It is really all so simple. Just use your brain, be pragmatic, avoid being ambiguous and the simple will materialize as the logical pathway towards societal freedom! I know you are thinking what in the world is she talking about? I am talking about everything. We have discovered ways to justify paying more for everything to warrant making more money for everyone so as to charge more by those that are the worker bees! That is what is all comes down to the almighty dollar. Case in point: We spend billions upon billions of dollars every year on a failing education system. Publishing companies, Universities, Government, warrants the spending necessary by focusing of the supposed failure of our children in schools.
Fingers are pointed at the schools as being failures, but who is being pressured in the classrooms by standardized testing? Whose scores are being displayed openly in local newspapers? If there is no failure then there is no need for the multi-billion dollar publishing, training, development, mandates, requirements, etc. The testing alone state by state to level students, to certify teachers is a multi-million dollar reality. Guess who is making the money? You got it, publishers.
Federal and State requirements put in place by many elected officials costs taxpayers billions and every year the requirements change mandating teachers and practitioners to obtain more schooling. The message out there is that there is a teacher shortage, so the local school systems are in a teacher recruitment movement with the universities. Recruiting professionals from other fields to secure “highly qualified” teachers at the same time that they are laying off mass quantities of experienced teachers (actually a practitioner is the better term).
If you don't believe me look into Chicago Public School, New York City Public School systems to see how many lay-offs and school closings there are. Then look at the major public universities to see how many new teacher programs there are. Guess who is earning a profit off of that…the school system and the universities all at taxpayer's expense. Go look at a teacher job fair and notice how many people are lined up for a few jobs. Ask how many of them are certified teachers laid off from their current jobs. Believe me the new graduates from these “fast track” programs are the first hired. The Universities guarantee it!
Now let's look at the shortage area for teachers. It is primarily in special education. It is sad that the number of children being identified as special ed. is increasing. I am not saying that there is not a true need, but please understand that school districts receive more funding per student if they can identify a high need child and provide special education. So again notice who the gains the greatest profit by identifying high need areas. The schools profit, again at taxpayer's expense.
Education is BIG BUSINESS! No child left behind, (I pray it will be left behind when Bush leaves office, PLEASE! It might just be the biggest witch hunt since Salem, many a blue moon ago!) Please George do not leave that mess behind take it with you! Between our public schools, private schools, specialty schools, tutoring centers, charter schools, and every not for profit education organization there is, it is sad that the only ones profiting are the adults playing school, while the children who should be the ones profiting from a seeming investment on their behalf are being left behind in an embarrassing wake of a failed system.
This all came to me today when I was reading a reflection that referenced Abraham Lincoln. As one of the greatest writers, orators, leaders of our time he sets the example of how pragmatic, unambiguous, simple it really all is. He had less than one year of formal education. There were no Master degrees, BA's, GED's, not even an elaborate kindergarten graduation, yet, he learned how to read. By candlelight he learned the simple reality that “c” added to “a” added to “t” made a sound. That sound attached to a meaning had a reality.
A simple “cat” could be given symbolic significance and come to life on a page through that symbolic dance. It is all really simple. Now please let's stop reinventing the wheel and get back to basics. Experience is more valuable than anything anyone could ever get from a $30,000 a year college education. Oh and if you want a child to know what “c” “a” “t” means, then take them out and let them feel the fur beneath their hands and spell it as they pet the animal that has a symbolic representation. It is that simple.
