DYNOMITE

[bloke]

[Three Valves]

Thelma.

[Yorkboy]

Someone’s been watching afternoon-TV-sitcom-rerun stations

(don’t ask me how I know this)

Thelma.

I was more partial to Willona

[bloke]

sidebar:

Some people - who view themselves as “conservative“ (they are not, fwiw) - believe that the solution to the education problem is to allot money to each individual family, and let them choose the school to which they will send their children.

Clearly, all that would cause (rather than any improvement, at least - not as long as there is still a nationalized “department of education”) would be for “CHOOSE OUR SCHOOL!!!” TV commercials – such as the JJ/Namath commercials - to assault us all the way through each summer, as well as up towards Christmas - when first semesters end.

[LibraryMark]

Where I live school of choice has only resulted in every district building absolutely huge high schools at the expense of the elementaries and middle schools in an attempt to attract students. The inner city district has lost students every year since they built their HS palace. So stupid.

[bloke]

The problem with American education is NOT the lack of choice, but the widespread lack of high expectations, the widespread lack of quality parents, and these things combined with shoehorned-in nonsense curricula. Moreover, it has been top-down sabotaged, and those working within it must either go along - or be fired.

>>> BUT LET’S PLEASE RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL TOPIC, RATHER THAN BEING CHIDED FOR WANDERING OFF TOPIC. <<<

[iiipopes]

The problem with American education is NOT the lack of choice, but the widespread lack of high expectations, the widespread lack of quality parents, and these things combined with shoehorned-in nonsense curricula. Moreover, it has been top-down sabotaged, and those working within it must either go along - or be fired.

>>> BUT LET’S PLEASE RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL TOPIC, RATHER THAN BEING CHIDED FOR WANDERING OFF TOPIC. <<<

I don't claim to have been the best parent when it comes to interacting with the school, but at my son's last IEP / faculty & admin assessment (James has the Asperger's version of autism):
IEP committee chair: "James, you must complete your English essays to graduate."
James: "Why? I'm going to write technical for a living."
Me: "Yes, James, but not everyone who reads what you will write for a living will have a technical background. You must be able to communicate with everyone else as well."
IEP committee collectively smiles. Ex-wife frowns. Go figure. James did get his papers done and he did graduate. And I always concluded all dialog with teachers/staff/admin with, "Thank you for all you do for James."

[bloke]

very sincere congratulations, and I deal with someone like that in my family (who may possibly be far worse off than your son),
but I’m not going to try to steer this thread over into “the vast childhood autism epidemic and it’s actual causes“, nor “the routineness of family breakups in America - more and more - since about 1965 or so”.
Not only would doing so continue to derail the (mostly, meant to be silly, and nonexistent) topic, but my views would - very likely - bristle too many hairs.

[Three Valves]

James and Florida were married, and both worked at modest occupations. Next time I visit public housing, I’ll count the number of married, working couples I find who live there.