Education and the state of the union
There was a time when reading the news was informative and interesting, just another part of my morning routine. Today that is not the case, I find myself turning to the spouse even before looking at the day’s headlines and asking him, what fresh new hell today has brought. I’m not a fan of those folks who cry that the sky is falling on a regular basis and yet more and more I find myself in that bucket.
Reading the Plan B and Plan C of the Michigan wannabe kidnappers is horrifying. https://abc7ny.com/michigan-governor-gretchen-whitmer-kidnapping-plot-militia/8079861/ I’m not going to recap the entire story in this column, suffice to say, it reads like something out of a third world country ruled by war lords. This is domestic terrorism, in the middle of an ongoing epidemic, during a time when our federal government is not functioning.
Looking for reasons as to how we got here, I could rail against FOX news, the “alternative facts” theory put forth by Kellyanne Conway, and the horrific negligence of the GOP led Senate. The truth though is, in my opinion, far bleaker. How we educate our children sets the tone for the next generation and the GOP has been highly successful with their efforts to to dumb down text books across the nation. This began in the 1960s, at a kitchen table of all things. It would be an incredibly interesting story if it weren’t so damn depressing. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2012/06/21/how-texas-inflicts-bad-textbooks-on-us/. The sorts of things that have been added to public textbooks are the stuff of nightmares, eg., referring to evolution as theory, not scientific fact, leaving the New Deal out of America’s timelines, refusing to acknowledge blues music as one of America’s great musical accomplishments, and eliminating suicide hotline numbers for teens and gays and lesbians.
Adding to the textbook debacle, there have been laws passed, supposedly to improve our national education system, “No Child left behind,” which focuses almost entirely on test scores and not actual learning, and “Goals 2000,” which had hidden expensive gotcha mandates that caused many schools to not even try to comply, are just a couple. Don’t even get me started on low teaching wages across the board and private, particularly religious schools, that do not mandate a teaching degree, certification, or even experience teaching.
Our country has a lot of complex challenges ahead of us, many caused by ignorance and the growing divide between the have and have nots. I firmly believe that an educated populace would be able to overcome these challenges, create more jobs, better the standard of living for everyone, and hold our elected leaders responsible. I also believe that is why the GOP is working so hard to ensure we do not have an educated populace.
I don’t know what the answer is, though I do believe reducing our defense spending and increasing our educational spending is a good first step. Re-evaluating the electoral college which puts critical decisions in the hands of a few, often in the poor and uneducated areas is another big step, and considering term limits on Supreme Court justices, Congress, and others in addition to mandatory job requirements (do you understand how the government works, do you have experience, have you been successful in the jobs you have held, are there accusations of fraud, tax evasion, sexual assault, etc. ) are all areas we need to be having national discourse about. All of these things though are not enough unless we address the education issue. An informed and educated individual with critical thinking skills would see that FOX is a propaganda machine for the right, an informed populace would not accept alternative facts, or the idea that climate change is not proven, or the idea that making the rich richer benefits the nation, or that universal healthcare should be anything but a basic right.
We have a lot of work to do, and the sooner we get started the better, when those who teach are paid well, respected, and given what they need, we all benefit from the fruits of their labor. When ignorance is seen as acceptable, even encouraged, we all bear the brunt of bad decisions, violence, bigotry, and hatred.
