The sorry state of 'murrican education.

[Jenne]

No objections here.

[Juana]

Go for it.

[Luna]

This bloody well sums it up.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

This bloody well sums it up.

I hear about shit like this via the rumor mill, but as a parent, and as a friend of several elementary and high-school teachers, I haven't experienced or heard a firsthand account of anything like it. I've heard of kids getting a chance to change their grade by turning in missing homework or doing extra-credit work at the end of the term, but nothing like parents just bullying teachers into changing a grade for no reason.

I assume it must happen sometimes, but it certainly must be rare in my area.

[Drunken Monkey Cabal]

I grew up in an area of England where over 25% of the population had zero qualifications

Regardless of money or ethics or anything else. Most of my classmates never chose or could be bothered to learn as they had no aspirations.
Why bother to work hard at school when you can be a drift on by and drink and fuck like your parents/step parents/ mums new bf.

And when these people are having children at 16-18 the situation self perpetuates regardless of which political party is in power.

Though hopefully with a slash of benefits a lot of these idiots will be forced to get a job and realise what they have lost out on.

Pretty sure I'll start coming home to find them dancing around a severed boar's head in the streets.

[Doktor Howl]

I grew up in an area of England where over 25% of the population had zero qualifications

Regardless of money or ethics or anything else. Most of my classmates never chose or could be bothered to learn as they had no aspirations.
Why bother to work hard at school when you can be a drift on by and drink and fuck like your parents/step parents/ mums new bf.

And when these people are having children at 16-18 the situation self perpetuates regardless of which political party is in power.

Though hopefully with a slash of benefits a lot of these idiots will be forced to get a job and realise what they have lost out on.

Pretty sure I'll start coming home to find them dancing around a severed boar's head in the streets.

And whose fault is that?

[Drunken Monkey Cabal]

Parents?

[Doktor Howl]

Parents?

And the students themselves.

But let's also not forget under-funded schools, discouraged and/or apathetic teachers, and a society that doesn't exactly put education on a pedastle.

WE DON'T NEED NO BOOK-LEARNING!  WE HAVE COMMON SENSE AND BABY JEBUS!
\

[LMNO]

I'm not sure pushing them off the dole will suddenly motivate them to better themselves.

My best guess is that conditions will worsen dramatically, and eventually they'll all wind up killing each other.

[Doktor Howl]

I'm not sure pushing them off the dole will suddenly motivate them to better themselves.

Actually, they'll be motivated to hit people over the head with lead pipes for the change in their pockets.

But why let something like that get in the way of a nice, simple, self-righteous "solution"?

[Juana]

I see/hear less of that with parents, but administrators....oooh, boy. This not the only instance of this that I know of, but the one that sticks out most is the teacher at my high school who was FORCED to pass all the failing kids in her class. All of them, regardless of the fact that none of the failures had done a lick of work (believe me, I graded some of what little they turned it; it was <i>awful</i>. I have met fifth grade ESL kids who write better).

Parents?

And the students themselves.

But let's also not forget under-funded schools, discouraged and/or apathetic teachers, and a society that doesn't exactly put education on a pedastle.

WE DON'T NEED NO BOOK-LEARNING!  WE HAVE COMMON SENSE AND BABY JEBUS!
\

And let's not forget punishing schools who fail by taking away even more money and excessive state/federal interference in the classroom.

[Cain]

Though hopefully with a slash of benefits a lot of these idiots will be forced to get a job and realise what they have lost out on.

Lol, no

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15234228

The current rate of public sector job losses is far greater than official projections and suggests total job cuts in the sector will be 50% higher than forecast, researchers say.

Since April, the public sector shed jobs at five times the rate predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said.

There was already five unemployed people for every vacancy before we started slashing and burning government jobs.  Without a recovery, those people are jobless.

And besides, as you said, they're not well educated and not motivated.  An employer is going to prefer someone with a decade or two in the civil service, or an Eastern European, before they want someone like that.  Employer's market, these days.

[Doktor Howl]

Now, now, Cain.  We all know that unemployed people are all lazy, and that there's jobs just dangling from the low branches.

[Cain]

Parents?

And the students themselves.

But let's also not forget under-funded schools, discouraged and/or apathetic teachers, and a society that doesn't exactly put education on a pedastle.

WE DON'T NEED NO BOOK-LEARNING!  WE HAVE COMMON SENSE AND BABY JEBUS!
\

In the UK we have common sense and thinly veiled racism in place of religion.  Baby Jebus barely gets a pass, because everyone knows Israelis are white and can speak English.

[Doktor Howl]

Dil (Drunken Monkey Cabal) makes me giggle.

It's like someone took Rush Limbaugh and shoved Ron Paul up his ass.