What's Wrong With Our Education System?
There is nothing wrong with the education system...that can't be fixed by looking at the real problem instead of throwing more and more money at the problem. Money is not the solution to the problem as many politicians would like you to believe. Firing all the teachers and administrators isn't the answer either.
The problem doesn't even start in the schools as many would have you believe. The problem starts with the progressive idea that everything should be free. States set up the progressive "mandatory attendance" laws and that forces all the youth of our country to attend school whether they want to or not. Those who don't want to end up making problem in the classroom and on the school campus, disrupting the education of those who want to attend and learn. Teachers and administrators spend more time dealing with inappropriate behavior than they do teaching.
Parents think that the teachers and administrators should do two things. 1) They should make their kids learn, and 2) they should make their kids behave. Now where does that attitude come from? It comes from the fact that they have been brainwashed into the "entitlement mentality". They feel that because the government takes care of their every need, that the school should do the same for their children, after all the government program states, "No Child Left Behind." All I have to say about this attitude is that "you can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."
I worked in two different school districts along the Texas/Mexican border for 12 years and I must say that I was sadly disappointed in the state of affairs in those two school districts. In one there were candy and soda machines in the lobby and the students would flock to them between classes. However, the Student Handbook prohibited the students from eating in the hallways or classrooms. With a five minute passing period from one class to the next, how would it be possible for the 800 students to get to the machines, eat their sweets, and get to class on time? The answer is they didn't. If they didn't get their confectionary fix within the alloted five minutes, they would make some excuse to leave the room during class (the most common was that they had to go to the bathroom) and go purchase their candy and eat it (in the hallway) as they were going back to class.
I approached the principal with the problem and pointed out that we were forcing the students to make a decision as to whether to violate the rules by getting candy and eating it in the hallways or in the classroom, or go hungry or get out of class to get it later. I pointed out what the Student Handbook rules were, and that by allowing this kind of behavior we were teaching the students to be juvenile delinquents. They were tempted to break the rules by the fact that the candy machines were available (except when it competed with the school lunch program, when they were shut off then). Her answer was, "Well we make a lot of money off those machines."
So, in this school district, teaching good moral character took a back seat to making money off of the machines. Doesn't that have something to do with where the priorities of the school district were? I received the same response from the acting Superintendent of Schools, so I guess money was more important than morals there.
My experience at the other school stemmed from the fact that the students were under the impression that the teacher was responsible for passing them. They had the idea that if the teacher failed too many of them, they would be fired, so the students didn't have to do anything to earn a passing grade, the teacher would be forced to give it to them. Well the administration proved them right. During the first semester of the 2009-2010 school year 47% of my students refused to even turn in any homework (a 20 minute assignment each day and this while the principal admitted that the other teachers weren't giving homework.) The district policy was that the students be graded 60% on their performance and 40% on assessments. So when the students didn't turn in their assignments, they lost 60% of their grade and they needed 70% to pass. A majority of these same students were failing up to 4 classes.
After the end of the semester the Principal called me into his office and dressed me down for having such a high failure rate (like I deliberately failed these students). He wouldn't listen to any argument for the reason they were failing. He didn't want to hear how many other classes they were failing, he just told me that I had to do something different so that they could pass the class. The next year I was moved to another school (the Freshman Campus where the first semester 300 of 700 students failed 4 or more classes for the semester) and told that the only reason I was still teaching was because I had another two years on my contract.
This incident prompted me to go to the Junior College that serviced my high school and two others to ask for a data work-up on the number of students coming straight out of high school that needed "developmental education" (classes in any combination of reading, writing, or math) before they could start receiving credits at the junior college. The results were that between 2004 and 2009 as high as 65% of the students entering directly from high school needed developmental education in one or some combination of all three areas (most needed training in at least 2 of the subjects).
That means that even though these students were receiving their diploma from high school, they weren't educated well enough to continue their basic education. So do you think they were prepared to step into a job somewhere that was more than the basic menial labor position?
The parents of each graduate class were so proud of their graduating senior(s). They were content that their student(s) had received that piece of paper that said they were educated enough to either continue on to college or that they were prepared to step into the workforce and be viable members of society even though they couldn't read, write, or do the basic math that it takes to do either.
