Why do I need to suck on that one? That would be a good way to pay for education but before you tell me to suck on something, suck on this-
American students continue to rank around the middle of the pack, and behind many other advanced industrial nations, in international assessments of math, science and reading.
www.pewresearch.org
The reason isn't a lack of money, it's the lack of interest by students in staying in school, graduating and getting a damn job so they can support themselves, rather than become a drain on the rest of the country. To be fair, the education system needs to be changed- teaching students useful information that will result in them becoming employable is where they should concentrate- NOT gender studies, basket weaving and other BS degrees that makes them useless. I have absolutely no problem if someone wants to study about anything that could be considered a 'fringe' topic but they should do it on their own time.
The way colleges are operating, it's a scam for far too many people- they were told they could expect to get a good job when their fields of study are just about worthless. The price of college has risen to the point of being unsustainable- without financial aid, they're like criminal money-lenders. I have written about someone who was extremely PO'd after realizing that she wouldn't likely get a decent job after majoring in 'Painting and Drawing'. That was the name for her major. She was very good at it, but without a market, she was sold on a dream, not reality.
Many degrees pay well, but some aren't suited for them- a bad Math student is unlikely to become an engineer, scientist, etc and someone who has no grasp of language isn't going to be a writer, lawyer, teacher of anything that has to do with language, although they may be a perfect fit for some kind of technical field in the trades. That is, if they know which end of a screwdriver to pound on. If someone can use tools and is interested in the trades, they should receive the info they need to make the decision about heading that way/or not, but ending shop programs in the US has left the country with a severe shortage of people who can do those jobs- they can make a great living, too.
I have also posted about some of the bad aspects of Milwaukee- the school system isn't doing as well as it needs to, but the budget isn't the cause- last year, it was $1.25B for 76K students. Check out the performance-
www.maciverinstitute.com
It would be great to be able to wake up one day with our problems solved, but that's not going to happen any time soon. Too many people place money and things as their goals in life.