Education level at the BFC

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Education level of BFC'rs

Grade 12
6
14%
Up to 2 years post seconday
3
7%
2-4 Post secondary
6
14%
Bachelor
22
50%
Masters
5
11%
PhD
2
5%
 
Total votes : 44

Postby Prodigal Son » Wed Jul 14, 2004 8:12 pm

Well Buzz,

I would have to say I agree with most of what you're saying about the US education system. Degrees are signaling devices, and it's no coincidence that the high-priced schools get their students placed in the high-class jobs. Insofar that the average Harvard/Yale/UC Berkley grad is more likely to be of higher quality than your average U of I grad then it makes sense for the big companies to only hire from those schools. Connections between alumni and their instutions also serve as another route to ensure employee quality.

As for US HSs....I agree the current system is ridiculous. I think abolishing the current system is politically infeasible, but it could be reformed in a number of ways:

1. Abolish the HS degree and have every applicant take a federally mandated set of graduation exams (much like, say, the GRE). Those that pass graduate and get a HS diploma, those that don't get a "certificate of program completion". This would ensure a diploma, for those that got one, meant something. (we already effectively have this sytem in place now, just with a bad test -- ACT/SAT) Moreover, allow any individual to take these exams whenever they want wherever they want (thereby destroying the public monopoly on education)

2. Abolish the funding of schools with local property taxes. Use a "sin tax," a tax on a widely used commodity (gasoline), or lottery funds to provide funds for education that travel with the student. Allow that money to be used in whatever type of school desired, so long as certain federally-mandated requirements are met (reading, writing, math).

3. Break up large public school monopolies, such as those found in large urban areas and allow them to compete for student dollars. Allow those that fail to do so.

Competition and privitization would actually benefit the good teachers out there, since the best teachers would command the highest salary in this new market. The teachers' unions protect lazy, inefficienty teachers. It would also mean you wouldn't have to mandate increasing teacher education -- teachers with better degrees would command higher salaries.

People complain that the "poor" are left behind b/c they can't afford the better schools. In the US, this is already happening, and you could easily fix the problem by simply subsidizing poor students' tuition.
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Postby CdnSkyDiva » Wed Jul 14, 2004 8:20 pm

Renard,

Sorry, I'm not WestJet - I work for the "airline passengers enemy no. 1", Air Canada Jazz. In fact, you may have heard about us in the news recently...

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=a1Jdv3RbHMYk&refer=canada

I am currently on temporary lay off, should be called back as soon as this vote goes though (if it does). In the mean time, I work for a software company doing some computer programming work. It's boring as hell, but at least it gives me plenty of time to come to this site - That IS a good thing, isn't it???
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Postby Buzzsaw » Wed Jul 14, 2004 8:21 pm

Great post, Prodigal. Couldn't agree more about school choice and students/parents voting with their education dollar for better education. And if they don't want to go, they don't have to.

Get the government out of it as much as possible.

Like I posted above, I'd like to see high school pretty much gone as we know it. The first 8 years of primary education should be to learn the basics (reading, writing, math). They should put in a big focus on life skills like nutrition, personal finance, automobile maintenance, computer platforms, etc. You know, shit you actually use.
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Postby Renard » Wed Jul 14, 2004 8:36 pm

CdnSkyDiva wrote:Renard,

Sorry, I'm not WestJet - I work for the "airline passengers enemy no. 1", Air Canada Jazz. In fact, you may have heard about us in the news recently...

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=a1Jdv3RbHMYk&refer=canada

I am currently on temporary lay off, should be called back as soon as this vote goes though (if it does). In the mean time, I work for a software company doing some computer programming work. It's boring as hell, but at least it gives me plenty of time to come to this site - That IS a good thing, isn't it???


Air Canada should be left to rot. Sort of like the way i feel about Bell Canada. Oversized, former crown corporations, that piss on their clients and shit on their employees...
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Postby CdnSkyDiva » Wed Jul 14, 2004 9:34 pm

Hahaha - Renard, please - don't hold back, tell me how you really feel!!
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Location: Vancouver, BC

Postby Renard » Wed Jul 14, 2004 9:38 pm

That's not a jab at you Diva. That was a jab about how your company treats its employees and its customers. I'm sure that laying you off was among many of the mistakes that they've made in their many years of making mistakes.
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Postby CdnSkyDiva » Wed Jul 14, 2004 9:44 pm

Renard -No worries - It's all Goooooood!

Believe me, I stopped taking those comments personally ages ago. I hear Anti-Air Canada comments about as often as I am asked to join the mile high club.....

Boy, I miss those days...
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Jeese

Postby ROB » Wed Jul 14, 2004 11:13 pm

I dunno what you guys learned in High School, but the most useful and interesting parts of my secondary education didn't come until the final few years.

The thought of having a bunch of ignorant 8th graders running a country is truely scary and reflects more of your own bias than any basis in reality for what benefits a country.

But then again, I had some great times in 8th grade!
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Postby DawnC71 » Wed Jul 14, 2004 11:19 pm

8th Grade was awesome wasn't it Rob....In my Junior High School it meant we were the "seniors" as it was our last year before going to high school. But Geeze 8th grade was the year of my first "love", my first 'formal' dance.....ahh what memories!!!!!!
Cheers,
Dawn
Passion is necessity. It is not diligence, or simply being committed to a goal. Passion consumes you while you chase down your goal. Passion should always be your natural state of mind for it is what sparks momentum and sets the pace.
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Postby nick » Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:16 am

Sophomore. That's what happens when you go from shitty Catholic school in west side, to secondary school in super rich town.

It was worth getting held back though. I would do it again too. And, I can drive and no one else can!
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Postby patriot » Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:02 am

The education system in the United States is basically a filtration system that weeds out the non-conformists and forces them to conform or fail. Example...in my school one of the disciplanery measures they would take was called BIC (behavior improvement center), where you would be taken out of class for a designated number of days and put in a small, cramped room. So their theory was if you miss an entire day of learning you would be set straight, when in reality it would sour the attitude towards the education system, while at the same time leaving that particular student even farther behind in their lessons...just another way to forceably fail a student. In fact our teachers were taken to a prison to study procedure. School in America sucks.
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Postby Dim » Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:29 am

School in America sucks.


wait til you have to work for a living.
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Postby patriot » Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:56 am

wait til you have to work for a living.


Well, at least they won't try to actively fire my ass.
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Postby DawnC71 » Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:59 am

Well, at least they won't try to actively fire my ass


Weeeelllllllllllll, that depends on where you end up working in the world!
Cheers,
Dawn
Passion is necessity. It is not diligence, or simply being committed to a goal. Passion consumes you while you chase down your goal. Passion should always be your natural state of mind for it is what sparks momentum and sets the pace.
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Postby fgmsociety » Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:17 am

Diva...I missed your damn Grad...!!!
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