"Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff." -Steve Jobs
It's a great idea: let's just get rid of the crappy stuff in our schools, slowly or quickly, let's really edit them down to what is essential. Out with:
- bad food
- grades
- testing
- homework
- age-segmented classes
- massive textbooks
- fees
- no choices
- good food
- schools as places kids can go to learn
- learning with others
- diverse ages working together
- counselors, coordinators and guides
- libraries and computers
- playgrounds
- labs
- art rooms
- field trips
- clubs
- gardens
Transition to this has got to be easier than revamping the human spirit to fit in a charter school world. If these standards people know so much, maybe they they can write a compact, three-hour a day core curriculum for transitioning. After all, a lot fo people would be coming and going if real choices were offered. Now they write to fill in a K-12 structure but maybe we can actually shrink some of this down .... a lot and leave more time for things that will stabilize schools and make our children happier and more productive, even as measured by quants:
- individual learning journeys
- planning/counseling/mentoring
- working together in a more consensual way
- exercise
- family time
- down time
- holidays
- sick days
- teachers' support
- community relationships
- gardening
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