EDUCATION LESS ABOUT ‘EDUCATING’ AND MORE ABOUT DIVERSITY…

So what is it that has now become the primary purpose of the public school system in this country?  Because I can’t help but wonder if we have now gotten to the point where any longer even bother with trying to pretend that what it’s about is providing the best education possible to our children?  Because it would seem to me that that is no longer the case.  What it has become increasing about is the complete and total brainwashing and indoctrination of our young in an effort to mold them into future government worshiping robots.  I only say that because we no longer seemed to care all that much whether or not our teachers are actually capable of teaching.  

You see, it’s very soon that prospective ‘teachers’ in the not-so-great-state of New York will likely no longer have to pass a basic reading and writing literacy exam in order to become a teacher.  That state’s Board of Regents is expected to ditch the ‘Academic Literacy Skills Test’ in part because black and Hispanic ‘teaching’ candidates struggled to pass the exam.  Apparently, just 41 percent of black teaching candidates and 46 percent of Hispanics were able to pass the test on their first try, compared to 64 percent of white candidates.  And since ‘teaching’ is really no longer about ‘teaching’ it has been deemed appropriate to simply do away with the test. 

The multiple choice exam is meant to ensure high standards among prospective teachers, which many teaching preparation programs have struggled to do.  So I guess who needs to worry about high standards when what we really need to focus on is increasing our quotas for blacks and Hispanics.  And really, who is it that is unable to pass your basic multiple choice test?  Apparently, it no longer matters if teachers are dumb as rocks, after all, we’re only entrusting them to teach our kids.  Right?   But then, as I said earlier, what we are entrusting our schools to do, is a far cry from what is actually being done in our schools. 

A December 2016 study by the ‘National Council on Teacher Quality’ found that 44 percent of teaching programs “cannot ensure that most of their incoming candidates are among the top half of college students.”  A state task force recommended the board scrap the exam because of the number of black and Hispanic candidates struggling to pass it.  The board is expected to adopt the recommendations on Monday.  The ‘National Council on Teacher Quality’ bills itself as being an advocacy group which claims to advocate for tougher evaluation of classroom teachers.  And yet, apparently, being able to read and write isn’t a necessary skill for teachers.

And then there was some Pace University ‘professor’, Leslie Soodak, who said, “We want high standards, without a doubt. Not every given test is going to get us there.”  As you likely already guessed, Prof. Soodak was a member of the task force that advocated abandoning literacy tests for teachers.  Soodak went on to say, “Having a white workforce really doesn’t match our student body anymore.”  So education has become less about providing the most qualified teachers and more about being satisfied with less qualified teachers that more closely match the racial makeup of the student body?  What a totally ‘progressive’, totally stupid idea.

Opponents to the exam unsuccessfully attempted to have it struck down in court in 2015, arguing that it was discriminatory because racial minorities performed worse on the test than white candidates, but a federal judge then declined to strike it down.  But how dare anyone suggest, or demand, that those hired to teach our children actually be able to read, write or be at least somewhat familiar with the subject they are supposed to be teaching!  Don't you see your racism for what it is?  White people are born able to read, it's all part of their white privilege!  Don't you dare suggest that others aren't hired just because of their qualifications!

So what we have here, once again, is nothing more than the dumbing down of our public education system and all in the name of that favorite subject of the left, diversity.  But what about what's best for the students?  Oh, I’m sorry, silly me!  It shouldn’t be about that all and, actually, it hasn’t actually been about that for quite a number of years!  What it's about, what's it’s always about, and what it MUST ALWAYS be about, is what’s best for the future of the Democrat Party.  And of course that would be because ensuring our children are kept as ignorant ensures they grow in ignorant adults which in the best interest of the Democrat Party.

Look at the last 20 years of education, where teachers have at one time or another been directed not to use red ink when grading papers, or never to use the word fail, for no other reason than to avoid hurting the little kiddies feelings.  So should we really be surprised to hear that things have now progressed this far.  Look at what’s being turned out by public schools: students who are taught that they were winners even when they weren't, that they've done great when they failed, so naturally, they’ve learned very little, and they were just passed on up the chain to get rid of them.  They leave school with no understanding of how to deal with the real world.

ARE WE GETTING OUR MONEY'S WORTH FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

My wife recently opened our property tax bill for the year, and imagine our surprise when we saw that the portion identified as school taxes was in the amount of $900. Now I live in a fairly large county here in northeast Florida, and it has some of the worst schools in the state, leaving me wondering just what I'm getting for my money. Obviously, not much. So therefore, I think it very safe to say that the answer to the question, at least from my perspective, would be a very resounding NO! Which brings me to a new study that has recently been released by the American Enterprise Institute together with The Heritage Foundation. What study apparently shows, at least at face value, is that when you compare public school teachers to private-sector, non-teacher workers with similar educational backgrounds and work experience, using standard comparison techniques, the two groups come out about equal. But having said that, Hertiage’s Jason Richwine, who co-authored the report with AEI resident scholar Andrew Biggs, seems to think that where public school teachers are involved, more analytics should come into play when evaluating what their compensation actually is. This includes comparing not only wages but benefits and what the authors call “fringe benefits.” When you weigh all the factors that Richwine and Biggs take into account when comparing public school teachers and non-teacher private workers, teachers win making 52 percent more. The report authors equate this to $120 billion overcharged to tax payers each year.

