Why I’ll always support open and cheap public education

I was talking with my dad last night and I learned a little bit more about my past. He told me about his childhood. He grew up in Brooklyn and lived in the projects there (subsidized housing for families who don’t make much money). His dad ran a lathe machine at Westinghouse. Worked nights. Dropped out of school at the eighth grade. Hated his job, but knew he was lucky to even have a job. My dad was the first one to go to college in our family. Why did he go? Because there was a community college that accepted him and was free. He went on to get a PHD from Rutgers, and get a job at Ampex in Redwood City (which is why he moved us out from New Jersey to Silicon Valley). Everytime I drive past the Ampex sign along 101 (which I’ll do in a few minutes when I drive Patrick to his house in Petaluma) I thank whoever hired him at Ampex. It’s why I’m here today. Oh, that and that free community college in New Jersey that took in my dad.

I was thinking about that when I read Dave Winer’s writings today about open meetings. I love the user group attitude that open meetings have. I love the openess. It lets everyone participate no matter what their skin color, no matter what their gender, no matter what their social status is (at Friday’s party I saw geeks who are struggling to get some server money together hanging out with geeks who had millions to their names). Say what you want about all the hype, all the hubris, but hype and hubris don’t stick around until 4 a.m. just for the sheer joy of writing and sharing and coming up with something new.

Does this stuff matter to society? Does it matter to families? Does it matter to you? Yes. Sharing knowledge with others helps us all out. It bootstraps people out of poverty and into more interesting lives. My only disappointment is that we can’t get more people who are unlike us to attend.

Another meeting is on Monday night. Nothing important will happen there. Just the future. Who will build it?

Thanks to those people who believed that public education was important for society. Thanks to those people who thought that poor people needed a hand up. Now it’s time for me to give back.

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57 thoughts on “Why I’ll always support open and cheap public education

  1. “Thanks to those people who believed that public education was important for society.”

    Nicely said. It’s not about ‘charity’ – everyone benefits from the education of others 🙂

    Like

  2. “Thanks to those people who believed that public education was important for society.”

    Nicely said. It’s not about ‘charity’ – everyone benefits from the education of others 🙂

    Like

  3. Does this stuff matter to society? Does it matter to families? Does it matter to you? Yes. Sharing knowledge with others helps us all out.

    Scoble Disclaimer: this does not apply to open source!

    Like

  4. Does this stuff matter to society? Does it matter to families? Does it matter to you? Yes. Sharing knowledge with others helps us all out.

    Scoble Disclaimer: this does not apply to open source!

    Like

  5. The same folks who scream about the founding fathers and their intent on some issues overlook their desire for public education. Simple reason really, it costs money that has to be brought in through taxes and quite frankly there will never be enough to go around and create an equal baseline for all. It’s easier to send their own kids to private schools than it is to solve those issues.

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  6. The same folks who scream about the founding fathers and their intent on some issues overlook their desire for public education. Simple reason really, it costs money that has to be brought in through taxes and quite frankly there will never be enough to go around and create an equal baseline for all. It’s easier to send their own kids to private schools than it is to solve those issues.

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  7. Ron: actually we have quite a few projects in open source too (and I wholeheartedly support having more). And, remember how Microsoft got to be much bigger than Apple? We had (and have) a more open developer program.

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  8. Ron: actually we have quite a few projects in open source too (and I wholeheartedly support having more). And, remember how Microsoft got to be much bigger than Apple? We had (and have) a more open developer program.

    Like

  9. Broadband over powerlines, Fiber to the curb, we need to have a stable medium to deliver information first before we can start offering it for free. Some poor famillies aren’t going to spend so much money on DSL or cable modems when they barely have enough to eat.

    I mean greanted we do have 150 dollar computers now, but decent internet is still 50 dollars a month in most places. We need to have a high speed low price infrastructre in place, then we can let the information travel freely!

    Like

  10. Broadband over powerlines, Fiber to the curb, we need to have a stable medium to deliver information first before we can start offering it for free. Some poor famillies aren’t going to spend so much money on DSL or cable modems when they barely have enough to eat.

    I mean greanted we do have 150 dollar computers now, but decent internet is still 50 dollars a month in most places. We need to have a high speed low price infrastructre in place, then we can let the information travel freely!

    Like

  11. “open developer program”?

    What does that mean?

    Does it compare to any open source license at all?

    Is this a mechanism were companies (even competitors of MS) can introduce API specs, reference implementations and an open review process that everybody can participate in?

