It is not a misstatement to say that education is the equalizer of humanity. If you teach a person the skills to master modern civilization, they stand a much better chance of becoming a contributing, responsible member of the species. All parents wish that their children might someday have a “better” life than they had, whatever their definition of better may be, and most embrace education as the vehicle to reach that goal. Our motivations for educating our youth are both self-serving and altruistic. We want an educated society because it is necessary for a productive, peaceful society, and we want our children to become educated, for their own improvement and for our own fulfillment. Whether you accept one view, the other, or both, the implication is clear: a society that does not educate its youth is destined to stagnancy while a society that values education will thrive and prosper. Obviously, America, along with most other nations of the world, places importance on the value of education for both reasons. At least, that’s what we claim.
But even as we proclaim unwavering support for the goal of education, our practical application of that goal is a mockery of itself. Many of our schools are overcrowded and dilapidating. Teachers unions resist change in curriculum or organization. Special interest groups demand services that degrade the entire systems ability to serve all students equally. State and federal regulations impose mandated achievement levels that measure little in the way of actual achievement. Parents are often apathetical and uninvolved in their children’s educational development. More money is thrown into school budgets that get eaten up by studies that show that graduation rates are increasing while class options are diminishing and extra-curricular programs disappear. The list of hypocrisies goes on and on, but the bottom line is this: when it comes to education, we are speaking out of both sides of our mouths.
At the heart of the issue is the importance we do or do not place on educating our children. If, as I assume, we truly believe that education is an important key to prosperity and peaceful existence, it is time we seriously revamp our education system. Everything from the schoolhouses to the curriculum to the administration must be given a fresh look. Everything…including our expectations and our definitions for what makes a successful education. We must put aside all of the politically correct nonsense to establish a truly efficient and effective educational program that would serve all the citizens of this country.
While everyone can be educated, everyone cannot be educated equally. Accepting this fact is essential to any meaningful education reform. What this means is simply that all people are not equal with regards to mental capacity, intelligence, or practical ability. While some individuals can easily master the concepts of higher mathematics and science, others may excel at artistic endeavors or mechanical tasks. Some will learn quickly while others may not be capable of learning much beyond basic personal skills. Yet in our current climate of promoting self-esteem above actual achievement, we have allowed our schools to neglect this important fact of education. This attitude must be changed if we are ever going to progress beyond what is aptly described as either a babysitting service or a diploma mill. Yes, it’s important for people to have a good self-image, but derailing the entire education system to achieve those means is shortsighted behavior. Self-image should come from values instilled at home and not be tied to ones ability to conquer chemistry or read Latin. Because education serves in part to prepare children for the inevitable day when they will become working, participating adults, more attention should be given to the fact that all jobs are valuable, with the benefit to a smooth society coming from the combined efforts of all.
In this light, equal education is not the goal, but rather equal access to education is what should be strived for. It would be far more efficient and successful to structure our education in such a way that individuals would at some point along the line be pointed in a direction most suited to their natural abilities than to maintain the charade of mental equality. During the early years of public education, students should be measured against their peers to determine what level of performance they might achieve. Once this has been achieved, students of similar learning abilities could be taught together according to their abilities. Success should be measured on the achievement of each student and their ability to master the skills of life and education to their full potential.
Still, even though all can’t achieve an equal level of knowledge through education, we must still strive to impart certain minimum knowledge levels for all students to master. These skills would necessarily include basic reading, writing, and math skills. Practical living skills like personal finance, personal communications, and personal responsibility should also be taught. And so should civic responsibility. These are the basic skills an adult must have for a chance at success in the modern world and should not be ignored in education. A general comprehension of U.S. and world history, a basic knowledge of scientific principals, and an appreciation of art could all be important for a more rounded education, and should be taught as well.