Here are just a few of the highlights from the Richwine and Biggs report: 1) Public school teachers earn less wages compared to non-teachers for the similar level of education they have received. 2) There is no wage gap between the two groups when they are matched on an objective measure of cognitive ability rather than on years of education. 3) Public school teachers earn more than private school teachers, when both schools compared are secular and follow the standard curriculum. And finally, 4) Workers who switch from non-teaching jobs to teaching get a pay raise of about 9 percent. Teachers who switch to non-teacher jobs have decreased wages by 3 percent. And a summary of the study clearly shows that with the factoring in of certain measures in addition to wages (i.e., fringe benefits), when comparing public school teachers with private, non-teacher workers of similar education and experience, teachers make more. The authors of the reports equate this to 52 percent more in wages costing up to $120 billion per year. And I'm sure it can go without saying that in responding to this reports, the American Federation Of Teachers made the claim that the assertions made in the study are of poor reasoning and should get a “flunking grade.” This is the sort of idiotic response we can expect from this uselss organization and should really come as no big surprise to anyone, especially when you consider that this organization is far less interested in our children than they are about the collecting of dues that they can then donate to Democrat candidates.


So anyway, now you may asking, what exactly are those previously mentioned “fringe benefits” comprised of, just what kind of things are we talking about here? Now I think we are all very well aware of the fact that anytime you have union involvement, the cost of the end product, in this case the education of our children, the cost is dramatically increased. Unfortunately, at the same time there is a just as dramatic decrease in the quality of that same product. And that is the same when talking about public school education. So, according to the report, we have public school teachers who receive far better pensions and extremely generous retiree health care benefits when compared to non-teachers at a similar level. The report also notes that there exists much higher job security for public school teachers. The authors of the report state that “we find that job security for typical teachers is worth about an extra 1 percent of wages, rising to 8.6 percent when considering that extra job security protects a premium paid in terms of salaries and benefits.” Public school teachers also have a lower unemployment rate compared to private workers, according to the report, with public school teachers at 2.1 percent and private school teachers at 4.1. As with any public employee, which teachers essentially are, it's almost impossible to fire them, they're just shuffled around in the same system. Thus we remain saddled with crappy teachers until they finally retire, to then enjoy their exorbitant retirement packages, courtesy of the taxpayer.


Now of course I don’t think I really need to mention the fact that The American Federation Of Teachers’ in its response to the report, issued a statement, according to NPR, calling the analytics of the report “ridiculous” and in some cases “pure fiction”: "This report contains a number of ridiculous assertions, such as arbitrarily assigning 8.6 percent as a “job security premium” teachers supposedly enjoy. This “job security premium” is pure fiction, given the 278,000 public education jobs that have been lost during this recession. There’s no basis for this claim—it‘s simply a placeholder used to lead to AEI’s conclusion. In our business, such reasoning would get a flunking grade. The truth—backed by reputable research—is that few, if any, workers subsidize their professions like teachers. America’s teachers spend hundreds of dollars per year on classroom supplies for their students and work longer hours than their peers in other nations, including late afternoons, evenings and weekends grading papers, preparing lesson plans, talking with students and their parents, and other school-related work." If we're going to be honest here in describing what defines "pure fiction," I think it fair to say that that would include anything that comes from this organization or any representitive of it, when they try to tell us that their primary concern is to provide the best education possible to our children. We spend more on education in this country than does any other inductrialized nation, and yet our kids come nowhere near being able to compete with students from other countries in areas of math, science or reading. So what does that tell you?

YOUR GOVERNMENT-RUN SCHOOLS AT WORK...

The Promise Of America Is. . . Socialism? Since when, exactly? Apparently ever since the leftists in our government, aided and abetted by corrupt unions seized control of our public schools. Because that’s exactly what is being taught in many American government run schools. Our public schools, it would seem, over the course of the 30 years degenerated into what are essentially nothing more than community indoctrination centers. Centers of dis-information specifically designed to properly prepare students for entry into any of our institutions of higher learning where the task of brainwashing is brought to its successful conclusion. Those whom we have always been able to trust to actually "teach" our children, long ago forgot what their true mission is. And because of out of control teachers' unions, we, the parents, have gradually become powerless in our ability to rid the educational system of these zealots, thus having them left in place, free to poison the malleable young minds of our children.

