EDUCATION: A REALLY DUMB SYSTEM

My oldest daughter used to be a high school biology teacher. Now she stays at home taking care of our two year old grandchild while the seven year old is off at school. She is extremely involved in the activities of her son’s school, helping out in many ways and staying on top of what’s happening in his class. She’s even a member of the Parent Advisory board which is set up to help the school staff.

My seven year old grandson is a bright little guy. He was skipped from first to third grade this year and is handling that jump very well. He reads at about an eighth grade level, does math about fifth grade level and is quite knowledgeable about science and many other subjects. Fifteen or twenty years ago he would have been recognized as a “gifted” child and some avenues for more challenging and interesting educational experiences would have been opened for him. It’s true that he has been jumped a grade. It’s also true that he has been given some extra opportunities in a program called ACT (the meaning of which I have forgotten). In that program he uses a computer to delve into some higher level reading and such. But in today’s educational system there are no gifted children.

Today, in these times of political correctness, all children are special. Now that sounds nice and to a large degree is true. But in the drive to create an homogenized student population, with no failures and with all students receiving exactly the same level of attention, gifted kids are not being allowed to really develop their higher capacities for learning. At the risk of sounding like an old traditionalist I will say that even as short a time ago as when my kids were in school, there were “Gifted and Talented” programs that gave those who were identified as slightly beyond the norm, opportunities for quicker and more in depth educational growth. These programs still exist in a highly modified way. But the school bureaucracies are very reluctant to put a kid into the program. In fact the programs are not even labeled “Gifted and Talented” for fear that the less able children might in some way be damaged because they aren’t in the program. Or, even worse, the kids in the program may in some way be damaged by the higher expectations placed upon them or the possibility of growing inflated egos.

Over the past ten years or so the educational system has taken many really dumb steps towards “dumbing” down the schools. Some of these steps have even moved into the world of children’s sports. Kids that play sports are given trophies for playing, not for winning. Schools give awards for showing up and participating, not for doing outstanding work and succeeding. In the world of education, unlike the real world, there are no winners and losers. I’ve read some of the articles and books written by the educational “experts” that make an attempt to justify and encourage this trend. They are, in my un-educated opinion, a bunch of hogwash. Stifling a naturally competitive child instead of channeling his or her competitiveness in a healthy way is just plain dumb. Making a classroom full of kids a bunch of lower level drones is also just plain dumb.
Pushing severely handicapped (sorry, challenged) kids into a regular classroom environment and supplying special tutors to help them keep up while slowing down the rest of the class is, you guessed it, dumb. Not having recognized and viable “Gifted and Talented” programs is equally dumb.

But the world of education is not like the rest of the world. In spite of a great deal of noise in recent years about accountability and effectiveness in the educational system little progress has been made. Almost all school districts are top loaded with administrators who have little to do other than devise and direct foolish programs that hamper and in many cases destroy any real education. The Federal and State governments have huge departments created to design curriculum, regulate diversity, set so called standards, and implement testing programs which have the effect of doing nothing more than creating a massive paperwork glut. The teachers unions are still a powerful force in keeping incompetent and ineffective persons in their jobs. And while teachers salaries have been traditionally lower than those of other fields they are nowadays much improved and accompanied by some very fine benefit packages including a great deal of time off. So the problems aren’t due to a lack of funding. Money has been poured into education in chunks of billions of dollars. I respect teachers, especially those who do a really good job in spite of the bureaucratic ropes that are tied around their creative teaching efforts. They have a tough job made even tougher by policy makers who have no concept of what happens, or worse, what should happen in a classroom. These good teachers, if they can persevere and not burn out, deserve a great deal of credit and a comfortable retirement. They aren’t really to blame for the dumb things that happen in the schools. But dumb things keep on happening. And they are happening due to the efforts of some of our, supposedly, smartest citizens.

As usual I’m a whiz when it comes to seeing a problem and complaining about it. A solution, however, is not in my bag of tricks. I guess the best we can do is vote for legislators and school board members who have a little common sense. I’m pretty sure we missed some opportunities on that score in the recent election. Time will tell. Meanwhile if you’ve got kids in school do what my daughter and her husband try to do. Get involved and question policies that don’t make sense. When dumb ideas and programs are pushed into the school, organize parents and push back with common sense and clear thinking. It’s a tough job and bound to get tougher. I’m glad my two kids are done with school because I don’t know if I’d be up to the task. But I think they are and their kids will be fortunate because of it.

Have a fine day.