20/20 Friday--Stupid in America

[Nurturing Mama]

John Stossel will be reporting on the failure of public schools on 20/20. It airs on ABC Friday, Jan. 13, at 10 PM.

Stupid in America: How We Cheat Our Kids

I have it set to record. Maybe he'll have some nice things to say about homeschooling.

Carrie

[phathui5]

I'll be watching.

[cielle]

Hmm. From the blurb it sounds more pro-voucher than pro-homeschooling.

[Nurturing Mama]

Maybe so. Somebody posted about it on a homeschooling Yahoo groups that I'm on, and she said that she receives John Stossel's weekly email. In the email he wrote about shooting a homeschooling segment for the show, and he was impressed by the enthusiasm of homeschooling parents and children. That's why I'm hoping homeschooling might get some positive press.

Carrie

[cielle]

Oh, that is exciting, then!

[ErikaDP]

Nurturing Mama,

Thanks for the head's up! I'll set my VCR.

Take Care,
Erika :
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail..."
"Knowledge without compassion is useless"-SCW
"I am learning all the time, the tombstone will be my diploma"- Eartha Kitt

[Balanced Mama]

It's a shame that they couldn't come up with a better title. The word "stupid" is awfully dramatic and will bring in more viewers, but I wonder how that makes people who struggled in school feel. That's what I like about the idea of homeschooling/unschooling: No negative labels to describe the very normal phenomenon of children learning at different paces and in different ways.

[be11ydancer]

I'll have to go to someone's house that evening to watch it. Thanks for posting!

[pugmommy7]

John Stossel was on The Colbert Report last night talking about it. I think he is wonderful anyway, with his "Give me a breab" segments.
He was making comparisons to American kids and European kids, and how poorly the American children did in comparitive testing.
He stated that because the public school system isn't held to any consequences it has no drive to improve...or along those lines....
Sounds provacative.
I won't miss it!

[eilonwy]

Yay, I'll get to see this!

[SunRayeMomi]

Definitly will be watching this. Saw the commercial for it yesterday

[UUMom]

You mean consequences like withholding money to under-preforming schools and testing children when they graduate from high school?

[luv my 2 sweeties]

Originally Posted by UUMom

You mean consequences like withholding money to under-preforming schools and testing children when they graduate from high school?

Yeah, the premise of the show as described makes me a little nervous. Whenever people get riled about poor American academic performance, the cry goes up for more high-stakes testing, more punitive measures for "under-performance", more rewards, more competition, more boot-camp like school environments, etc. I'm all for school reform -- goodness knows it's needed! But I'm not sure the European and Japanese models are the answer. Those models lead to high test scores, but do they lead to a better society and happier, more creative citizens? I kind of doubt it.

I also have a concern that his segment on homeschooling may reinforce the stereotype that homeschooling is for super-smart, super-organized middle class white families who provide a highly rigorous academic experience for their kids. There's nothing wrong with that model per se -- it works well for some families, and intellectual vitality and love of learning are usually preserved in home-educating families of all styles. Nevertheless, I *hope* he provides a more down-to-earth picture that will inspire people who've never thought they *could* homeschool to consider it as an alternative. After all, if the PS are as bad as he makes them out to be (and many of them are) then it doesn't take much to do better than that!

I'll try to catch the show and see for myself. Thanks for the heads up!

[Kim]

Did anyone catch 20/20?

Our local ABC affiliate chose to carry a basketball game instead. :

I was able to read a synopsis of the segment on the abc website, but it made no mention of homeschooling. The controversy over American education standards, according to the article, was regarding unionization of teachers and the amount of $ spent per pupil. It seemed very pro-voucher -- but it didn't give me enough information to form a concrete opinion.

(Other than the idea that homeschooling is, still, by far the best choice! )

[GoodEats]

I did. Basically, the premise put forth was that American public schools (unlike the Belgian counterparts) are a unionized monopoly. Parents and students are assigned to a school based on where they live and have no choice, unions breed and protect mediocrity by making it virtually impossible to dismiss a dangerous teacher, let alone a simply incompetent one. Like so many other government agencies, the substandard are promoted to their "highest level of incompetence". The bottom line was the belief that, if money followed students and students had choice as to where they attended, competition would breed higher standards and, ultimately, academic success.

I think, in many ways, they are correct. If parents and students had the ability (because the government funding for the individual student followed the individual student) to choose the best academic fit for the student, then our students would likely be more successful. I agree that competition for students would increase standards for schools. I also believe that, like so many other businesses, breaking the monopoly would simply be a paper solution in this country.

I saw no segment - nor heard any mention, even as a theoretical choice - regarding homeschooling. Not once did I hear the word "homeschool". Maybe I missed it during the 15 seconds or so I was on the steps between the t.v. in the living room and the one in the bedroom?

[Persephone]

It was very pro voucher (why is that said like it's a bad thing? I didn't know anything about vouchers before tonight), and there wasn't a SINGLE mention of homeschooling! I'm so disappointed! However, I watched it with dh, and we had a great conversation afterwards, so if nothing else, it got him thinking about education and the quality thereof.

[eilonwy]

Nope, no mention of homeschooling.

However, homeschooling wouldn't be out of line with the idea that every parent and child in America deserves a choice about their education, and that as things stand right now, the overwhelming majority have no choice.

[GoodEats]

I just emailed him with my disappointment about the lack of mention about homeschooling and suggested that he look into the growing, and very diverse, homeschooling community for a future segment.

[SunRayeMomi]

I don't think there is a problem with homeschooling not being mentioned. The show was typically not about What Parents Are Doing instead of sending their kids to ps, it was about our failing ps system. It touched on vouchers and charters, but for the most part I could see this as possibly being presented as a two-part series rather than the one that it was intended, the second part being the alternatives that parents have (such as homeschooling) and what can be done about making schools more competitive for our childrens' business as career students.

[UlrikeDG]

I had been wondering if I missed the homeschooling part. I caught almost all of it, but I was also working on getting the kids ready for bed, so I missed a few seconds here and there.

My biggest criticism was that Stossel asserted that "bad" teachers should be fired and "poor performing" schools "put out of business." While I can agree with that principle, I'm concerned about how they'd define "bad" and "poor performing". Test scores? Bad idea, IMO.

Then again, if Stossel's "ideal" of a laizes faire education system were a reality, then maybe some schools would look at test scores while others would use other criteria for determining "good" versus "bad" teachers, and parents could choose a school with excellent test scores or the one that has the incredible arts program or the one with the test-free Montessori approach, and high test scores wouldn't be government mandated.