I have to say that public education (k-12) only qualifies you to work at a gas station.....

I am a jr high school drop out, I never got a GED... and I am the better for it...

any self motivated student is best off dropping out and studying what he or she needs. I refused to go to school after 8th grade... I went to a hick redneck school where it was impossible to want to aspire to do more than work at the tractor factory....

I studied at home, (oklahoma has genorous laws on home schooling, abused by religious nuts that teach their kids nothing but bible myths) I went on to get a PhD in physics... I was asked once to give a talk to high school students, but when I told them I would advise dropping out and studying their own curricula they declined.... :)

funny thing is I still get asked for my GED when applying for my jobs, not having one hasnt presented any problem, except they have to do extra paperwork...

My advice, if you are dedicated and have good parents drop out of high school and go to college ASAP

Public schooling teches you less than you can learn on your own... they teach to the lowest common denominator.... Most of us, by definition, are better than that.

I reccomend that if you have responsible intelligent kids that you research the laws in your state and home school them... give them books and tests.... and let them learn.....

I knew a lot of home schooled kids.... those who were home schooled by religious nuts learned how many loaves and fishes Christ could make...not really useful in the real world... but those that had sane parents did VERY well....

Public education is a dead end, until college.... The teachers I had in grade school were ignorant and bullied the intelligent as much as the children did...

States pay a pittance for teachers, and so they get the bottom of the barrel.... I loved teaching others for free but I would never make a carreer at minimum wage putting up with what they do ...

pay them what they deserve and maybe you will attract the people you want teaching your kids.....

And spend a bit to make the ignorant parents participate! We are the most educated society on earth, but we are woefully below what we could be.....

give up funding for 2 stealth bombers and we have 2 billion more to educate our kids to make things we cannot imagine... (when your parents were kids could they imagine the PC or the internet? or the space shuttle or talking to your car?)

Our GREATEST victory in WW2 was the formation of the national labs.... we now produce more discoveries than the rest of the world combined... education is at the root of it all... We shape the world because we research it all....

If we lose our researchers we will fall behind..... support education.... OR WE WILL FAIL AS A CULTURE!

-R.L.