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Help America Win - Respect Education
by Dr. Forbush (reposted with permission)
How can we fix our national education problem? Of course we must first admit that there is a problem. With all of the proposals being floated around the politicians - testing, accountability, more taxes, more discipline, higher teacher’s salaries, school vouchers, and magnet schools for example - someone must think that there is a problem.
Unfortunately the reality of the situation is a decline in the public demand for quality education. This is a cultural issue that begins with the respect of education in general. If there was a universal respect for education, then parent would be working to ensure that there kids were doing their homework, and behaving in school. If there was a universal respect for education teachers would be making salaries in line with management wages and people would be bending over backward trying to donate time and services to all education oriented organizations in the community.
There are many reasons why education has lost respect. First there are people who don’t believe that education is more than acquiring workplace skills in order to make a bit more money. Education is more than that. It is a collection of knowledge that needs to be passed on to future generations so that it won’t be lost. It is also the skill of rational thought that allows people to discover how the politicians and advertisers distort the facts to get you to do what they want you to do. It is also a pool of common knowledge that allows people to discuss the world around them on a higher level of understanding. It is also the key to protecting the community from dangers, like diseases, poisons and other less obvious things.
Second there are cultural biases against education that have seeped into our country. Some subcultures regard education as dangerous, especially for women or minorities. Some subcultures place less emphasis on education, claiming it isn’t cool, or it doesn’t give us the “whole” truth. These subcultures set a dangerous precedent encouraging children to skip school, or disrupt classrooms.
Third, parents find keeping tabs on their children too tedious and taxing. Many families have both parents working out of economic necessity. Parents come home from work to tired to deal with the children and end up sitting them in front of a TV or video game. When young children have questions about homework or topics covered in school many parents are too tired to answer the questions, or they have adopted the attitude that the school is responsible for there child’s education and they tell their children to wait until the next day for them to ask the teacher. A child with a helpful parent will learn much quicker than one with a parent who doesn’t give a damn.
Schools are an important part of the equation, but they are not the only part. An overall respect for the education system as a whole would go a lot further in repairing the damage than any suggestion that I have heard. This is because an overall respect for the system would take away some of these projects with ulterior motives like school vouchers. Everyone should realize by now that school vouchers are a way proposed by the religious right to enable the siphoning of education dollars out of the public education system to support schools that already exist free of government money. Catholic schools have survived without this extra money, that would come from every student already enrolled. By virtue of supply and demand the same students would remain enrolled and the tuition would increase respectively until each student would be paying the same amount that they already pay. The net benefit would be the private schools with the surplus cash. The net losers would be the public schools that would lose this money. Obviously taxpayers would not be willing to raise taxes to pay for the newly supported private schools. If people had a healthy respect for education they would respect how private schools actually benefit the public schools by allowing their tax dollars to go further.
Unfortunately the only way to change a “disrespect” for education into a “respect” for education is a re-education of Americans that is so deep it effects the entire culture. This is an enormous task, and it isn’t clear that it can even be done. At this point everyone is way too cynical to respond to any type of education campaign. How would one even begin?
Well, I am just planting the seed here with a little thought - please respect education, it is the only thing we have to show for all the effort made by the generations of humans that have occupied this planet.
—————————————————–
Don’t forget what Stephen Colbert said, “Reality has a well-known liberal bias.”
Cross Posted @ Bring It On, tblog, Blogger and BlogSpirit
Will America Lead?
How can we fix our national education problem? Of course we must first admit that there is a problem. With all of the proposals being floated around the politicians - testing, accountability, more taxes, more discipline, higher teacher’s salaries, school vouchers, and magnet schools for example - someone must think that there is a problem.
Unfortunately the reality of the situation is a decline in the public demand for quality education. This is a cultural issue that begins with the respect of education in general. If there was a universal respect for education, then parent would be working to ensure that there kids were doing their homework, and behaving in school. If there was a universal respect for education teachers would be making salaries in line with management wages and people would be bending over backward trying to donate time and services to all education oriented organizations in the community.
There are many reasons why education has lost respect. First there are people who don’t believe that education is more than acquiring workplace skills in order to make a bit more money. Education is more than that. It is a collection of knowledge that needs to be passed on to future generations so that it won’t be lost. It is also the skill of rational thought that allows people to discover how the politicians and advertisers distort the facts to get you to do what they want you to do. It is also a pool of common knowledge that allows people to discuss the world around them on a higher level of understanding. It is also the key to protecting the community from dangers, like diseases, poisons and other less obvious things.
Second there are cultural biases against education that have seeped into our country. Some subcultures regard education as dangerous, especially for women or minorities. Some subcultures place less emphasis on education, claiming it isn’t cool, or it doesn’t give us the “whole” truth. These subcultures set a dangerous precedent encouraging children to skip school, or disrupt classrooms.
