The tragedy of it all is, we aren't taught critical thinking until college. So what good are those 4 years of high school? ;~D

You need a foundation in order to reach the level of being able to think critically. That is the purpose of High school.

Sadly High School is turning more into 8-hr daycare to keep kids off the streets, out of their parents hair or out of the workforce. High School was a joke where I grew up (and my high school is considered an excellent one by public school standards). I came into college without the basic foundation of knowledge I felt I needed. My 4 years of HS skipped over items like how to write a paper, how to spell, propper grammar (I never learned this one sadly, they even skipped it in college).

The buck keeps getting passed to the next level of education. Originally HS was supposed to equip you for dealing with the world, or College if that's what you wanted to do. Now it's up to Universities to prepare you for life, or a graduate degree if that's what you want to do. How long before a Masters is the lowest level of schooling you need to be capable of surviving in the outside world?

The issue of softening educational standards, I think, lies almost entirely with our touchy-feely attitude that we can't hurt anyones self-esteem. We can't give "F" grades because that means failure and it hurts little Johnny's feelings. Well, guess what? JOHNNY FAILED! He failed to master the material even at the lowest level (you just have to remember 60% of everything you're told... not that hard), hence he failed the subject.

Some schools are getting rid of grades completely, moving to a check minus, check, check plus system that aren't descriptive at all. With no fear of failing, there's also less drive to succeed. Why bust your butt to get that check plus when you can sit on your ass and get that standard check? Cause you know they'd do it on standard bell curve with the lower 20% being check minus, the top 20% being check plus, leaving the other 60% to the middle. So now you only have to master 21% of the material to "pass".

I'll leave the blame on this one to the far left in their eternal quest to make absolutely everything equal. To them there's no such thing as being smarter, dumber, stronger, weaker, faster, slower, taller or shorter than anyone else. Well guess what? Some kids are dumb. Some kids are destined to become janitors, or McDonalds workers, others are destined to become doctors, astronauts, executives etc... Am I smarter than the guy who works at the convenience store and can't string together a coherent sentence or tell me where on the map Iraq is? Eh, maybe not... he may be a mass of untapped potential. But chances are I am smarter than he is... or at the very least I work harder than he does (as I have a High School diploma and he does not... not to mention a college degree).

I am smarter than some people, dumber than others. I almost failed statistics in college, while my friend aced it. At the same time I schooled him in calculus. If the far left had its way, we'd all get a pat on the back and averaged grades because we're all just as good. I admit I'm a statistics moron, it's like greek to me. It doesn't hurt my self-esteem. In fact having the distinction of what I'm good at (computers) and what I'm not (a great many things) has allowed me to better define myself. I feel better about myself as a result because I *know* where my strengths and weaknesses lie. This is what our education system right now is trying to eliminate.

The issue of softening educational standards, I think, lies almost entirely with our touchy-feely attitude that we can't hurt anyones self-esteem. We can't give "F" grades because that means failure and it hurts little Johnny's feelings. Well, guess what? JOHNNY FAILED! He failed to master the material even at the lowest level (you just have to remember 60% of everything you're told... not that hard), hence he failed the subject. Some schools are getting rid of grades completely, moving to a check minus, check, check plus system that aren't descriptive at all. With no fear of failing, there's also less drive to succeed. Why bust your butt to get that check plus when you can sit on your ass and get that standard check? Cause you know they'd do it on standard bell curve with the lower 20% being check minus, the top 20% being check plus, leaving the other 60% to the middle. So now you only have to master 21% of the material to "pass". I'll leave the blame on this one to the far left in their eternal quest to make absolutely everything equal. To them there's no such thing as being smarter, dumber, stronger, weaker, faster, slower, taller or shorter than anyone else. Well guess what? Some kids are dumb. Some kids are destined to become janitors, or McDonalds workers, others are destined to become doctors, astronauts, executives etc... Am I smarter than the guy who works at the convenience store and can't string together a coherent sentence or tell me where on the map Iraq is? Eh, maybe not... he may be a mass of untapped potential. But chances are I am smarter than he is... or at the very least I work harder than he does (as I have a High School diploma and he does not... not to mention a college degree). I am smarter than some people, dumber than others. I almost failed statistics in college, while my friend aced it. At the same time I schooled him in calculus. If the far left had its way, we'd all get a pat on the back and averaged grades because we're all just as good. I admit I'm a statistics moron, it's like greek to me. It doesn't hurt my self-esteem. In fact having the distinction of what I'm good at (computers) and what I'm not (a great many things) has allowed me to better define myself. I feel better about myself as a result because I *know* where my strengths and weaknesses lie. This is what our education system right now is trying to eliminate.

