Pictured here is an old fashioned one room rural schoolhouse. Now I'm not old enough to attend one, but I remember as a young boy visiting the similar school that my mom attended. She told stories about how the entire purpose of the school day was learning the basics: "readin', 'ritin' and 'rithmetic". There was never an lasting problem of discipline in the classroom, the teacher was the ruler and parents generally supported them, allowing no excuses just results. Now granted, some kids dropped out because of the hardships of a faltering farm or family death, but those who attended finished with the requirements needed to survive and prosper.
Fast forward to today and times have changed dramatically. Schools are huge, there is a special room for everything: auditoriums, special activities rooms, lunch rooms, healthcare stations, sports facilities, media centers (formerly libraries) and even, wait for it.......classrooms. Sometimes it looks as if they have special facilities for everything but the good old classical education that we seem to have shoved aside. But I'm not here to talk about that; it will be a topic of my Thursday night broadcast when we discuss the pitfalls of Common Core.
We still have teachers and the overwhelming majority are trying to do as much as they can to prepare their students, but the emphasis has changed from core learning to dictates by administrators on politically correct issues such as social policy issues which are controversial with so much given slant to a particular philosophy which even many of the teachers don't believe but are required to support or lose their jobs. And then, of course, there is the factor of chaos in the classroom as students who lack grounding at home bring their "wild side" to the classroom. A disorderly classroom is not conducive to learning and the results we are finding from so many of our graduates makes my point.
But here's the bottom line. Every year property taxes for the school budget line goes up as more and more of our kids are taken out of the public schools due to dissatisfaction with the product. And we are now replacing those kids with illegals flocking to America, students who often don't even understand English and we expect teachers to miraculously solve all problems.
And then there's one more problem, one which came to my mind last night when I was attending a church council meeting. We were asked to donate money for school supplies to a large religious cooperative effort which provides supplies to local schools. And I asked this question: why are Christian churches being asked to contribute to schools that clearly have or are in the process of eliminating any reference to our religion on school property? Wouldn't we be better placed donating in environments where we can at least represent our belief in God and Christ? After all, aren't we all supposed to be missionaries and never be afraid to stand for Him?
So folks, there is a lot to digest here. Schools continue to eat up more public funds, but not for classical instruction with a positive twist. And we just sit back and take it. I think it's time to pay attention, keep up with what is actually happening and work to create a well-rounded graduate who understands history, has a grasp of subject matter that will allow him or her to be "all they can be" and get away from the hype and indoctrination. Let teacher's do what they can do best: use individual initiative to provide an education that means something and that provides tools for life.
This was the topic of my North Florida Writer Live Short Take last night. You might want to listen in on demand. Here's the link:
tobtr.com/s/7682449
We each have to come to an individual decision on matters such as this and that's as it should be with our gift of free will. But that's my point of view and I'm personally sticking to it. God bless you all.
Fast forward to today and times have changed dramatically. Schools are huge, there is a special room for everything: auditoriums, special activities rooms, lunch rooms, healthcare stations, sports facilities, media centers (formerly libraries) and even, wait for it.......classrooms. Sometimes it looks as if they have special facilities for everything but the good old classical education that we seem to have shoved aside. But I'm not here to talk about that; it will be a topic of my Thursday night broadcast when we discuss the pitfalls of Common Core.
We still have teachers and the overwhelming majority are trying to do as much as they can to prepare their students, but the emphasis has changed from core learning to dictates by administrators on politically correct issues such as social policy issues which are controversial with so much given slant to a particular philosophy which even many of the teachers don't believe but are required to support or lose their jobs. And then, of course, there is the factor of chaos in the classroom as students who lack grounding at home bring their "wild side" to the classroom. A disorderly classroom is not conducive to learning and the results we are finding from so many of our graduates makes my point.
But here's the bottom line. Every year property taxes for the school budget line goes up as more and more of our kids are taken out of the public schools due to dissatisfaction with the product. And we are now replacing those kids with illegals flocking to America, students who often don't even understand English and we expect teachers to miraculously solve all problems.
And then there's one more problem, one which came to my mind last night when I was attending a church council meeting. We were asked to donate money for school supplies to a large religious cooperative effort which provides supplies to local schools. And I asked this question: why are Christian churches being asked to contribute to schools that clearly have or are in the process of eliminating any reference to our religion on school property? Wouldn't we be better placed donating in environments where we can at least represent our belief in God and Christ? After all, aren't we all supposed to be missionaries and never be afraid to stand for Him?
So folks, there is a lot to digest here. Schools continue to eat up more public funds, but not for classical instruction with a positive twist. And we just sit back and take it. I think it's time to pay attention, keep up with what is actually happening and work to create a well-rounded graduate who understands history, has a grasp of subject matter that will allow him or her to be "all they can be" and get away from the hype and indoctrination. Let teacher's do what they can do best: use individual initiative to provide an education that means something and that provides tools for life.
This was the topic of my North Florida Writer Live Short Take last night. You might want to listen in on demand. Here's the link:
tobtr.com/s/7682449
We each have to come to an individual decision on matters such as this and that's as it should be with our gift of free will. But that's my point of view and I'm personally sticking to it. God bless you all.
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