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October 10, 2006 at 09:28:24
by Thom Hartmann Page 1 of 2 page(s) |
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One of the primary elements of a true, functioning, representative democratic republic, like we aim for here in the United States, is that its citizens be well informed.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his friend J. Correa de Serra on January 28, 1786, and said, "Our liberty depends upon the freedom of the press and that cannot be limited without being lost," he was assuming that Americans knew how to read their daily newspapers.
Not anymore. A 2005 study by the National Center for Education Statistics revealed that about 5 percent of the adults in the United States are not literate in English, meaning 11 million people lack the skills to handle many everyday tasks. Some 30 million adults, or 14 percent of the population, have "below basic" skills in prose. Their ability is so limited that they may not be able to make sense of a simple pamphlet, for example. Another 95 million adults, or 44 percent of the population, have intermediate prose skills, meaning they can do only moderately challenging activities. An example would be consulting a reference book to determine which foods contain a certain vitamin.
The cons' solution, as usual, is to privatize education. They say the public school system is too broken to fix. And just to make sure it stays broken, they passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which will cost the states more in property taxes and other taxes than they are going to get out of it.
The solution is not to go in with a hammer and destroy the schools. It is not to privatize the schools. It's to change the way we are teaching.
Education Is an Investment
There is a growing consensus that something is melting down in our schools, but the solution is not to abolish free public education. The solution is to make free public education better.
All the issues around education come down to one question: investment or expense? The conservatives would have you think that any kind of social programs are expenses. It's really important to reframe the conversation in terms of investment.
We know that the investment in a preschool program like Head Start yields substantial returns down the road in terms of reduced crime, reduced expenses associated with the detention of people, and increases in the tax base. For every $1 you invest in Head Start, you get $9 back. The child is far healthier, less likely to end up in special education or the criminal justice system, and more likely to go to college. Preschool is an investment, not an expense.
The cons, however, don't get it. The whole con agenda seems to be, "Let's go back to a caste system." They are hearkening back to men like John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, who believed we should have a ruling class and a working class and that the ruling class should be literate and the working class should just know enough to make change when they buy something.
They are doing their best to destroy public education. They are trying to destroy the teachers' unions and starve the schools.
Traditionally, we've determined the success or failure of the U.S. public education system by how competent our citizens are at being part of the workforce, participating in our democracy, and having social mobility. Those are all things that you can measure, and in many ways they all relate back to building critical-thinking skills-seeing the big picture, being able to challenge conventional wisdom, thinking outside the box to use the old cliché-as much as they do to the actual imparting of information. We've historically seen education as an essential and organic part of our democracy and considered access to higher education-regardless of the parents' income level-to be one of the keys to building a strong middle class, a strong economy, and a strong nation.
The cons, however, see education as just another commodity. And if it's just a commodity, like shoes or carrots, there must be a simple way to measure it. So instead of measuring its impact on society, they say, "Let's just see how well our kids are doing at memorizing some of the things that we think are important."
The Wrong Measure
The tragedy of treating education as a commodity is twofold. First, the things the cons are measuring in their one-size-fits-all tests don't include the basic issues of democracy, freedom, liberty, and the history of this nation.
Standardized tests don't let us know if our kids know the difference between the worldviews of Paine versus Burke or the differences in the vision of democracy between Plato and Jefferson. They don't test if our kids understand why the Boston Tea Party happened or what differentiated the Founders from the Royalists of 1776. And the tests the cons devise are not designed to teach kids a thing about the populist and progressive movements in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the Wobblies and the history of organized labor, or the history of Roosevelt's and Truman's battles with cons over programs like labor policy, national health insurance, and Social Security.
The second tragedy for us and our children is that the cons-in their effort to commodify education-have turned the testing over to a few large corporations. Back when I was in school in the 1950s and 1960s, our teachers would write up their own tests, sometimes even in longhand, and make copies of them on the mimeograph machine. The cost was just a few cents-basically the cost of the paper and the mimeo machine's amortization. But the testing companies can charge $5, $10, $20 or more for 5 cents worth of paper. And the No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to buy these tests from specific large, politically active testing companies.
