Counting Money
A few days ago, I was making a quick purchase and handed the clerk a ten dollar bill. Despite the cash register doing the calculation and displaying the amount of change I had coming, this young man - perhaps 18 or 19 years old - had considerable difficulty counting out my change. Unfortunately, it is not the only time this has happened.
While I applaud him for making the effort to make sure it was correct, which is was, it is sad that many of our youth have not internalized the basics they will need to negotiate their way through life. Some seem to be barely literate in the fundamentals… reading, writing, and arithmetic… and will undoubtedly be at a severe disadvantage when trying to get (and keep) a job or even attempting to be responsible adults and understanding their obligations and paying their bills.
I understand there is a tiny segment of people who simply don’t have the capability of learning… and there are special educational and vocational programs for them… but there are very few who fall into this category. Far fewer than I see who appear to have little command over the such critical skills as counting money, assembling a complete sentence, or reading the instructions on a job application.
Why is our education system failing at this low level? I’m not talking about kids quoting the literary classics or mastering calculus! I’m speaking of SIMPLE tasks that affect us all on a daily basis. How can someone be passed along from one grade to the next in school without demonstrating some level of competence?
Our education system is broken. I’m convinced the focus is no longer on producing quality results (educated students)… and is all about political power, job security, obtaining more and more funding, and ensuring the survival of the existing system.
If our school system were a private business, it would have been shoved to the side by competition long ago and likely died a deserved death. People simply would not pay for the poor value received, they would patronize the alternatives. As it stands, the vast majority of the public has no choice.
WE, the people, deserve CHOICE in education! The best way to enable a positive transition from the existing education monopoly to a competitive environment is to spend the SAME TAX DOLLARS (no increase necessary) but deliver them in the form of VOUCHERS that parents could “spend” at any educational facility they decided was best for them and their children. Good schools would receive more “customers” and bad ones would go out of business… as it should be.
