Where I live, Hoboken, NJ, the high school math and reading proficiency rate are 8% and 44% respectively, while the graduation rate is >95%
What the hell are they doing if they're not even teaching kids math and reading? And why are they graduating them?
Grades aren't meant to be a feel good merit badge. They're supposed to be an accurate reflection of your level of knowledge relative to your peers. If it ceases to be that, then the selection just happens elsewhere. So now high school diploma isn't worth anything because everyone graduates. Hiring a high school graduate doesn't even guarantee you the person can read. Same thing happens in bachelors as schools become less selective and inflate grades.
My personal opinion is that the government should get out of education, just lower our taxes and let the free market handle the rest. Never gonna happen, however.
You increase the chances to succeed at the same time you make it more difficult, to overwhelm that aspect.
Reduce the binary outcome slightly so it's not just a cycle of fail and be thrown / throw yourself to the wolves (dropout).
Dramatically increase vocational education training.
Shift to a year-round school system. So you don't fail and abandon. Instead, you never stop until you succeed.
High school et al stops being N year pegs/separations that you must pass each of to move on annually (start year / pass or fail / break / next year). Instead it's year-round, fluid, continual. You are failing at this thing, continue until you are not, no break, no year markers.
The rigid year system is largely bullshit, it's an exceptionally idiotic approach. It's overly simplistic and lacks the nuance of an individual's context and needs.
That's why I say we should move to a more free-market based solution. It would be EASY for a private organization to completely revamp the way the school year structure works! I went to public school myself, but I believe I've heard of such "progressive" or "nontraditional" private schools that offer different structures than the standard "grade" approach.
Of course, the issue with private schools is cost, but I think direct subsidies a la stimulus checks as well as tax cuts could help.
Of course, this would cause mass disruption in the education labor market, but the nuances of that escape me.
The incentive to succeed starts at parents having to pay, ending with the students being quite aggressively challenged to actually deliver on exams.
It may not be fit for everyone, but now that I work in an investment bank in Hong Kong, I dont feel like I m being abused by deadlines, financial objectives, disappointement on failures, high reward on success, expectation that I do more than the minimum etc.
But in France, saying these is an anathema, people can get insane we encourage kids to excel, in silly things such as just being fluent in English, useful in Math, generally aware of physics, careful about historical precedents or able to follow a discussion on philosophy. And it's not even considering accessories like understanding Latin etymology or never making a spelling mistake in French.
We may see education like a sort or right, that happens given enough tax money thrown at schools, but it feels to me like a mindset and a duty: we must understand what's happening around us and we must make our children useful. Too bad if it's a little bit hard some days, but that's this or we whine all our lives the rich are eating OUR cake, when all we ever did was being born and claiming equality.
Responsible parents should challenge their kids to learn regardless if the school is public or not, if they care about the future of their children.