Right to Education?

This is inspired by, but not necessarily a discussion of, a recent ruling in Michigan (that twocows unwittingly brought to my attention thx bby).

A 2-1 decision reversed an earlier circuit court ruling that there is a "broad compelling state interest in the provision of an education to all children." The appellate court said the state has no constitutional requirement to ensure schoolchildren actually learn fundamental skills such as reading — but rather is obligated only to establish and finance a public education system, regardless of quality. Waving off decades of historic judicial impact on educational reform, the majority opinion also contends that "judges are not equipped to decide educational policy."

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This got me thinking about the educational systems in place in general - for example, in Highland Park, Michigan, the site of this school district, the median income is a little over $19,000 a year (this barely scrapes past the poverty line until the family is at least 3 members, then it is a poverty-level income). America's worst school districts often coincide with the poorest, which means our alternatives - private schools - are out of reach of the people that truly need to move outside the public system. The state of New York tries to circumvent this problem with charter schools, but they often have hyper-competitive application processes (or random application processes) and require an involved parent both willing and able to do the research necessary and take the time to work out how to apply and how the family can make it work when the school isn't down the street. If the parents are undereducated or working too many hours or uninvolved in their child's life, that solution doesn't work well either.

Do you guys think that there's a way to reform the public education system to allow for all students to get a roughly equal education, or do you even think it needs reform? Do you think charter and private schools are the answer, or shouldn't exist at all?

This is a bad news. Educators are really important to the society. However, for the past couple of years, there has been a ton of dialogue about how Americans are not saving much cash or at least not putting it aside. Even if people were to up the rate of savings, inflation rates have virtually made it an unnecessary exercise.

This is actually an interesting topic. Props!

Now, stay with me when I say.... Education is a privilege, not a right.
Particularly in this day and age, education is treated with more and more of a lax attitude. Students misbehave, teachers are underpayed, the entire schooling system has, to be honest (pardonnez mon français, mais) gone to ****.

Consider this, how many people do you know who aspire to be a teacher? How many students do you know, who love school? (Particually an issue with this younger generation, as far as I've seen) Overall the standards in school have fallen pathetically. The US does not even make it into the top ten smartest countries, in a study based on average IQ.
Now, with all of this going on for quite some time, what has the mass public done to stop, or at least slow this horrible spiral into academic catastrophe? Absolute nil major efforts have been taken to prevent this. Why? Because education is being taken for granted.

How can we fix something that many people don't care about, or even know is broken? Short of scrapping the entire system, heavy reforms.

If I where given the ability to redo the public school system as I wanted it, I would firstly remove the terrible food and vending machines. High intakes of sugar and caffeine, such as is found in soda, have been scientifically proven to inhibit growth and development of the mind, and learning processes. The heavily genetically modified food, of degrading cafeteria lunches, would also be replaced. Less red meat, grains, and starches, more fruit, vegetables, and things such as salmon; which is omega rich and leads to a happy brain.
Secondly, would come reform of the teachers and students. The idea of school being a negative thing comes from the teachers, the media, and the experiences that a student has in school. However, many pupils will have a favorite subject to study, and usually this same subject is one that is taught by a teacher they are fond of. That's right, what I'm getting at is that rather then decreasing the size of classes and number of students, we should increase the standards for, or better train the teachers that lead them. After all, a teacher cannot force a student to learn, but merely create an environment where the student wants to learn.
As for third, I would change the punishment system. If a student breaks any particular rule or acts out, they are often punished in the form of detention or more seriously; suspension. With detention, you are teaching the student that education can be a form of negative reinforcement rather than a positive moment of growth. With suspension, you are teaching the student that they get attention when they act out; as suspension tends to be a rather public thing. Furthermore in the case of suspension, you're punishing misbehaviour by withholding education which can easily be seen as redundant in an academic scenario where the student isn't overly interested anyway. Either way, you are conditioning the student counterproductively.

If you want my opinion, these would be the first things to fix in the public school system. Will they be implemented? Probably not. Whether, however, that's from a lack of funding or a lack of willingness remains to be seen.
To be honest, this ruling does not surprise me. And unfortunately, more such rulings would not either.


oh and somebody fix the damn debate rules!

Oh no, no no. Education? Sure. Knowledge, though? That's only for those who pursue it. Albeit my definition of education is one of many (here I refer to learnéd conformism in public schools), it means it's fine the way it is.

So, while I do think education shouldn't be neglected, and is a good idea, regardless I refute the idea that rights are even a concept worth considering. You have no rights, and you have unlimited rights. It doesn't matter. But education is a good idea I think, if only we wouldn't lie to ourselves that it's knowledge we're obtaining in the classroom with desks in a row. (I do exclude college from this statement, as it's the only remotely standardized form of education that isn't a barrage of brain-scattering nonsense.)