School 101

If I were to try to fix public education, I would start with the lack of student motivation. A lot of high school kids aren't that concerned with whether or not they get great grades. They figure it really doesn't matter a whole lot. Sure, colleges look at grades in regards to admissions and scholarships and the like, but unfortunately too many kids barely scrape their way through high school and manage to learn next to nothing. As much as I love the days when we don't do much of anything, after experiencing a year with a certain teacher or two that didn't really teach anything and let us do whatever during class, I don't desire a do-nothing classroom. Maybe I'm a bit of a nerd, but I think a lot of students would appreciate actually being forced to learn, but starting in high school isn't good enough. To fix the public school system, all schools from kindergarten to high school need to better encourage the learning of students. Not every child is meant to get a college degree, and not every child has the capacity to learn more than they learn in today's public school system, but the number who physically cannot be successful in school is far smaller than the number of those who can but choose not to.
The only way to fix this motivational problem is to encourage learning at a young age, as I said before. Teachers must ensure that every child learns to read and write, and that every child understands the content being taught. Too many students get lost early in the learning process, and by the time they reach high school, they're too tired of trying to catch up, and relatively incapable of fully catching up without an excessive amount of work. So, my major change in the public school system would be teachers that actually care whether or not each and every child learns. I know it's not very concrete, but I believe it's very important. I also do not believe that it's always the teachers' fault when students don't learn, but I think a strong early education would greatly help high school students to work harder.