Accidental gun deaths by children (most of whom were not educated on guns by their parents, and found access to completely unlocked guns) are in the range of 200-300 a year. ie, not even appearing on the top list of accidental causes of child death.
Interestingly enough, that puts it into similar rates as having a kitchen. Maybe a little more dangerous since the 300-350 deaths a year due to cooking a home made meal includes children and adults, but pretty close.
If you want to understand the Bill of Rights, you have to first read the Declaration of Independence. Otherwise you start making ridiculous comments like "The right to bear arms is for the army", or "The second amendment is to protect hunting".
To be fair, the 2nd amendment isn't about protecting yourself from burglars (or hunting) either. The 2nd amendment is about keeping weapons to shoot government officials. It was about having enough and big enough guns for the South to secede from the Union.
People like to point out that there were not assault rifles when the Constitution was written. If there were, those would definitely have been protected weapons. Heck, they included canons in the right to bear arms.
It can be argued whether the 2nd amendment is a good idea or not, but it's intent was clear.
I am not a gun owner, and I consider them an abomination. Ok, they are inanimate objects, so they are not a problem themselves. It is how they are used that is an abomination. The laws requiring them to be more specific. We will put devices in our garage that have disks that spin at 3600rpms with hundreds of little teeth specifically designed to rip through anything that gets in their path. We then sell replicas of these devices in ToysRUS and no one bats an eye that these things are stored right next to bicycles and other toys. The problem with guns is that they are portrayed to children as toys, and as toys that they cannot touch.
It's hard to say, but making the claim that Google rushed their product to market as a direct response to Apples recent announcement is simply making things up and declaring Apple the 'innovator' because the poster had not facts to the contrary.
Mapping is not iOS6. Although I will admit that when I read iOS 6, that it processed in my head as iPhone 5. It seems I mistakenly assumed that Apple was pulling another Siri and artificially limiting an application to their newest phone. The article still reads as fanboyism for the other reasons...
Mapping is not iOS6. Although I will admit that when I read iOS 6, that it processed in my head as iPhone 5. It seems I mistakenly assumed that Apple was pulling another Siri and artificially limiting an application to their newest phone. The article still reads as fanboyism for the other reasons.
I am not a gun owner, and my problem with it isn't that they infringe on rights so much as that the laws concerning locking up guns is specifically designed to remove their benefit. The laws are bad because they don't improve the situation. They make it worse by creating a situation that removes the benefits of the gun, does not remove access to the guns in any meaningful way, but instead convinces people that they don't need to teach their children that tools can kill.
That is the sad thing. Responsible people are having to create incontinence, and sometimes even danger for themselves and families because so many other people are irresponsible and won't educate their children. Then our legal system tells the negligent parent that they didn't do anything wrong.
The problem with that argument is that it shows extreme bias. Roll the dice a million times, and kids will try to go joy riding in their parents cars too, yet the car is not held to the same standard as guns. We tell our 8 year old kids "Don't drive the car." and accept that that is good enough. Somehow the same doesn't apply to guns. Unfortunately, instead of teaching kids what guns do, we teach them that they are magic devices that either kill on their own, or when shot by a human don't kill at all.
Most home schooling is not for the purpose of 'belief system' in the way that anti-homeschoolers like to imply. If you mean things like wanting your child to be smarter, better able to deal with a diverse set of people and situations, and more self reliant, then yes, it is for a 'belief system'. On the other hand, if you think that public schools are not being used to promote a belief system, you are ignoring reality. The only difference is that someone else is deciding the belief system that your child is being taught.
Public schools did not follow wealth, it was an important aspect of colonial life in most places. It was often one of the first things established in new towns.
When they had the wealth to do so.
Public schools give kds more opportunity then they will ever get being home schooled.
Of course this is an unsubstantiated myth.
These are the people they will have to deal with for the rest of their lives, why shelter them from the truth.
When was the last time you were in a room with thirty people exactly the same age as you and that you had no choice in associating with? Me? It was my last day of public school. My guess is that it is the same for you. How many people from your public school do you deal with on any regular basis? For me it is 1, and 2 or three more that I deal with every few years. These are not the people your kids will have to deal with for the rest of their lives.
Every parent should be adding to what their kids get in a public school, it should be a base, not the sum of their education.
