Something crucial

Time to point out something crucial. That is, how poorly funded public education, versus, for example, the military-prison-industrial complex has been for generations. I have in the past posted extensively along those lines. It's surely not my intention to point any fingers at public school teachers - most of them, it seems to me, do the very best they can in an unenviable environment. I had some very excellent educators, especially in middle and high school. I complement them every time I see them around town or elsewhere, including one I saw last month for the first time in two decades. If my memory serves me right, the US spends less than $200 billion annually on public K-12 education programs and infrastructure, whereas the Pentagon receives well in excess of a trillion dollars per year. One thing about our educational philosophy I object to though, is the system of "Normative Education," meaning everyone must be "so good" at every subject. For me, trying to comprehend Pre-college Algebra, to say nothing of Calculus, was simply a waste of time and effort. I believe I should have been free to concentrate on what I'm really good at - English, Spanish, French, German, History, Political "Science," Sociology (as much of a bunch of gobbledy-gook as the latter is) and all those other "Liberal Arts" type subjects.