Education

The law in Texas is clear; From 6 years of age to 18 years of age, people must go to school.  I think this is bad law; at 17 a person becomes an adult.  If a 17 year old screws a 16 year old he is going to jail.  At 18 he needs to sign up for the Selective Service and failure to do so, is a felony punishable by imprisonment.  I say it is a bad law because, you can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink.  Beyond this the state is declaring them an adult but treating them like children.

It is the responsibility of the adult to finish his education.  And if he fails to do so before his 18th birthday, he should be denied a HSD.  In this day and age he has options, if he wants to finish he can do it over the internet.  He can test out, he can go to community college or a technical school.  The same goes for students with children, they can finish their work on a computer.

But why are we so concerned with students that are adults, the fact is that young children absorb knowledge like a sponge, have a capacity to learn a second language, and we should not ignore this.  We should invest our education in those students who will get the best return and those are the grades first thru 8th.   These are the classes that should not be crowded, that should have technological augmentation.

Older students have other priorities, sex, sports and the educational system is unable to circumvent these obstacles.  TV, radio, technology, sex, appearances, are suddenly given primacy.  Puberty takes over and both students and teachers risk failure over sex.  Not even the threat of death can stop these collisions.

EPISD wants to get students computers, I see this as a necessary investment.  We have the $200 computer; water proof, unbreakable, long battery life, increased WiFi range.  The students will be able to communicate with people all over the world.  They will have 24 hour education.  Yes we will have to guard against rock and roll, drugs, child molesters .... but we do this now.  The price for this is $200 x 64,000 = $12,800,000 million dollars.

So now the students all have access to the WWW, all the books every printed, free books, magazines, newspapers, periodicals.  They can all have email, print assignments, have the best instructors available.  

Where can we get the money?  Well dont build a stadium, dont guarantee anymore fights, cancels some sports.  Dont pay a school superintendant $500,000, Hire a school manager.  Drop programs that wont help people; Certified Nursing Assistant, Adult Education, Spanish GED, Bilingual Education.  Stop competing with sports, close baseball fields.