Full disclosure on Ryan Poterack’s, education: I obtained a BBA in Finance from Iowa State University in 1990 and have completed continuing education annually to maintain licenses for my career. Ryan Poterack has also gained education through the school of Hard Knocks by starting three businesses from scratch.
The education, development and preparedness of our children is usually referred to as an investment in our country’s future. This is a view that nearly everyone can agree on. However, there should be a great deal of debate regarding how we invest, as a society, in our youth.
Do our schools prepare children to be welders, website designers, nannies, personal trainers, servers, mortgage brokers, entrepreneurs, and many other careers we all interact with every day? The answer in many cases is no. Our children are not taught how to balance a checkbook, compare mortgages, complete a tax return, or many other important activities they’ll be required to do to succeed in life. Our schools do not typically teach our children how to shake hands correctly, use good eye contact or other key protocols needed to complete a successful job interview.
Many of our country’s schools have experienced snow days this winter. These schools, often by law, have to make these days up. Think about this. School completion is based on time, not on skills developed! The classroom “investment” moves along at the speed of the slowest student. The slowest student in one subject may be the fastest student in another subject or brilliant in areas not even covered by our traditional bricks and mortar schools. We invest in time spent, not outcomes.
The number of children being homeschooled in the United States is exploding. If you homeschool your child, you are still paying tax dollars to teach others in public school. When public schools receive your money even when you do the work, then what pressure is there for the school to improve their product? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, education spending in our nation’s schools was $10,560 per student in 2011.
Imagine the possibilities if every student had the choice of how to invest their ten grand every year!
Ryan Poterack resides in Charlotte, NC. He is the proud father of 4 children ranging in ages from 1 to 18.