Except that isn't how public education works. If a parent is taking on the role of educating their child, their child will far outpace the public school. Thus the only thing left for the public school to offer is a belief system. Using the public school as the 'base' of your child's education is setting the bar extremely low.
Pawning their "home schooling" off on siblings or babysitters is the biggest cop out I have ever heard.
You do realize that this is done in public schools all the time, right? Having a student tutor another student is a learning process in itself. You know those oral reports you did in school? The ones where you instructed other students on a subject? Those were not a bad thing. The familial relationship should have no bearing on your opinion of that subject. If your implying that homeschool entails parents dumping their children off on their siblings even a majority of the time, you are horribly confused. As for dumping the kids and responsibility off on a babysitter, that is the very premise of modern public school. Every single time you hear someone say that they "Can't afford to homeschool", that is an open admission that they are using the public school system as a babysitter and dumping their kids education off on the free babysitter. With that complaint you are projecting your disdain for public school onto those that don't do what you hate.
Providing them self study opportunity is great, but not as a replacement for schooling.
Sure. I agree, and there is a small subset of homeschoolers that basically rely on self study as the primary method. They are a very small subset, and the sad thing is that their kids tend to be at least as well educated as those that attend public school. Group faux study is also not a replacement for schooling either.
The problem with sanitation is that it isn't a matter of 'Teaching' them to be clean. You can teach people all you want, but when you pack 8 million people into New York City and don't have sanitation services, you have a problem that can't be educated away. That is just with garbage collection. If you look at things like sewage and water sanitation, the issue is dramatically worse. No matter how educated the population is, you simply cannot get 8 million people to personally deliver their chamber pots to a central location. Unless you are talking about rural areas, it is simply not a matter of education. Wells need to be a certain distance from septic. If they are not, disease becomes a problem.
Kind of like the twist of that parable. Give a man a fire and he will be warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.
I will give me regular disclaimer on these kinds of discussions.... I am not against public education. As it is currently structure, it is a crappy money sinking resource, but it is a resource. What I am against is that it is held up on a pedestal over far more important resources, and it is considered a sacred cow that cannot be criticized. When people choose to use better resources, they are attacked and derided.
To be fair, you won't find a DE on any OS that doesn't have issues. The question isn't whether an OS/DE has issues. The question is whether the little nits you find are real deal killers for you as an individual, or whether they are excuses to remain in your tribe.
This article reeks of fanboyism. Why would we think that Google didn't start working on 3D maps until Apple announced it? Why isn't this pointing out that Apple is crapping on their customers by trying to sell them a new phone just to run software that should run just fine on the iPhone 1? And why would they think that Google only now found out about Apple's mapping plans? Apple said they were working on maps when we found out that Apple tracks users. They said that the reason they would continue to track users was to collect data for creating mapping software.
So, you use multi-touch. The first point is hover. The second touch if to the left is a left click. If it is to the right it is a right click. Touch also has brand new intent options like pinch. The problem with touch on the computer isn't that you lose intent options. It isn't that your arm needs to be extended for long periods of time, or that you have to make wide sweeping motions. The problem is that a touch screen is not a replacement for a mouse or keyboard. It is a third input option. It is a third input option that has been sorely missing. Think about when flat panels first came out, were outrageously expensive, and the oil from fingers would stain the screen. It was a constant chore to keep an eye on anyone coming near your screen because they would constantly reach up and try to touch the elements on the screen.
While it is possible to replace a keyboard or mouse with a touchscreen, just as it is possible to replace a keyboard with a mouse or a mouse with a keyboard. It doesn't mean it makes sense.
Interestingly enough, 'Unschoolers' people that think kids will just pick up what they want and need to know have just as high of litaracy as those in the public school system. I will grant that they tend to learn to read a bit later. They usually seem to learn to read between 8 and 10, but they do learn to read. One piece that generally gets missed when comparing low literacy rate countries with the US is that in the US, the path of least resistance is to learn to read. Just driving around, kids are going to see a giant 'M' and that 'M' is going to stand for "McDonalds". They will see a giant 'KFC' and that giant 'KFC' will stand for 'Kentucky Fried Chicken'. They will see signs with the letters 'S', 'T', 'O', 'P' on them, and it will be discussed with them that the sign is a 'STOP' sign. In low literacy rate countries, reading is not expected, so written words are not everywhere. In the US, children are bombarded with the written word all day every day. Children simply cannot escape the written word in the US. There is so much writing that not only do we have it everywhere we look, it is even ubiquitous in the places we don't look. Knock a whole in your walls, and you will find writing all over the inside of the walls. Smash open your television set and there will be writing all over the inside of that too.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. That doesn't mean you should take away the water and leave him in a desert.
