Behind the Headlines Video
School's out. Summer's here. Now, let's think ahead to improving public schools.
The U.S. spends the most on public education yet performance continues to plummet compared to the rest of the world. Spending more money is not the answer.
Here are eight steps to improve public schools:
Support school vouchers. Reward the good schools -- public, private and parochial. Failed schools need to close down.
Decertify the unions. Teachers unions have no motivation to teach America's children.
Cut bloated administrative staffs by half. Put teachers back into the classrooms to decrease class sizes.
Support merit pay. Keep the best teachers. Let the bad ones go work for the post office or the DMV.
Restore recess and phys ed. Get kids outside and moving. It will help them focus when in the classroom and will aid in reducing childhood obesity.
Stop medicating our children. Public schools want little boys to act like little girls. They're different. Boys wiggle, jiggle and fidget. They're full of energy.
Have a gift ban. Some schools expect students to give gifts to teachers for Christmas, birthdays, teacher appreciation week - they get a whole week - and at the end of the school year. This is like expecting employees to give gifts to their employers. It's corrupting.
Make school officials invested in the outcome. Stop dumping school responsibilities on PTAs.
It's time to hold public schools accountable.
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Additional Resources
American Tort Reform Association
Bankrupting America
Better Government Association
Center for Responsive Politics
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