Education Lite - Feels Good But Less Filling
Written on February 2, 2008 – 5:30 pm | by admin
“The difficulty is not that children don’t learn to read, write and do arithmetic very well – it is that kids don’t learn at all the way schools insist on teaching.” – John Taylor Gatto
Parents are dissatisfied with the public schools today because the schools do not offer what parents want. In fact, the system’s purpose is the opposite of what parents want for their kids. It’s called Education Lite, or Dumbing Down, and the process includes parents and the public, not just teachers and children.
First is the annual concern about low scores on the standardized tests. Every year, the number of children who pass the Mastery reading and math combined is about thirty percent statewide. That’s a seventy percent failure rate. And what (joke) are we told every year by Education officials?, “The public schools are performing well.” Who believes it? Mastery tests are not about mastery. They should be called Mediocrity tests. As poor as the results are, there is even reason to suspect that the results are fudged at the state level as well as at local levels.
If the schools were interested in having students learn basic skills, they could teach them, and to all the children, not just some. There are reading and math methods that work. Homeschoolers know and use them, as do private schools. But public schools use methods that are certain to fail a majority of students. Why is this so? Because the system is designed to turn out a mass of dependent employees, soldiers and consumers, not independent creative-thinking individuals. If we want education, we must find out how to acquire it; but if we want mediocrity, it’s all paid for by our taxes and it’s right down the street. It’s Education Lite; it may feel good, but it’s less filling.
For example: reading. If the schools had the goal of teaching reading correctly, they could, and virtually all the children would learn to read well by third grade. The simple method is called phonics. With it, many children would learn to read well in a week since its principles are easy to teach and understand. But the schools refuse to use phonics, the method that works.
In math, the public schools use “fuzzy math.” One such program is called Everyday Math. It is called fuzzy math because it doesn’t teach the basics on which advanced math depends. In other words, it simply wastes time. I would add that if the purpose is merely math appreciation, as some claim, then it’s not education; it’s therapy. How many can enter a trade or profession or even balance a checkbook without knowing the simple facts of arithmetic? How can they learn advanced subjects if they don’t know how to read and calculate well? How can they make informed choices or lead productive lives without those tools? There is no way.
The quality of teachers is also declining. Here’s the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Sandy Feldman: “You have in the schools, among the teachers who are retiring, very smart people…but we’re not getting in now the same kinds of people.” She admits that many of her union members are not “very smart people.” Add to that the words of Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom from their 2003 book
Most statements by school employees and officials include the message, “We are working for the children.” However, more and more, it looks to many people as though the schools are organized for the benefit and convenience of the employees, not the children at all. Education Lite is what the government schools serve today. Can citizens do anything about it? The survival of our country depends on the answer.
Ned Vare is a designer and author; former private school teacher, rancher, artist and elected official. Comment may be directed to TheSchoolWars@mac.com
The School Wars, a series of articles by Ned Vare
Tags: conflicts with parents, dumbing down, poor quality