Perhaps Intelligence Tests Should be Given to Prospective Voters

LOL. then there wouldn’t be many left…

voter decisions are based on headlines in the news that’s what is so sad and on irrational ideas of a utopian society.

A lot of the information that the public does not seem to know is presented to our children in school. What is constantly amazing is how little they seem to retain. Perhaps parents should be more vigilant and more discriminating in the pasttimes they allow their children to participate in. Too much junk t.v., too many video games, not enough intelligent discussion and/or reading material at home and lax after school supervision will allow kids to forget what they’ve been taught in school and concentrate on those things that have obviously contributed to an ignorant public. Please do not put all the blame on the educational system. We don’t raise your kids. We merely try, very hard, to educate them against all odds.

I’d rather that the candidates have to take intelligence tests. If you can’t read, write, or do simple arithmetic, then you can’t run for office. There is no way that we can spend our way to riches. If the present trend continues, China will own the entire U.S. within the next five years.

woolf2k, and the sad thing about your comment, other than being somewhat true, is that many don’t even have a clue about headlines, and get news 3rd or 4th hand, with few of the pertinent facts intact.

Barbara, and MOST of it is not. I have attended my children’s schools, to see what was happening. Not much. The teachers barely have control of the room, and can’t seem to get the children motivated to learn. Much of this seems to be apathy on the part of the teachers. Teachers (in Californai) seem to be up in arms about money for their work, but they don’t realize how little of it they do.. They tend to work 3/5 to 2/3 of the time that other workers do, yet they want salary parity or better. How is that fair? It could only be fair when it is shown that the teaching professional is just that - professional. Once progress is shown, extra compensation can be considered.

Parents are not blameless, but the learning process starts at home, before the child attends kindergarten, and the teachers are missing the handoff when kids turn 4 or 5. It must be remembered that teachers for most of the work week see our children more than we do.

I’ve already had this discussion on Huffington Post, and I can (again) only speak of what I know (California) and that teaching (and teachers) suck in this state. Too much is being put on the parents to teach, as the teachers are too busy ‘being important’, attending meetings, and complaining about salaries.

I remember coming home as a child, aand constantly amazing my parents with what I had learned. My children amaze me with what they do not know, and moreover the fact that many things are NEVER presented in class. Too much ‘collegiate syle teaching’ is being done in primary school - sending kids home with books, expecting them to read, comprehend, and do the assigned work, and yet have no in class discussion - only tests and recriminations. Even real colleges don’t work quite this way. This reduces the role of the teacher to that of proctor, and for that they are curently overpaid by by several orders of magnitude.

Dan Sherman, I think we can agree that the current politicians all read and write and do math - many too well, figuring how they can shaft the citizenry, aggregate more wealth and power for themselves, and not get caught.

It is up to a well read and intelligent population to see that the politicians do what we ask them to, not decide that their ideas are better than ours.

Give intelligence tests to prospective voters? Hah! - 99% of politicians would fight that to the death because they know if it ever came to pass they would be thrown out of office or prevented from running in the first place.

John - that’s the point, however, if the informed were allowed to vote, and the under- and non-informed were left at the wayside, elections would be harder to fix, and something might actually be accomplished. (Perhaps those left out would make progress toward being informed!)

Randy Newman wrote a song a few years back about ‘Short People’, and although it made some valid points, I think it would have been far more effective as a song about ‘Stupid People’. The number is growing and there has never really been a dearth of them.

oracle — I read your response to my post with interest and part of the problem begins with some of what you said, to wit: ” I have attended my children’s schools, to see what was happening. Not much. The teachers barely have control of the room, and can’t seem to get the children motivated to learn.” First of all, why should teachers have to concentrate all their efforts on controlling the room? Children should be brought up to behave themselves in school and yet they’re not. Too many young people lack basic manners, courtesy and respect for their elders, especially their teachers. Where is that coming from? Could it be their homes? Furthermore, when I went to school (before The Flood), we didn’t expect teachers to “motivate” us to learn. We were already motivated to learn. I never went to a class and decided not to learn because the teacher didn’t motivate me. I have seen a great many teachers working hard to make their lessons engaging and student centered, and putting an inordinate amount of effort into what you call class control. Maybe if teachers didn’t have to put so much effort into motivating and controlling their students, they could cover a lot more content in their teaching.

Barbara, I fully agree that children should go to school with an appropriate sense of comportment. Mine did. I do however, disagree about motivation to learn. This must be provided by the teacher.

I agree that teachers must have control of the classroom. It is their duty to make sure they do. If certain wayward children don’t know how to behave, they should be removed from the classroom, and not allowed to deter others from learning. Again, this is a job for the teacher.(If teachers are prevented from doing this by any rules, they should strike for this ability to control in their own rooms - they certainly don’t seem to have a problem striking for higher wages - perhaps having more control and a better result in the children, would make striking for higher wages unnecessary).
Perhaps ‘no child left behind’ was a good concept, but the implementation leaves SO VERY MUCH TO BE DESIRED. Until the emphasis gets put on knowledge and learning, the school system in this country will continue to slip further behind those in the rest of the world, with our country not far behind. (How can we have college educated people who can’t find a country - clearly noted on a globe - with which our country is involved in war?)

I’m actually getting tired of this, but I did want to point out one or two things to you. First of all, the school system of which I have been a part for upwards of 30 years has not had a teacher strike since 1968. So, I don’t know where you get the idea that all teachers do is go on strike for more money. Second, and you would not know this, not being a part of the educational system, but feeling qualified to pontificate about it nevertheless, the school, any school, is controlled by the principal. If the principal doesn’t want something to happen in a school, it doesn’t, no matter what the rest of the staff believe, want or need in order to make the school a better learning environment. And, many schools are judged today solely on their “stats” which, if they are good enough, for whatever reason, protect lousy principals from being fired.

Barbara, here in San Bernardino County, in California, just last year we had teachers go to a ‘minimum level of teaching’ just before a threatened strike. The pre-strike was ended just a day before the walk-out. (Point here - these people are at a ‘minimum level of teaching’ all the time it seems, so their point of stating that movement to an even lower level was not necessary. Also I think I clearly stated I am speaking from what I know - here in California. I don’t make this stuff up)

If the principal is a stumbling block to better education, teachers should be the ones to indicate it, as they are closest to the problem.