Since this is a discussion of which is more important sanitation or education, I will point out that leading a horse to a poison well is as bad or worse than leaving him in a desert.
Have you seen how many children are growing up with both parents working, or a single parent? How can these people home school?
The same way all of the other home schooling families where both parents work, or they are a single parent. There are lots of ways this gets done. For younger kids, there are family or friends that babysit during the day (just like what is done for kids not old enough for public school) and schooling in the evenings and weekends. For older kids, they can watch themselves during the day. School work can be done during the day by responsible kids, and can still be done in the evening and weekends. In grade school, it only takes an hour or two to vastly outpace what can be taught in a full public school day. For middle and high school, it only takes an hour or two of instruction, and the rest of the time is (just like public school) self study.
Don't construe the statement that "Most" parents could homeschool with "All" parents can homeschool. I am fully aware that sometimes it just cannot be done. Most of the time, when people say they "Can't" homeschool, what they really mean is that other things are more important. How many people do you really know that require both parents to work? I am not asking about how many require both parents to work to keep their current standard of living. I asking how many actually would be on the street, unable to eat or rent an apartment if they both didn't work. Honestly, in a many two earner households, one of the spouses is paying to work. Between extra work clothes, child care (which goes down a lot when the free public school child care kicks in), car expenses, lunches out, etc., etc, etc. many people would find that there is little to no income from one of their salaries.
My wife is a stay at home mom and we choose to send our children to an excellent public school even though the rent in our area is high compared to nearby areas with worse schools. We volunteer in the schools and know our children's teachers and schoolmates. We are greeted by name when we step into the office.
None of this has anything to do with quality of public schooling, or in any way compares it to private school. Volunteering at the school, being greeted by name and knowing your children's teachers and schoolmates is a given with homeschooling. It is the exception at public schools. Even then, things like being greeted by name does not imply quality education. My local Safeway greets me by name. That doesn't mean I would want to use it as his primary source of education.
Public schooling has given us the standard of living we take for granted and it gives opportunity to children across the US.
This is a myth. Public schooling followed wealth. It didn't lead it.
The only reason public schools measure up poorly against private and charter schools is they are required to take all comers. They often end up pouring resources into high needs students. These can be disabled students, or just disruptive students. I have myself seen teachers forced to dedicate a substantial amount of time to a handful of students whose parents have lax discipline. I don't begrudge the disabled, but I do begrudge the unruly.
That is an argument for not sending your kid to public school if they have potential. It is an explanation for one of the reasons homeschooled kids generally get a better education. Pointing out a failing doesn't mean it isn't a failing.
In theory public school should be cheap and more effective than homeschooling. In practice, it is more expensive and less effective. There are a lot of reasons that public school is failing. Plugging our ears and repeating "Public school is good...Public school is good..." isn't going to fix it.
The bolt over solution can certainly be removed. The solution doesn't have to be irremovable. It just needs to break when removed. We see a similar solution with PG&E power meters. Anyone can snip the wire that locks the meter. It just leaves evidence that it has been tampered with. You were not under the notion that the locks ever had a chance of keeping someone out of the room if they didn't care about it showing you broke in did you?
It might take just as long to replace the lock, but, while I have not priced those locks specifically, I think it is safe to assume they are more expensive than the cost of a home unit. Thus you are looking at hardware cost difference for a 300 room hotel of somewhere around $100k (or more) vs $1k. Sure some might take your solution, but I have stayed in enough hotels to know that "doing a functional job" is chosen over "doing it right" very frequently.
Your comment is one of misdirection. If we are using the fact that they are in the top half of earners per YEAR, they still have an extream amount of vacation time. Also, they get lots of days off through the year. Plus, needing two weeks before the students show up, and two weeks after they are gone does not speak well for their capabilities as teachers.
What planet do you live on that public schools are not an indoctrination. What do you think "socialization" means when people say it is a reason kids should be sent to public school? In fact, it is all but impossible for a child to grow up in any environment where they have contact with other humans and not get an "indoctrination". Unless of course, you want to use the term "indoctrination" to mean "political or religious views different than my own".