Third, parents find keeping tabs on their children too tedious and taxing. Many families have both parents working out of economic necessity. Parents come home from work to tired to deal with the children and end up sitting them in front of a TV or video game. When young children have questions about homework or topics covered in school many parents are too tired to answer the questions, or they have adopted the attitude that the school is responsible for there child’s education and they tell their children to wait until the next day for them to ask the teacher. A child with a helpful parent will learn much quicker than one with a parent who doesn’t give a damn.
Schools are an important part of the equation, but they are not the only part. An overall respect for the education system as a whole would go a lot further in repairing the damage than any suggestion that I have heard. This is because an overall respect for the system would take away some of these projects with ulterior motives like school vouchers. Everyone should realize by now that school vouchers are a way proposed by the religious right to enable the siphoning of education dollars out of the public education system to support schools that already exist free of government money. Catholic schools have survived without this extra money, that would come from every student already enrolled. By virtue of supply and demand the same students would remain enrolled and the tuition would increase respectively until each student would be paying the same amount that they already pay. The net benefit would be the private schools with the surplus cash. The net losers would be the public schools that would lose this money. Obviously taxpayers would not be willing to raise taxes to pay for the newly supported private schools. If people had a healthy respect for education they would respect how private schools actually benefit the public schools by allowing their tax dollars to go further.
Unfortunately the only way to change a “disrespect” for education into a “respect” for education is a re-education of Americans that is so deep it effects the entire culture. This is an enormous task, and it isn’t clear that it can even be done. At this point everyone is way too cynical to respond to any type of education campaign. How would one even begin?
Well, I am just planting the seed here with a little thought - please respect education, it is the only thing we have to show for all the effort made by the generations of humans that have occupied this planet.
—————————————————–
Don’t forget what Stephen Colbert said, “Reality has a well-known liberal bias.”
Cross Posted @ Bring It On, tblog, Blogger and BlogSpirit
Will America Lead?
posted by REB 84 | 9/01/2006 07:12:00 AM
5 Comments:
I agree wholeheartedly with your post, education is a tremendously important issue that should not be ignored. However, much the same as those currently in power (in both parties) would like to use the "war on terror" as an excuse for rolling back any programs designed for the health and well being of the general population, including social security and Medicaid, they have also exhibitied a contempt for public education systems. One of the most startling examples of this was the attack upon the federally subsidised Stafford Loans which provided the opportunity for a college education to those who otherwise would not have been able to afford it.
It is all part of a larger trend to change the inherent mentality of most americans that we should care for our neighbors. Those in power, from both parties, all come from wealthy and priveledged backgrounds, and as such have no need for public education or health, as that does not affect them or those who provide them with the money for their re-election campaigns (big business).
It is all part of a larger disturbing trend that over-spending on the Orwellian "War on Terror" has provided the right with an opportunity to pursue: removing any possibility of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" from the largest percentage of the population and instead reserving opportunities for the moneyed elites.
With the decline in peoples organisations such as Labor Unions, there is not much of a resistance left to stand up to these assaults on the future opportunities for us and our children. I find that heartbreaking.
I was listening to Big Ed Shultz www.wegotEd.com a couple days ago on the radio. One of his callers hit the nail on the head regarding government accountability. He summed it up this way "These guys take care of their big campaign contributors first. The only time they do their jobs is when they get caught not doing what they are supposed to be doing, and then they keep up appearances for awhile,then it is back to business as usual."
At the end of the day, "we the people" need to work to bring oversight and accountability into government. Bloggers are doing this work. Hopefully, our efforts will help make a difference.
I see this every day. Our public education system is continuing to fail in it's job to educate our children. The reason that vouchers are so popular is that the folks who want their children to get a good education see what our schools accept as "passing" and shout a mighty "No Thanks!"
Good education is a sacrifice by all involved. Teachers , Parents, Children...all involved...all sacrificing. To bad no one wants to sacrifice anymore. The teachers Unions are only looking out for their own self serving policies, Parents want another babysitter so that they can work their two jobs, have the two cars and the summer vacations and kids just want to be cool.
Here is the dig. Good education is not a right. It is a privilege. It is something we enjoy being the richest nation in the history of man. When it becomes a right it cheapens it... makes it commonplace...It has even moved over to the University system. We have movements all over the country to make higher education "affordable". This is simply... illogical.
From the people who brought you our current K-12 system, FEMA and the FDA...now comes your local community college!
That was me...sorry about that...BTW
I recently posted more stuff to look at...
Cal,
I agree to a limited extent. Yes, a quality education is a privilege only to the degree that each individual student needs to be accountable for applying themselves and making the best of what is offered. Public Schools have not "failed" America. The record is quite mixed. Too often what is offered in one district is inferior to what is offered in another district.
I believe that all Americans are entitled to access to quality education. This is not only the right thing to do, it also makes sense from a global competitive perspective. America needs to leverage every willing brain in order to win in an ever-changing integrated world economy.
Check out U.S. Education System Leaves Too Many Behind for a global comparison of educational attainment.
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