Quality Education

I think what the school system needs is not just a "student-responsive" orientation but a student-driven orientation.  In any typical school, 80% of the student body will make it through with minimal problems.  For the other 20% you have different but identifiabl issues.  Many of these kids are simply responsive to a different system and don't just accept the control of the school's staff.  They are often seen as emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, conduct disordered, etc., and they often do well when they are given the power to develop their own curriculum or at least choose which curriculum they will participate.  There are some that feel that the current educational system shuts down inquiry altogether, a skill we would do well to promote.  If we could provide more alternatives within our public schools, more student-driven alternatives, we might keep those kids in school and turn out better people in the process.  This would require viewing school with a student-centered focus, not a teacher-centered focus, as schools now are.