How Will We Make Great Minds Comes Alive?

Why is it that many of the greatest men in history, especially the ones who make great advances in science, are many times school drop-outs? Is it due to the fact that most public schools try to fit every student into the same mold by requiring them to learn the same things at basically the same rate? It is difficult to blame schools for that, since the effort and time that it would take for one teacher to teach each of thirty or so students individually would be almost unthinkable, but is there a better way?

Einstein was one of the greatest minds to live in the twentieth century. He made many discoveries concerning mathematics and physics, and introduced many worthwhile theories to the field. However, he was not the product of a well-run school system, but was instead a school drop-out. Reuter's has an article on him that explains that:

He [Einstein] did so badly at school his teachers told his parents to take him out because he was "too stupid to learn" and it would be a waste of resources to invest time and energy in his education. The school suggested that his parents get him an easy, manual labor job as soon as they could.

This news shocks most of us, since we have always heard of him described as being a great genius, and yet he was basically thrown out of school for being "too stupid to learn." Without being able to focus on a student as an individual with individual strengths and weaknesses, there may be many geniuses out there who are held back because they are not allowed to explore the areas that interest them and in which they are most gifted.

Thomas Edison was another of the great men in history and, when it comes to scientific achievements, there are few like him who have changed our lives as much as he has. As the Arizona Daily Wildcat reports:

Thomas Alva Edison made only one purely scientific discovery: the "Edison effect." It involves the flow of electricity across a vacuum. He patented the effect, but could think of no use for it and went on to other things. The Edison effect, however, turned out to be the basis of the whole electronics industry - radio, television and all.

Edison basically changed the way in which a large amount of the people all over the world live. We can now flip a switch to flood a room with light, turn on the television to be entertained or informed, listen to music, and even blog on the internet because of him. However, he was also as a boy taken out of public schools after only three months because he was not being taught in the way that suited him best. His teacher thought that he was stupid and that his brain was messed up and also became fed up with his incessant questions. Edison was removed from school and taught at home by his mother before going on to change the world with his inventions.

Is there a way to fix the public schools so that children can be trained and taught in such a way that they can reach their full potential? I personally do not believe that monetary funding is the problem. Some of the worst funded schools produce better results than those with large supplies of money. So then, what is the problem and how can it be corrected?