More Guns, Drugs & Queers: Fucked Up schools
This was a letter to the editor regarding an article in The Press Enterprise about the Federal Dept of Education coming down hard on California schools, warning them that if our pathetic report cards don't start getting better, adn soon, that the feds will step in and take the reins. And while I can't agree more on the feds' conclusion---that our schools are thoroughly screwed up---the idea that things will actually improve when they step in is ludicrous.
RE: ‘Failing’ Schools warned.
"More than half of Inland school districts could be failing..." Hmmm….sounds suspiciously similar to the infamous quote by one of our more, shall we say, synaptically-challenged presidents (whose name, and the exact wording of which, unfortunately escapes me at present). Nevertheless, I’ll paraphrase. The anecdote runs thusly:
Earlier this century, our president, upon being informed of the current state of education in the U.S., was “stunned and amazed” to learn that “fully half the population is of below average intelligence.”
Now, obviously, this statement regarding inland schools may not seem quite as ludicrous — not to mention being far less humorous in its ominous implications for the ever-diminishing liberty of American citizens. But when one takes into account the fact that, were it not for the State and Federal Government’s ham-fisted meddling in the nation’s formerly top-notch educational system, we almost certainly wouldn’t be stuck in our current enquagmiration. Really, it's a bit like the boss taking away the mechanic’s tools and then docking his pay for lack of productivity.
Like the presidential anecdote, this article highlights the ignorance inherent in governmental bureaucracies, right up to and including the man who occupies the Oval Office (regardless of his politics, beliefs, plans, ethics and/or party affiliations).
Someone please explain: just exactly where does our Constitution or the Bill or Rights give express consent for the Federal Government to trespass into literally EVERY aspect of our daily lives? And where does it give the Feds the right to fire (and by default, hire) local district officials---officials who are more than likely not at fault for their charge’s success or failure? Especially when those same officials are hog-tied by the various State and Federal politically correct educational “guidelines.”
Of course, I know it might seem it’s not that simplistic a debate; but when broken down to the basics, well, yes, it is that simple. The founding fathers NEVER intended the Feds to wield anywhere near the power they now wield (even Hamilton, that power-hungry conniver, couldn't have possibly imagined the megalomaniacal, bloodsucking leach which our federal government has become), like that infamous 800 pound gorilla. In fact, this is precisely why the constitution’s framers took the time and energy to pen such informative literature as “The Federalist Papers;” i.e. to inform this budding democratic republic’s future citizens of their future government’s purpose, its intentions, its powers, to specifically identify and enumerate its duties and, most importantly, to LIMIT this new government’s power over us.
LIMITATIONS. Yes, George, the President and everyone beneath him do have limitations. Limitations which our government has blatantly trespassed over virtually every time they’ve deemed it expedient toward whatever end they had in sight, be it racial integration, environmental protection, disarming law-abiding citizens, or even “interning” the Japanese, Germans, Italians and who-knows-who-else during the WWII. Of course, while the first two of that list were/are noble causes, the second two were patently ignoble and completely unconstitutional. Again, this is precisely why the state representatives DEMANDED the framers add the various Amendments, i.e. broad, sweeping rules precisely limiting the Fed’s powers and delineating the citizens’ rights to free speech, ownership of firearms, etc, etc.
But, after all is said and done — with utter contempt for their very own Constitution and hard-won Bill or Rights and Amendments — once again, the Feds will unconstitutionally ride roughshod into a situation and try to “fix” a situation which they themselves have in large part created. Yes, once again, like the ignorant (and arrogant) sit-com father who insists on throwing a bucket of water on a grease fire, the Feds will do nothing but perpetuate yet a larger and even more uncontrollable bureaucracy. And then that bureaucracy will in turn create ever more ham-fisted regulations, which will in turn result in ever more “failures” by hard-working (albeit shackled) educators, etc., etc., on and on, ad infinitum.
But, alas, they can’t help it. For, sadly, that is what our government now does best. If they had an honest advertising mantra, it would have to be:
WE SCREW THINGS UP!
It’s bureaucrats wrestling bureaucrats, and wasting trillions of our “voluntary contribution” tax dollars in the process. And yet, which of them ever feels the sting of their own bungling?! The answer: none of them, save the occasional politically expedient scapegoat. No, it’s those of us in the grandstands, those who pay the taxes, those who send their kids to these government-sponsored baby-sitting operations, and worse yet, it’s the kids who go home bruised and bloodied, both mentally and physically, by our 800lb gorilla of a government and its utter incompetence to manage the nation’s educational system.
Why? Because school systems with millions of kids and hundreds of thousands of teachers are simply too much to be managed—in toto. Period. School systems, and their management and resources belong to their own local folks; not to a bunch of incompetent bureaucrats in that giant marble mausoleum of freedom on the Potomac. No, it’s time for the people of the state of California to stand up to Uncle Sam’s education police and simply say “NO. You’re not welcome here. This is California. We will manage or mismanage our own affairs, because our own mismanagement is likely to be at least a little better than your mismanagement.”
