The Big Ideas Project

Civics, Personal Finance, Anger Management, Conflict Resolution should all be required subjects in Sr. High.

Submitted by Timothy Salt in Education Dec. 16, 2014, 4:28 p.m.

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#1549

78 votes

Post-secondary institutions should be encouraged to cut or sell varsity athletic programs and put the money saved into academics. The collegiate varsity teams have become merely a gateway for aspiring professional athletes with little regard for education.

Submitted by Dan in Education Jan. 5, 2015, 6:20 p.m.

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#1574

75 votes

Two year Community Colleges should be free (or subsidized) to High School grads, and should teach the subjects that are currently in demand by businesses. Could also continue present mission for Junior year college prep.

Submitted by jerry f. from MI in Education Dec. 16, 2014, 2:01 p.m.

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#1605

72 votes

Set a goal of more than 99% high school graduation, and fund it and provide schools with the other resources they need. This includes reasonable size classes and facilities.

Submitted by Go go in Education Dec. 11, 2014, 8:27 a.m.

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#1624

71 votes

Educate in student-centered classrooms, rather than focusing on standards. It's ridiculous to expect every child to know the same things at the same time. we don't expect every child to be the same height and weight at a certain age, yet common core standards expect kids' brains to develop and learn at the same rate.

Submitted by Linda M. from HI in Education Jan. 8, 2015, 6:22 p.m.

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#1650

69 votes

Abolish all current and former Student Debt. Part of making all education free for everyone. This not only includes forgiveness of all current debt to the banksters, but a refund of all tuitions and interest paid since 1980. This money will be deposited in a savings account with an 8% annual return paid from the inception of the loan paid by the banksters to students. Contrast this with the Citigroup proposal to require government guarantees for their speculation.

Submitted by John Z. from HI in Education Dec. 11, 2014, 9:33 p.m. 1

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#1694

65 votes

'TEXTBOOKAZINES' would beat textbooks in multiple ways: These magazine-like textbooks would be cheaper to produce and less costly to school systems, lighter in weight and less damaging to students' backs, each student's to keep and customize with underlining and highlighting, the probable nucleus of many young people's future personal print libraries, and more easily kept up-to-date with new information and more frequently revised. And a way to break the idiotic textbook "tyranny of Texas."

Submitted by Gregory Wright, ADA So Cal Board Member in Education Dec. 22, 2014, 6:39 a.m.

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#1708

64 votes

Encourage states to have their primary schools to set aside one hour of recess per day, by indexing it to federal aid. What sets the United States apart is that we are a nation of creatives. To eliminate outdoor playtime is inhibiting our children's ability to think divergently.

Submitted by John Fallot in Education Dec. 15, 2014, 2:24 p.m.

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#1724

63 votes

Do not allow colleges and universities to hire "adjunct" instructors. Adjuncts are being asked to do full-time work in some cases, but are not given full-time jobs. This discourages people from teaching or from doing a good job teaching.

Submitted by L.M> in Education Jan. 8, 2015, 2:46 a.m.

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#1754

61 votes

Now that the Vatican is supportive of co-existent ideas with nature, I think teaching young people in school about natural physical conservation and renewable resources should not be a religious or political issue, and as a strict-socio-economic issue, I think teaching that "we are going to ruin the planet for the sake of making more money" makes less sense than does teaching a moderate drawdown from dependence on the more-toxic energies and a strong push toward renewable, less toxic methods.

Submitted by Steven S. from WI in Education Dec. 18, 2014, 9:44 p.m.

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#1754

61 votes

Increase the numbers of persons in our country who are proficient in languages in addition to English by creating a section on bilingual colleges and universities in the Higher Education Act. The new section could be patterned on the model set by HBCU. This would result in economic benefits in. industries such as international trade, commerce, and tourism, enhance our ability to offer health , education, and social services, and improve skills needed for international diplomacy.

Submitted by Rcf in Education Dec. 19, 2014, 8:31 a.m.

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#1754

61 votes

Research into how people learn definitively shows that active learning is incredibly more effective than lecture. Neuroscientists are now telling us that no real learning takes place unless the emotions are involved. But what the research shows is not, for the most part, being implemented in the classroom. We need a major revolution in education--even the business gurus are now saying that creative thinking is essential for survival in the 21st century..

Submitted by Suzanne Burgoyne, Curators' Teaching Professor of Theatre, University of Missouri in Education Jan. 7, 2015, 9:35 p.m.

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#1776

59 votes

Federal funding for education should be given directly to state departments of education to fund state derived education systems that respond to their student demographics. Cooperation amongst states with similar student demographics and teaching structure to be encouraged. Stop the one size fits all. It fails and benefits only corporations and pockets of districts that qualify.

Submitted by orion in Education Dec. 10, 2014, 7:48 p.m.

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#1817

56 votes

Need to reward good teachers and get rid of bad ones. They've kinda figured out how to do it with doctors, they can do it with teachers

Submitted by Descarte in Education Dec. 12, 2014, 7:44 p.m.

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#1863

52 votes

Create a "Student Loan Account" investment tool, similar to the 401K model. Individuals with undergraduate student loan debt invest pre-tax dollars into this account, which is then invested and grows. Partnered with tax-benefits to employers for matching employee's investment. This will create an incentive for citizens to pay off student loans faster and increase the amount of disposable income to drive our consumer driven economy. The power to tax is power to destroy crushing student loan debt!

Submitted by Integrityoverpolitics in Education Dec. 11, 2014, 4:40 p.m.

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#1923

47 votes

Provide environment for life-long learning of skills or knowledge that will increase one's human capital.

Submitted by antonio l. from CA in Education Jan. 4, 2015, 5:10 p.m.

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#1964

43 votes

I would like to see education in the Junior High and the High school be in 6-8 week packets. not all subjects need to be year long and we need to get away from so much of the same basic classes every year and focus on these kids being able to get a job, I want to see cooking packets in the 7th grade, microwave cooking for both sexes. there could be a line prep cooking in the high school and maybe they could prepare lunch for the students. real estate sales persons certificate, welding, radio

Submitted by Oaken in Education Dec. 11, 2014, 9:58 p.m.

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#1982

42 votes

Allow parents to earn credit by volunteering in not-for-profit organizations, govt. health care programs, or other areas identified by the government as beneficial to the public. The credit to be applied to sons/daughters private or federal student education loan.

Submitted by Rick Blaskovich in Education Dec. 18, 2014, 10:30 p.m.

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#2000

41 votes

Fund 3 free National Universities in different cities: One for Science & Technology, one for Health Care & Medicine, and one for the Arts. Admission would be based on need and aptitude, and tuition would not be charged.

Submitted by JTinAlexandria in Education Dec. 21, 2014, 10:31 a.m.

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#2024

39 votes

Make meditation a part of every kids morning in schools nationwide.

Submitted by ymash in Education Jan. 5, 2015, 12:37 p.m.

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#2046

37 votes

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