My Rant on Education

The current philosophy powering American education is the most dangerous farce portrayed in our country in modern history. We are sending into the world legions of pampered, enabled, ill-prepared beings who will demonstrate lackluster adult performance and contribute only marginally to the future of this country.

The entire "No Child Left Behind" construct is preposterous. Not all people can learn all things to the same level. Some students are plainly and simply limited. Not only are they truly not up to the task of an academic environment, they obtain little benefit from their tenure of incarceration. We teach them nothing that they can really use to cobble together a productive life. Across the board, vo-tech programs are being slashed by budget cuts. The reality is that schools have to cover their ample butts in light of standardized testing and must channel funds towards core academic courses. Ridiculous. These kids need alternative programs that will teach them skills to find jobs, manage money and raise families. They don't need many of the courses that we mandate they take. They do not becomre more well-rounded by the experience, nor do they build futher critical-thinking skills. They don't have the intellectual capital - and there is no sin in that.

However, modern education theory dictates that all students be tossed into a common barrel and the teacher has to somehow find a way to deliver the curriculum to every mind. This is not possible. One person cannot deliver enough modified versions of a curriculum to meet the needs of every type of student now found in the regular education classroom. Into regular classrooms are tossed students with severe learning disabilities, behavioral problems, emotional problems and widely varying levels of intellect. Once this situation did not exist. Once, the truly problematic students had their own program, where they were given a curriculum more suited to their needs and they were not causing continuous disruption of other students' learning. Now, they are thrown (usually without support) into the regular education classroom and the result is not pretty. The behavioral problems demand a high degree of teacher attention and can bring the learning process to a near standstill. The learning disabled and intellectually-challenged students are frustrated and, too, demand tremendous amounts of individual attention. In a small, structured setting, this is possible. In a classroom of 30 diverse students, this is a pipe dream.

At the other end of the spectrum are the advanced students, who have to try and learn despite the obstacles of their classmates. When homogeneously grouped, these kids thrive. When heterogeneously blended with the remainder of the student population, they cannot receive the curriculum that the deserve and cannot perform up to the standard that they are capable. It is a tragedy that students who want to learn are prevented from doing so by a flawed educational philosophy.

Schools are chided when they implement levels in their system. Honors, regular and low-level courses are becoming a thing of the past. Honors is still holding on, but the low-level course is slowly becoming a thing of the past. These students are being thrust into regular-level courses and the prevailing attitude is that if these students fail, it is the fault of the teacher not providing a sufficiently modified program for them. When you have a number of these students in the classroom, that level of modification is simply not possible. So, teachers often give the students a passing grade to keep the administration and parents satisfied. That is a travesty of education and completely lacking in integrity, but it is becoming the norm.

No one wants to admit that some people are not cut out for an academic life. Academic intelligence has taken on almost a moral quality, so people are afraid of the stigma of having a "normal" or "average" child. To have a child with lower-ability is unthinkable. Some of these parents work through their subconsious shame by morphing into demons plaguing the school system. The demand unrealistic modifications and set ridiculous standards for their child and the teachers. They work like madmen to set up a system that ensures their child's failure appear to be, in no way, the fault of the child (or them). They are miserable, vain, petty people who think their child's success in school reflects upon their societal status. I'd pity them, if they didn't cause so much disruption to the academic community.

I love my job, but I see a bleak future for America. Comapnies and businesses will have to turn more and more to other sources of skilled labor, as we are not producing the necessary individuals for the jobs. We have to unload this unhealthy attitude that all of our youth are "too good" for vo-tech education and rebuild these programs. Everyone should have a basic liberal arts education, but not everyone will or should take jobs requiring college educations. Let students receive training and education in areas tailored to their abiliies and wants, not our view of what makes a fine Young American.

Rant Over.