HOW GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS ARE DESTROYING AMERICA'S CHILDREN

by

Robert Dreyfus, D.D.S.

Many have spoken out about the crisis in education such as Samuel Blumenfeld who said, “The plain, unvarnished truth is that public education is a shoddy, fraudulent piece of goods sold to the public at an astronomical price. It's time the American consumer knew the extent of the fraud which is victimizing millions of children each year. The National Commission on Excellence in Education said in 1983, “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we would consider it an act of war."  As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves. The main theme of Allan Bloom's book, The Closing of the American Mind, is that American civilization is threatened by the education establishment.  Thomas Sowell has stated, “If every parent in America knew what was really going on in public schools, there would be a revolution."  Will Herberg said, "We are surrounded on all sides by the wreckage of our great intellectual tradition.  In this kind of spiritual chaos, neither freedom nor order is possible.”  The U.S. Department of Education stated that, “U.S. 12th graders performed among the lowest of the 21 countries tested."

For nearly two decades I, like many others, have striven to eliminate some of the outrages being perpetrated against our children. But, again like many, I have just about given up hope of any meaningful reform within government schools. This is predicated by the fact that a much greater percentage of teachers, school administrators and politicians send their children to private or Christian schools than does the general public.

Any attempt to describe the abysmal state of public education in America is a daunting task. The public has been sold a bill of goods, and most do not realize that their children are at risk. The public relations departments of government schools are constantly putting out “feel good” misinformation designed to convince the public that everything is OK and that our children are being well served by the establishment.  Examples of this are a school board's decision to censor the public’s input from televised board meetings, grade inflation, re-centered test scores and changing test content in order to make parents think their children are doing well.  In spite of the attempts by the education bureaucracy to obscure the situation, the deplorable fact is that state schools have continued their downward spiral unabated since 1996.  Between 1967 and 1980, student achievement test scores in America declined by the unprecedented equivalent of one and a quarter grade levels.

We should feel grief and despair at the millions of young people who have been and are being deprived of a proper education and who will never realize their full potential.  We should also feel real anger and resentment at those people and institutions that have taken billions of dollars and have created the intellectual and moral crisis that now afflicts our nation.  We're involved in a war for the hearts, minds and souls of our children. Let’s not mistake the enemy for our friend.  The enemies in this case are the institutions, structures and policies that have directed public education for the past sixty-five years.  My hope is that this article will stimulate the reader to investigate the claims being made and help to bring some semblance of sanity into public education. Our children's futures are at stake, as well as that of our nation.

Some of the fallacies regarding education:

       More money will solve the problem.

The fact: There are no objective studies which show that academic achievement is positively related to the amount of money spent on education. The evidence is nearly the opposite. Some of the states with the lowest per pupil spending have the highest academic achievement. Perhaps the one experiment which demonstrated that money doesn't solve the problem with education was the experience of Kansas City.  In Kansas City, two billion dollars were spent to improve government schools. The plan boosted teacher salaries, lowered class sizes, and created “state-of-the-art” schools. However, no significant changes in academic achievement resulted. Remember, America spends more per pupil than any other western industrialized nation, yet we're nearly last in academic achievement. Approximately 50% of taxpayers’ dollars in Marion County goes to public schools.

      Smaller classes are needed.

The fact: There are no objective studies that show that smaller class size above grade three is related to increased academic achievement until class size becomes so small that there is nearly a one on one relationship. Average class size has continued to fall for decades without any increase in academic achievement. Many schools with much larger class sizes produce students with much higher academic achievement.

       Some children can't be taught.

The fact: The government school administration generally believes students whose parents are poor and uneducated can't be adequately educated. This belief has been disproved by numerous schools throughout America. Parochial schools have successfully educated students from urban ghettos for decades.  There are also public schools, such as the one headed by principal Marva Collins and the KIPP Charter Schools, which have been successful in educating children regardless of their race or socioeconomic background.  As a general rule, if something has been accomplished, that is proof that it can be done

Some of the most outrageous education fads being perpetuated upon America's children are:  

      The failure to teach all students to read.

The use of values clarification, situational ethics and moral relativity within the schools.  Numerous people have said that the predominant value system of an entire culture can be overturned in one or two generations by those with unlimited access to children. For over four decades, values clarification has been embedded into nearly every subject being taught. Students are given moral puzzles, not moral guidance. Schools have cultivated confusion when they should have cultivated conscience.  When the moral message is mixed and muddled, children catch a virus of apathy and cynicism, viewing all matters of right and wrong as a matter of opinion. The results of values clarification are glaring.  During the past year in government schools, there were more than 4,000 rapes or cases of sexual battery, 7,000 robberies; and 11,000 physical attacks involving a weapon. It's a sign of the times that the same security company used by the U.S. Mint and the FBI has now branched into high school security. Frontline recently televised an investigative report, “The Lost Children of Rockdale County”, which detailed the lives of children whose parents lived in a very affluent bedroom community outside Atlanta. Some of these children had sex with over 100 people and, when discussing their lifestyle, maintained an attitude which demonstrated that they did not see anything wrong with their activities. I find it utterly incomprehensible that there are actually educators saying that there is something wrong with teaching children the common values which all law abiding people have embraced for generations. Dr. William Coulsen, who with Carl Rogers developed the theory of Values Clarification, has expressed tremendous remorse over their actions which had the unintended consequences of destroying the moral fiber of our nation. 

      The emphasis on the self esteem movement.

Much of the emphasis on grade inflation has been due to the self-esteem movement. Those running government schools deem it more important that children feel good about themselves rather than achieve academically. When questioned, American students judged themselves number one academically; however, the sad fact is that they place nearly last when compared to children in other nations. The only thing American children were number one was in self esteem. Unfortunately, their self-esteem will suffer when they get out in the real world and discover, perhaps for the first time, that they are woefully unprepared for the challenges the world has to offer.