That said, and so as not to be a naysayer without a plan, I submit the following 5-year plan:
First: Remove ALL political, environmental, sociological, and or religious/anti-religious material from all elementary classrooms; teach nothing but reading, writing and mathematics until elementary students are at what we now sadly accept as a “college-level.”
Second: Demand strict discipline guidelines: i.e. be on time, sit down, shut up and listen — or be removed to a class in which a stronger teacher is willing to deal with the “A.D.D. group.” After elementary school, these same disciplinary-problem kids, like myself, will have the option of shaping up or shipping out and joining the “real world.” (After we eliminate illegal immigration and severely cut back on legal immigration, there’ll be plenty of jobs for those kids who “choose” not to participate in school.)
Third: Since the states will once again be responsible for divvying up the “borrowed” loot from the various districts, (did I forget to mention that the federal Dept. of mis-Education has been abolished?) they themselves should begin by paring down their own wasteful bureaucracies to an absolute minimum level to be agreed upon not by the states officials but by a coalition of the districts. All monies for schools shall come from within their own tax base.
Fourth: Teachers and staff shall be interviewed, fired and/or hired by the local school district, which is in turn elected by the local voters. These school districts shall be responsible for setting their own requirements as to a teacher’s credentials, training and salary.
Fifth: Individuals who choose to opt out of the public education system shall receive 80% of their “voluntary contribution” back in the form of a cashier’s check to be used either by themselves or remitted as payment at any private school of their own choosing. (The only reason the local district keeps the 90% is because any child in the community may play on the school’s sports teams and/or use the school’s facilities).
Sixth: Abolish that greatest of all edu-socialist evils: Tenure. Period. Until someone can explain just exactly which royal exception to the universally accepted performance-equals-rewards-rule that should render only judges and teachers off-limits and therefore above the rest of us…well, until then lets just forget about such a blatantly self-serving and economically unfair concept as Tenure. Results will follow, and teachers will be forced to stay sharp and effective, or else be replaced by sharper and more effective teachers — teachers who are willing to compete and work hard for their pay (which will, as a consequence, be commensurate with their results, not their years as a permanent fixture of a dysfunctional system)…like the rest of us.
Lastly: abolish the U.S. Department of Education. There is neither a popular nor a constitutional mandate for such a burdensome and wasteful bureaucracy; it should be abandoned as a failed “social experiment.” The result will be millions more tax dollars to spend locally, not only on the schools but on the local economy.
Will these simple changes be the cure for all SocioEducational issues in our once-great country? Of course not; but it will without a doubt be a fairly sizable step in the right direction, toward a smarter, better educated, more productive, happier, healthier and wealthier next generation.
RE: ‘Failing’ Schools warned.
"More than half of Inland school districts could be failing..." Hmmm….sounds suspiciously similar to the infamous quote by one of our more, shall we say, synaptically-challenged presidents (whose name, and the exact wording of which, unfortunately escapes me at present). Nevertheless, I’ll paraphrase. The anecdote runs thusly:
Earlier this century, our president, upon being informed of the current state of education in the U.S., was “stunned and amazed” to learn that “fully half the population is of below average intelligence.”
Now, obviously, this statement regarding inland schools may not seem quite as ludicrous — not to mention being far less humorous in its ominous implications for the ever-diminishing liberty of American citizens. But when one takes into account the fact that, were it not for the State and Federal Government’s ham-fisted meddling in the nation’s formerly top-notch educational system, we almost certainly wouldn’t be stuck in our current enquagmiration. Really, it's a bit like the boss taking away the mechanic’s tools and then docking his pay for lack of productivity.
Like the presidential anecdote, this article highlights the ignorance inherent in governmental bureaucracies, right up to and including the man who occupies the Oval Office (regardless of his politics, beliefs, plans, ethics and/or party affiliations).
Someone please explain: just exactly where does our Constitution or the Bill or Rights give express consent for the Federal Government to trespass into literally EVERY aspect of our daily lives? And where does it give the Feds the right to fire (and by default, hire) local district officials---officials who are more than likely not at fault for their charge’s success or failure? Especially when those same officials are hog-tied by the various State and Federal politically correct educational “guidelines.”
Of course, I know it might seem it’s not that simplistic a debate; but when broken down to the basics, well, yes, it is that simple. The founding fathers NEVER intended the Feds to wield anywhere near the power they now wield (even Hamilton, that power-hungry conniver, couldn't have possibly imagined the megalomaniacal, bloodsucking leach which our federal government has become), like that infamous 800 pound gorilla. In fact, this is precisely why the constitution’s framers took the time and energy to pen such informative literature as “The Federalist Papers;” i.e. to inform this budding democratic republic’s future citizens of their future government’s purpose, its intentions, its powers, to specifically identify and enumerate its duties and, most importantly, to LIMIT this new government’s power over us.
