The Death Of Education In America "All this is a preface to Belle Chesler’s stunning article at TomDispatch.com, “Making American Schools Less Great Again: A Lesson in Educational Nihilism on a Grand Scale.” A high school visual arts teacher, Chesler writes from the heart about the chronic underfunding of education and how it is constricting democracy in America. Here she talks about the frustrations of classes that are simply too big to teach: [Class sizes grew so large] I couldn’t remember my students’ names, was unable to keep up with the usual grading and assessments we’re supposed to do, and was overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. Worst of all, I was unable to provide the emotional support I normally try to give my students. I couldn’t listen because there wasn’t time." So, the problem in K-12 is that class size has grown so much over time as to make teaching impossible. "On the drive to work, I was paralyzed by dread; on the drive home, cowed by feelings of failure. The experience of that year was demoralizing and humiliating. My love for my students, my passion for the subjects I teach, and ultimately my professional identity were all stripped from me. And what was lost for the students? Quality instruction and adult mentorship, as well as access to vital resources — not to mention a loss of faith in one of America’s supposedly bedrock institutions, the public school… The truth of the matter is that a society that refuses to adequately invest in the education of its children is refusing to invest in the future. Think of it as nihilism on a grand scale." The cure is more money because more money is always the cure for every problem in K-12 education. "Nihilism, indeed. Why believe in anything? Talk about zombie education! What America is witnessing, she writes, is nothing short of a national tragedy: Public schools represent one of the bedrock institutions of American democracy. Yet as a society we’ve stood aside as the very institutions that actually made America great were gutted and undermined by short-term thinking, corporate greed, and unconscionable disrespect for our collective future." What is unconscionable is that you my dear are a lying sack of shite. Who knows, she might be relating her experience exactly as it happened. But such anecdotal evidence has no value. What was happening in all of our schools say from 1950 to the present regarding class size? Bracing! The US Department of Education begs to differ that class size has been growing and has become so large as to present an unteachable number of students. To the contrary, class size has become so tiny as to make one question what the teachers are doing while obtaining the abysmal education results we widely see today (see graph below for achievement results). Students can't read, or write, they are innumerate, and aliterate, they know nothing about history or geography, but they can recite the recycling mantras and the global climate alarm mantras and often sing tongue bathing paeons to their Democrat Presidents. The problem is not class size. "The truth is that there is money for education, for schools, for teachers, and for students. We just don’t choose to prioritize education spending and so send a loud-and-clear message to students that education doesn’t truly matter. And when you essentially defund education for more than 40 years, you leave kids with ever less faith in American institutions, which is a genuine tragedy." So, what happened regarding funding over time? This one is tricker; there is not just sufficient funding for K-12 education; there is far too much funding for K-12 education. At the same time, the spending is badly prioritized, with far too much going to the school district administration and other non-education spending and too little going to actual classroom education and teacher salaries. We need a radical reformation of our school system starting with the dramatic shrinking of our school boards and administrations back to the level we had in 1960, or more appropriately, the elimination of our school boards as administrators of our educational system. Ok, we are not ready for the latter but might be for the former, got it! Schools should be organized based on a single high school and its sub feeder schools. A board of parents and local citizens with the Principal should administer the schools educationally and financially. Sports could still be attached to the schools but should be run separately by an unrelated entity. We spend lavishly on our schools, just as we spend lavishly on our medical insurance and in both cases government interference makes the systems incredibly inefficient, bureaucratic, and costly. Stop it!
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