Article 2

I really like the fact that they have all public schools. There's no private schools and universities are free as well. I wish we had that. I think it's ridiculous that we have to pay to have a higher level education. We want to learn more and become well rounded pepople and we are punished for that? It's unfair that some people go to a place like OTC instead of a state college because they can't afford it. Or when they don't go at all because of the cost. Who really wants to be thousands in debt by the age of 23? No one. If we had a public university system, it would make things so much easier on the college bound students. I also think their decision to not use standardized testing is better too. Standardized tests are unfair to some students. Some aren't quick test takers. Those tests are all timed, and I know for myself the clock makes me panic and unable to concentrate. With things like the ACT, you're supposed to take it the end of sophomore year and beginning of junior year. Some juniors and sophomores haven't even seen some of the stuff that's on the ACT. How this makes sense, I will never know. I thought this quote was really interesting. "In the Finnish view, as Sahlberg describes it, this means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. This starts with the basics. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance." And after that it goes on to talk about how Finland was suprised on how highly they scored on the PISA survey. I think it had a lot to do with how Sahlberg tries to make the best environment for the schools. I think if we followed along with some of the things he does for their schools, we would be in just as good shape. Obviously something isn't working over here. It's definitely time for a change. They were in need of a new reform and they did it. Look where they are now.