[davamanra]

1. I like a lot of what you say here. I too think school is an important equalizer, and public schools are for all. If parents want their kid to go to a private school, they can pay for it all themselves. There are a lot of basic expenditures that are going to be in a school no matter how big or small it is. Building maintenance, utilities, adminstrative staff, etc. The per student basis won't work because of this. this is where the community as a whole, whether you use the public schools or not should contribute. Also it's not just that community, but the state as a whole. Just because a student lives in a poor district doesn't mean he shouldn't get the same opportunity as the student in the rich district.
2. A school is a public building. There is no right to privacy. Surveillance cameras in all areas including classrooms, the lockers don't belong to the students, so search warrants shouldn't be necessary. If the student wants property kept private keep it in their backpack. Teachers are the authority in the class. If a student is a problem, he is removed and sent to the principal. If there are any doubts to what happened the cameras have recorded a record of the incident.
3. I don't know the best wat to address this other than to say that there are education systems in many countries that are much more sucessful than ours, and it would be a good idea to examine these different systems and find out how the are more effective than ours and incorporate their positive aspects in ours.
4. There is a disparity in intelligence that cannot be fixed. Some people are just smarter than others. However intelligence is only one aspect of a person's abilities. There are many important skill-based professions that need cultivation. An aptitude test in high school would help determine a career path for the student. Then the student's education could be specialized based on this aptitude.

This a very complex issue as every individual is different, not better or worse, just different, and that definitely needs to be acknowledged. I don't pretend to have the answers as how to optimise each individual's education, but again there are lessons to be learned in examining the education systems of other countries.

[Commodore]

There are several problems plaguing US schools (I can't speak for other countries).

I fully support public schools as a great equalizer, and as the beating heart of the community.

1) Funding is based on a per student basis. Administrators divide the cost of their wish list by number of enrolled students to come to a price of educating a student. Anything less than that is then considered shortchanging the students. For one thing administrative, facilities, and pensions cost make up the vast majority of this. Staff and supplies are the only things that actually does the teaching. Pencil pushers and pensions can be done other ways through better national tax and health policies. Better construction and technologies can reduce facilities costs, opening up the building in off hours for community use, such as night college courses for adults, charging for use of the gym, ect can take care of the rest. Most of the supplies are paper, and can be replaced digitally, and everything else should be left up to parents because if kids can learn from them in class they can learn from them outside class. That just leaves the teachers pay, which is good, because with all the other issues solved, there is nothing standing in the way vouchers that allow parents and students to have more control over the curriculum and teaching methods.

2) Discipline. Teachers have to get order in the classroom without meddling administrators and helicopter parents. If you send your kids to school, they are there to follow the direction of the teacher, not whatever you want them to do. Kids need to be smacked across the knuckles once in a while. In fact, if they don't that's more a cause for concern.

3) The gap between concepts taught and the applications is huge. It no wonder kids don't care about what they are being taught, they don't know what to do with it. Bring back shop class. Perhaps most importantly, they are not taught the technologies of life support.

4) There's much to large a line between high school and college. The equivalent of an associates degree should be a mandatory capstone to public education.

[lkm]

I would think you'd quote it like network ratings, such as a 70:E ( 70%, expected) or a 65:A,(65%, Above expected) or maybe 95:S ((5%, significantly beyond ) or 55:D (disappointing), 78:U (underachiever), 99:MC (must have cheated).
You get the idea.

[Redsand11j]

and for an absolute grade, there could be a fixed point, where, say, the teacher's goal percentage is (A gets 80% of test correct, 70th percentile. teacher wanted about 75% to be average, 55th percentile.)

[NoMoreLies]

Wait, someones expected to get 90%, they get 90%, what Grade would that be?

I'd go with the Percentile and scrap fixed grades. It would make it easier to judge how well the student is doing, and jobs/courses would be able toadvertise for say, the person needs above 75% to get in, and then make the judgement on who got the highest?