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No, dogs are not as good as alarms. Alarms to injure people all on their own. Dogs do.
Accidental gun deaths by children (most of whom were not educated on guns by their parents, and found access to completely unlocked guns) are in the range of 200-300 a year. ie, not even appearing on the top list of accidental causes of child death.
Interestingly enough, that puts it into similar rates as having a kitchen. Maybe a little more dangerous since the 300-350 deaths a year due to cooking a home made meal includes children and adults, but pretty close.
the other is designed to kill other people.
That is simply a stupid statement. Most guns are not designed to kill people. Someone has been lying to you.
If you want to understand the Bill of Rights, you have to first read the Declaration of Independence. Otherwise you start making ridiculous comments like "The right to bear arms is for the army", or "The second amendment is to protect hunting".
To be fair, the 2nd amendment isn't about protecting yourself from burglars (or hunting) either. The 2nd amendment is about keeping weapons to shoot government officials. It was about having enough and big enough guns for the South to secede from the Union.
People like to point out that there were not assault rifles when the Constitution was written. If there were, those would definitely have been protected weapons. Heck, they included canons in the right to bear arms.
It can be argued whether the 2nd amendment is a good idea or not, but it's intent was clear.
I am not a gun owner, and I consider them an abomination. Ok, they are inanimate objects, so they are not a problem themselves. It is how they are used that is an abomination. The laws requiring them to be more specific. We will put devices in our garage that have disks that spin at 3600rpms with hundreds of little teeth specifically designed to rip through anything that gets in their path. We then sell replicas of these devices in ToysRUS and no one bats an eye that these things are stored right next to bicycles and other toys. The problem with guns is that they are portrayed to children as toys, and as toys that they cannot touch.
It's hard to say, but making the claim that Google rushed their product to market as a direct response to Apples recent announcement is simply making things up and declaring Apple the 'innovator' because the poster had not facts to the contrary.
I agree that 3D maps are over hyped.
Mapping is not iOS6. Although I will admit that when I read iOS 6, that it processed in my head as iPhone 5. It seems I mistakenly assumed that Apple was pulling another Siri and artificially limiting an application to their newest phone. The article still reads as fanboyism for the other reasons...
Mapping is not iOS6. Although I will admit that when I read iOS 6, that it processed in my head as iPhone 5. It seems I mistakenly assumed that Apple was pulling another Siri and artificially limiting an application to their newest phone. The article still reads as fanboyism for the other reasons.
I am not a gun owner, and my problem with it isn't that they infringe on rights so much as that the laws concerning locking up guns is specifically designed to remove their benefit. The laws are bad because they don't improve the situation. They make it worse by creating a situation that removes the benefits of the gun, does not remove access to the guns in any meaningful way, but instead convinces people that they don't need to teach their children that tools can kill.
That is the sad thing. Responsible people are having to create incontinence, and sometimes even danger for themselves and families because so many other people are irresponsible and won't educate their children. Then our legal system tells the negligent parent that they didn't do anything wrong.
The problem with that argument is that it shows extreme bias. Roll the dice a million times, and kids will try to go joy riding in their parents cars too, yet the car is not held to the same standard as guns. We tell our 8 year old kids "Don't drive the car." and accept that that is good enough. Somehow the same doesn't apply to guns. Unfortunately, instead of teaching kids what guns do, we teach them that they are magic devices that either kill on their own, or when shot by a human don't kill at all.
Public schools did not follow wealth, it was an important aspect of colonial life in most places. It was often one of the first things established in new towns.
When they had the wealth to do so.
Public schools give kds more opportunity then they will ever get being home schooled.
Of course this is an unsubstantiated myth.
These are the people they will have to deal with for the rest of their lives, why shelter them from the truth.
When was the last time you were in a room with thirty people exactly the same age as you and that you had no choice in associating with? Me? It was my last day of public school. My guess is that it is the same for you. How many people from your public school do you deal with on any regular basis? For me it is 1, and 2 or three more that I deal with every few years. These are not the people your kids will have to deal with for the rest of their lives.
Every parent should be adding to what their kids get in a public school, it should be a base, not the sum of their education.
Except that isn't how public education works. If a parent is taking on the role of educating their child, their child will far outpace the public school. Thus the only thing left for the public school to offer is a belief system. Using the public school as the 'base' of your child's education is setting the bar extremely low.