    I hope it doesn’t mean developers “blogging about stuff”. That’s not enough at all.

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  12. “open developer program”?

    What does that mean?

    Does it compare to any open source license at all?

    Is this a mechanism were companies (even competitors of MS) can introduce API specs, reference implementations and an open review process that everybody can participate in?

    I hope it doesn’t mean developers “blogging about stuff”. That’s not enough at all.

    Like

  13. Why PUBLIC education? Why not just open and cheap education? Why does it have to be government run education? My Dad and his brother got their first degrees because a private college accepted them and the GI Bill money that paid their way. Yes everyone should have an education and people like my Dad and your Dad should have lots of help getting it. But suggesting that PUBLIC schools (i.e. government owned schools) is the only or even the best way to do it is short sighted and too limiting. Public schools are needed and I support them. But in my heart I support EDUCATION and not just PUBLIC education. Government should be involved in schools only to the minimum extent required to make sure everyone gets an education.

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  14. Why PUBLIC education? Why not just open and cheap education? Why does it have to be government run education? My Dad and his brother got their first degrees because a private college accepted them and the GI Bill money that paid their way. Yes everyone should have an education and people like my Dad and your Dad should have lots of help getting it. But suggesting that PUBLIC schools (i.e. government owned schools) is the only or even the best way to do it is short sighted and too limiting. Public schools are needed and I support them. But in my heart I support EDUCATION and not just PUBLIC education. Government should be involved in schools only to the minimum extent required to make sure everyone gets an education.

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  15. Open and cheap education???
    As a nation, we spend twice as much as the nation with the most educated children (Japan), and we (the USA) finish 16th. Thanks government monopoly union schools.
    College is a complete and total ripoff; from the tuition, the books and the dorms.
    The reason is the ‘free’ students who get it paid thru the taxpayers, who don’t know these kids and never get a thank you either.
    Cut all government college assistance and watch prices fall by 1/2.
    Nothing is free. If you people had a non-government education, you would know this.

    Like

  16. Open and cheap education???
    As a nation, we spend twice as much as the nation with the most educated children (Japan), and we (the USA) finish 16th. Thanks government monopoly union schools.
    College is a complete and total ripoff; from the tuition, the books and the dorms.
    The reason is the ‘free’ students who get it paid thru the taxpayers, who don’t know these kids and never get a thank you either.
    Cut all government college assistance and watch prices fall by 1/2.
    Nothing is free. If you people had a non-government education, you would know this.

    Like

  17. It always amazes me when an employee of Microsoft embraces our failed public education system and then cries about the immigration caps while they are “forced” to hire immigrants because they can not find enough “qualified” people here in the USA.

    Take another hit from the Socialist peace pipe.

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  18. It always amazes me when an employee of Microsoft embraces our failed public education system and then cries about the immigration caps while they are “forced” to hire immigrants because they can not find enough “qualified” people here in the USA.

    Take another hit from the Socialist peace pipe.

    Like

  19. Robert, I agree with you in principle. I would also agree that we need to do much more to help keep college costs down and provide college grants and loans. The federal government has done cut these programs quite a bit. The idiots here in Texas deregulated college tuition and were shocked that rates climbed 33% the next year. I don’t think higher education should be free, but it should be much more accessable than it is now. (Note: by todays standards your dad would have qualified for grants.)

    Public education is another story. We do a really good job on elementary school, but our High Schools are totally broken (as well as middle schools.) I agree with your Boss, high schools are out of date and are ruining peoples lives – students, teachers, parents. I hope some brave and creative people can work to change that. As for myself I use to teach (high school chemistry) but I had to ‘take the red pill’.

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  20. Robert, I agree with you in principle. I would also agree that we need to do much more to help keep college costs down and provide college grants and loans. The federal government has done cut these programs quite a bit. The idiots here in Texas deregulated college tuition and were shocked that rates climbed 33% the next year. I don’t think higher education should be free, but it should be much more accessable than it is now. (Note: by todays standards your dad would have qualified for grants.)

    Public education is another story. We do a really good job on elementary school, but our High Schools are totally broken (as well as middle schools.) I agree with your Boss, high schools are out of date and are ruining peoples lives – students, teachers, parents. I hope some brave and creative people can work to change that. As for myself I use to teach (high school chemistry) but I had to ‘take the red pill’.

