2+2=5
A classic bit from Orwell’s 1984… a Goering quote (”If the Führer wants it, two and two make five!”)… a slogan from Stalin’s USSR… a Hawaii child’s answer to “what is 2+2?”…
OK, that last item may be a bit of an exaggeration, but according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, our Island keiki are still not doing too well in math, or even English for that matter. Why is this, and what can be done about it? In a recent GRIH Fresh Perspective, Kenli Schoolland tries to shed some light on the problem and offer a solution:
“Isn’t it rather pathetic that a majority (56 percent) of 8th grade Hawaii students have ‘below basic’ knowledge of Science? Mathematics and Reading are only slightly better, with more than 40 percent of Hawaii students in the ‘below basic’ knowledge category in those subjects. Hawaii consistently ranks in the lowest five states in the nation for the quality of education. How can this be when the government in 2002-2003 was spending $1,489,092,000 on education?… The government spent an average of $8,100 per student in 2002-2003 (most likely that amount has grown in recent years). That is sufficient for tuition in quite a few private schools in Hawaii. For example, according to a recent article on private school tuition costs in the Star Bulletin, $8,100 could cover the tuition for Sacred Hearts and Damien. Undoubtedly the quality of education in those schools are much higher than in government institutions.Wouldn’t it be best for people to keep that money that the government spends for them and choose their own schools? If the government still wanted to make sure that education was compulsory for all minors then they could return the money to the rightful owners in the form of vouchers. These vouchers would go towards tuition for private schools, and then the government would no longer need to waste money on its failing school system.”
Read the whole article here.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 11:31 am and is filed under Education.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.