The U.S. Educational System: A Postmortem
by John Shaw
I was reading an article this evening when I ran across an interesting quote. It was a simple slip of the tongue, the kind that people make every day, but it spoke volumes about the public educational system in the United States.
The article (Here) is the usual boring tripe... Children wanting to reenact Aztec human sacrifices as part of a "Social Studies" history performance, with the obligatory parental outrage and consequential banning (canceling, whatever) of said performance. The interesting part was a quote by the school's principal, who was disappointed that "The Children" were unable to have their little show:
"I felt bad for the kids," [Abby] Alter said. "They had a great time (putting the show together). It was school, but it was also a learning experience."
Okay... Time out... Let's look at that one again...
"It was school, but it was also a learning experience."
This is the part where my jaw should have dropped, of course. It didn't, because the truth of her little slip up struck me as far more ironic than profound; The American Public School System stopped focusing on learning so long ago that the words "School" and "Learning" must now be used as separate subjects in the same sentence.
Having been a victim of the public school system, I can say that Ms. Alter's statement was correct, even if misspoken. My experiences are eleven years gone now, but in 1992 it was the same story. We know the reasons why; Union teachers want more money, and will get it, as long as they perform their job well, (The students are getting good grades) but of course, there is an easier way to get that done. They can fake it. Just lower the standards by which the grades are given. The education itself may now be worthless, but the grades look fantastic and the union teacher gets an increased take of the loot. Either way, you and I are paying for it.
Ultimately, there are those children who will learn in spite of the system, by their own willfulness or good parenting, and in the end, they are the only ones who matter.
But it sure is a shame to see good minds wasted, let alone my damn money.
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