[geeks] geeks Digest, Vol 86, Issue 11

[wa2egp at att.net]

> Sorry you take offense, but I'm speaking from my personal experience. As a
> matter of fact, you can't refer to "public" or "private" education without
> making sweeping generalizations - there are exceptions on either end of the
> curve.  As someone who graduated from both private and government-run
> schools, I have a different perspective - I managed to attend ( due to
> judicious moving across the state as a kid ) 9 schools before I graduated
> high school - 7 government, 2 private. I attended a couple of state schools
> in college, and one in Germany ( trinken das Bier ist wunderbar! )

Been in both public and "private" (Catholic) and from 20-20 hindsight I feel
the public gave me a better education because it was more balanced between
the subject areas and fewer stupid decisions (as funny as that sounds).
 
> The quality of government education in this country has been in decline for
> more than a generation. Topics that are "AP" or Advanced Placement were
> general curriculum in years' past. My wife saw it in the dozen years she was
> a techer in her own school - standards being relaxed to get more passing
> students, so that more gov't $$ could keep flowing. The government schools
> in the area she grew up in MI were better than the private ones, but I doubt
> that holds as an average.

Talk about sweeping generalizations!  Good grief Charlie Brown.

I will agree partially.  Just because the topics are the same does not mean
the depth at which they are covered are the same.  When I taught AP Physics
I had to make sure labs (as an example) were on "the next level" in my AP
course or it would just be a repeat of Physics.  But I have seen a decline 
but I don't attribute it to easing of standards but the lack of a basic 
education in primary school.  I find it hard to build on something that 
is not there.  there is not enough time to teach "xyz" after teaching "abc"
which should have been taught earlier.  There also have been an attitude 
change of both students and parents that have affected education in general.

Bob