Overall Changes to the Education System:
- Parents are required to sign off on homework, tests, and any other paperwork that the teacher requires. (Signatures should be verifiable in some way) Failure to do so more than 5 times in one month will automatically require a parent-teacher conference. 3 required conferences in one school year will initiate a DFCS visit. (Guidance counselors should be empowered to cancel that visit in known special circumstances)
- Emphasis away from AP & IB programs and into dual-enrollment college courses
- Advanced courses whose curriculums allow should be available as online college courses
- Textbooks should be approved at a federal level so that rogue school systems may not teach local revisionist history or religiously biased curriculums, and so that school systems are not fleeced by textbook writers who publish 'new editions' every 2 years with no real new information (a common issue in both HS & college textbooks, for those unfamiliar with it)
- Peer tutoring should be available at all grade levels, by students 1-2 grades above, and for juniors/seniors in HS, should be made available through college students to take some of the pressure off of parents & teachers for extra help (I don't expect to understand my 16 year old's calculus homework, or for his overworked teacher to have time to tutor regularly... however, if he needs help, low-cost help should be available!)
- Technical schools should receive recognition as valid alternatives to 4-year colleges and funding should be treated as such
- Department of Health should be empowered to require school systems to acquire at least1/3 of their lunch foods from local (within-state or region) direct sources, specifically lower growers, not processors such as Sodexo. (Pizza sauce is not a vegetable, regardless of where the school system purchases it)
- Drastically lower the number of Federal employees within the Department of Education, redirect that funding to hiring more, better qualified teachers and offering incentives to States & Counties who give raises to their current teachers. (Is there anyone who will argue with me that we don't need more, better-qualified teachers? Bueller?)
- For all middle & high school teachers, student loans enter deferment status automatically upon hiring, and one year of student loans are forgiven for each year spent teaching full-time
High School Curriculum Changes
Note: This is currently designed for a 'block' system in which students have 4 classes per day for one semester, then another 4 classes per day for the next semester
9th Grade Required Courses:
- 2 study halls, one per semester- children shouldn't have to work harder and longer than their parents (8 hours of class, then up to 6 of homework is longer hours than my parents routinely worked.... how 'bout yours?)
- Choice of Basic Life Math or Algebra 1, depending on inclination/test scores/previous grades
- English 101
- Earth-Space Sciences (Basic Geology/Meteorology/Geography/Astronomy with focuses on practical application such as map-reading, how weather works, etc)
- PE
- Fine Art elective (music, art, theater, etc)
- Humanities/PE/Fine Arts Elective
10th Grade Courses
- Study Halls
- English Composition (everyone should know how to write a basic business letter/resume/etc)
- US History
- PE (every year, TYVM, exercise should be a normal part of kids' days)
- Biology
- Algebra/Geometry OR higher math elective (for those who took Algebra already)
- Driver's Ed/Auto Care (everyone should have hands-on driving instruction from a qualified instructor, as well as learning the basic skills of caring for your car)
11th Grade Courses
- Study Halls
- Western Civilization
- PE
- Sciences (Mostly basic understandings of Chemistry & Physics)
- Practical Application Elective (Agriculture, Horticulture, Metal Shop, Wood Shop, etc)
- Humanities Elective
- Home Economics 1 (everyone, male OR female, should know how to cook a meal, sew a button, etc!)
12th Grade Courses:
- Study Halls
- Eastern Civilization
- Government & Economics (because everyone should have a basic understanding of how their government works!)
- PE
- Life Skills (with critical thinking component, and skills like time management, budgeting, how a loan works, etc)
- Humanities Elective
- Elective- Fine Arts, Humanities, or Practical App depending on student's interests)
Humanities Elective Options:
- Interdisciplinary Perspectives
- African American History
- Philosophy
- Anthropology
- Sociology
- Psychology
- World Religions
- Individual languages/cultures (German, French, Spanish, Chinese, etc)
Math/Science Electives:
- Geometry
- Trigonometry
- Pre-Calculus
- Calculus
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Astronomy
Specific notes and caveats:
- If students reach a certain point excelling academically, joint college enrollment and/or college credit for their courses should be the default
- Empower guidance counselors to drop study halls, then electives if necessary for students who would like to take more advanced courses in any subject (like college counselors have the ability to change how courses are weighted against your major requirements)
- School administrators should work alongside and with guidance counselors to reduce their role as pure disciplinarians and give them a greater role in guidance and aid
- These changes will be implemented as appropriate to the state/county/municipality and within their budget. Not every school will be able to include every one of these electives, for example.
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