Because education is a public endeavor, it is only fitting that the costs of education be borne by us all. But simply paying the tax collector is not enough. It is our responsibility as citizens to ensure that the taxes collected are used to educate our children and not used to pad the pockets of administrators, consultants, builders, or political committees. The state of our public school buildings is enough to make one wonder where all the dollars are going, because it sure isn’t into maintenance. This too is a problem. While it is true that a willing person can learn as easily in a sandpit as in a lecture hall, the importance we place on education is apparent in the importance we place on our educational building, and the subliminal effects of rundown or overcrowded schools only tells our children that we are less interested in their education than we are in saving a buck. Such messages only serve to diminish the value of education among our youth so we must make a conscious decision to place a priority on safe, well-maintained schools. It is a curious society that spends more money creating lavish prison complexes than it does on schoolhouses.
As a society, we must recognize the need to reform our education system. As parents, we must recognize the need to reform our own ideas about public school. One of the biggest problems in our educational system is the growing distance of thought between teachers and administrators and parents. No longer are teachers looked up to as role models for our children. Instead, parents vilify a teacher who demands accountability from their students as being too hard or too opinionated. On the other hand, teachers view parents as little more than disinterested chauffeurs dropping the kids off for another day of babysitting and socializing. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle and their needs to be some common ground on which to meet. How about this? The task for teachers and parents is to craft an educational plan that meets all the capabilities of the student while defining the responsibilities that are expected of the student, the parent, and the teacher. Children may be like sponges when it comes to obtaining information, but they can also be like sponges in another way. If they are allowed to, they will lie around and do little or nothing to improve themselves, especially if someone comes along to wring them out once in a while. Parents and teachers must come together and form a united front in order for children to excel and master the skills that are expected of them.
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In order for our educational efforts to rise beyond the level of today, into a system where costs expended produce a qualified workforce and responsible citizenry, we must rededicate ourselves to the fundamental idea that of all the social services, the ability to provide an equitable education is among the most valuable in terms of sustaining society. We must refuse to continue the ways of power politics and instead focus on the real goal of teaching our children.
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 14th, 2005 at 3:56 am and is filed under Common Sense, education, Government, Reform, Social Programs, taxes.
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April 14th, 2005 at 5:16 pm
Fine post and many challenges, Ken. The nub of it is that the trouble with public education involves the whole of society.
Where steroid laden ball players are paid exhorbinent salarys to swing a bat or toss a ball, teachers can’t afford to live in the cities within which they serve. On the other hand, paying teachers more is not often on the docket for politicians, local, sate or federal because that usually involves an increase in taxation. It is mystifying why people are willing to pay more to keep prisoners and build new state of the art prisons, but can’t seem to muster a few bucks per student to improve the schools. It costs more than 30K a year to house and feed and keep a prisoner. Students, on the other hand are substantially cheeper – less than 10K. Schools, good ones, keep people out of prison. go figure.
On another front, when Sun Micro Systems put up their new, brand spanking campus up in East Palo Alto, the local middle school was litterally falling down around the kids, teachers, administrators and parents. We have to ask ourselves, why is it that corporate folks wouldn’t think of going into a building that they couldn’t see out of the windows (as they were designed), but are willing to have the local kids founder in the dimly lit, moldy rooms that are a sad exuse for shools. What we need is capitalism with a conscience. If it is good enough for Sun, then it is good enough for the school five blocks away from the palacial spread of a campus that capitalism built.
When I was teaching Mathematics in a high school in Connecticut, and I dared to fail some students, the parents would go over my head and see if they could fudge the numbers up so little jonny or sally could at least pass out of learning fractions. I had parents outright lie for their kids and I had kids who did so many drugs over the weekend that they fell asleep in my classroom. Who’s fault is that?
As you hit the nail on the head, the solution lies in the whole of the society. We need a bigger hammer, and we need everybody swinging. Unfortunately, the federal government is so distracted by politicing that we end up with poorly funded new programs (no child left behind) and underfunded programs that actually work (head start). That, my friend, is twisted. In the end, the kids suffer, and our society needs to figure out what to do with unproductive, poorly educated work force.