LIMITATIONS. Yes, George, the President and everyone beneath him do have limitations. Limitations which our government has blatantly trespassed over virtually every time they’ve deemed it expedient toward whatever end they had in sight, be it racial integration, environmental protection, disarming law-abiding citizens, or even “interning” the Japanese, Germans, Italians and who-knows-who-else during the WWII. Of course, while the first two of that list were/are noble causes, the second two were patently ignoble and completely unconstitutional. Again, this is precisely why the state representatives DEMANDED the framers add the various Amendments, i.e. broad, sweeping rules precisely limiting the Fed’s powers and delineating the citizens’ rights to free speech, ownership of firearms, etc, etc.
But, after all is said and done — with utter contempt for their very own Constitution and hard-won Bill or Rights and Amendments — once again, the Feds will unconstitutionally ride roughshod into a situation and try to “fix” a situation which they themselves have in large part created. Yes, once again, like the ignorant (and arrogant) sit-com father who insists on throwing a bucket of water on a grease fire, the Feds will do nothing but perpetuate yet a larger and even more uncontrollable bureaucracy. And then that bureaucracy will in turn create ever more ham-fisted regulations, which will in turn result in ever more “failures” by hard-working (albeit shackled) educators, etc., etc., on and on, ad infinitum.
But, alas, they can’t help it. For, sadly, that is what our government now does best. If they had an honest advertising mantra, it would have to be:
WE SCREW THINGS UP!
It’s bureaucrats wrestling bureaucrats, and wasting trillions of our “voluntary contribution” tax dollars in the process. And yet, which of them ever feels the sting of their own bungling?! The answer: none of them, save the occasional politically expedient scapegoat. No, it’s those of us in the grandstands, those who pay the taxes, those who send their kids to these government-sponsored baby-sitting operations, and worse yet, it’s the kids who go home bruised and bloodied, both mentally and physically, by our 800lb gorilla of a government and its utter incompetence to manage the nation’s educational system.
Why? Because school systems with millions of kids and hundreds of thousands of teachers are simply too much to be managed—in toto. Period. School systems, and their management and resources belong to their own local folks; not to a bunch of incompetent bureaucrats in that giant marble mausoleum of freedom on the Potomac. No, it’s time for the people of the state of California to stand up to Uncle Sam’s education police and simply say “NO. You’re not welcome here. This is California. We will manage or mismanage our own affairs, because our own mismanagement is likely to be at least a little better than your mismanagement.”
That said, and so as not to be a naysayer without a plan, I submit the following 5-year plan:
First: Remove ALL political, environmental, sociological, and or religious/anti-religious material from all elementary classrooms; teach nothing but reading, writing and mathematics until elementary students are at what we now sadly accept as a “college-level.”
Second: Demand strict discipline guidelines: i.e. be on time, sit down, shut up and listen — or be removed to a class in which a stronger teacher is willing to deal with the “A.D.D. group.” After elementary school, these same disciplinary-problem kids, like myself, will have the option of shaping up or shipping out and joining the “real world.” (After we eliminate illegal immigration and severely cut back on legal immigration, there’ll be plenty of jobs for those kids who “choose” not to participate in school.)
Third: Since the states will once again be responsible for divvying up the “borrowed” loot from the various districts, (did I forget to mention that the federal Dept. of mis-Education has been abolished?) they themselves should begin by paring down their own wasteful bureaucracies to an absolute minimum level to be agreed upon not by the states officials but by a coalition of the districts. All monies for schools shall come from within their own tax base.
Fourth: Teachers and staff shall be interviewed, fired and/or hired by the local school district, which is in turn elected by the local voters. These school districts shall be responsible for setting their own requirements as to a teacher’s credentials, training and salary.
Fifth: Individuals who choose to opt out of the public education system shall receive 80% of their “voluntary contribution” back in the form of a cashier’s check to be used either by themselves or remitted as payment at any private school of their own choosing. (The only reason the local district keeps the 90% is because any child in the community may play on the school’s sports teams and/or use the school’s facilities).
Sixth: Abolish that greatest of all edu-socialist evils: Tenure. Period. Until someone can explain just exactly which royal exception to the universally accepted performance-equals-rewards-rule that should render only judges and teachers off-limits and therefore above the rest of us…well, until then lets just forget about such a blatantly self-serving and economically unfair concept as Tenure. Results will follow, and teachers will be forced to stay sharp and effective, or else be replaced by sharper and more effective teachers — teachers who are willing to compete and work hard for their pay (which will, as a consequence, be commensurate with their results, not their years as a permanent fixture of a dysfunctional system)…like the rest of us.
Lastly: abolish the U.S. Department of Education. There is neither a popular nor a constitutional mandate for such a burdensome and wasteful bureaucracy; it should be abandoned as a failed “social experiment.” The result will be millions more tax dollars to spend locally, not only on the schools but on the local economy.
Will these simple changes be the cure for all SocioEducational issues in our once-great country? Of course not; but it will without a doubt be a fairly sizable step in the right direction, toward a smarter, better educated, more productive, happier, healthier and wealthier next generation.
posted by Jefferson | 6:05 PM
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