Maggie's Farm

"the answer sure isn't government schools either."

It was once. I graduated high school in 1961 and I can assure you that the teachers and the schools did a good job back then. Class size was typically 35 students in grade school and everyone learned to read, learned math and developed English skills.

I encountered a lot of poor schools and less than competent teachers during my children's education. But I remember one example that stands out and is a useful comparison. My daughters 6th grade teacher was all business, visiting her classroom you had no doubt she was in control. Silence, children studying, 3 or 4 students were already tackling algebra while others were catching up to their 6th grade level in math. But this teacher was eligible for retirement and waiting until after Jan 1st gave her the highest retirement income. When I next visited my daughters class after Jan 1st it was a madhouse. There were two teachers aides in addition to the teacher. So much noise the teacher needed to step outside the class to talk with me. All the children were drawing/painting. The previous teacher eschewed teachers aides because they were incompetent (they didn't have college degrees and most seemed to have learned nothing in K-12 themselves. They were essentially welfare moms who were hired by the state to help teachers, no skills and no commitment to the job. That juxtaposition between the old school teacher and the modern teacher really explains it all.