As you can tell, the argument is cyclical. Like the chicken and the egg questions, you have to start with one or the other, but it is best if we work on all the fronts by talking about educational reform not from the stance as a school problem, but one that is a burden on the whole of society.
Our schools are only as good as the communities within which they are embedded. If the community doesn’t care, change won’t happen. And, indeed it does.
April 14th, 2005 at 5:18 pm
P.S. Apologies,
My last sentance should read as follows:
…if the community doesn’t care, change won’t happen. And indeed it does need fixing.
April 14th, 2005 at 7:14 pm
Good post Ken,
From what my wife see, young kids barely out of diapers are today being pushed into daycare so their parents can go work and make as much as possible, then come pick them up and grab McDonald’s on the way home. This goes on everday. Infact near where I live, there is a Micky D’s right next to an upscale daycare center.
Kids are being taught by institutions from the get-go, and not by parents, so obedience is not included. This is also why kids today have such poor attitudes towards adults, including near zero respect. It is likely that someday this will come back to haunt the parents when their kids stick them in crummy nursing homes after retirement. As they say, what goes around…
Things were much better when I was growing up, when mom stayed home and kids could expect a good home cooked meal after homework, but alas those days may be gone forever.
I disagree with your assumption on crowded schools. At least in the blue state where I live, there are no bad schools outside the city, but there are too many of them, which sends taxes through the roof. I mean what are they going for, 10 students in a classroom or something? When I went to school in the 60’s and 70’s, there were 35-40 students in a classroom and it was not considered crowded.
In fact a brand new H.S. was built a few years ago with state of the art equipment costing like $100 million or some outrageous figure. And get this, there was just a new proposal for another high school that is to cost even more!
What these teachers unions are doing is trying to get as much money as they can for these buildings without any plan of action, cost or maintenance analysis, figuring they’ll just appropriate more tax money in new referendums whenever they want to. This has gotten to the point of no return where fiscal discipline has become non-existent.
I totally agree with you about the need to ensure taxes for education are not used for pursuing other agenda’s or spent on lobbying political groups. The Teachers Unions are notorious for spending money (originally earmarked for students), on campaigns for democrats.
I disagree with you on grades. What I hear is that education is doing better and students are getting much better grades now since teachers are being held accountable to actually do their jobs.
April 14th, 2005 at 7:59 pm
I live in northeastern ohio (although I am currently going to school in northwestern ohio), so I know about the poor condition schools are in. Cleveland schools are now meeting four days a week because they cannot afford the fifth day. How did things ever get like this?
I agree with everything you mentioned in your list of “hypocrisies.” No doubt there are many things that conrtibute to the problem, but I am inclined to think the primary factor is poor parenting of students.
The basic unit of society is the family, upon which all other institutions are built. Unfortunately this basic family unit is crumbling in America. Many children are brought up in single family homes and/or with parents that simply do not care about them. I do not know how to fix this epidemic problem.
To make matters worse, we have this politically correct nonsense. With children not being diciplined at home, there comes a need to dicipline them at school. We cannot simply let them run rampant, doing whatever they want and threatening to sue if a teacher wants them to behave in a civilised manner. Because of political correctness students who are denied the discipline of parents at home are also denied the discipline of teachers at school. A society cannot continue to function when it labels the disciplining of young people as wrong.
As for the money problem, I do not think the solution lies with higher taxes. All that is needed is a RELOCATING of funds. A failing wealthfare system has supported generations of non-productive citizens, wasting millions of dollars. Professional athletes are arguably paid far more than is morally acceptable. True, economics would tell us that they deserve their salary because of the money they bring in (through tickets, merchandise, etc.). But sometimes we have a moral obligation to step in and make some changes. Practically speaking, I have no specfic ideas as to how these changes could or should be made.
