(POL) French President
 

Is it just me, or has the new French President really pushing France further down the river?

The big stories are:

The proposed increased taxes on businesses (which France is not exactly entrepreneur and business-friendly as it is), but the 75% proposed tax on the highest earners. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226499727568

He wants to ban homework, because it favors the wealthy and good parenting.

French President Proposes Banning Homework - ABC News

I don't know enough about the French education system to be for or against, but it's much more than a ban on homework.

They do, however, excel at defying UN sanctions on Iraq and buying oil from the Saddam Hussein regime, sending nuclear centrifuges to Iran and Iraq. They've pretty much all but quit being useful to the rest of the world, I see no reason for them to stop now.

Some of the different ideas about school days are kind of interesting but this angle is just scary:

"Homework favors the wealthy, Hollande argues, because they are more likely to have a good working environment at home, including parents with the time and energy to help them with their work."

I imagine one could come up with all kinds of other fun ways to isolate out good parenting in the interest of general fairness.

Chavez the European

I always forget how right-leaning this board is until these kinds of things come up.

The law of unintended consequences. Good parents with the time and energy to help them with their work are going to go over their child's school day with them and make sure they study every night if homework is not allowed to be assigned. The kids that need the extra work, but won't get it from their parents, are the ones that will be hurt by this.

Well, then they just have to make it illegal for parents to go over their kid's school day, in the interest of fairness.

Research suggests that homework doesn't lead to improved academic achievement. Why he wants to ban it is silly, but it's unlikely it will matter to rich or poor kids.

I saw that French movie The Class, none of those kids would do any of the assigned homework anyway. Except the one kid the teacher did reach and inspire to do a photographic biography. Though I think that included photos from his homelife, which apparently would be illegal in modern France if the president gets his way.

That first line is way to broad to say

No, the research does suggest that. It doesn't prove it, but that's the direction the research is pointing.

edit: I should clarify. I'm not trying to say it's proven that homework has no benefit, but there's plenty of research that suggests that. It's still an open question, but I, personally, wouldn't freak out if my daughter's school stopped assigning homework. If the school day was as long as the proposed day in France, I could see a strong argument for allowing the short free time to be free of academic work.

I wouldn't say that it doesn't lead to improved academic achievement. It sounds like it's a bit of mixed report.

Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? | Duke Today

http://www.centerforpubliceducation....ch-review.html

Research Shows Homework Does Boost Academic Achievement; But Overemphasizing Grades And Performance May Lead To Cheating

(Second one is from 1998, so if that is dated for you, then please excuse that report).