    Like

  21. “I love the openess. It lets everyone participate no matter what their skin color, no matter what their gender, no matter what their social status is”

    Too bad it matters what operating system they choose. Meetings may be open — if only operating systems were so lucky.

    Oh wait…

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  22. “I love the openess. It lets everyone participate no matter what their skin color, no matter what their gender, no matter what their social status is”

    Too bad it matters what operating system they choose. Meetings may be open — if only operating systems were so lucky.

    Oh wait…

    Like

  23. Guess what, in France, the best schools are all public (left aside marketing schools of course) and free! And we have DSL2 access for 30 euros a month with a free phone line too. Guns are prohibited and the food is great. We do pay a lot of taxes thought, but that’s still quite a nice country to live in…

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  24. Guess what, in France, the best schools are all public (left aside marketing schools of course) and free! And we have DSL2 access for 30 euros a month with a free phone line too. Guns are prohibited and the food is great. We do pay a lot of taxes thought, but that’s still quite a nice country to live in…

    Like

  25. Do they teach you how to surrender too? France has perfected that art.
    No 2nd amendment explains that.
    Why teach the French – they never learn.
    “Free education and phones – but you pay alot of taxes.” What an uneducated statement that is.
    Free to you – not to the taxpayer.

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  26. Do they teach you how to surrender too? France has perfected that art.
    No 2nd amendment explains that.
    Why teach the French – they never learn.
    “Free education and phones – but you pay alot of taxes.” What an uneducated statement that is.
    Free to you – not to the taxpayer.

    Like

  27. “He grew up in Brooklyn and lived in the projects there (subsidized housing for families who don’t make much money).”

    How considerate of you, Scoble, to explain a term which is generally unknown outside the US. This is reflective of the sentiment expressed in the post itself and goes a long way to making those of us who are citizen’s of the rest of the world feel we’re welcome to the party too. Invitation or no invitation, as Dave Winer would say.

    Thanks!

    Like

  28. “He grew up in Brooklyn and lived in the projects there (subsidized housing for families who don’t make much money).”

    How considerate of you, Scoble, to explain a term which is generally unknown outside the US. This is reflective of the sentiment expressed in the post itself and goes a long way to making those of us who are citizen’s of the rest of the world feel we’re welcome to the party too. Invitation or no invitation, as Dave Winer would say.

    Thanks!

    Like

  29. Hank,

    “ceddup” comes on and conveys something about his country which he is obviously proud of and the first thing that you do is insult him. Really mature.

    >“Free education and phones –
    >but you pay alot of taxes.”
    >What an uneducated statement that is.
    >Free to you – not to the taxpayer.

    He probably is a tax payer, but even if he’s not, the point is that a good public education system (like a good healthcare system) benefits everybody and is good for society.

    Note that I say a GOOD public education system. Too many are neglected around the world. This doesn’t mean that the system is flawed, but the politicians and bureaucrats don’t consider the future past their own terms in office.

    Like

  30. Hank,

    “ceddup” comes on and conveys something about his country which he is obviously proud of and the first thing that you do is insult him. Really mature.

    >“Free education and phones –
    >but you pay alot of taxes.”
    >What an uneducated statement that is.
    >Free to you – not to the taxpayer.

    He probably is a tax payer, but even if he’s not, the point is that a good public education system (like a good healthcare system) benefits everybody and is good for society.

    Note that I say a GOOD public education system. Too many are neglected around the world. This doesn’t mean that the system is flawed, but the politicians and bureaucrats don’t consider the future past their own terms in office.

    Like

  31. Also, as suggested by the following article, released by the Associated Press in 2003, while the United States does spend more than any other country on both private and public education, its students aren’t doing as well as some of the lesser spending countries. This is inspite of the massive investment in education, not because of it.

    “The countries that spend more tend to be the countries that do better. But … it’s not a perfect relationship,” said Barry McGaw, the organization’s education director. “There are countries which don’t get the bang for the bucks. And the U.S. is one of them.”

    http://thebluesite.com/ustopseducationspend.htm

    Like

  32. Also, as suggested by the following article, released by the Associated Press in 2003, while the United States does spend more than any other country on both private and public education, its students aren’t doing as well as some of the lesser spending countries. This is inspite of the massive investment in education, not because of it.

