As frequent readers of my posts can attest, I have a lot of criticisms of the current state of public education. Between substandard curricula that emphasize ideological indoctrination over fundamental knowledge and the quality of teachers declining faster than a dip on the tallest roller coaster ever, there is what the military would call a “target-rich environment.”
But for those who put in the work to educate children, they have another problem: children who aren’t ready to learn. Late last year, a 7th grade teacher went viral due to a video where he said many of his students had “4th grade skills” as he put it. The scary thing? This is not unique to this one teacher. After his TikTok video was posted, other teachers began posting similar horror stories about how unprepared public school students are going into higher and higher grade levels.
Part of this is due to politics, surprise surprise. Democrats and Republicans alike have advanced stupid laws with the stated purpose of improving public education, but that have made it harder for students to succeed in meaningful ways. There are two laws in particular within the past 25 years that have made this educational Hellscape possible: No Child Left Behind, and the Every Student Succeeds Act. The two laws are similar in many ways, but they also share the fact they don’t work.
That’s because they’re not intended to work on any significant level. One of my Immutable Truths is “Government is not in the problem-solving business,” mainly because there’s too much money and power to be gained by continuing the chaos. With public education, though, there’s much more damage done by continuing the status quo. Yet, to change things would require both sides to give up on their ultimate goal: to keep children as dumb as humanly possible so they can be better controlled.
Sorry. Got a little dark there.
But if you think about it, both sides of the aisle have a vested interest in keeping generations of people subservient to their side, whether it be through promised funding for pet causes or convincing their followers that non-followers are the scum of the Earth. The current environment in America makes the Hatfields and McCoys look like a water balloon fight, and the battle over public education (and what version of the curricula is being shoved down kids’ throats) isn’t helping matters.
So, this leads to a vital question: where are the parents? Welllllll…that’s a bit more complicated thanks to social media, ego, and general thoughtlessness. Think about the “Karens” and “Kevins” you may run into at the supermarket, restaurants, or well-known stores like WalMart and Target. Now, consider these folks are procreating or have procreated. In that kind of entitled environment, is it any wonder our kids are more screwed up and entitled than ever?
Not that society has done anything to discourage it, mind you. Today you’re more likely to find someone who is still playing Farmville than you are to find someone who isn’t completely obsessed with themselves. Social media and traditional media alike have made it all the rage to be the center of your universe, and anyone who tries to steal your sunshine is just a “hater.” The thing is not everyone can be in the spotlight at the same time, and the more you think you deserve it more than anyone else, the less you stay connected to reality and humanity.
So…what do you think happens when every child is amazing (just ask their parents) and can’t ever fail? You have teachers getting burnt out, frustrated, and having to vent about how unprepared students are these days.
The scary thing? They’re not wrong.
The even scarier thing? It’s been going on for decades.
Even as far back as my public school days, I could tell something was different from when my two older brothers were in school. It was almost as though the standards were starting to get looser and it was taking longer to catch up from the end of the previous school year. And compared to what my brothers had to learn, I got off easy, as they got off easy as compared to what our parents had to learn.
And now we have 7th graders who don’t even know basic math. But don’t you dare hold them back or suggest they need to study more or else their parents will ream you up and down with a rototiller. We’ve gotten to the point we’re passing underperforming students year after year because we’re more concerned with their feelings than we are about whether they’ve learned anything.
And who gets blamed if the students aren’t learning? That’s right. It’s the teachers, and in some cases it’s valid. At some point, even the most passionate teacher reaches the point of don’t give a damn anymore and tries to coast until retirement. But it’s the passionate ones we need to support because they do give a damn.
I remember the good and the bad teachers I’ve had because they’ve had an impact on my life, albeit for different reasons. I may not know a thing about trigonometry, but I wouldn’t be as logically minded without the teachers who took the time to work with me on algebra. I may not have cared about what the Gross National Product of Paraguay was, but I wouldn’t have as deep an appreciation for different cultures without spending time in social studies class. And I wouldn’t be as prolific or as good (relatively speaking) a writer if I hadn’t had teachers encourage me to appreciate the English language like I do.
And, yes, these were all public school teachers whose investment in my life I can never repay.
The key to successful students begins at home. Create an environment where knowledge is encouraged, passions are permitted to grow, and parents are involved and invested in preparing the next generation to be lifelong learners. Your children will inevitably be reflections of you, and if I may be so bold, too many are poor reflections. You gotta get in there and get your hands dirty. Learn alongside your children by taking an interest in what they’re doing. Get inside their heads and find something you can do together. Don’t just shove them out the door and expect teachers to do it for you.
As far as the teachers are concerned, I have the utmost respect for your profession, but you still have some work to do to weed out the bad ones and elevate the good ones. Remember, these are the people who will be running things in a couple of decades, so we might need to make sure they have the tools they need to be successful.
Now, for the political class. Get out of public education, at least on the federal level. You can set all the standards, give students as many tests, and pass them from grade to grade as frequently as you want, but if you’re best efforts don’t make conditions better, it’s time you let the states take up the cause. After all, they are a lot closer to the touch points than any bureaucrat in Washington, DC, could ever be. Let the states handle the practical side of education for a change.
Then maybe, just maybe, the students of tomorrow won’t have to graduate high school without knowing what a circle is.
