Education

It's quite obvious that many of our society's ills are the result of uneducated or poorly educated people.  For a long time now people have recognized that America's education system is in desperate need of reform.  But you know how the political game works, theres a lot of song and dance and pretty words, but no one ever really comes up with anything worthwhile, or they simply fail to make the change.  But I'm here to present the way I think education should work.

A much great focus is needed on:
+ Math (it's useful and keeps the mind sharp)
+ Science (for obvious reasons)
+ Physical health (not just some half-assed gym class, but a serious and appropriate exercise program in addition to instruction/lectures on healthy eating, hygine, sexual health)
+ Music (much like Math it helps to keep the mind sharp and can open the door to other forms of creativity)

Additionally, I think educators should teach and encourage students to value traditional virtues.  And by traditional I don't mean "zomg gays are bad! etc."  I mean things like honesty and courage.  Especially from an early age, children need to be taught the values that will make it possible for them to sucessful in life.


Less focus on:
+ History (it's good to know, but there are much more important things to focus on)
+ Composition/English (certainly it's useful, but kids should be solving Math problems and doing science experiments more often than writing book reports)
+ Optional classes (things like Home Econ. and Shop Class are fine, but schools should focus more on academics).

Also, there shouldn't be any study halls or free periods.  Any free time should be used exercising or doing something useful.  (and don't argue that study halls are useful, because most kids will just screw around or go to sleep).

LUNCH:
+ No soft drinks
+ No junk food     (if you have to ask why, GTFO)


OTHER STUFF:
+ No student should be passed along if their performance sucks.  No exceptions.  They'll be tested and retested again and again until they display a satisfactory level of comprehension.
+ Teachers need to be paid well.
+ Teachers should receive a bonus or some other incentive for every student who does well in their class.
+ Uniforms for students.  It reduces social anxiety and bullying.
+ Segregation of the sexes, at least for middle school.  Kids will be more focused if they're not staring googly-eyed at whoever their crush of the minute is.

>>12
Not to mention that Friedman seems to ignore the fact that when parents are actually involved in their child's education they perform better.  Friedman sees kids in private schools (Parents paid MORE money to send them to a private school, obviously they care about their kids education, and they make them do their homework, read, etc.) and thinks that it proves that private schooling is better than public schooling, but the fact of the matter is what those kids learn from their parents, (or rather, what they don't learn)is much more significant than what that teacher tells them 6 hours a day.

Parents have more of an influence on children's desire to learn than teachers do, instituting vouchers would do little more than allow some crackpot school to lap up voucher money from poor parents who don't give a fuck about their kids, and give subpar education (Unless you think that the needed officials to inspect and make sure that the institution recieving the voucher money is actually teaching them (as opposed to paste play time) wouldn't be an exorbitant cost.) resulting in a massive market by which taxes would be siphoned without performing their function.

Frankly, public education is not a reflection of a poor education system, it is a reflection of poor national character. The fact that 30% of high school students drop out is not the teachers fault, it's not the system's fault, it's the fault of the parents for not driving their kids, and the kids themselves lacking the self-motivation to succeed. 

America is the most violent "developed" nation in the world, probably the dumbest population of a "developed" nation, and is the most wasteful "developed" nation in the world.  It shocks me to hear that in Bangladesh, microcredit loans are given on HONOR, and they have nearly a 100% repayment rate, while in the  U.S., god forbid someone fucking pay off their big screen TV, new car, new house, etc.
America has something in the range of 300,000,000 people, and has the highest murder rate in the world, with comparatively LIBERAL gun laws compared to Japan, which has virtually no way for a civilian to legally obtain a rifle or handgun and about 150,000,000 people. However, they have (contrary to the maxim that more guns = more safety) some of the lowest cases of violent crime in the world, even in densely populated areas.  Now, I'm not advocating gun control, or even police state policies, but there is something to be shown.  The Japanese (civilian and criminal) are MUCH more likely to answer questions and consent to searches from the police, and incredibly low violent crime rates.  Perhaps it isn't the policies the Japanese have regarding guns, but the character of their people in being willing to support law enforcement and be much less violently inclined. (Despite being the source of all those violent, bloody video games)