OT: The sorry state of public schools
Apologies for an off topic rant:
For any who have children, I think serious consideration needs to be given to educational choices.
Once upon a time--within some of our lifetimes depending on where you lived--public schools were really community schools. They were run by, mostly funded out of, and largely reflected the standards, values, and mores of the community in which they were located. They largely embodied Jefferson's vision for providing education to all regardless of their ability to pay.
While there are good, intelligent, competent, and dedicated teachers left, I do not know of any regular public school that still fits the description of a community school. In Utah we have a growing number of public charter schools, some of which are closer to the community school ideal, but where the community is defined by those who choose to attend and support, rather than by geography. Most private schools (secular and parochial) are quite honest and upfront about what you are getting and you pick one that meets your needs. Home schooling gives great control if one is able and willing to do it. But regular neighborhood schools?
Federal and Statewide funding means that the feds and State exercise far more control than the local school board. No Child Left Behind and Common Core are just different names for the same idea: someone outside your community is setting standards and curriculum. And with textbook publishers rushing to be "common core certified" or to meet the mandates of large buyers like the State of California or Texas, there is ever less chance for parents, or even principals, teachers, or local school boards to really make any meaningful decisions about education.
Many school schedules as well as continuing education requirements now preclude teachers working summer jobs even as the union has convinced most teachers that year round work is beneath them. Most teachers are coming from the bottom 25% or so of college admission test scores, are terrible at math and English themselves, and have really spent 4 years in a teaching college being indoctrinated that little boys should act like little girls or else they have ADHD and need medication. Most math curriculum in use today are--at best--woefully inadequate at teaching the language of science. At worst, they have been designed to deliberately kill any interest in the subject. Ditto for history which presents as little more than disconnected vignettes more worried about having an equal number of women and minorities than about actually imparting a working knowledge of the critical events that lead from the distant past to our present condition. Many schools are dropping cursive entirely; and how do the kids read our founding documents or any other historic handwritten items if they can't read cursive?
Obviously, the individual teachers make all the difference. A good teacher in an otherwise crappy school is probably a better environment than a bad teacher in a great school. But in many cases, no matter how badly someone wants to make airplanes, if he is working in a pocket watch factory he probably isn't going to get airborne. And there are some real gems of schools left. But don't assume that just because you bought in an expensive zip code with "good" schools, that the schools are actually acceptable to those who expect more than babysitting and a lack of violence.
I know we spend a lot of time, effort, and money to be prepared to defend ourselves and our families' physically.
I would suggest that their mental, emotional, spiritual, and educational well being is also worthy of our best efforts, time, and finances.
Get actively involved. Choose schools and teachers carefully. And stay involved with the school work.
Charles
