… or join extracurricular activities.. or have the school system ask for more tax funding to enhance the student-teacher ratio. The Asians kids proactively seek out resources (and hence being “resourceful”) to meet their cultural standard for academic excellence.
Here’s the irony: most of the Asian students in US come from lower socioeconomic class!
So.. here are all these proponents saying that we need more resources for schools and students, yet here are these students who, without much money or so-called resources, are able to achieve higher academic results.
Hmm.. the irony.
Forget more money/taxes. Raise standards instead. No more remedial anything. No more special eds.
Related posts: