Mythologic nostalgia says 1950s America had the best public high schools in the world — large based on the image of well-appointed schools in wealthy suburbs. It did not. Quite the contrary, American schools, in toto, have always been low-ranked.
We should not be surprised. America is a country that lags in providing universal healthcare, a robust financial safety net, or even paid parental leave.
The truth is that while America has figured out how to make consumer products ever cheaper (even in times of inflation), it sucks at “systems.” In 1960, for instance, TVs typically had 19 or 21-inch screens and cost c.$300. — or $3,000 in today’s money. And early remotes cost the equivalent of $800. Now you can buy an Insignia 24-inch TV for under $100 on Amazon — with the remote thrown in. The price arc on computers reflects the same trajectory. And both have technology that earlier generations could not have imagined.
But when it comes to systems, America is failing. We built the interstate highways and sent a man to the moon. But our infrastructure is antiquated and crumbling. And NASA last landed a man on the moon almost 50 years ago. Our airports are second-rate. Our rail network is a plodding joke. Even the military, the beneficiary of over $700 billion annually, has had a spotty war record since WWII. The “war on drugs” has proved a $2 trillion boondoggle.
And in education we continue to fail our children. And it seems like it is getting worse.
Why? I am not an expert in academic philosophy or educational theory. But some things are obvious. Schools have sunk into a political morass, exacerbated by the patchwork system of school districts — many in the hands of unintelligent malcontents who see conspiracies in every classroom.
Loudmouths, lacking even a basic knowledge of pedagogy, but fired up by fear-mongering politicians, show up to district meetings and browbeat school boards. Small but well-funded and well-organized groups of paranoid zealots elect anti-educators to oversee schools. And Republican Governors, looking to be reelected — some with presidential ambitions — paint schools as Democratic propaganda mills built to convince (white) students they ought to be ashamed of themselves. And should change their gender.
To put their bigoted rhetoric into deed, Republican state legislatures pass laws that ban reality in history curriculums and shoehorn religion into science class. And to complete the intellectual evisceration, they accuse teachers of using deviant texts to brainwash the young — while complaining that school libraries are replete with pornography and LGBTQ+ instructional manuals. And metaphorical book burnings ensue.
School teachers have suffered abuse for years — a favorite beef is that teachers get the summer off. But that is hardly their fault. It is the way the school year works. Besides, I doubt many people work harder when on the job. And this abuse, along with low pay and an ever-increasing workload, has had a predictable effect. Teachers are leaving the profession. And young adults are increasingly less likely to pursue a teaching career.
This shortage of teachers has led to emergency measures such as those reported by the Washington Post,
“Rural school districts in Texas are switching to four-day weeks this fall due to lack of staff. Florida is asking veterans with no teaching background to enter classrooms. Arizona is allowing college students to step in and instruct children.”
And these desperate measures are replicated country-wide. As Dan Domenech, executive director of the School Superintendents Association said of the teacher shortage,
“I have never seen it this bad. Right now it’s number one on the list of issues that are concerning school districts ... necessity is the mother of invention, and hard-pressed districts are going to have to come up with some solutions.”
Meanwhile, conservatives are trying to defund school districts by issuing school vouchers. Currently, 9% of teens attend private school — 75% of those schools are religious. What percent of kids would attend private schools if school vouchers became mainstream? Who knows? But whatever it is, it would further strain public school finances.
Children taugh in religious schools, on the taxpayer’s dime, learn God only knows what kind of superstitious rot. Actually, we do know what sort of fanciful nonsense these places teach. They tell us. Here, for example, are excerpts from the Valley Christian Schools (Arizona) high school curriculum ,
Biology is a sophomore-level lab science course which is an introduction to the life sciences. It covers topics such as how God reveals Himself through creation [and] a Christian approach to science.
It is an elective course designed solely to give the students a taste of these four areas of study. Incorporated into all of this is scientific evidence that points to an intelligent creator vs. the random chance theories of evolution.
In the 11th grade United States History class, students survey the history of our nation from a biblical perspective, discovering how God’s hand has guided in its formation and development .
Learners will discover how to recognize, evaluate, and rebuttal tenets that flow from false presuppositions. They will also learn how to defend their faith with a variety of epistemological sources, such as the Bible (the ultimate source of truth), science, reason, intuition, etc.
Personal Finance is a one-semester elective class offered to those who desire to learn how to plan and manage their own personal finances, and take responsibility as a citizen according to God’s economic principles based in scripture.
If you are religious — and religion gives you strength, comfort, and a moral code, without feeling the need to interfere in other people’s lives — more power to you. But there is no ‘Christian’ version of science — any more than there is a Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist version. Science has nothing to do with religion. It answers the question “how?” not “why?”
Many people subject to religious propaganda and parochial education will not understand the difference. And that is not good for the future of America. Supernatural explanations for concrete reality lead to many dumb beliefs, including witchcraft. And America is close to revisiting the Salem witch trials.
Public schools teaching politically engineered curriculums, along with religious schools, are sending young adults into the world with a knowledge gap. An inability to think critically. And ready to elect politicians who cater to their basest instincts. So the cycle repeats.
That’s one man’s opinion. Let me know what you think.