Testing has gone from being insignificant-basically just IQ tests-during the Golden Age of the middle class to being a million-dollar-a-year industry in the Reagan eighties to a multibillion-dollar annual industry after the passage of NCLB. They've used it as a way to privatize another part of education.
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So much more to say...
I could go on forever amending this article, but I need to get a few things done today. I'd just like to note that one of the finer principals here in Utah has a bumper sticker on his door: No billionaire left behind! by Daniel Geery (26 articles, 95 quicklinks, 126 diaries, 914 comments [27 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Oct 10, 2006 at 10:19:58 AM  (0+)
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What about discipline?
While I agree with a lot of what your article says, it doesn't take into account perhaps the most damaging problem in schools, and in society at large: lack of discipline. Real education absolutely requires discipline at all levels of the system. From parent to teacher to administrator to the government, there is a complete lack of discipline. Everyone on those levels is better at making excuses and pointing fingers above or below themselves than addressing the egregious lack of discipline that exists in America. Parents MUST begin the process by being the initial dispensers of discipline. Yet, I do not see it happening anywhere I look. Today's kids are left on incredibly long leashes. They are pretty much allowed to run amuck with no hand anywhere slapping them back into reality. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have gone to restaurants, shopping malls, and other places where families congregate, and witnessed children acting up in some incredibly abhorrent ways. Their parents act as if there is nothing bad happening. From kids screaming at the top of their lungs creating the most shrill sounds imaginable, to their running around willy-nilly, I see parents do NOTHING to stop this behavior in the least. Mom and dad only step in when junior injures himself in the melee. Then, it's the fault the business in question that dangerous items were left within the reach of junior. Never does it occur to the parents that junior wouldn't have hit his head on the table if a nice slap on the ass had been applied while junior was running amuck. Never does it occur to them if he hadn't smashed that glass on the floor, he wouldn't be bleeding from the shards of glass that flew back in his face. No, perish the thought! For better or worse, my parents were strict with discipline. While I might not have understood their reasons at the time, now that I am older and have something to compare the difference between discipline and it's lack, I am glad they took the time to slap me silly on various occasions. When I was going to school, there was no such thing as bringing guns or other offensive weapons. Yes, there were bullies. Yes, there were disagreements, fights, and so on. I won't say my education took place in an idyllic paradise. However, the fact that I went to private schools where discipline was the law of the land, so to speak, there was no need for guns and so on. The lack of discipline in society needs to be addressed as much, if not more than any other failings of our educational system. From parents, to teachers, to administration, to the government, the lack of discipline in society is the biggest problem in education. Lack of discipline leads to lack of accountability. The hallmark of our present governmental ills is the lack of accountability. Congress doesn't hold the president accountable for his overstepping his power. The people don't hold congress accountable for their oversights. No one holds anyone accountable for anything until such time as there comes to pass some incredibly egregious kind of scandal. Even then, the buck remains in pass mode, and everyone scrambles to make sure the sh*t won't fall on their heads, especially if it needs to do just that. Why? There is no discipline! Society has spared the rod, and now the future generations are spoiled almost beyond the point of recall. This is everyone's fault. It is the fault of parents for not instilling and maintaining some sense of discipline in the child's life. It is also their fault when schools do discipline, and parents whine and b*tch to school administration about their kids being "abused". It is the fault of the teachers for not demanding the power to discipline unruly kids. It is the fault of school administration for not backing up teachers who do meter out discipline as a part of the classroom curriculum. It is the fault of government for not being able to show they even have a nodding acquaintance with discipline. If they don't have it, why is it even important? A "time out" is no substitute for a good ass whipping. Grounding is no substitute for a slap upside the head. Refusal of allowance is no substitute for stern disciplinary action. Until such time as we drop the notion that corporal punishment is somehow child abuse, we are going to remain in the educational quagmire in which our society is caught. I know this may fly in the face of many who think me a leftist. So be it. I have said on many occasions that I am not a leftist. Perhaps this will finally be the proof. There does come a point in life where we must all accept personal responsibility for our actions and ourselves. We can only come to that point if we have been introduced to discipline at an early age, and if it has remained as an unflinching part of our personal reality By our dismissal of the positive and powerful aspects of discipline, we have forged the educational abyss that exists. By not owning up to the parts we all play in this American tragedy, we insure that public education in America will only get worse, not better. That insures our society will continue to slide headlong into complete chaos and anarchy. Is this really what we want? Blessed be! Pappy by Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Oct 10, 2006 at 5:02:11 PM (0+)
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Don't let the so-called progressives off the hook
So-called progressives are in this just as deeply as the conservatives, both buying the Business Roundtable message. Only 10 members of Congress voted against NCLB. That's hardly just a "con" mandate. I disagree strongly with the assertion that "All the issues around education come down to one question: investment or expense?" What is fundamental is Who decides what education is about? Who decides what the preschooler in Head Start's day should look like? Who decides kindergarten content? Fourth grade content? Right now, the corporate-politico Standardistos have grabbed these decisions away from education professionals. I don't want more money pumped into Head Start if they are going to continue to make it a skill drill conveyor belt preparing kids for kindergarten, which has become a skill drill conveyor belt preparing kids for first grade, which is hysterical about getting them on track for college. by Susano (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Tuesday, Oct 10, 2006 at 6:43:52 PM (0+)
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Reply: Everyone has a hand in it.