So who is at fault? Our society is. We have allowed our government to force us into school whether or not we want to go. We have accepted the bare minimum to be our standard of excellence. We have allowed the government to threaten parents and schools with law suits if it perceived that the discipline was not what they agreed with so that both parents and school teachers/administrators are afraid to administer the discipline needed to procure for society a generation that is self-disciplined and educated.
So who is to blame? The deliberate degeneration of a law abiding citizenry by the progressives in government, that's who. A majority of Americans have become so dependent on the government that they will do what ever it takes to keep the government assistance coming. They have become lawless and dependent. Their progeny has grown up expecting the same so why should they work either at a job or at school for what they receive?
The only way this trend will change is for us to return to the work ethic that this country once had. If you will remember, even though there had been many recessions before the "Great Depression" this country was on its way up the ladder of success. Even though some failed and had to start over again, most were succeeding and the country was progressing economically. It wasn't until the government intervention started (with farm subsidies and the like) that the country's economic progress started slowing down. Yes, it looked like we were progressing through the world wars, but that was because we were all working together (half the country wasn't living on the dole). Now we have the progressives in power who are doing their utmost to "divide and conquer" by giving to the "most" by taking away from the "rest."
The Progressives in power would like nothing more than to see the chasm between those that give and those that receive develop into a violent altercation. My fear is that either way it will come to that. If those who pay stop paying, the government will take it or tell the receivers that the payers stopped paying and have them "take it out of the payer's hide". On the other hand, if the payers continue being extorted until they have nothing left to take and then the receivers will riot because they aren't receiving any more.
The only way for those who have been successful and have a work ethic to overcome the odds is for us to make sure every individual that is being exploited and those who think this exploitation is wrong gets out and votes to overturn and reverse what has been done that takes away so much of our free choice in our lives.
A blog that puts forth the ideals engrained in the Constitution and how returning to the basic principles the Founding Fathers put into it we can solve the problems we have created for ourselves by straying from these principles. Read The Tapestry (posted at the bottom of the page) it might just give you a new perspective as to what direction this country is headed in. (Note: Older posts are contained in the archives to keep the length of the blog shorter.)
Who am I?
- Bill Pressgrove
- Retired History teacher with special interests in the Constitution and Government.
Fair Tax for America
The Tapestry
The Tapestry
By William L. Pressgrove
Written in 1992, edited Nov 2009
Once upon a time, there was a land far, far away full of beauty. There was lush vegetation like tall trees, colorful flowers, winding rivers, snowy mountains, and grassy plains. The land was exceedingly rich in natural resources because the ruler of the land had blessed it with all things he had the power with which to bless it. The ruler of the land was a jealous ruler so anyone who came to live on this land had to make a covenant to worship him only. If the people ever forgot, or would not worship the ruler of the land, they would be swept off of the land because the ruler of the land would not be mocked.
As the story begins, there is evidence that the land had been peopled several times. Artifacts found in the land indicated that each group had broken their covenant with the ruler of the land and had been destroyed or they had destroyed themselves.
Another people in a distant land heard about this strange and beautiful land and desired to move to it. They made arrangements to move, many having to take great losses as they sold their goods and possessions, but to them the promise of the new land and freedom were worth all their sacrifices. These people became known as "Freemen" because of their love for freedom.
When the Freemen arrived in the new land, they found people already living there. These people were called "Landers" because they were a people who lived off the land and used it to their benefit, somewhat wisely, but the Landers had forgotten the ruler who had blessed the land, thus they had fallen out of favor with him. Therefore, the Landers lived without his protection. The Freemen learned of the ruler of the land and made a covenant with him to worship him and him alone. So, whenever there was a problem between the Freemen and the Landers, the ruler would favor the Freemen. There were several wars between the two groups because the Landers didn’t want the Freemen taking their land and gaining a foot hold in it. The Freemen prevailed and became established in the land. They prospered and began to fill the land, because they remembered their covenant with the ruler of the land.
The Freemen continued honoring the covenant they had made with the ruler, but the mother country from which the Freemen had come didn’t want them to become independent. The Freemen had to break away from the mother country’s hold on them before they could fully live the covenant they had made with the ruler of the land. They knew if they would break with the old country, the ruler of the land would assist them to become secure in the covenant they made with him.
