An endless drumbeat on television and in the cinema promotes
the belief that good students are nerds.
They are portrayed as socially awkward, bespectacled, pencil-necked
geeks who exist to be picked on and who can’t get any girls. It’s no wonder that our kids are not
interested in academics and are embarrassed when they get good grades. The anti-intellectual propaganda from the
media is just one of many short-sighted ways that the entertainment industry leads
us astray.
On the other hand, many of us baby boomers turn to our
grandkids when we need to learn how to operate our new digital alarm clocks and
smart phones. Video games are so popular
with our children that we have to pry their gaming gadgets out of their
clenched little hands to get them to do something physical … like run, play,
climb trees, and throw a ball for the dog to fetch. Maybe there is a lesson in that. Gaming technology may be a way to make
academics attractive.
The United States ranks fifth in expenditures per
full-time student amongst the countries
compared by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
(1) There is a long-standing
public perception, however, that the American school system is not giving the
taxpayer his or her money’s worth. This
view is reinforced by the poor academic achievement test scores our students
get, which compares unfavorably with the achievement scores kids attain in
other “developed” countries:
One of the biggest cross-national
tests is the Programme for International
Student Assessment (PISA), which every three years measures reading ability,
math and science literacy and other key skills among 15-year-olds in dozens
of developed and developing countries. The most recent PISA results, from
2015, placed the U.S. an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th
in science. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, which sponsors the PISA initiative, the U.S. ranked 30th in math
and 19th in science. (2)
Student Assessment (PISA), which every three years measures reading ability,
math and science literacy and other key skills among 15-year-olds in dozens
of developed and developing countries. The most recent PISA results, from
2015, placed the U.S. an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th
in science. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, which sponsors the PISA initiative, the U.S. ranked 30th in math
and 19th in science. (2)
Americans dislike coming in second at anything. Most of us find the middle of the pack
unacceptable.
To be fair, using achievement tests alone to compare the
effectiveness of educational systems in various countries is one-dimensional. The tests may not measure what they are
purported to. Testing may measure the
students’ test-taking ability, rather than whether they are able to apply
learning to a real-world environment.
American teachers say that over-reliance on testing forces them to teach
to the test, rather than to provide a well-rounded educational experience. Directly comparing the test results from
various countries without regard to variables like the size of their general
population, level of cultural diversity, incidence of drug abuse, and familial
support for education may be misleading.
Nevertheless, testing is the measurement that is most workable when
comparing academic achievement on a worldwide scale, and negative outcomes
cannot continue to be ignored.
Unless we use learning on a regular basis in our lives, though,
we forget much of what we learned after we have been out of school for say five
or ten years. Hopefully, what we take
away from school are the skills we need to inform ourselves when we need to, and to
understand the world around us. We absolutely must have the ability to convey ideas (more or less intact) to
others. So, how important is education
to individuals and to society, really?
In the United States:
Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary
schools in the United States
in 2015–16 amounted to $706 billion, or $13,847
per public school student enrolled
in the fall (in constant 2017–18 dollars). Total
expenditures included $12,330
per student in current expenditures, which
includes salaries, employee
benefits, purchased services, tuition, and
supplies. Total expenditures also
included $1,155 per student in capital outlay
(expenditures for property and for
buildings and alterations completed by school district staff or contractors) and $362
for interest on school debt. (3)
buildings and alterations completed by school district staff or contractors) and $362
for interest on school debt. (3)
That’s a lot of money.
We must, therefore, conclude that our society places a high value on
education. The conventional wisdom is
that the lifetime earnings of educated people are generally higher than those
who are less educated. The level of
education, and which schools the applicant attended, are almost always a factor
employers use in the selection of
employees. We worry that we will fall
behind in our ability to compete with other nations whose students have higher
academic testing scores.
Think about where you stand regarding education when you
pick the candidates you will vote for in November. Do they understand educational issues? Do they even care? Since our reality will include an educational
system, what should it be like? There
are those who believe that public education should focus on teaching the
“basics,” and eliminate the “fluff” in our schools’ curriculum. On the other hand, Liberals, progressives, socialists
and leftist special interest groups like the teachers’ union have been using
the schools as a vehicle for social change.
Is that what you want your taxes to be used for? Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said, “The philosophy
of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in
the next.”
More often than not our teachers go straight into the classroom after
graduation from college. Many have little
experience in the real world of private industry or public service (other than
teaching). Indoctrinated by leftist
professors, they teach that the profit motive is greedy and that businesses get
rich by exploiting the poor. As they
mature through life experience, seasoned teachers are often considered to be
“out of touch” and impediments to progress.
Their contributions based on a lifetime of acquired know-how are
disregarded. Do you like that?
A large chunk of the funding for education in the United States comes
from the federal government. If you have
worked in state and local government, you quickly learn that federal money always
comes with strings attached. Each new
presidential administration comes into office with a plan to “fix” the
schools. So, the educational system
often has to change how it does business every four to eight years. Does that seem to be wasteful and destructive
to you?
Germany has a more successful educational system than
ours (14th in Science, 15th in Mathematics, and 11th
in Reading). (4) Students’ progress
through Early
Childhood Education, Primary
Education, Secondary Education, Tertiary Education, and Continuing
Education based on academic achievement. (5) Academic standards and administrative laws or
rules are set by the federal government in cooperation with the states (Bundesländer).
(6) Japanese students score even more
highly on academic achievement tests ( 2nd in Science, 5th
in Mathematics, and 8th in Reading). (7) Japan has a five-tired educational system
(including college), and progress is based on the ability to pass stringent
entrance examinations to enter each level. (8)
Perhaps our efforts to reform our educational system might benefit from
a consideration of successful educational systems in other countries.
I intend to vote for candidates who have made themselves
aware of the challenges we face in education, and who offer positive,
constructive solutions to the problems we face.
I want to elect people who will work toward emphasizing the skills
students needed contribute to the success of our capitalist economic system and
constitutional republic. I
want the schools to produce students who will ensure that America will be able
to compete effectively with other countries.
I would like to see our academic achievement ranked in the top five in
disciplines like Science, Mathematics, Foreign Languages, Reading, and
Writing. We need people who are
proficient in Research, Geography, Geology, and honest History (not the Anti-American,
revisionist pap the schools are teaching
now). We should be giving our children
the ability to understand Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting, and
Computer Science. They do not need
Values Clarification, Sensitivity Training, and Underwater Basket Weaving.
I will not vote for candidates who want to use our
public, taxpayer funded school systems as “change agents” to promote socialism,
alternative lifestyles, and other progressive causes.
I think I have been clear. Where do you stand? We all have a stake in it.
(1) Letter From the Commissioner, National Center for Education
Statistics Education Expenditures by Country (Last Updated:
May 2020) https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cmd.asp
(2) Pew Research Center, FEBRUARY 15, 2017, U.S. students’
academic achievement still lags that of their peers in many other countries, BY DREW DESILVER https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/
(3) National Center for Educational Statistics, Fast Facts, https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66
(4) Pew Research Center, FEBRUARY 15, 2017, U.S. students’
academic achievement still lags that of their peers in many other countries, BY DREW DESILVER https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/
(6)
The
German Way & More Language and Culture in Austria, Germany
and Switzerland
(7) Pew Research Center, FEBRUARY 15, 2017, U.S. students’
academic achievement still lags that of their peers in many other countries, BY DREW DESILVER https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/
