Everyone is Failing and it's All Your Fault

The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same

A version of this article appeared in the February 2012 AJC “Get Schooled” blog.  This, with minor changes, is an updated version.

Everyone is Failing and It’s All Your Fault….     

     Drug abuse education, alcohol abuse education, parenting, character ed, special ed, gender equity, environmental ed, women’s studies, African – American education, school breakfast, school lunch, daily attendance, computer education, multi-cultural ed, ESL (ELL, ESOL), teen pregnancy, Jump Start, Even Start, Head Start, Prime Start, Bright from the Start, Kindergarten, Pre-K, alternative ed, stranger/danger, anti-smoking ed, mandated reporting, CPR training, defibrillator training, anaphylactic shock recognition training, inclusion, internet ed, distance learning, Tech Prep, School to Work, Gifted and Talented, at-risk programs, keyboarding, dropout prevention, gang education, homeless ed, service learning, gun safety, school safety, armed intruder training, bus safety, bicycle safety, drivers ed, bullying ed, obesity monitoring, BMI (body mass index) monitoring, financial literacy, diabetes monitoring, media literacy, hearing and vision screening, on-line education, CRCT, EOCT, GHSWT, SAT prep, ACT prep, dual enrollment options, post -secondary options, AP, honors, IB, STEM, STEAM, adult ed, career ed, after-school programs, psychological services, RTTT, CCGPS, CCRPI and oh yes - classes……………..shall I go on?  Wonderful ideas all, and each deserving attention – and all have come to be the responsibilities of our schools and teachers.  On top of these (and other duties) we add tight budgets, longer school days, larger classes, higher expectations, a political agenda that actively encourages blaming teachers for societal issues, the denigration of public education, market based solutions, teacher evaluations tied to student test scores despite all evidence to the contrary and a continued reliance upon standardized test scores as an accurate depiction of student learning and achievement with no substantive research to support such a position.  Let’s not forget that student failures automatically become the fault of the teacher even if no work was attempted or turned in and that make up work is allowed for ANY reason and that weak administrators have taught parents that all they have to do is blame the teacher and social promotion has become an inherent student right. No wonder teachers are discouraged.  No wonder teacher morale is at an all- time low.  No wonder experienced teachers are retiring in droves and no wonder colleges are not turning out enough new teachers to replace them. So, in the face of all that and more, is there a silver lining somewhere in that big black thundercloud?

      Not really.  Add to that burden the daily diatribes blaming teachers for their failure to successfully raise and, almost as an in loco parentis afterthought, educate our country’s children and we begin to see the need for something to replace our outdated, shopworn, hideously corrupt, inefficient and failing system of public education.  Hold on just a second…………can that be right?  

     Is this a new phenomenon?  Has public education deteriorated over the past thirty years or so to its current level, where the Mariana Trench seems a high point by comparison? Not by any stretch of a politician’s fertile imagination.