The old country didn’t want to lose control of their colony in the new land because of its exceeding riches, so it began to exercise more control over the colony and make unreasonable demands on the Freemen. The Freemen had to pay more and more taxes for the goods they received from the mother land. The mother country taxed the Freemen without allowing them to be represented in government.
Even with the help of the ruler of the land, there was a great war between the old country and the colonists in which many of the Freemen paid the ultimate price for freedom. The greatest men of that generation spilt their blood to gain the independence they were seeking.
The people, having won their freedom began to live all the terms of the covenant they had made with the ruler of the land. They set about to fix laws by which they could remain free in this new land. They hadn’t forgotten the help they received from the ruler of the land, so they incorporated rules and regulations that allowed the people to have the freedom of choice in their new nation. This freedom of choice was a right they fought so valiantly to gain, and they recognized that it was the only way they could truly worship the ruler of the land.
The leaders of the country of Freemen made a tapestry into which was woven the rules of the government they had formed. This tapestry displayed to all the world the freedom the new nation of Freemen stood for. The tapestry was held high and was revered by all who had taken part in obtaining freedom for the new nation and had worked so hard to set up a sound government.
As time went on the Freemen, who had made the covenant with the ruler of the land and had fought beside those who died for it, passed away. Their children remembered the covenant and the tremendous sacrifice their fathers had made by holding the tapestry high and reverencing those who had made their freedom possible as well as the ruler who had help secure it.
Several generations passed away reverencing the tapestry and enjoying the freedom it represented. Eventually, those who were placed into government positions decided that they could improve the laws that the tapestry represented. They began to make these changes and told the people they were for the betterment of the country. As a symbol of each change they removed one thread from the fabric of the tapestry, one thread for every change.
All the changes made the Freemen feel that the government was caring for them and that the changes were making the country better. The tapestry didn’t appear to have suffered from the changes either. The threads that were removed were hardly, if at all noticeable.
As the years passed the Freemen became less self-sufficient and more dependent on the government to sustain them. Politicians began to realize that by making promises of more aid to special interest groups they could garner more votes from the people in exchange for more money from the government coffers. Sadly, the people began to expect more and more support from the government without ever thinking about where the government was getting money.
Before they were aware of it, the people had become so dependent of the government that they began to forget about the covenant their fathers had made with the ruler of the land. The government became more important to them than the ruler of the land. Historians began removing all references to the ruler of the land from the history books used to teach the children about the Founding Fathers of the country. Those in power also began passing laws that prohibited the mention of the ruler of the land in public places. As these changes were being made, the politicians and now even the historians took more threads from the tapestry to make it conform to their new way of thinking.
Even though so many changes were being made to the tapestry, the people still revered it and considered it to be the fabric of the country and said that it was so strong that no one or nothing could ever tear it apart. They held it high on every Independence Day to display to the world how proud they were of it. They would boast of being the greatest nation in the world. They were proud of the strength of their military. They would occasionally show their strength by defending "freedom" by supporting international causes supposedly to keep the peace.
One day, a dispute began among the leaders of the country as to whether the laws the tapestry represented were still valid because times had changed and technology had become so advanced. Some thought that the laws the tapestry contained were outdated and needed to be scrapped and a new one drafted. Others thought that with just a few more changes, that the old tapestry would be just fine. As a graphic representation of this argument, a verbal tug-of-war ensued each side being on opposite sides of the tapestry. As they began the tug-of-war it was plain to see that the tapestry would be torn apart by the argument. Those who wanted the Constitution to remain quickly made some serious concessions to the opposing party with the understanding that they would keep the "old" tapestry as the countries symbols of freedom.
The tapestry was changed so much that it was just a shell of what it had been and so many threads had been removed from the tapestry that it began to look like an old shredded cloth. As the government was discussing more changes to the tapestry, an enemy came into the land and began to take possession of it, killing and enslaving the people as they went. The mighty army was sent out to fight this intruder, but found that it was so weakened by the lack of discipline that it was no match for the invasion. You see, they had become weak because of the lasciviousness that had been allowed by their leaders, that they didn’t have the moral fiber to hold them together as a fighting unit.
