HolyCoast: Bill Cosby: Throwing More Money At Education is Not The Answer
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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Bill Cosby: Throwing More Money At Education is Not The Answer

If I wasn't in favor of eliminating the Federal Education Department altogether I'd want Bill Cosby for Education Secretary.  He's absolutely right about the real solutions that will improve education in our public schools:
Shortly before President Barack Obama delivered the State of the Union on Tuesday night, comedian Bill Cosby joined with school choice advocates to discuss the “State of American Education.”

According to Cosby, the country can try as many education reforms as it wants but the real key is getting parents involved and concerned about their children’s education. Cosby added that additional funding is not the answer to America’s education woes.

“Cuts, cuts, cuts, that is what we hear, but education is not a thing that big bucks happens to be the answer [to]. The answer is — with education comes teaching children to respect and love questions, looking for the answer, reading,” he said, explaining that these responsibilities fall on the parents, teachers, and school officials.

Cosby demanded answers from Education Secretary Arne Duncan, asking why, with so much money going into the schools, the taxpayers still cannot get the value they put in. Instead of whining about cuts, he said, schools and towns should be looking for solutions outside the box.

“Okay — we know there are cuts, then let’s work with it. Let’s go to churches, find retired teachers who would like to join us in the basement of the church to work with the child,” Cosby said. “There are ways we can work around this and we have to talk and we have to move.”
There's more at the link. For decades we've thrown more and more money at education and gotten worse and worse results. The key is not making sure teachers have solid gold benefits and jobs for life regardless of the quality of their work, but getting parents involved and interested in their kid's progress. Too many parents have abdicated their parental roles to the schools and government. It's time to take it back.

3 comments:

Nightingale said...

And KIDS need to have some accountability for their own education: serious consequences for slacking off in class, and insist they be respectful to their teachers. My sister worked her backside off trying to teach science to high school students in Corona, and those ungrateful brats couldn't have cared less. One class told her they had no intention of going to college. The just didn't care.

That (bad) attitude has got to change.

There needs to be two tiers in high school: one that leads to college, and one that leads to a vocation. It should be a privilege to go to college, not a right. But in the end ALL will be required to work.

Underdog said...

The most excellent of education speakers, the late Jaime Escalante excluded, speaks and makes sense again.

Dr. Cosby's comment about having retired educators come in to the basement of the church strikes the proper balance that has been lacking: God and His people, the church, are to be the salt and light to the world, including the education world, and the educators are to be invited in to offer what expertise and knowledge they may have. . . under the guidance of the Scriptures and with the efforts of the church members and staff.

Way to go, Bill Cosby! May your tribe increase!

I also agree with Nightingale's comments. There really does need to be two education tracks as she discussed. Public Education is a free gift to the student paid by the taxpayer. It should never be disparaged by such students, nor should higher education be derided. Ouch!

By the way, I volunteer for my local church to tutor public schoolchildren after school at a "neutral" location. . . a neighborhood house we run. So far we are doing this in four neighborhoods here. So I walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Sam L. said...

Even those not going to college need to know some science.

Money? Money goes to more administration, not to teachers, and not to teacher quality.