      The belief that learning facts is not important.

“You can always look it up,” has always been a tenet of the progressive approach. De- emphasizing factual knowledge actually disables children from looking things up effectively. The paradox is that studies in cognitive learning show that to add to our knowledge we must already possess a storehouse of general information. One of the most important principles of psychology is that knowledge builds on knowledge. General knowledge proves to be more important for learning than parents, peers and neighborhood combined.  Educators talk about the importance of computers in the classroom. They overlook the fact that giving children a chance to take advantage of the new technology means not only seeing to it that they have access to the technology, but also insuring they possess the knowledge necessary for them to make effective use of it.

     Mainstreaming students with profound emotional and physical problems.

Several years ago, an organizational study group of 18 people was appointed by the Marion County School Board and the Superintendent.  The stated purpose was to study and evaluate the Marion County School System and suggest changes.  I served as chairman of the curriculum subcommittee. Although there was tremendous divergence of opinion by members of the study group, one thing was universally agreed upon - a disproportionate amount of resources were being put into the ESE program.  To this day, the system is given much more money for students labeled ESE. Nationally, special education costs about $43 billion. More important than the costs of the various programs are the results of placing students with severe mental, emotional and behavioral problems into the typical classroom. It creates such havoc within the classroom that it becomes next to impossible to teach. It takes most of the teacher's time and energy trying to maintain a modicum of order. Frustration is driving the really good teachers out of education. In addition, many professionals are very concerned that students are being given psychotropic drugs, such as Ritalin and Prozac, without adequate justification.

      Tenure has made it next to impossible to fire bad teachers.

I did a study which showed that over a six year period not a single teacher in Marion County schools had been fired. What the system does with incompetent teachers is transfer them to another school, or they go into administration. This practice is known as the “Turkey Trot” or the “Dance of the Lemons.”  Teachers usually come from the bottom third of high school graduates. Teacher training is lax. Undergraduate education is little better than that offered by two-year community colleges.  Of 1,800 educational graduates seeking teachers’ licenses in Massachusetts, 59 percent, three out of five, flunked the screening test.  The average SAT scores for administrators of government schools are even lower than the average SAT scores of teachers.

      Sex education programs have done more harm than good.

Many educators feel they must deal with sexual matters without reference to moral authority, resulting in a vapid, context-free presentation of sexual mechanics which degrades. Sex Ed encourages adolescents to consider sexual activity apart from marriage and family life. Many believe sex education is being taught from elementary school through high school as a deliberate effort to undermine the beliefs of families who teach their children abstinence before marriage.  Let’s face it, the biology involved with reproduction could easily be covered in a week. Children without fathers are one of our greatest problems. Today, single mothers constitute 86% of pregnancies in many urban areas.

    Substituting social studies and revisionist history for an understanding of America     and the world.

Most schools delete teaching history.  Today, one can graduate from an Ivy League college without ever having had a history course!  Few realize that the 1776 Declaration of Independence is not merely a political statement but is also a profoundly spiritual document that establishes God as the source of our “Unalienable Rights.”  Ask your children what they know about the Declaration or the Constitution and the basis upon which our nation was founded.  The consequence of this ignorance is the eroding of our freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.  People under 50 have a hard time comprehending the vast changes which have taken place in America. Today, Americans are suffering under oppression far greater than that which precipitated the American Revolution, and few even realize what is happening. A recent example of this occurred when a candidate seeking reelection was asked, “Did you take an oath to defend the Constitution?”  He answered, “Yes”, but further questioning revealed that he knew little of the Constitution. The questioner then commented, “How can you defend that of which you are ignorant?”  Thomas Jefferson said, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.”

         Goals 2000.

There have been many goofy ideas foisted upon our children such as new math and inventive spelling, but this latest scheme, I believe, will be the final coup de grace of government schools. Unfortunately, by the time the colossal mistakes of the educational bureaucrats and their cronies become apparent to everyone, it may be too late for our nation to recover. The current generation of educators is using Goals 2000, School-to-Work and Outcome-Based Education to create a new culture which will destroy the solid foundations on which America grew great.

Theoretically, a number of things could be done to improve education, but nothing of substance has been done or likely will be done due to vested interests such as education unions, textbook publishers, and the education bureaucracy.  All of these entities are working to maintain the status quo of government schools. Look at the platforms of most candidates running for superintendent and school board.  Most candidates talk about the need for more money, construction, clustering, reorganizing teaching and administrative ranks and accountability. Accountability sounds good, but making teachers accountable is an impossible task under the present system. And reorganization is tantamount to rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic. All the candidates whom I've heard, for the most part speak in banalities while providing few, if any, specifics. None of these solutions which various candidates have suggested will make any significant improvement in the system. We must demand that the candidates specifically state how they plan to remedy the school system.

When we discuss education, we must remember that we're talking about the future of children and the future of America.  It may be already too late. I have been very disappointed by the fact that those who know what is happening to our children do not have the courage to speak out. After all, teachers have what amounts to an absolute guarantee against being fired. The educational bureaucracy, because of their vested interests in maintaining the status quo, will attempt to discredit everything I've presented. However, I encourage those teachers who truly care for the nation and for children to remember the aphorisms, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”; “Truth is violated by falsehood, but is outraged by silence.”

People instinctively understand the importance of an education, and that is why they have supported in good faith those to whom they've entrusted their children. I contend their trust has been misplaced, and the consequences of the good intentions of parents unfortunately have not been in the best interests of their children. What is the sense of families turning their children’s future over to a system that will not only fail to educate them, but likely will destroy their belief in those values which has made America great?