Let's improve No Child Left Behind, and boost America's test scores!

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Slyfox696

Yes, I know that, but right now, parents and the state don't seem to. So when those children don't pass, the only people who are being punished are the schools.

Yes. And if not, then why are we going to punish the schools?

I see what you're saying, but right now, that doesn't matter. According to No Child Left Behind, EVERY child should be able to do those things. And if even one child can't, then the school and it's teachers get punished. So, by fining parents, it is assuring that EVERY opportunity for the child to get the education the government thinks it should have.

And if the child still isn't able to get that education, then obviously we need to look to our government to change its philosophy.

It sounds like you're arguing that the schools don't have the money to give the children the education that the government thinks the school should be able to offer. Well, that's a simple fix. Take away the absurd billions spent on military, NASA, and other superfluous programs and give them to the public schools. You know, the schools that are funded by American tax dollars.

I have a better idea. How about instead of wasting the millions of dollars in scholarship money on athletes, we take that money away, and use it to push tuition costs down by half? Or we use it to give more scholarships based on academic prowess?

But that's a Cigar Lounge topic for another day.

That could work. Or we could have the NCAA eat some costs of the scholarships. If they institute a playoff system, that will have to bring in extra money. Take the playoff money and use that to give out scholarships to athletes. It's like Arkansas instituting a state lottery and using the money to fund scholarships (500 a semester I think, but it's still $500 you didn't have before) for hundreds and hundreds of college bound Arkansans.

Or the NFL can give out scholarships themselves, instituting a program the state uses for teachers, the military uses for soldiers, and the hospitals use for nurses/doctors. The NFL will pay your college education if you agree to play in the NFL for a set amount of years. Hell, individual teams can do it. I don't give a shit. The career ending injury risk comes into play, but that's a whole other topic.

We could, also, raise school funding to college schools. You know those wonderful public colleges that everyone loves? Raise the federal funding for them. But that would get in the way of superfluous NASA trips to the moon or military funding for experimental programs that won't ever be used. And we can't have that.

[FTS]

Originally Posted by Razor

It sounds like you're arguing that the schools don't have the money to give the children the education that the government thinks the school should be able to offer. Well, that's a simple fix. Take away the absurd billions spent on military, NASA, and other superfluous programs and give them to the public schools.

We should definitely take money from superfluous programs like the worthless military. I mean, what could the military ever do for us?

In all seriousness, Sly is completely right here. It pains me to say this, but parents need to be punished when their children fail tests or act up in school. If kids don't know how to act, it is their parents fault, plain and simple. If kids can't pass simple aptitude exams on basic English and math skills, it is the parent's fault. These parents need to be punished. I would have no problem sending parent's to jail for an equal amount of time that their no good child is suspended. School is a place where kids go to get prepared for adulthood. It is not a fucking daycare where bad parents send their fuck up children to distract other people who are trying to prepare for their lives.

You know, the schools that are funded by American tax dollars.

Tell me when you find one of those, because schools are funded by local property taxes. The American tax dollars go to grants for special programs and underfunded areas. This is not a problem at which the government can just throw more money. The problem is that discipline is not instilled in the kids. Parents need to take responsibility for their bratty ass kids.

That could work. Or we could have the NCAA eat some costs of the scholarships. If they institute a playoff system, that will have to bring in extra money. Take the playoff money and use that to give out scholarships to athletes. It's like Arkansas instituting a state lottery and using the money to fund scholarships (500 a semester I think, but it's still $500 you didn't have before) for hundreds and hundreds of college bound Arkansans.

Nope, the athletes make millions of dollars for the school that they use for maintenance of buildings, funding things no one cares about like women's sports, and filling up the general scholarship fund. Plus, those scholarships are the only way a bunch of kids even get to go go school. Third, it's not like academic scholarships wouldn't be given to people with a 2.0 in the classroom and 4.1 in the forty.

Or the NFL can give out scholarships themselves, instituting a program the state uses for teachers, the military uses for soldiers, and the hospitals use for nurses/doctors. The NFL will pay your college education if you agree to play in the NFL for a set amount of years. Hell, individual teams can do it. I don't give a shit. The career ending injury risk comes into play, but that's a whole other topic.

Sign me up.

We could, also, raise school funding to college schools. You know those wonderful public colleges that everyone loves? Raise the federal funding for them. But that would get in the way of superfluous NASA trips to the moon or military funding for experimental programs that won't ever be used. And we can't have that.

Experimental military programs gave us X-Rays, microwaves, run flat tires, etc. While experimental program may never get used, DARPA provides us with technology that can be used in an array of ways.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by FTS

We should definitely take money from superfluous programs like the worthless military. I mean, what could the military ever do for us?

Now, now FTS. Are you really going to believe I would cut funding to the entire military? More like I would cut funding from billion dollar programs that were supposed to produce years ago, at a fraction of the cost we spend now.

In all seriousness, Sly is completely right here. It pains me to say this, but parents need to be punished when their children fail tests or act up in school. If kids don't know how to act, it is their parents fault, plain and simple. If kids can't pass simple aptitude exams on basic English and math skills, it is the parent's fault. These parents need to be punished. I would have no problem sending parent's to jail for an equal amount of time that their no good child is suspended. School is a place where kids go to get prepared for adulthood. It is not a fucking daycare where bad parents send their fuck up children to distract other people who are trying to prepare for their lives.

But what about the students who are seriously trying, and the parents who are really trying to push their children along in their studies? What if the student simply can't read on a 5th grade when he's in the 5th grade? Are we going to treat him like the 10th graders who are reading on the 3rd grade level because they simply don't care?

Tell me when you find one of those, because schools are funded by local property taxes. The American tax dollars go to grants for special programs and underfunded areas. This is not a problem at which the government can just throw more money. The problem is that discipline is not instilled in the kids. Parents need to take responsibility for their bratty ass kids.

Hmmm. Then those broken down schools in Harlem that have a humongous drop out rate have low scores because their parents can't raise their children? Or is it more of both? Federal funding to schools to help raise their overall quality should be the first and foremost step in this process. Then, when schools are at least close to the same level as the other schools in the nation, we can start fining children for not reaching test scores.

The disciplinary fines, however, I agree with entirely. You'll run the risk over 5 year olds being funneled past psychiatrists to get ADD meds so that their parents don't get fined, but the idea is there.

Nope, the athletes make millions of dollars for the school that they use for maintenance of buildings, funding things no one cares about like women's sports, and filling up the general scholarship fund. Plus, those scholarships are the only way a bunch of kids even get to go go school. Third, it's not like academic scholarships wouldn't be given to people with a 2.0 in the classroom and 4.1 in the forty.

Or we can have the NCAA come away from some of its enormous profits and fund the schools that are actually competing in the NCAA. The money that goes towards the athletes can then be funneled into general scholarships and the money the athletes generate can still be used toward the school. It just means that the NCAA has to part with a few million per NCAA school. I'm sure they can afford that.

Sign me up.

I don't see the problem with that plan, at all.

Experimental military programs gave us X-Rays, microwaves, run flat tires, etc. While experimental program may never get used, DARPA provides us with technology that can be used in an array of ways.

For every x-ray or microwave we get, we also have billions wasted in space programs that we don't absolutely need. Do we really have to know if Mars has water? Did we really have to slam probes (or whatever) into the Moon? Do we really have to spend billions on a fighter plane project that was supposed to cost 500 million dollars and be finished 5 years ago? That's the kind of waste I'm speaking of.