No Child Gets Ahead
It is spreading like a plague, the finger of guilt being pointed with great conviction. Here in the 21st century, after a century of the quickest advancement of technology in all of history, we find an ignorance driven prerogative lead by those who are not even qualified to qualify the educators of America. The government, which by proxy, means the American people, are blaming the teachers of America as the downfall for our public education system. I am certain though, if bureaucracy was not at the foothold of this situation then we would see where the actual culprits lie. To say that it is poor parenting would be an understatement. This claim could never meet the popular opinion as the popular are the parents. To not take blame for one’s own misgivings is an age old character flaw held by the greatest majority of mankind. So, as the only recourse in opposition to this is the scapegoat. Where better to place the blame than on the civil servants, many of whom have forgone greater opportunity to pour their hearts and souls into the advancement of the future of our nation. But to have a politician point the finger toward the actual culprits would be career suicide for them. The very people who elect them would become their enemy; for no one likes to hear that they are at fault for anything. Placing blame on the teachers for the lack of quality in education today is akin to placing the blame of unemployment on minorities. It is ludicrous and should be met with outraged animosity by the truly enlightened. Unfortunately, The Few, The Proud, The Teachers, who were once revered as noble people for their efforts and sacrifice, have been cast aside and snubbed. They have been made out to be the bad guys.
The parents of course can not be held responsible for this epidemic either. They have become a product of their environment. This society that we have advanced at such a lighting pace has caused so many more dynamics that must be met and dealt with that it is no wonder we, as a people, have not caved in on ourselves yet. In much of the United States we find the two parent income homes which leave little room for parent/child interaction on an educational level. The little time that parents do get to spend with their children are seen as precious moments that should be spent with joy and relaxation, not education which is equated with work. This is merely a byproduct of being overworked and, in most cases, underpaid. So, as the ripple effect of a split second, Mtv style life permeates our nation the call to arms for a revolution in education is met with ignorance and strife.
The No Child Left Behind Act is in itself a contradiction of its goals. The outcome that is desired is hindered by the very nature of itself. By teaching to and working for the lowest common denominator we ignore the upper echelon of our future great minds. Because the teachers in our schools must coddle those who cannot or will not keep up, neglect is rampant of the students who do want to and will advance if given the opportunity. The utopian idea that all students are meant to go on to college and become doctors and lawyers and even The President of The United States is simply absurd. If this world is to continue to function then we must have our gas station attendants and our custodians. Without these people we would cease to continue. It is merely a supercilious ideal that we should all become future Einsteins. Though it is a goal to strive for, it is certainly unrealistic.
As the government drew up thousands of pages of documents meant to outline a plan to save our children they ignored the many fundamental reasons for America’s deficiency. If we were to write up a government synopsis on how to perform better surgery we would be scoffed at for our menial attempt to address something which we knew nothing about. This is why it is so very strange that the government should place the guidelines for what makes a qualified teacher and what makes a school a quality institution. When we look at America’s rank as an educational leader in the world we see that we fall short. However, when we look at the model nations for education we seem to miss what it is that drives them. Do we honestly think that they have that many more amazingly talented teachers? Perhaps is it that education and discipline in the classroom is much more revered in these nations? I think we can draw the proper conclusions from this.
So I ask, instead of placing the blame and punishing the selfless teachers of our nation, shouldn’t we be working together to form better environments to learn in. Shouldn’t the children whose parents cannot devote their time due to economic circumstances be given a mentoring program that might just guide them in the right direction? We should work together with the teachers, not against them. It is disgusting, the vile hand with which we slap our educators. Let us not divide, but converge, for we are the United States and we should be just that.
The parents of course can not be held responsible for this epidemic either. They have become a product of their environment. This society that we have advanced at such a lighting pace has caused so many more dynamics that must be met and dealt with that it is no wonder we, as a people, have not caved in on ourselves yet. In much of the United States we find the two parent income homes which leave little room for parent/child interaction on an educational level. The little time that parents do get to spend with their children are seen as precious moments that should be spent with joy and relaxation, not education which is equated with work. This is merely a byproduct of being overworked and, in most cases, underpaid. So, as the ripple effect of a split second, Mtv style life permeates our nation the call to arms for a revolution in education is met with ignorance and strife.
The No Child Left Behind Act is in itself a contradiction of its goals. The outcome that is desired is hindered by the very nature of itself. By teaching to and working for the lowest common denominator we ignore the upper echelon of our future great minds. Because the teachers in our schools must coddle those who cannot or will not keep up, neglect is rampant of the students who do want to and will advance if given the opportunity. The utopian idea that all students are meant to go on to college and become doctors and lawyers and even The President of The United States is simply absurd. If this world is to continue to function then we must have our gas station attendants and our custodians. Without these people we would cease to continue. It is merely a supercilious ideal that we should all become future Einsteins. Though it is a goal to strive for, it is certainly unrealistic.
As the government drew up thousands of pages of documents meant to outline a plan to save our children they ignored the many fundamental reasons for America’s deficiency. If we were to write up a government synopsis on how to perform better surgery we would be scoffed at for our menial attempt to address something which we knew nothing about. This is why it is so very strange that the government should place the guidelines for what makes a qualified teacher and what makes a school a quality institution. When we look at America’s rank as an educational leader in the world we see that we fall short. However, when we look at the model nations for education we seem to miss what it is that drives them. Do we honestly think that they have that many more amazingly talented teachers? Perhaps is it that education and discipline in the classroom is much more revered in these nations? I think we can draw the proper conclusions from this.
So I ask, instead of placing the blame and punishing the selfless teachers of our nation, shouldn’t we be working together to form better environments to learn in. Shouldn’t the children whose parents cannot devote their time due to economic circumstances be given a mentoring program that might just guide them in the right direction? We should work together with the teachers, not against them. It is disgusting, the vile hand with which we slap our educators. Let us not divide, but converge, for we are the United States and we should be just that.