SCHOOLS
ARE UNDER ATTACK!
“One of the saddest
lessons of history is this: If we have
been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the
bamboozle. We are no longer interested
in finding the truth. The bamboozle has
captured us. It is simply too painful to
acknowledge – even to ourselves – that we have been so credulous (so the old
bamboozles tend to persist as the new bamboozles rise). Finding the occasional straw of truth awash
in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance
and courage.” -- Carl
Sagan
Below is what
we know about public education in the United States:
Some
of our schools are probably the best schools in the world (especially in our
more affluent areas in the State). Many
of our schools treat all children, even those with profound learning
disabilities, with the dignity and respect due citizens of a democracy. Many of these schools actually raise the IQ’s
of poor and culturally deprived students (something once thought to be
impossible), and their brightest students are among the best learners in the
world. If we look at the entire person
and not just school testing, the results are even better. Their suicide rate is low, our students are
accomplished independent thinkers, and they are infinitely better-rounded
people than their contemporaries from other countries. I can personally attest to this as I am
currently hosting a foreign exchange student.
Our young students are awesome problem-solvers and possess common sense
that is the envy of the world. They can
handle freedom and diversity and know a lot about numerous things. They can do a plethora of tasks that are not
always tested in school. Most kids
around the world want to be like our kids.
Unfortunately,
we do have problems with our education system.
It is not perfect by any means.
There are some real concerns. For
example, our curriculum is “a mile wide and in inch deep”. In fourth grade math, we try to teach more
than 40 objectives while the Japanese only teach the 25 most important
objectives. The rest of the world has a
curriculum that is set at the national level so that seventh and eighth grade
students must take algebra, geometry, chemistry and physics. Here, many students end up never taking these
more challenging courses. By eighth
grade, only a few U.S. students have had algebra and almost none have had
geometry, chemistry or physics. U.S.
high school students have no requirement to take all of these courses. Our kids can not learn what they are not taught.
Schools
are eager and willing to change this.
Today, over 45 states have taken it upon themselves, without the input
of the federal government, to attempt to address these issues through the
implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Schools and teachers want to teach essential
concepts at an earlier age and in greater depth.
Our
schools and students in the United States are both very good and very bad when
it comes to comparisons in international testing. So, what are the real issues with
education? Most say money and politics –
little else!
Willie
Sutton said he robbed banks because “that is where the money is.” Corporate America has 610.1 billion reasons
to tell everyone that our schools are failing.
Currently, the U.S. spends approximately 610 billion on education across
the country. Private schools, corporate
curriculum and after-hours learning centers already make big money, but getting
their hands on public education money would be finding the “goose that lays the
golden egg.”
Excerpt taken from Jim Dunn – Former NSPRA
President