Pawning their "home schooling" off on siblings or babysitters is the biggest cop out I have ever heard.
You do realize that this is done in public schools all the time, right? Having a student tutor another student is a learning process in itself. You know those oral reports you did in school? The ones where you instructed other students on a subject? Those were not a bad thing. The familial relationship should have no bearing on your opinion of that subject. If your implying that homeschool entails parents dumping their children off on their siblings even a majority of the time, you are horribly confused. As for dumping the kids and responsibility off on a babysitter, that is the very premise of modern public school. Every single time you hear someone say that they "Can't afford to homeschool", that is an open admission that they are using the public school system as a babysitter and dumping their kids education off on the free babysitter. With that complaint you are projecting your disdain for public school onto those that don't do what you hate.
Providing them self study opportunity is great, but not as a replacement for schooling.
Sure. I agree, and there is a small subset of homeschoolers that basically rely on self study as the primary method. They are a very small subset, and the sad thing is that their kids tend to be at least as well educated as those that attend public school. Group faux study is also not a replacement for schooling either.
The problem with sanitation is that it isn't a matter of 'Teaching' them to be clean. You can teach people all you want, but when you pack 8 million people into New York City and don't have sanitation services, you have a problem that can't be educated away. That is just with garbage collection. If you look at things like sewage and water sanitation, the issue is dramatically worse. No matter how educated the population is, you simply cannot get 8 million people to personally deliver their chamber pots to a central location. Unless you are talking about rural areas, it is simply not a matter of education. Wells need to be a certain distance from septic. If they are not, disease becomes a problem.
Kind of like the twist of that parable. Give a man a fire and he will be warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.
I will give me regular disclaimer on these kinds of discussions.... I am not against public education. As it is currently structure, it is a crappy money sinking resource, but it is a resource. What I am against is that it is held up on a pedestal over far more important resources, and it is considered a sacred cow that cannot be criticized. When people choose to use better resources, they are attacked and derided.
Cop Recoreder is also an Android App.
To be fair, you won't find a DE on any OS that doesn't have issues. The question isn't whether an OS/DE has issues. The question is whether the little nits you find are real deal killers for you as an individual, or whether they are excuses to remain in your tribe.
This article reeks of fanboyism. Why would we think that Google didn't start working on 3D maps until Apple announced it? Why isn't this pointing out that Apple is crapping on their customers by trying to sell them a new phone just to run software that should run just fine on the iPhone 1? And why would they think that Google only now found out about Apple's mapping plans? Apple said they were working on maps when we found out that Apple tracks users. They said that the reason they would continue to track users was to collect data for creating mapping software.
And yet you offer nothing of value to the conversation...
So, you use multi-touch. The first point is hover. The second touch if to the left is a left click. If it is to the right it is a right click. Touch also has brand new intent options like pinch. The problem with touch on the computer isn't that you lose intent options. It isn't that your arm needs to be extended for long periods of time, or that you have to make wide sweeping motions. The problem is that a touch screen is not a replacement for a mouse or keyboard. It is a third input option. It is a third input option that has been sorely missing. Think about when flat panels first came out, were outrageously expensive, and the oil from fingers would stain the screen. It was a constant chore to keep an eye on anyone coming near your screen because they would constantly reach up and try to touch the elements on the screen.
While it is possible to replace a keyboard or mouse with a touchscreen, just as it is possible to replace a keyboard with a mouse or a mouse with a keyboard. It doesn't mean it makes sense.
Interestingly enough, 'Unschoolers' people that think kids will just pick up what they want and need to know have just as high of litaracy as those in the public school system. I will grant that they tend to learn to read a bit later. They usually seem to learn to read between 8 and 10, but they do learn to read. One piece that generally gets missed when comparing low literacy rate countries with the US is that in the US, the path of least resistance is to learn to read. Just driving around, kids are going to see a giant 'M' and that 'M' is going to stand for "McDonalds". They will see a giant 'KFC' and that giant 'KFC' will stand for 'Kentucky Fried Chicken'. They will see signs with the letters 'S', 'T', 'O', 'P' on them, and it will be discussed with them that the sign is a 'STOP' sign. In low literacy rate countries, reading is not expected, so written words are not everywhere. In the US, children are bombarded with the written word all day every day. Children simply cannot escape the written word in the US. There is so much writing that not only do we have it everywhere we look, it is even ubiquitous in the places we don't look. Knock a whole in your walls, and you will find writing all over the inside of the walls. Smash open your television set and there will be writing all over the inside of that too.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. That doesn't mean you should take away the water and leave him in a desert.