It's always under the guise of they’re "teaching" our children to read, or how to do math, or, to write, that these fanatics seize upon the opportunity, and devise ever new and creative ways in their attempt to plant the seeds of Socialism within the minds of our young and very impressionable children. It’s these same revisionists who take such great pleasure in they’re completely rewriting the history of our country. Some of the most important parts of our history that make this country truly exceptional among all other countries are simply glossed over, or never mentioned at all. As I child I was always taught to respect my teachers, and I have taught my children to do the same. But I'm afraid there are very few teachers today who are deserving of any level of trust whatsoever. Their role has drastically changed over time, becoming less teacher and more indoctrinator, and they have chosen to embrace this new role and have aggressively set out to exceed the mandates outlining the level of indoctrination to be achieved at specific grade levels.


For example, are you one of those Americans who believe that the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States mandates the following: "The People’s basic needs must be met in a country. Needs for housing, education, transportation, and health care overseen by our government system." No? Apparently this is the type of cockamamie BS that has managed to work its way into lesson plans in schools all across the country. In fact those very words are being chanted over and over and over by school children in too many parts of our country. Our whole educational system has come completely off the tracks. And it is something that those in charge have no desire to get firmly back onto the tracks. This is all part of an educational program called Building Fluency Through Practice and Performance. This section is called ‘The Promise of America’ and it breaks down the fifty-two word single sentence that is the Preamble.


Here is the original:


"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."


Now while disguised as a “reading” exercise, the Preamble has now been turned into a five page choral project with commentary planted inside this very simple sentence. Here is an example. Make note of what the children are being asked to read after the words ‘promote the general welfare’:


People’s basic needs must be met in a country.
Needs for housing, education, transportation and health care, overseen by our government system.


This “method” of “teaching” is something that we simply cannot, as responsible parents, allow to continue. It comes nowhere near to fitting the definition of education. This bastardization of our educational system at the hands of these socialist propagandists has resulted in an amount of damage that is incalculable. This type of behavior is nothing less than criminal. For today’s teacher to practice such a level of deceit against our children is inexcusable. That they can such pleasure in purposely lying and distorting and still manage to call it "teaching," is, yes, a criminal act. To imply that the Preamble or the Constitution actually includes such imbecilic notions as having the government responsible for meeting the people’s needs for housing, transportation and health care, is reckless at best and at worst, dishonest. So, I guess instead of actually teaching the Preamble and Constitution as it is written, “teachers” from coast to coast now seem to be very comfortable in altering it so that it more closely matches up with their version of history. They are taking it upon themselves to enthusiastically implement the indoctrinating of our children about the “benefits” of Socialism and have a new tool in their effort, all thanks to a company called Teacher Created Materials. TCM sells ‘The Promise of America’ to thousands of school districts all across the country as well as over 100 countries around the world. Apparently even after several phone calls were made to this outfit, its printing company Shell Education and New York City sales outlet Sussman Sales, very little specific data was obtained regarding just how many schools are currently using this crap, ’Promise of America.’ But one company rep has said that the “Fluency program is really, really popular.” I'll just bet that it is!


This is exactly the kind of training that is reminiscent of old Soviet-style indoctrination and the recent stories leaking out of North Korea in the summer of 2009 when Kim Jong il was reportedly close to stepping down and handing over control to his son. And it also, apparently, is the brand of training very much favored by Barry's Department of Education or possibly whatever Czar has been tasked with wiping out any chance of our children ever being able to form any kind of an independent thought. It shows just how entrenched into our educational system these psychotic leftists have managed to become. And when you add organizations such as this TCM into the mix, combined with the eagerness of our "teachers" to use it to the fullest extent possible, is it any wonder the caliber of graduates produced. The products of our public school system cannot read and are not the least bit knowledgeable regarding any of the important aspects of our history. But because of 13 or more years of constant indoctrination, they very willingly embrace the whole concept of progressivism and multiculturalism and all the nonsense that goes with them.


Dong-A Ilbo (the country’s official newspaper) stated that North Korea notified its diplomatic offices and is teaching its people a song in praise of the anointed leader. The North Korean school children started learning the song first. Indoctrination starts with the young ones. Sounds eerily reminiscent of when not too long ago we heard American school children singing about Barack Hussein Obama, Hm, Hm, Hm. Our current government run school system is today nothing but a joke. Our schools are literally filled with "teachers" who have absolutely no business being anywhere near a classroom. They preach poison and they willingly advocate a political philosophy that has failed everywhere it has been tried and is responsible for creating nothing more that abject misery and death. And yet, they feel justified in doing so. Until the parents in this rise up and shout this far and no farther nothing will change, and our kids will be the only losers.