Finally citizens, who had been weary of the actions of the politicians, took up their arms and the tapestry as a banner in defense of their country. They were seriously hampered in their efforts because some of the new laws that were passed made it difficult for them to retain their firearms, so they were fighting with whatever they could get their hands on. These citizens were those who had believed in and kept the covenant with the ruler of the land and were sustained by their faith that he would help them to rid their country of the invaders. Joined by those of the military who had recognized the lasciviousness that had overtaken their forces and had maintained themselves apart from those activities, these citizens prevailed and began to repel the invaders.
After much bloodshed this new army prevailed and defeated the invaders, but not before the capital city and those who were in it was destroyed. When peace was restored, the original tapestry was found almost totally shredded into pieces. It was held together by one brittle thread. It was taken to a laboratory to be restored.
The threads that had been removed were found in the archives and were brought out and laid down side by side so they could be restored to the tapestry. As this process began, the workers noticed that the threads had tiny strands of gold woven in them at various places. When they were all laid down together they discovered a word had been woven into the threads, a word that when embedded in the cloth held the tapestry together tightly but was imperceptible to the naked eye. A word that when removed bit by bit over time had allowed not only the tapestry, but the fabric of the nation to fall apart as well. That word?–God.
By William L. Pressgrove
Written in 1992, edited Nov 2009
Once upon a time, there was a land far, far away full of beauty. There was lush vegetation like tall trees, colorful flowers, winding rivers, snowy mountains, and grassy plains. The land was exceedingly rich in natural resources because the ruler of the land had blessed it with all things he had the power with which to bless it. The ruler of the land was a jealous ruler so anyone who came to live on this land had to make a covenant to worship him only. If the people ever forgot, or would not worship the ruler of the land, they would be swept off of the land because the ruler of the land would not be mocked.
As the story begins, there is evidence that the land had been peopled several times. Artifacts found in the land indicated that each group had broken their covenant with the ruler of the land and had been destroyed or they had destroyed themselves.
Another people in a distant land heard about this strange and beautiful land and desired to move to it. They made arrangements to move, many having to take great losses as they sold their goods and possessions, but to them the promise of the new land and freedom were worth all their sacrifices. These people became known as "Freemen" because of their love for freedom.
When the Freemen arrived in the new land, they found people already living there. These people were called "Landers" because they were a people who lived off the land and used it to their benefit, somewhat wisely, but the Landers had forgotten the ruler who had blessed the land, thus they had fallen out of favor with him. Therefore, the Landers lived without his protection. The Freemen learned of the ruler of the land and made a covenant with him to worship him and him alone. So, whenever there was a problem between the Freemen and the Landers, the ruler would favor the Freemen. There were several wars between the two groups because the Landers didn’t want the Freemen taking their land and gaining a foot hold in it. The Freemen prevailed and became established in the land. They prospered and began to fill the land, because they remembered their covenant with the ruler of the land.
The Freemen continued honoring the covenant they had made with the ruler, but the mother country from which the Freemen had come didn’t want them to become independent. The Freemen had to break away from the mother country’s hold on them before they could fully live the covenant they had made with the ruler of the land. They knew if they would break with the old country, the ruler of the land would assist them to become secure in the covenant they made with him.
The old country didn’t want to lose control of their colony in the new land because of its exceeding riches, so it began to exercise more control over the colony and make unreasonable demands on the Freemen. The Freemen had to pay more and more taxes for the goods they received from the mother land. The mother country taxed the Freemen without allowing them to be represented in government.
Even with the help of the ruler of the land, there was a great war between the old country and the colonists in which many of the Freemen paid the ultimate price for freedom. The greatest men of that generation spilt their blood to gain the independence they were seeking.
The people, having won their freedom began to live all the terms of the covenant they had made with the ruler of the land. They set about to fix laws by which they could remain free in this new land. They hadn’t forgotten the help they received from the ruler of the land, so they incorporated rules and regulations that allowed the people to have the freedom of choice in their new nation. This freedom of choice was a right they fought so valiantly to gain, and they recognized that it was the only way they could truly worship the ruler of the land.
The leaders of the country of Freemen made a tapestry into which was woven the rules of the government they had formed. This tapestry displayed to all the world the freedom the new nation of Freemen stood for. The tapestry was held high and was revered by all who had taken part in obtaining freedom for the new nation and had worked so hard to set up a sound government.
