Should Public Education be abolished?

[rousseau]

Given that the US is one of the most under-educated nations of the Western world, and is also one of the most politically broken countries of the Western world, pretty much answers this question.

 

[J842P]

In an ideal world where no one tries to cheat... then and only then would a pure marketplace work. Good doctors do better if they respect their patients. Good teachers do better if they respect their students. Who has access to the best doctors, even today? Bill Gates can see the very best. And he can discuss education with Sal Khan.

Sal does free education and does it well. People, not the government, give him money voluntarily. That is free market liberalism, the best kind.

In an ideal world, we would all be idealists.

Does it really help if a doctor is friendly and respectful, but doesn't know which drug to prescribe, or misses a critical symptom? Bad doctors can do very well by being friendly and respectful, but patients will suffer, all the while recommending him to friends, because he listens.

Is it really a market place if we depend upon altruistic billionaires to fill in where society has failed?

When I was looking for a surgeon I looked up patient reviews for this one guy I liked the best based on objective criteria like years of experience, specialization, rating by peers, etc. and this guy had only very modest patient reviews. Filtering out for the lower end, people would say things like "Dr. X has a very curt attitude [he does]." Or, "After a few consultations with Dr. X, I felt he was talking down to me! I switched to Dr. Y. He's very friendly!"



I went with Dr. X. It's amazing to me that people decide who they want to cut them open and rearrange their inner parts based on whether or not they like their personality.

 

[Turambar]

Depends on the metric.

Suppose the metric is: where do the rich and powerful Democrats in Washington DC send their kids:

1) DC public schools
2) other

Interesting question. I do not know the answer, but on an anecdotal note I happen to know a wealthy medical doctor who lives near DC. He sends his kids to the German School in DC (http://www.dswashington.org ) . A private school with a tuition around $16K per year. Ironically, its curricula is entirely based on German public education. So you could say that what the average kid gets from the state in Germany is reserved for rich kids in America. Not a good sign, if you ask me.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

Are DC Public schools indicative of all public schools throughout the United States?

 

[laughing dog]

Sounds good in theory, but how do we know Teacher C is not worth the money and Teacher A is worth the most? "Becomes known" is a vague term. Is it possible for a student to evaluate their teacher's performance?

Would it be like the way people evaluate their doctor? They like their doctor and give him a high rating because he is friendly and listens to them. They don't actually have anyway to judge his medical expertise, just his people skills.

In an ideal world where no one tries to cheat... then and only then would a pure marketplace work. Good doctors do better if they respect their patients. Good teachers do better if they respect their students. Who has access to the best doctors, even today? Bill Gates can see the very best. And he can discuss education with Sal Khan.

Sal does free education and does it well. People, not the government, give him money voluntarily. That is free market liberalism, the best kind.

How do you know that Sal Kahn does free education well?

 

[George S]

In an ideal world where no one tries to cheat... then and only then would a pure marketplace work. Good doctors do better if they respect their patients. Good teachers do better if they respect their students. Who has access to the best doctors, even today? Bill Gates can see the very best. And he can discuss education with Sal Khan.

Sal does free education and does it well. People, not the government, give him money voluntarily. That is free market liberalism, the best kind.

How do you know that Sal Kahn does free education well?

I've watched his stuff.