---Zoomba

YES! This is exactly what I've been wanting to say, but couldn't get down to it! You must be smarter than me!
Damn, my self-esteem just took a hit.

A TRUE liberal would show both sides of an equation.... not one side as many liberals today do.

When one sees the almost cartoon-level knowledge of conservative ideology that many college students or recent college graduates have, that demonstrates just how biased our colleges are.

Many college students get programmed that conservatives are a bunch of bible thumping, environment hating, gun toting nuts.  Which is no more true than saying liberals are a bunch of abortion loving, terrorist sympathizing, tree hugging cowards.

When I was at college, I saw first hand conservative views trivialized by professors.  I saw history teachers that warped what happened to fit their agenda.  But the main area of liberal ideology I saw pushed was socialism and the concept that capitalism was somehow "bad".

There's nothing "liberal" about faculty liberaism. It's closer to fascism -- correct thoughts and a world controlled by a small group of elite "wise" people.

How to stretch a buck. How to feed a family on very little money a year.

BS. I have yet to meet ONE college professor who could successfully manage a family of seven on less than $20G a year without relying on government assistance. And yet, I know of many, many families that do just that.

BS. I have yet to meet ONE college professor who could successfully manage a family of seven on less than $20G a year without relying on government assistance. And yet, I know of many, many families that do just that.

Not all teachers teach in a college setting. My parents are both public school teachers and just had to pay $1200 in taxes. They know how to stetch very little to feed a family and did not use welfare to make up for it. Until you've known a mother cry because she can't afford something for her children, until you've known someone who scrapes pennies to afford school supplies I suggest you shut your mouth. So maybe, before you make assumptions, you should look at the facts.

I have suggestions for some of you people. Stay out of college. Home school your children. If you don't like the way things are run, then start your own schools. Don't take "Liberal Arts" classes. If your kids aren't learning, teach them yourselves. Of course, if teachers weren't required to "teach the test" because of constant testing pushed on students by republicans, maybe they could teach your students how to think critically.

Oh, and every culture warps history to fit their agenda. I met a foreign exchange student from Germany who looked me in the eye and said no Jews were killed during WWII.

'More like intense detachment from reality, as you've just demonstrated. Colleges and universities provide credentials, not knowledge or intelligence.'

1. Like I thought...nothing there that qualifies your contention that I attributed the use of the word "intelligence" to you. I suppose I could have said "knowledge or intelligence or wisdom or intuitiveness or awareness" but silly ol' me just assumed I had made a point when stopping at the first two.

2. It's a corollary of intelligence to possess knowledge. By virtue of your knowledge reference you implicitly recognize intelligence as relevant to the discussion at hand. And perhaps in your remote corner of the world like doesn't mean similar to, but in the rest of the English-speaking world it does.

3. If you're going to be smug, you should at least try to be right.

'If universities are supposed to be like corporations and vice versa, then yes. Otherwise, you really can't compare the two.'

Excellent point EJ, and the crux of this whole argument I think. Accept that they are two different animals that cannot be meaningfully compared, and the very notion of 'bias' starts to drift out of the window. Bias implies a move away from some notion of a 'centre', but there is no single centre here. Universities by their nature have a more liberal centre, corporations a more conservative one - end of story.