As time went on the Freemen, who had made the covenant with the ruler of the land and had fought beside those who died for it, passed away. Their children remembered the covenant and the tremendous sacrifice their fathers had made by holding the tapestry high and reverencing those who had made their freedom possible as well as the ruler who had help secure it.
Several generations passed away reverencing the tapestry and enjoying the freedom it represented. Eventually, those who were placed into government positions decided that they could improve the laws that the tapestry represented. They began to make these changes and told the people they were for the betterment of the country. As a symbol of each change they removed one thread from the fabric of the tapestry, one thread for every change.
All the changes made the Freemen feel that the government was caring for them and that the changes were making the country better. The tapestry didn’t appear to have suffered from the changes either. The threads that were removed were hardly, if at all noticeable.
As the years passed the Freemen became less self-sufficient and more dependent on the government to sustain them. Politicians began to realize that by making promises of more aid to special interest groups they could garner more votes from the people in exchange for more money from the government coffers. Sadly, the people began to expect more and more support from the government without ever thinking about where the government was getting money.
Before they were aware of it, the people had become so dependent of the government that they began to forget about the covenant their fathers had made with the ruler of the land. The government became more important to them than the ruler of the land. Historians began removing all references to the ruler of the land from the history books used to teach the children about the Founding Fathers of the country. Those in power also began passing laws that prohibited the mention of the ruler of the land in public places. As these changes were being made, the politicians and now even the historians took more threads from the tapestry to make it conform to their new way of thinking.
Even though so many changes were being made to the tapestry, the people still revered it and considered it to be the fabric of the country and said that it was so strong that no one or nothing could ever tear it apart. They held it high on every Independence Day to display to the world how proud they were of it. They would boast of being the greatest nation in the world. They were proud of the strength of their military. They would occasionally show their strength by defending "freedom" by supporting international causes supposedly to keep the peace.
One day, a dispute began among the leaders of the country as to whether the laws the tapestry represented were still valid because times had changed and technology had become so advanced. Some thought that the laws the tapestry contained were outdated and needed to be scrapped and a new one drafted. Others thought that with just a few more changes, that the old tapestry would be just fine. As a graphic representation of this argument, a verbal tug-of-war ensued each side being on opposite sides of the tapestry. As they began the tug-of-war it was plain to see that the tapestry would be torn apart by the argument. Those who wanted the Constitution to remain quickly made some serious concessions to the opposing party with the understanding that they would keep the "old" tapestry as the countries symbols of freedom.
The tapestry was changed so much that it was just a shell of what it had been and so many threads had been removed from the tapestry that it began to look like an old shredded cloth. As the government was discussing more changes to the tapestry, an enemy came into the land and began to take possession of it, killing and enslaving the people as they went. The mighty army was sent out to fight this intruder, but found that it was so weakened by the lack of discipline that it was no match for the invasion. You see, they had become weak because of the lasciviousness that had been allowed by their leaders, that they didn’t have the moral fiber to hold them together as a fighting unit.
Finally citizens, who had been weary of the actions of the politicians, took up their arms and the tapestry as a banner in defense of their country. They were seriously hampered in their efforts because some of the new laws that were passed made it difficult for them to retain their firearms, so they were fighting with whatever they could get their hands on. These citizens were those who had believed in and kept the covenant with the ruler of the land and were sustained by their faith that he would help them to rid their country of the invaders. Joined by those of the military who had recognized the lasciviousness that had overtaken their forces and had maintained themselves apart from those activities, these citizens prevailed and began to repel the invaders.
After much bloodshed this new army prevailed and defeated the invaders, but not before the capital city and those who were in it was destroyed. When peace was restored, the original tapestry was found almost totally shredded into pieces. It was held together by one brittle thread. It was taken to a laboratory to be restored.
The threads that had been removed were found in the archives and were brought out and laid down side by side so they could be restored to the tapestry. As this process began, the workers noticed that the threads had tiny strands of gold woven in them at various places. When they were all laid down together they discovered a word had been woven into the threads, a word that when embedded in the cloth held the tapestry together tightly but was imperceptible to the naked eye. A word that when removed bit by bit over time had allowed not only the tapestry, but the fabric of the nation to fall apart as well. That word?–God.