    “The countries that spend more tend to be the countries that do better. But … it’s not a perfect relationship,” said Barry McGaw, the organization’s education director. “There are countries which don’t get the bang for the bucks. And the U.S. is one of them.”

    http://thebluesite.com/ustopseducationspend.htm

    Like

  33. Yes, I’ve been paying a lot of taxes since I left school. I wish I payed more thought 😉
    Just kidding. I apologize for the chauvinist post. I also know that my english sucks: I probably don’t even get how mean your comment was.
    I’d just like you to know that I really respect the US and the values it’s built on.

    Like

  34. Yes, I’ve been paying a lot of taxes since I left school. I wish I payed more thought 😉
    Just kidding. I apologize for the chauvinist post. I also know that my english sucks: I probably don’t even get how mean your comment was.
    I’d just like you to know that I really respect the US and the values it’s built on.

    Like

  35. Pretty Amazing how much Ca$h the US college system extracts from parents that are cajoled into getting their kids into school. When I was in college, one of my professors decried the poor quality of kids coming out of the High Schools, and promptly quit to write a book about Gore Vidal. There are a few good schools ou there, and a lot of great students, too bad the Liberal bias in colleges is destroying our work ethic. Imagine a 7% radical minority teaching almost 95% of the College classes. disgusting.
    Why go to college at all when you have MSN, Google and all these resources? Scoble open up a free online University, like MIT is attempting. see how fast the corporate raptors settle on your carcass.

    Like

  36. Pretty Amazing how much Ca$h the US college system extracts from parents that are cajoled into getting their kids into school. When I was in college, one of my professors decried the poor quality of kids coming out of the High Schools, and promptly quit to write a book about Gore Vidal. There are a few good schools ou there, and a lot of great students, too bad the Liberal bias in colleges is destroying our work ethic. Imagine a 7% radical minority teaching almost 95% of the College classes. disgusting.
    Why go to college at all when you have MSN, Google and all these resources? Scoble open up a free online University, like MIT is attempting. see how fast the corporate raptors settle on your carcass.

    Like

  37. I am a BIG fan of public education. Will send my kids to it. It was my mom and 4 kids, so public school was the only way to go. Look where my hometown public school go me…Syracuse University. One of the top IT schools (first IT school in the nation) and one of the top communications school (Newhouse). I dont think Public education gave me a bad future.

    Like

  38. I am a BIG fan of public education. Will send my kids to it. It was my mom and 4 kids, so public school was the only way to go. Look where my hometown public school go me…Syracuse University. One of the top IT schools (first IT school in the nation) and one of the top communications school (Newhouse). I dont think Public education gave me a bad future.

    Like

  39. It doesn’t matter what public education we offer when parents don’t make their children go, most teachers don’t make the students learn (or are powerless to discipline them) and most young adults drink their way through college. Yes, Japan has an effective educational system, and is also one of the most disciplined societies in terms of conformity and high expectations. They are also almost completely homogenous – not something we want to imitate, I believe.

    Lastly, it doesn’t matter that education is free in France, when the point of education is employment, which is about 11% in that country, which is unacceptable and inequitable for all the French working stiffs and stockholders. Yes, education should prepare citizens to follow the law and vote intelligently, but then I return you to the parenting issues we have.

    Like

  40. It doesn’t matter what public education we offer when parents don’t make their children go, most teachers don’t make the students learn (or are powerless to discipline them) and most young adults drink their way through college. Yes, Japan has an effective educational system, and is also one of the most disciplined societies in terms of conformity and high expectations. They are also almost completely homogenous – not something we want to imitate, I believe.

    Lastly, it doesn’t matter that education is free in France, when the point of education is employment, which is about 11% in that country, which is unacceptable and inequitable for all the French working stiffs and stockholders. Yes, education should prepare citizens to follow the law and vote intelligently, but then I return you to the parenting issues we have.

    Like

  41. My view on school is that if you dont want to be there, it really isnt the teachers job to make you work. You would feel the consequences.

    Please do not take my comments as saying anyone with a learning disability should be left out…no not at all. But, I was in a public school and I can see SOOO many kids that just dont do work, they didn’t care.

    ALso, although I don’t drink, I do see MANY people getting drunk almost every saturday night.

    Like

  42. My view on school is that if you dont want to be there, it really isnt the teachers job to make you work. You would feel the consequences.

    Please do not take my comments as saying anyone with a learning disability should be left out…no not at all. But, I was in a public school and I can see SOOO many kids that just dont do work, they didn’t care.

    ALso, although I don’t drink, I do see MANY people getting drunk almost every saturday night.

    Like

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