Rant well taken, I remember that I didn't even have to do any work for my first 5 or 6 years of school. I have parents who were educated outside this country, so they taught me how to multiply double and triple digits by the time I got to school. I sat in the back of the room marveling at how the kids couldn't comprehend c is for cat. (I knew how to read too obviously) Now I knew how to read in 2 languages and couldn't figure out how these parents could not have taught their kids to atleast understand simple phonetics. I also went to one of the better public elementary schools in NYC, so it wasn't like everyone was dumb, their education was just a matter of laziness. And then in 2nd grade, the teachers complained that I was restless, you know why? because the 40 minute assignment I would finish in 10 and have 30 minutes to do stuff that bored kids do, play around, doodle, talk to other kids. The teacher ended up bringing my parents in to complain that I was a distraction, and what my dad recommended, give him 2 pages of math problems, it'll keep him in order. After about 3 months, she was giving me 4 pages to do, while the other kids drew pictures and were still working on theyre phonetics. Moral of the story, the educational system is lacking in so many ways that it's quite saddening. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking them make kids do math problems, but as a result I got into one of the top high schools in NYC and have an opportunity at NYU (except for ******* money).
O, and PS, hours upon hours of homework don't help when the kids do the bare minimum to make it look like they did their homework. Class sizes are too big, and if you look at it analytically, the more students you have, the more you farther the the ranges will be. You will have technically more able kids, but more less able kids, and those are the ones that need attention, but do not get it because they do not have the ability to participate in a discussion where the people who are more capable of participating. The weak get weaker, and the strong are stunted because they have to have the quality of the discussion lowered and the middle stay in the middle maintaining the status quo.
/End rant?
Edit: Sorry, I got distracted and went off topic kinda up there, too lazy to fix it though.