Re: Public Schools

["Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>]

At 9:22 AM -0400 9/27/96, ronsimpson wrote:
>I hate to burst any bubbles but, the school with the highest number of
>National Merit Finalists and highest number of 1600 SATs is a Public
>High School (Jefferson High in Fairfax, VA)

I took some of my science classes at Jefferson.

Yes, shocking as it may seem, I AM A PRODUCT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Help me before it's too late.

(Seriously, my view is that schools are not very important. All success,
academic or technical, derives from one basic determining factor: those who
read for pleasure, succeed, and those who don't read for pleasure, don't.
The young child who reads will usually keep reading, whether novels,
encyclopedias, lists like this, etc. The child who is not into reading will
likely never get into it later in life. Which is OK, as there is a serious
shortage of tradesmen, at least in my area, and more kids ought to be
taught usable trades. Seriously. Our "ideal" that all children should
attend college is absurd, given the lack of academic preparation, desire,
and reading skills that so many high school students lack. Most community
colleges are essentially becoming Grades 13-14, with most of the Grade
13-14 students reading at the 9th-grade level (which most of us on this
list were reading at when we were in the 7th-grade, or earlier).)

--Tim May



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