gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu (01/08/89)
/* Written 8:54 am Dec 30, 1988 by gls@odyssey.ATT.COM in p.cs.uiuc.edu:comp.edu */ /* ---------- "Re: Mechanized education is a fraud" ---------- */ In article <12848@steinmetz.ge.com>, rafferty@othello.steinmetz writes: > > This is correct. There is a problem with public education in the US. > The problem is that any decent scientist can make far more money in > industry than as a teacher. This means that the teachers that taught > me Math in High School weren't very good, and I probably know more > about it at 23 than they ever did. ... I read today that 85% of all the scientists that have EVER LIVED are alive today. I think the problem is that the technological revolution (what I'm calling the successor to the industrial revolution) is too hungry for scientists. In years gone by, many of the best scientific people could find no jobs, so even a high-school position was a good deal (Some high school math teachers in France were brilliant, and published astounding results). Clearly, these days are gone forever, and we must find new ways of getting good teachers back into the classroom. I don't think we can "borrow from the past", and by spending $$$ on high school teachers, to get them to leave their stimulating industry R & D positions. Perhaps industry could agree to "lend" these people to the schools who need them the most. Don Gillies, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Illinois 1304 W. Springfield, Urbana, Ill 61801 ARPA: gillies@cs.uiuc.edu UUCP: {uunet,harvard}!uiucdcs!gillies