Rethinking America-Education
Fresh Thinking on Education Needed
It is the natural way of things that one considers normal that which they have experienced. There is no institutional memory of the human being. Since almost everyone alive today passed through the public school system, nothing would seem more natural. Even those who have attended private schools understand nothing else and would probably advocate for nothing other than what they have experienced. At some point, however, there needs to be an objective point of view brought to bear on the issue.
With all of the drawbacks of a public education, i.e., underage sex, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, drop out rates, bullying, gang violence, rape, sexual abuse by teachers and many other less serious bad habits, why aren’t we looking for alternatives? Why? No, really, I’m asking you, the reader, the teacher, the principal, the school board member, the average tax-paying citizen: why? Have you even heard of alternatives being seriously considered? Perhaps there is even some pie-in-the-sky idea of tele-commuting for children? No?
WHY NOT?
Okay, I’m not as stupid as it may seem. I actually have the answer. Because there is no advantage to teacher’s unions to do anything other than exactly what is done now. There is no way to control the knowledge of the children without massive schools capable of focused indoctrination into the liberal mindset. Why is it completely possible to make health care “portable” but not education?
Everything testifies to the great benefit of charter schools, private schools and home schooling, so why do we continue to provide education in such an antiquated method? Again, it doesn’t serve the teacher’s union to break the kids out into smaller and smaller schools and classes where information can not be controlled and might even become contradictory to earlier “government” teachings. What government employee would benefit from a revolution in education delivery? None.
The problem I have always had with public education, at least in the state that it is now, is that no matter how much the teachers, principals and administrators do FOR the children, the one thing they won’t do FOR the children is ensure that they are protected from liberalism.
Make the education of a child portable and stand back and watch social ills, crime, violence and mental abuse decline like a bad day on the market floor.
Cross-posted at Tea Party News.
Speaking of librarians …
I would like to feel her books.
Wow! Cool books.
Good article, too. I wish I had back every dime I spent on four kid’s private education. The end result was just as if they had been tutored by the teacher’s unions and cost a hell of a lot more.
My kids went to Catholic school for elementary and middle school, but my daughter is currently in another religious high school. I think the education is vastly superior. But then, it is a seriously conservative school. I don’t know what happens when she goes to college.
Hey, TL, those were both excellent posts today. I enjoyed them both.
Thank you, boss.
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This is a problem which I have thought about…a lot, recently.
Honestly, I think we’ve over-regulated ourselves. In many places, there simply isn’t the wiggle room in the legal and regulatory framework to make broad reforms in education. I have always been an advocate for small schools, but I can see that with the burden of regulatory compliance (reporting statistics to the relevant gov’t agencies, interfacing with other gov’t agencies such as the USDA, etc), that there is “selection” pressure that seems to favor evolution towards large schools with centralized bureaucracies. (Actually, I’d happily extend my opinion of over-regulation to our society at large: too much law and requirements, too little cost-benefit analysis.)
Anyway, look to the states that support charter schools. While some of them may seem “backward” in the minds of the eastern (formerly) industrial states, charter schools create an environment for innovation where some schools will be abysmal and fail, but many others will find a successful and replicable model of economical and effective education.
Very clear and well-thought out response. I appreciate it. There are numerous smaller schools that do not have to comply with the stringent requirements of a given school system, i.e. one that runs numerous schools in the same area. These are more along the lines of independent schools.
But, taking your points into consideration, the idea, it seems, is to rethink the entire educational system complete with the value of regulations and those restrictions that are designed specifically to limit competititon in the delivery of education. While some regulation enhances continuity of knowledge, making it more regular to the needs of higher education, there are plenty of regulations that merely make it cost-ineffective to enter the market.