Problems:

1. Schools spend too much time on touchy-feely things and no enough on reading, writing and math. Our kids can not read and write the way they should, but they have self-esteem so they don't get upset about it.
   
2. We don't use competition anymore because that means one kid is a winner and one is a loser.
   
3. "Group work" the wave of new education.
   
4. Weapons in school.
   
5. Kids no longer think that they can settle a fight with fists or even talking it out. Instead they use knives, guns and a "gang up" attitude. This is where one kid gets in a fight with another kid. Since the instigator is unable to fight a fair fight, he brings a lot of friends and they gang-up on the other kid.
   
6. Parents don't show the interest in school that they should.
   
7. Discipline is not one of the stronger suits in the classroom anymore.
   

Soulutions:
Teaching kids how to read, write and do math should be our number one goal. We should teach them how to get things done on time and how to work independently. They should also learn how to work in groups. Physical education is a good place for group or team work. There are other places where team work is good. Capitalism is based on competition. America is based on capitalism. Kids need to learn how to compete so they can realize the American Dream. They need to understand that even if you lose, that you are in America and you have many different opportunities to win. When a student can read and write coming out of high school they are more able to compete with other students from other states and other countries.
Teaching computers is also a very important part of school today. Every kid should graduate being able to turn on a computer and be able to use a Word Processor and a Spread Sheet program, as well as drawing programs, and most importantly the internet and E-mail. E-mail is the way of communication now and in the future. The World Wide Web has many resources that students can access to get the most up to date information, news and even sports stories and scores.

Means of getting there:
Reading should be taught at early ages then as students progress to high school they should read stories. These stories can be from History text books, Economics, and classic novels. This will teach kid history and economics as well as getting them to read classic books. Math should not be just the boring adding subtracting and multiplication, we should focus on application of math skills so students can see where it is useful. For instance in the teacher can present students with a problem. This problem will have many different math applications in the problem. Each student will get their own problem so they can't copy each other. After the students work out the problem they can use the results to construct a product. One problem would work as follows:
"A customer comes to you in your lumber store and wants you to build a carport for them. He gives you the measurements of the area that it will be in. They are: 24ft long, 17ft wide and it needs to be at least 14 1/2ft high, but no more than 15ft high, the door needs to be 12ft wide and 12ft high. Figure out the dimensions of the garage, how much wood will be needed, approx. price, and draw it out on paper."
The student can call a local store to get lumber prices. He can get on the Internet and check out the WWW or he can send E-mail to someone who could help him figure out how much wood is needed to build the structure. When he is done with the calculations the student can draft a proposal in a word processor, show the figures in a spread sheet and draw the final plans in drawing program. This shows the student how important math is in the work place.
I think that spelling tests in High School are good. Even though they may seem silly, it is good for the school to make sure students learn how to spell all those words that trip up many adults today.