Saturday, July 14, 2012
Wow, this book is depressing
I just read the statistic that 47% of adult Detriot residents are functionally illiterate, and that about half of those people have a high school diploma or GED. That is INSANE. Also, in the same chapter, I am reading about the terrible condition of American infrastructure. Things like bridges, dams, roads, schools, waste management are all being "graded" with C's and D's. This is frightening now and obviously will become even scarier in the future if nothing is done. The more I read, the more overwhelmed and helpless I am feeling. I know this is part of the point of the book, and I know that the authors have offered some solutions so far, but I really hope they offer more because I am not really seeing the "optimism" they referred to in the opening chapters!!
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I totally agree that parts of this book are very depressing. One of the issues I am having is that the authors have obviously done a lot of research and talked to a lot of people, but I have a very hard believing a lot of their figures. The Detroit one is one that I question. Define functionally illiterate, adult Detroit residents seems like they really narrowed the population in order to make that number higher. Another one that caught my eye was that 75% of young americans are unable to enlist in the military today because they have failed to graduate from high school, have a criminal record, or are physically unfit. I have a really hard time believing that number. Particularly after the earlier talk they had with a general who said the military has changed it's physical fitness requirements because they realize they can get just about anyone in shape.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we have a very dim future for our nation unless we reform many things and it is just not education.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joel on the statistics. Considering I teach my students to question everything they read - especially statistics - I wonder about a lot of these. I had heard about the military readiness before in regards to obesity, but I know that statistics can be manipulated to prove one's point.
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