Driving to work this morning, I heard another advertisement for a place that teaches kids geography. It's like Mathnasium or Hooked on Phonics; a commercial enterprise started to fill a need: the ignorance of children being "educated" in government schools in America.
One of the lines in the commercial is "Geography is everywhere". I never know quite what to do with that. Like saying "Air is everywhere". I suppose they don't mean it literally...'cause that's just too obvious. I'd guess they mean "the study of geography is important in all sorts of ways"...but it's not as snappy to say it that way.
But their advertising copy is not the point here. The point is that we have commercial enterprises making money teaching kids how to read, how to cipher and how to find the Pacific Ocean on a map...because the public schools aren't doing it.
Does anyone else see a problem here? Why, exactly, do we need the government schools?
If they don't teach kids how to read, and they don't teach kids mathematics, and they don't teach kids about their world...what are they doing? What are they good for?
Teaching Islam? Teaching communism? Global warming?
All we need is one more commercial program: Science Faire...and we'll be able to take every kid out of government schools, sign them up for Geography, Math, Reading and Science...and end up with educated kids. Educated by people who are responsible to their customers...the parents of the kids being taught; and for whom their own success is dependent on the success of the children they teach.
What a concept.
The fact that these commercials are on the radio is a perfectly clear indictment of the failure of Big Education and the left that owns it.
It was one thing when it was just Hooked On Phonics...with the idea that some kids have a little trouble learning to read, and there is a cool program that can help.
And, OK, maybe some kids have a special difficulty with math. (I could have used Mathnasium...)
But when it gets to geography...
We have to ask ourselves...is there ANYTHING the government schools actually teach our children? In grammar school, what else should be taught but basic reading and basic math and basic geography (knowing the world)?
What are the schools spending their time doing if they're not doing this?
What the commercials are saying, without actually saying it is: "Crappy government schools, run by idiots are not teaching your kids how to read, to do math, or about their world. Our companies can help. We'll actually teach your kid that stuff so he doesn't grow up stupid."
Every teacher, every administrator, every politician should be humiliated every time he hears one of those commercials.
God I hate them. It's a shame you can't just shoot the bastards.
The Gunslinger
Joebama American citizens 2024 print
9 months ago
Humiliated, No. Angry, Yes.
ReplyDeleteYou need to understand the socialist system that is American education today. It's big business, filled with people who would have trouble getting a job at McDonald's otherwise, pulling in a good paycheck. In order to be successful, you need to pass as many students through as possible. That is the sole criteria. The more you get through, the more money flows into the system.
There are a lot of good educators out there, but they can't do anything without support. I blame the customers for much of this.
I teach post-secondary in the bible belt. My school has strong athiestic, communistic, and anti- American tendancies (as most do), but the students are conspicuously silent, even when their beliefs are threatened.
The same holds true for academic standards. I've seen groups of students band together and perform a deliberate "go slow" under the impression that the majority pace determines the grade. I can't blame them too much, it's what they learned in high school. I can usually count on one hand the number of students per semester who actually want to learn the material. The silent majority will do whatever is easiest. Since administration is all about numbers, guess who wins?
If the students demanded a first rate education, they would get one. In general, they want the quickest and easiest way to get letters after their name so they get that.
Can I steal your "crappy government schools" comment for when I get fed up and start a charter?
One word: PARENTS
ReplyDeleteSince when are "students" in charge of their own education?
If they could see to their own education, they wouldn't need to be "students".
They are, by definition, ignorant.
We are letting them down.
Since they stopped being students and became "customers" and "consumers of education".
ReplyDeleteI had an adjunct faculty member come into my office not to long ago and complain about a student who hadn't shown up since the first week of class and asking my advice. When I replied, "fail them", they seemed amazed. They then told me they weren't allowed to do that at the high school. I think that sums it up.
You are right, parents are the answer. In a democracy, the people will get whatever politicians and school system they deserve. I love democracy, especially when the masses have no moral or intellectual foundations.
AAAAARrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!
ReplyDeleteMy head is exploding....and blood is shooting out of my eyes!!!!!
A public school teacher myself, I have to admit that the private sector could probably do a much better job, on the whole, of educating our children. One thing that I think is overlooked most of the time is that there is no one thing that is ruining schools across the board in the US. There are a multitude of them, and they blend in different amounts and shades and flavors. What works in(or what's wrong with) district "A" willnot necessarily work in "B".
ReplyDeleteBut some things are, without a doubt, across the board. The "right" to an education has devalued it and has made parents and students feel "entitled" to an education. Earning it is another thing entirely. Another result of this "entitlement" is that some students feel that they can do and say anything and get away with it (and generally, they can). Someone "has to" educate them in some setting. Schools cannot simply expell students for the most part; they must simply move them to "alternative" settings where thuggery and blow-standard achievement are the norms.
I could go on and on, but just to give you another clue on how our schools are disintegrating, check out what the Dallas ISD has done to their grading policy. I've got an article on my blog (with links and such). It's tragic...and the parents and kids will probably think it's great.