Since this is a discussion of which is more important sanitation or education, I will point out that leading a horse to a poison well is as bad or worse than leaving him in a desert.
Have you seen how many children are growing up with both parents working, or a single parent? How can these people home school?
The same way all of the other home schooling families where both parents work, or they are a single parent. There are lots of ways this gets done. For younger kids, there are family or friends that babysit during the day (just like what is done for kids not old enough for public school) and schooling in the evenings and weekends. For older kids, they can watch themselves during the day. School work can be done during the day by responsible kids, and can still be done in the evening and weekends. In grade school, it only takes an hour or two to vastly outpace what can be taught in a full public school day. For middle and high school, it only takes an hour or two of instruction, and the rest of the time is (just like public school) self study.
Don't construe the statement that "Most" parents could homeschool with "All" parents can homeschool. I am fully aware that sometimes it just cannot be done. Most of the time, when people say they "Can't" homeschool, what they really mean is that other things are more important. How many people do you really know that require both parents to work? I am not asking about how many require both parents to work to keep their current standard of living. I asking how many actually would be on the street, unable to eat or rent an apartment if they both didn't work. Honestly, in a many two earner households, one of the spouses is paying to work. Between extra work clothes, child care (which goes down a lot when the free public school child care kicks in), car expenses, lunches out, etc., etc, etc. many people would find that there is little to no income from one of their salaries.
My wife is a stay at home mom and we choose to send our children to an excellent public school even though the rent in our area is high compared to nearby areas with worse schools. We volunteer in the schools and know our children's teachers and schoolmates. We are greeted by name when we step into the office.
None of this has anything to do with quality of public schooling, or in any way compares it to private school. Volunteering at the school, being greeted by name and knowing your children's teachers and schoolmates is a given with homeschooling. It is the exception at public schools. Even then, things like being greeted by name does not imply quality education. My local Safeway greets me by name. That doesn't mean I would want to use it as his primary source of education.
Public schooling has given us the standard of living we take for granted and it gives opportunity to children across the US.
This is a myth. Public schooling followed wealth. It didn't lead it.
The only reason public schools measure up poorly against private and charter schools is they are required to take all comers. They often end up pouring resources into high needs students. These can be disabled students, or just disruptive students. I have myself seen teachers forced to dedicate a substantial amount of time to a handful of students whose parents have lax discipline. I don't begrudge the disabled, but I do begrudge the unruly.
That is an argument for not sending your kid to public school if they have potential. It is an explanation for one of the reasons homeschooled kids generally get a better education. Pointing out a failing doesn't mean it isn't a failing.
In theory public school should be cheap and more effective than homeschooling. In practice, it is more expensive and less effective. There are a lot of reasons that public school is failing. Plugging our ears and repeating "Public school is good...Public school is good..." isn't going to fix it.
You declaring "Self Selection" in no way makes me stupid. You probably don't get the irony in you thinking it does.
The bolt over solution can certainly be removed. The solution doesn't have to be irremovable. It just needs to break when removed. We see a similar solution with PG&E power meters. Anyone can snip the wire that locks the meter. It just leaves evidence that it has been tampered with. You were not under the notion that the locks ever had a chance of keeping someone out of the room if they didn't care about it showing you broke in did you?
It might take just as long to replace the lock, but, while I have not priced those locks specifically, I think it is safe to assume they are more expensive than the cost of a home unit. Thus you are looking at hardware cost difference for a 300 room hotel of somewhere around $100k (or more) vs $1k. Sure some might take your solution, but I have stayed in enough hotels to know that "doing a functional job" is chosen over "doing it right" very frequently.
Your comment is one of misdirection. If we are using the fact that they are in the top half of earners per YEAR, they still have an extream amount of vacation time. Also, they get lots of days off through the year. Plus, needing two weeks before the students show up, and two weeks after they are gone does not speak well for their capabilities as teachers.
What planet do you live on that public schools are not an indoctrination. What do you think "socialization" means when people say it is a reason kids should be sent to public school? In fact, it is all but impossible for a child to grow up in any environment where they have contact with other humans and not get an "indoctrination". Unless of course, you want to use the term "indoctrination" to mean "political or religious views different than my own".