Mending Walls—Education

Many of the problems facing the U.S. today—public misinfornmation about immigration, the economy, energy, to name a few—can largely be laid at the feet of our modern prisons for kids (also called by those who know or little care, “public education”). The Random Yak spotlights a minor area of miseducation that implies volumes about the rest of “education” in our modern prisons for kids in his piece at The real Ugly American, “Average geographic literacy…makes me ill.”

…an interesting new study being reported this week shows that nearly 1/3 of young Americans polled cannot find Louisiana or Mississippi on a map.

That’s a labeled map.

Of the United States.

Now, that’s surprising. What’s surpriseing to me is that 2/3 could find Louisiana and Mississippi. After all, recent college graduates didn’t fare that well comprehending the contents of newspaper editorials. According to a recent survey (see here as well) half of college grads can sound or puzzle out words, but are clueless when it comes to comprehending the content of a newspaper editorial.

Where did the walls start to fall in public schools, allowing the barbarians (educrats, Academia Nuts and the generally clueless, lazy and incompetent) take over the show? Much as I hate to admit it, the worst breach in the walls came when Dwight Eisenhower sent in the troops to enforce desegregation. Laudable as the goal was, letting the federal camel in to poop on the rug was a bad idea.

And things have gotten steadily worse ever since.

Or does anyone want to argue that despite doubling spending per pupil (in real dollars adjusted for inflation) in the last thirty years that the “product” of that spending is NOT less well-informed and able to gather and understand information than previously?

If there are folks who want to attempt that argument, may I once again refer you to The Random Yak’s short disquisition on geographic illiteracy?

“If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.”—A Nation At Risk – April 1983

What to do?

Now that the barbarians are on the inside, as it were, and have built the walls back up to protect what is now their turf, what shall we do to build proper walls around the education system for future generations of Americans? (Well, I hope there’s time to provide for future generations of Americans, rather than simply succomb to invasion and become “Aztlanians” or full-fledged Dhimmis. *sigh*)

First, tear down the wall!

Breach the educrappic wall with freedom of choice. The problem was created politically; fix it politically by pressuring your congresscritters, state reps and local pols to accept and implement a voucher system so that parents—all parents, not just the rich, the politically well-connected, etc.—will have a real choice about where their children attend school. Sure, some will stick with pubschool prisons for kids for a variety of reasons—stupidity, laziness, lack of caring for their childrem and even in some very rare cases because the local pubschool is pretty decent.

But enough will vote with their feet to create a breach in the wall.

After that, it’s up to the parents to assure that their children excel*. If—IF—the next generation really does achieve a level of education that dwarfs the pitiful experience of their parents, then maybe, just maybe, it’ll be a little harder for Mass Media Podpeople, Academia Nuts and Political Poltroons to continue pulling the wool over their eyes.

And this dream can happen. Unless… unless a coupla things work together in poisonous synergy: a desire among Mass Media Podpeople, Academia Nut “education” professors and Political Poltroons to keep the masses stupid (thus protecting the turfs of these scum) and… laziness, compounded by wilfull stupidity and ignorance, among the masses.

Lil test question: What book have you read recently that is mentally stimulating, challenging and informative? did you simply accept its message/contents uncritically, or did you challenge and affirm or deny its contents by your own digging into the background facts?

X-Posted at The Real Ugly American.