The piece is entitled Back to (the wrong) School and it shares some perspective on the evolution of the modern public school educational system - where it started and where we're at. As kids all over the country embark on another year of school, your MatchGirl thinks this is something that we need to look at.
I don't have kids. Some day I might. I might not. But I think about the educational system in America - my mother is a teacher as are several friends - I hear a lor from them, on their views on what works and what doesn't and how kids are treated (and how parents, teachers and administrators are treated). It's been a long time since I've been in a public school classroom, but I'm not without perspective. I wonder what can be done to fix a system that is so very broken.
And I wonder how many people actually care.
I remember going to school board meetings when I was a kid and having old men stand up to speak against new initiatives, saying "It was good enough for me, it should be good enough for these kids." These guys are still around. And their voices are loud.
We live in a country that places such little value on education. We live in a society that makes fun of and diminishes smart people. We live in a country where people decide who they'd like to be President by whether he's a good bowler or if they'd like to have a beer with him. We live in a society where if you are different, you are bullied.
And it's getting worse.
As this election season gets under way, your MatchGirl worries for the future of America. She worries what will become of the schools. She worries what will become of the next generation, and the one after that. Not only is the country not creating jobs for the future, we're not even making sure the next workers we're raising can do the ones of the present.
Important post, Briana. Many people *DO* actually care. I sit on the budget committee for my local school board and see the very difficult decisions that need to be made to continue to provide quality education with diminishing resources. There is a battle every year to *not* raise taxes with most of resistance coming from those who don't (or no longer) have children in the school system. We've become a society reluctant to invest in the future. Is it because we are selfish, or that we don't trust our leaders to spend wisely?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughtful comment, Alan. I think, unfortunately it's not an either or question. Many people do not trust leaders to spend wisely (and who can blame them, watching the logjam in Washington) and many many people are selfish. They want to keep every penny to themselves. They will happily spend money on a new luxury for themselves, but when it comes to giving a hand up to someone in need - and this includes the children that are the future of this country - they can't see beyond their own selfish needs.
ReplyDeleteThere are few people who can see beyond their own backyard. It will ruin us.