Like so many other problems that face society today, everyone has a hand in the problems with education. As I said above, the lack of discipline at all levels of our society is part of the problem with schools. This is the fault of everyone, from parents who refuse to discipline their kids, to teachers who lack both their own discipline and the ability to discipline unruly students, to administrators who cave into parents sniveling because their kid got a demerit or an "F", to the governmental officials whose obvious lack of personal discipline shows in not only education, but every other facet of American life. It's all our faults, and it can only be fixed by all of us. The same goes for curriculum, text books, and so many other issues directly related to education. No one expects quality, so we get none. We've lowered our national expectations, so when Johnny can't read, write, or even figure out if his boss bilked him on his paycheck, it's par for the bloody course. Blaming the system is a waste of time. It's obviously the fault of the system. We know that. But there's a lot more to it. Don't just blame, take responsibility for the part you play in the failures. This is one area where we can make all the difference. It's not just progressives at fault, it's conservatives as well, and all gradiations of thought in between. We are all responsible for the dumbing down of our society. From parents who use the great glass tit to keep the kiddies in order, to the adult who skated through school and now can barely think for himself without the aid of someone like Flush Lintball telling him what to think. If there is to be any hope for our society, or our ability to compete on a global scale, we need to stop this national irrationality now. How can we do that? First, demand more of your kids. I don't have any, so that part is up to you. I can't do it for you. Second, don't let your mind go soft with too much drivel from the TV. Third, keep expanding your own minds. Get new hobbies, learn to play a musical instrument, involve yourself with local politics, write articles or comments here. Fourth, pass on your knowledge to others. Fifth, meet people from other countries and cultures and learn about what diversity really means. These are all simple exercises, but they keep the brain growing and expanding. The brain is like a muscle in the respect that if you don't use it, it gets weaker. Why do you think I write here? Why do you think I continue to give myself intellectual challenges whenever and wherever possible? I don't want to let the knowledge I have gained over forty-four years of life to simply ooze out my ears. If I can do it, why can't everyone? Blessed be! Pappy by Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Oct 11, 2006 at 4:37:59 AM (0+)
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Yes, but...
They _do_ want to privitize with charter schools but I'm not sure that is the same as NCLB. You can be sure that anything that makes Neil Bush money has to make me cringe but I am not particularly against the concept of NCLB. Kids in our state have something like 50 "knowledge foci" so it is inevitable that they get an education that is "a mile wide and an inch deep". In a most entertaining, genteel and politically correct way, it seems like a formula for creating kids who never have to think. On the other hand, I grew up in a poor rural state that concentrated on reading, writing and math and turned out to be a good liberal. Getting back to core skills that build a foundation that allows kids to reason may be the key to good citizenship later. And those core skills can be tested reasonably well. If NCLB creates major headaches for states, maybe states should take it seriously. U.S. local control of education is bizarre to most of the world and anything that can help create a national standard is going to be painful and resisted. But it doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I understand that there is an issue of "no legislation without dispensation" but the problem is very likely not that states need to spend more on education (they do) but that the federal government needs to spend less on wars and corruption. by Steven Christenson (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 at 11:23:11 AM (0+)
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