Public education: drink the poison

Public education is the means by which a government can equip its citizens with knowledge, and knowledge is power. A society of powerful people is a powerful society, and in this sense education is the single most important aspect of any civilization in the constantly transforming modern world. The ideas and sciences of mankind have become so vast and complex that trying to pursue them without guidance is comparable to navigating an ocean in a rowboat; you might make it, but you better go buy a sextant and a sturdy fishing pole, sailor.
It is the duty of a righteous government to furnish everything it possibly can to encourage the independent growth of young minds, and to encourage their innate fascination with the world. This ideal is absent in America. Instead, education is a priority that is put on the back burner and administered in counter-productive ways.
One of the many faults that currently plagues American education is a lack of proper funding. In 2006 the United States government spent a total of more than $2.8 trillion. A whopping 3 percent went to education. Every year, nearly half of the Washington state budget is allocated to primary and secondary education facilities, and still there are programs being cut, classes being dropped, and teachers being terminated. It is unacceptable to spend more than 10 times as much money on the military as is spent on schools, but our government continues to do it year after year.
More money is a good start, but it is not the final solution. A critical evaluation and reformation of our curriculum and standards is sorely needed. Standardized tests are a heinous excuse to generate vague statistics and need to be completely eliminated (which will also save money). Bubbles on a score sheet will not reveal the needs of a particular child or his peers; this practice is like throwing a bunch of avocados on a scale and calling the heaviest ones the best ones without checking them for pathogens or insects. What is needed is a wholesome approach with a human element. Teachers need to be trusted to remark upon the needs of their students, and to be appropriated the materials necessary to provide for those needs.
Every year, high schools must offer multiple basic science and math courses for the abundance of kids who continually fail freshman and sophomore classes. A student fails these classes for one of two reasons: they are either unable to learn the material in a standard classroom environment or are unwilling to do the work. In the case of the former, it is not a solution to continue putting them through the same courses when it is clear that they need and deserve a different approach. In the case of the latter, online courses and a variety of other options are perfectly viable choices that could open up classrooms and teachers to administer higher level subjects to students who are motivated and who excel academically. In any case, repeating the methods that have failed in the past is not the solution.
Rather than create a free and open environment where kids can feel welcome and involved, public schools have instead become pedantic nightmares. Kids are not allowed to leave the school freely even with legal consent of the parents (I don’t know what other people call this, but I call it incarceration). Court dates are scheduled under the ridiculous Becca bill during school hours to resolve punishment for students skipping school, regardless of their conduct or behavior and regardless of their academic performance. When students feel as though they have completed their academic duties during class, they will often be harassed by teachers for reading a book or engaging themselves in other harmless and solitary activities. A student’s attention is often demanded when it is not necessary. The provided justification for these rules and punishments is that students must be taught responsibility. Forced compliance will never teach responsibility, and belongs nowhere in our society outside of prison or the military.
In a 2003 study conducted by UNICEF regarding the effectiveness of education programs in industrialized nations, America placed 18th out of 24 countries. Closer to the top of list are countries like Korea, Finland, and Japan. Based on the overall academic performance of fourth graders, the USA was considered “above average” on the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. American 12th graders were considered “well below average.” Something keeps going wrong in that eight-year stretch, and it isn’t that Americans are inherently less intelligent than the rest of the world. This problem needs to be remedied. In order to do that, things have got to change.
The change starts with you. Adults get on television and spew dogmatic complaints about the lack of funding and decreasing test performance while failing to see that the problem is not in the system, the problem is the system. The extent of student dissatisfaction with schools is expressed in attendance records instead of in publications, protests, and movements. If there is something wrong with school, speak up about it. While it shouldn’t be a crime to forego your education, doing so won’t communicate a clear message.
Write us here at the Hawkeye so we can do a follow-up article with your specific complaints. We can even put up a pretty picture of you. Organize a standardized testing boycott or, shoot, even a school boycott. Whatever you do, make sure it has a thoughtful message.
Rebellion is your means to an end, and you should harness its potential for positive change. Get out there, kid, and be loud. You don’t need a broadcast tower or cathode tubes to make a statement.

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