cactuspete wrote:IDEA TWO: Educational Reform. The entire system needs to be reformed, but most urgently in need of reform would be colleges and universities. Our institutions of higher learning have strayed away from academic rigor and have become ideological hothouses advocating for social causes and special interest groups. Along the way success in these institutions has been based less on merit and more on advancing undeserving members of various ethnic groups. It's widely known that unprepared minority students are often admitted to universities while high scoring whites and Asians are turned away. That not only undermines the credibility of our colleges and universities, it's also blatantly discriminatory, unfair, and unethical.
While the hard sciences have been less affected by these issues, even when it comes to hard sciences we see a lowering of the bar. To add insult to injury, even students majoring in science or engineering are required to take ideological indoctrination classes where they are forced to listen to mindless dribble about microaggressions, fake racism, or make-believe genders. All of this ideological nonsense must be expunged from colleges and universities in order for them to regain credibility.
Dumbing down the curriculum is a huge issue and standards need to be raised. Students should be allowed to fail and very little energy should be wasted propping up unsuccessful students. They should be channeled in other directions with alternative educational pathways. There was a lot more to this idea, but this will give the reader an idea of the gist of what we mean by Educational Reform.
An educational system cannot be all things to all people. The system as it exists in the USA tries to please everybody and this results in contradictory objectives. The focus needs to be clear and well-defined. The problem is that the political process through which policy develops makes a clear and well-defined focus next to impossible. The way our government works guarantees mediocre results. Teachers can work all day and all night and the system actually makes it impossible for them (except for a lucky few who wind up in perfect situations) to be successful.