April 14th, 2005 at 11:55 pm
I wanted to thank you for visiting my site and to congratulate you for doing so well on the quiz. In your bio you mention being a singer but you didn’t mention what kind of music you like. Since your writing shows you are concerned about your country I thought you might be interested in a rock & roll band that I enjoy listening to. Poker Face is made up of 4 patriots that use their music to educate as well as entertain their listeners. You can listen to some of their music at their web site, http://www.pokerface.com
God Bless America, God Save The Republic
April 15th, 2005 at 4:40 am
(responses)
Windspike- As always, thanks for the comments. And of course, you are right when it comes to the primary crux of the problem. It is our societal attitude towards what we value-which seems to be money. You’d think then that the correlation of quality education to more money would be obvious. In reality, it’s about getting money for ourselves and to hell with everyone else, including our children.
Ottman- Thanks for stopping by again. You too hit upon a good point regarding the family structure and how we have changed its dynamics to the detriment of our children, again in favor of more money, beginning a viscious cycle of costs increasing so wages increase to meet costs on an upward scale, preventing all but the top wage earners from having a one income family. I know many parents who’d love to keep the kids at home with them but simply can’t without moving into low income areas which are rife with other problems.
By overcrowded, I don’t necessarily infer class size alone, although it can become overwhelming in some dense urban schools. I am also referring to the masses of students now occuppying schools built for populations a third or half their size. Many schools in the west have single wide mobile home like structures littered throughout thier campuses just to accommodate increasing student enrollment.
As for the spending problem, it is rampant and wasteful. But I’ll get into that again soon.
Finally, don’t be fooled by the standardized test scores. These measure those areas where the government mandates testing and thus are disproportionately “taught” by the staff. I’m talking about a well rounded education that includes knowing how to balance a checkbook, who the presidents were in the 20th century, what poetry is… These areas are certainly being not being given enough time.
JJ- Schools here have half days, and many more inservice days than we had when I was a kid, yet they keep clamoring for more money. For what, I ask? I’m glad to pay for infrastructure and materials and teacher salaries, but not too happy about overpriced and ineffective superintendents and their staffs, unneccessary consultants and the like. There is no money problem. There is an accountability and common sense problem.
As for the PC BS, you can check some of my earliest posts for my opinion on all that garbage and its detrimental effects on society and culture. Stop by again.
David- thanks for dropping by. I’ll have to check out the band you suggested. I sang in a band that did some rock, some blues, and some other stuff too. Many years ago, but still like to belt a few out now and again.
April 16th, 2005 at 9:23 pm
There is a valid reason that virtually no progress is made in education reform. The sole purpose of public education is to produce the next generation of low to mid level workers. Many people get more out of school, but they do it on their own. Until those in power realize that better education is required for our new low to middle level workers (as workers move from factories to more intellectually demanding jobs requiring a broader knowledge of mathematics, writing, and science), there will be no educational reform that is geared towards more than lining the pockets of those you mentioned in your essay.
April 16th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
Intrguing comments by Anemone. I am late chiming in on this, but my 2 cents, summarized as a 1/2 cent opinion-bite, is that more value should be placed on education and on teaching. The notion of teachers as second-class citizens has been a stereotype for decades (centuries?). If education could receive half the regard given to professional sports, it would be tremendously better for the country. I also believe that a free college education should be an option available to all.
April 17th, 2005 at 6:56 am
(responses)
Anemone- You make a good point, but I don’t accept this as a valid reason. Instead, It’s more of an excuse. Public education should provide the basic knowledge that we all need to get along in the modern world, but it should also go beyond the three r’s. And not just to keep pace with the technological knowledge that people now need to hold a decent job, but to instill a more complete knowledge of history and finance and civic duty, among others. I don’t think it’s fair to today’s or tomorrow’s children to simply sit back and keep them just dumb enough to increase the paychecks of CEO’s.
SheaNC- Agreed. more value on education. More value on teaching. Better for society as well as the individual. And yes, our priorities are out of whack if a guy who can throw a ball far is worth more than the guy who teaches our kids math.