Re: PHYS-L Digest - 28 Feb 2000 to 29 Feb 2000 (#2000-68)

["Richard W. Tarara" <rtarara@SAINTMARYS.EDU>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Herbert H Gottlieb" <herbgottlieb@JUNO.COM>

> Richard
> You have expressed the problems of the public school very well and I
> fully agree with everthing that you write.  Now let's take it a step
> further and come up with some long term, as well as short term, solutions
> to educating the "disadvantaged" students in the inner cities.  Now that
> there are fewer and fewer jobs available for school dropouts, what type
> of education  (if any) should be initiated for this growing number of
> children?   Should "vocational" schools be resurrected?
> Or can you and others come up with other solutions that are more
> practical?
>
> Herb Gottlieb from New York City
> (Where the problem of educating our "non-academic" high school students
> increases every day)

Vocational schools are one aspect of a 'solution'.  We of course have such,
but they have been pushed to the 'college' level where they do little good
for the HS dropouts.

IMO, motivation is the number one requirement if we are to improve public
education.  Students must be motivated to learn.  This is, of course, where
parental support can really help, but lacking that, there need to be REAL
rewards and REAL consequences for succeeding or failing to educate one's
self--and one really does educate one's self (with the help of the teachers
and the system).  Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet.  If students
perceive that they can be supported by the 'state' all their lives ('free'
lunches and now 'free' breakfasts start this impression early) then their
motivation can be low.  If they perceive that they can support themselves
much better than their 'studious' friends through selling drugs and other
illegal activities, then they have little motivation to work at learning.
If they see illiterate athletes making millions of dollars a year, they see
little reason to study.  If all the 'rights' of citizenship become theirs
regardless of whether or not they accept any of the responsibilities, they
have little reason to work.  If they have no sense of moral and/or ethical
behavior even at the non-religious level of promoting a stable society, then
why bother?

Very little in the above list can be dealt with directly by the schools.
The society has to decide most of these issues and somehow we need to put
the family back together again (the number of children in city public
schools who live with both biological parents is frightening).  Crime needs
to be prevented (not just punished).  We could withhold privileges (like
driver's licenses) until students successfully complete HS--and could
require completion of HS for many other such 'rights'.  (Yes we need
Vocational Tracks in the HS so that everyone has the opportunity to
'succeed'.)   We can be more serious about 'citizenship' courses--of course
we need some public officials who are not constantly under indictment as
models.  We can de-emphasize athletics in our society (FAT CHANCE) and stop
paying athletes and performers obscene salaries which only belittle the
efforts of most other working people.  We need a society that clearly and
visibly values education and just as clearly spurns the purposely
uneducated.  Money won't fix most of this (if any).  Only the strong will of
the majority, but with an ever increasing fragmentation of the society
(often in the name of diversity), I see little hope of this happening any
time soon.

Rick

*********************************************
Richard W. Tarara
Associate Professor of Physics
Department of Chemistry & Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
219-284-4664
rtarara@saintmarys.edu

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