A Shock

I remember reading a lot of outrage from educators when the mayor of NY appointed a publishing giant (as opposed to someone who might even remotely be tied to education) as head of the NYC schools.

And look what just popped up on the news -

The city's school chancellor resigned Thursday after three difficult months on the job, a defeat for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his decision to install a publishing executive with no experience as an educator to lead the nation's largest public school system.

What a shocker!

We all like to toss around ways to fix education (school vouchers, pay for performance, tracking, charter schools, get rid of teacher unions, end tenure, more high stakes testing, national standards . . . ), but it'll never happen.

I have come to believe that our schools (and the problems that plague them) are simply symptomatic of larger problems that plague America as a whole.

First,  get rid of the bullshit.

That means cut from schools everything that isn't devoted to the intellectual life of kids.  That means athletics, prom, homecoming, social services . . .  Chuck it.

If you don't believe me, ask yourself how much attention the European and Asian schools we hold up as the Holy Grails of education pay these factors.

Sports are - for the most part - all league sports.  They are not tied to school in any way.

Why do this?  Simple: it's too much to ask for a head coach to also be a highly effective teacher.  And by 'highly effective' I don't mean handing out worksheets and then doing stats or practice plans on the computer.  Now, I don't mean to imply all coaches are not effective teachers.  But just quiz yourself on who were your absolute best teachers who challenged and pushed you.  Did they do that because they had plenty of time to prep for their classes?  I find it hard to believe a teacher can do that when they miss two days a week in the spring for sporting events.

All the extras - prom, homecoming . . . - those are nice, but what impact on our adult lives do they have?  Now if you are a cynic and you come back with, well what impact does an English class have on our future adult lives . . . well, you have just proven my point.  Ask a classroom full of Indian or Chinese students that . . . and you'll see them mastering our own language (and how many Americans can master any other language than our own - and that is tenuous at times!) in order to steal our jobs.  Yet, we have students missing school to tan, go to Fargo to get a dress, get their hair done, or plan the skits for coronation.

All the social services schools have to provide (though well intended) are not the school's job!  It is not the school's job to try to make up for the miserable lives parents provide for their kids when not in school.  It's admirable that schools try to put a bandage to this gaping wound, but at what cost to student learning?

Finally, hire the best and the brightest.  Quick.  Think of the worst teacher you've ever had.  Or think of a class you took where you got an A and learned absolutely nothing.  How can this happen?  Because we don't hire the best and the brightest.  What would happen to a hospital if they hired whatever doctor chose to apply?  And then allowed that to just prescribe whatever he wanted or treat illnesses however he wanted (or better yet, just tell everyone they are fine or give them whatever meds they desired)!  Yet, that's what happens in many schools.

Simply put - we are too busy doing other stuff, that we neglect the intellectual lives of kids.  Worse yet, this is then reinforced through our culture.  Instead of having a serious talk about the nuclear calamity in Japan, one could have a serious talk about the Twins pitching rotation.  Instead of having a serious talk about the looming government shut down, we could have a great debate on who best deserves to be this year's American Idol.  Instead of having a discussion on what is transpiring in Libya, we could watch E! and talk about Dancing with the Stars.  Even when there are supposed 'serious' political debates, they are about such stupid things as whether our president is a citizen or if climate change is real.

We have become soft and complacent.  In short, we live in the land of the lotus eaters.  It's more fun to cheer for your team than it is to take an earnest interest in world affairs.  It's more fun to watch TV than it is volunteer or play with the kids.  It's more fun to shop and gossip with your kids and live vicariously through them than it is to sit them down and discuss with them what they learned (and didn't learn) in school and demand they do their work and get an actual education (rather than passively earn a degree).

But this will never happen.  The only hope is that China and India will rise up and America will become the has been England became when America usurped her spot as the strongest country in the world.  Maybe when (or if) that happens, our grand kids will get the kick in the ass that our grand parents (or great grandparents) got when they pulled themselves out of the great depression to become the greatest generation.

I guess there is a hope after all.