The Future of Education: A View From the Inside

I've worked in public education for forty years now; 30 years full-time, and after retiring, 10 years of substituting in a few other districts around the area where I live.

I've seen the gradual shift over these years from bad to worse. The main elements I've learned which have impacted education have been the federal government, the local, state and national teacher's unions, the judicial system and the gradual removal of any control of disciplinary actions by the classroom teacher.

Most of us are already fairly familiar with the fact that, during the Carter Administration of the late '70s, at the start of my teaching career, Congress approved a new bureaucracy which was supposed to improve the quality of education; the Dept. of Education. And, although I suspected that it would not accomplish that goal, we now know from the results of the last 40 years since its inception, I was correct in my suspicion.

Instead, it's done what most other bureaucracies do; suck into the oblivion of the federal government, billions of tax dollars hiring thousands of employees which, from their distant cubicles, somewhere in Washington, D.C. thousands of miles away, exercise their infinite wisdom making regulations that, instead of making learning for students more efficient, impose all sorts of demands on state, and districts, which only accomplish the need to spend more time to fill out paperwork by teachers and administration to meet those demands. It has generated more complex requirements for the teacher  and programs to teach in order to meet the increasing diversity of students flowing into the schools. As is typical for all federal bureaucracies, it has never proposed ideas for actually making things more efficient, or cutting back on growing its number of employees over the decades it's existed.

The national teacher's union clearly is simply a political action entity - always liberal - which, because of its hundreds of thousands of members strong clout, exercises its will on Congress and the Dept. of Education by  lobbying them on their decisions for new and weirder laws and curriculum as the years have passed. 30 years ago, we wouldn't have even dreamed that children would be learning about the details of how to how to put a condom on a cucumber to prevent STDs. Now, it's the norm.

The judicial system has played a part in this deteriorating behemoth as well. With the shift by the federal government of moving away from supporting large institutions for mentally disturbed or dysfunctional individuals, many parents with children who needed proper care - which included receiving an education - due to their disabilities, organized and filed lawsuits in court to force school districts to accommodate these children during the '80s. 

In some rulings made by judges in various cases, they've imposed legal requirements for inclusive experiences of these disabled children, but without mandating any increase in funding for these programs on the state's legislature. Consequently, there was a gradual increase in the number of special education programs which the school district had to fund in creative ways, while taking from other programs such as vocational ed programs. 

As my career moved through the years, I saw more and more aides, often one adult to one child in a wheelchair, or laying on a matt in a room, tending to them during the school day. In my opinion, I doubted these children actually learned anything which really made a difference in their future, but since it was legally required, the schools had to provide the services. Now, it's a major share of the district's budget every year.

Another trend I witnessed occur over the decades was the size of district administration; a direct result of the Dept. of Education's new fangled programs required under federal laws passed by Congress. When a new superintendent came into the district and streamlined the administration by cutting staff and sending the funds to the classrooms, things actually improved. However, when that one left, and another replaced him, or her, the administration grew again and a greater share of the district's budget was eaten up to pay their ever expanding salaries which never taught any students, instead, they just harassed the teacher to carry out their edicts or monitor the program they were responsible for running. Of course, just like most of our politicians, they promised the moon, but delivered a clod of dirt.

Over these years students have become more aware of just how much power they actually have because of various social attitudes which have evolved and become dominant since my time in school as a student. We're all familiar when we were growing up that we conducted ourselves when interacting with a teacher in the classroom with respect and a willingness to comply with their directions because they were our elders. Not today! More and more of them just sit and look at you after being directed to do whatever the situation requires, and stare at you; daring you to make them, or worse yet, telling you to "F" yourself. Administrative policies and dealings with these students rarely result in any significant consequences for these offenders. Now, the state of CA is considering a law which restricts the number of suspensions for most student offenses to two per year, rather than having a program to remediate, or rehabilitate the growing occurrences of more and more severe instances of assault and disruption. As a result, the learning environment in the classroom has suffered for those students who are actually trying to learn.

Finally, just the other day while substituting in a new school near where I live, I witnessed the difference at the beginning of the day that contrasted the degree of change our school culture has gone through. When I started my career in the classroom, it was expected that every student would stand, put their hand over their heart on their chest, and participate in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the United States flag to start the day. During the span of years I taught, there was a big state-wide debate which the legislature passed a bill on regarding the flag salute issue of whether it was required. Just the other day, I witnessed half of the class of 20 students who sat quietly in their chair as the other half of the class stood as us "old fogies" and veterans would expect. It caused me to check into the law the legislature passed years ago during the debate that raged and learned that the law only requires that a student not be disrespectful or disruptive during the flag salute, but are not required to even stand with, face the flag with their arms by their side, and show any respect to our symbol we veterans served, and some who gave the ultimate sacrifice to defend.

I firmly believe that the greatest foe our nation is dealing with when it comes to changing the direction our nation's education is headed in is our collective morals as a people. Yet, as we've no doubt seen in various forms of communications, any reference in public schools over the last 40 years has been completely removed; and thus we've witnessed the rise of charter schools.More and more parents are paying private school tuition as a result in order to give their children a chance for a future, yet more recently, we've seen a rise in the dialogue of the nation that this is just "white privilege", as though they have no right to exercise any independent choice for them.

Ladies and gentlemen, if this is the path our nation is on doesn't change, then we truly are headed for ruination in the future!