The world's top performing school systems share one cultural trait - they value education, academic excellence and intellectual achievement by their children - above sports, clubs or a job. From India to China to Korea to Finland.
Society gets what it celebrates. In American high schools we celebate sports and social standing. We rarely celebrate our academic or intellectual stars.
So it is not without irony that the STEM and ROBOTICS EXPO in Washington, DC is being used to hawk tickets to the Washington Wizards basketball game.
Here's the message: we'll put up with some kids and their science projects, then chug a few beers and really enjoy oursleves - watching a basketball game!!
And the adults will delude themselves into believing they're supporting STEM education.
Let me, as a parent of a public high school in California explain how we celebrate sports over academics: We just spent over 15 million dollars of Bond funds to renovate our tracks and field and build a new auditorium for drama/ performances. But when it comes to provide funds for the robotics club or speech and debate club ($1000- $10,000 per annum), we do not have money nor the inclination to find some by way of grants etc. That is the pathetic priorities of both the voting public (parents) and staff.
Tragic, for a country that has provided a fertile field for some of the greatest minds of the 20th century to create and share a vision with humanity.
Posted by: Blokes | April 03, 2011 at 02:42 AM
I'm a educational support expert IT professional who has been working six years in one large south-central LA middle school 400 of our students are in foster care 100% of our students qualify for free lunches I have had service workers who are homeless, and many students who's only full meal is what they get at school. In spite of all of this I have seen some really excellent dedicated teachers working hard to help their students Still we can't afford paper for the printers, Most of my computers are 6 years old or older, and the school board just announced 50% staff layoffs three months before the end of the school year sending morale into a nose-dive. Under these conditions I ask you How do we compete? From my point of view we are deconstructing public education as a point of policy and I do not see any light at the end of this path. What is happening to Public education?
Posted by: Herman Padilla | March 19, 2011 at 07:30 PM
"Society gets what it celebrates. In American high schools we celebate sports and social standing. We rarely celebrate our academic or intellectual stars."
What are you saying? What's the evidence for this bold assertion? Shall we compare and contrast the average NBA player's salary, a TV celebrity, and a college professor? Isn't there a correlation between income and status?
Oh, you precisely nailed the problem.
Posted by: Eric Roth | March 05, 2011 at 03:47 PM