How Ideologically Driven Social Engineering Usurps Local Control and Damages Public Schools Part III.....

Like some sort of a cholesterol-lowering Lipitor commercial, social justice engineers want lower numbers of suspensions of certain students for certain behaviors.   So, in order to achieve these lower numbers some states have actually “legislated” away some behavior categories that have previously resulted (rightfully so, IMHO) in student removal from classes.  

Willful defiance was legislated away as a discipline offense in California, and the effects have been devastating to classrooms and teachers in some districts, particularly in Los Angeles.  Teachers are reporting the change has had a devastatingly negative effect on classroom atmospheres.

(For a truly interesting insight, read the real teacher's facebook and article comments on the bottom of this ridiculous piece in the Huffington Post-- and this interesting piece in the LA Times---some of these comments had me laughing so hard I blew coffee through my right nostril!)

Educrats and other water-carriers and useful idiots say to the affected teachers “Talk to the Hand!” as they dance and take victory laps over how doggone effective these policies have become!

Of course these ideologues, most of whom are out of touch and have never stepped foot into a real inner-city classroom, think this policy is just dandy. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the bureaucrats are at it again, this time looking for higher numbers.  Specifically, they are looking for higher graduating numbers overall, percentage wise, for public school students overall and certain students specifically.  

Problem is, in order to meet this lofty goal, the rigor is being eviscerated, and the bar is being lowered in order to get these “higher numbers.”  The evidence of this is all around us:

Astronomically high numbers of  students in NYC cannot  pass the English/Math (or both) parts of their state exams--yet 90 % of these same students are receiving passing grades from their schools in these very subjects.

In Nevada, 58% of the entering college freshmen that are coming from the public school system require remedial coursework.  This, in turn, is leading to higher incidences of college dropouts.

The evidence is all around, hiding in plain sight.  It is not just New York, Nevada, and California. I see High School Juniors and Seniors who get in trouble in school and attempt to write out statements 

Scapegoating the Wrong People Slowly Destroys Communities and Schools

I see disturbing parallel similarities in the way schools, teachers, and administrators are being blamed when students are subjected to punishment for incidents of misbehavior in public schools, and in the way police are being targeted when simply doing their jobs in challenging urban environments.  

 In both schools and society, generally speaking, what leads people into trouble is poor personal choices and the lack of a solid family foundation—not bigotry or poverty! 

As the genuine practice of religion has evaporated along with the nuclear family in parts of urban America today, there’s been a proportionate rise in violence, drug abuse, social decay, and failing schools in such communities. 

The Federal Government has exacerbated this problem; with ever-expanding entitlements that have disincentivized work and made fatherless households convenient and renumerative—what else did the social justice engineers that developed these “programs” expect?

The radical,so-called  social justice organizations that point fingers of blame will never acknowledge the real cause of all of these troubling symptoms:  There is a lack of functional, effective family structure in large swaths of America today. 

It remains much more salacious, newsworthy, and lucrative to instead portray teachers, cops, school districts, and police departments as “overzealousbigots.”

Police Departments are fully capable of doing their jobs if they are allowed to do so and if they’re supported by their respective cities and counties.  Policemen should be commended for doing the dangerous work they do!

Instead, the minute something tragic happens like in Baltimore or Ferguson---politicians of every stripe immediately pounce on LEOs. 

Before you know it, abracadabra, it is entirely the police’s fault that communities are dysfunctional and disproportionate numbers of minorities are incarcerated.

Next come the outlandish explanations from the ideologues that demonize police—the tactics are too aggressive, departments need re-training, they need more diverse workforces, etc. etc... 

Once these naïve rubes get exactly they want- crime rates soar.  Police back away from proactive

Is Better Teacher Training Really the Solution--- Or, is it the Convenient, Politically-Correct Solution?

...That is the question that needs to be answered.  Secretary of Education  Arne Duncan is making this a big push on his swing out to California, rolling out fresh mandates from DC that will eventually trickle down....  From this morning's L.A. Times story:

"U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Tuesday announced new guidelines to improve the preparation of the nation's teaching ranks that will require states to rate the performance of training programs and shift federal funding to those that receive high marks.
The proposed regulations would allow states broad flexibility to develop measures of performance but demands that emphasis be placed on teacher outcomes, such as employment, retention and success in the classroom. That could include evaluating training programs based on the test scores of K-12 students taught by their graduates, a model that provokes heated contention in the education community."

I've heard this sentiment locally and at national conferences-it is a story about how teachers are coming out of education school unprepared for the realities in the American K-12 classroom of 2014. 

But is an intensive focus on these schools of education really the solution?  Or, is it the convenient solution, absolving local districts, parents, students, current teachers, current administrators, unions and everyone else practically of any responsibility for the current state of American public education?

Joel Klein agrees with this sentiment, that teachers need better preparation.  He stated it at a recent conference I attended.  In NYC, with its Union dominated schools--there are many applicants for every opening.  The pay and benefits are really good, people compete for jobs there to get into that system--so that district can be selective.  I get that.

Similarly, in other countries like Finland, there are 9 applicants for every open teaching slot according to a fascinating presentation I recently watched from Andreas Schleicher.  Teachers there ( and in many other high performing systems worldwide)  are valued by their society, they enjoy great salaries and esteem--so they can be selective, too.  (Schleicher gave an amazing presentation comparing different educational systems worldwide.  Unfortunately, this video is not published online anywhere.  I found a similar presentation he gave from Missouri in 2012, which is linked here )

So what is going on here in America?  We don't pay teachers enough, apparently.  We don't provide them with enough professional development, apparently.  Last but not least, we don't prepare them well enough in education colleges in the U.S.  Yes, that is the new clarion call to fix the issue.  Start punishing the Education Colleges.  Could a changing society be a bigger factor in why teachers are leaving the profession and their replacements are not coming forward in sufficient numbers?  Could the real problem be much more simple, yet infinitely more controversial?  I think so.  Nevertheless- the convenient, PC fix du jour is, let's demonize colleges!

....But wait.  Fewer students than ever are going into education.

 I'm all for holding the bar high, but won't this exacerbate shortages if we start shuttering education schools?  How will those shortages be fixed?  We already cannot recruit enough candidates locally to fill our classrooms.  Minority hiring? we're lucky to get a handful each summer to take contracts--and we're trying really hard!  I mean, even though nobody can give me a cogent rationale for why having a teacher force that mirrors the population they serve, is ABSOLUTEY ESSENTIAL!!  I'm told by everyone, and everything I read, says that's the problem.  But I don't buy it.  Until someone can logically answer the question "Why does it matter if Asians teach whites, Blacks teach Whites, or Whites teach  Blacks--what difference does it make if all teachers are qualified and effective?" I will not buy that politically expedient, liberal talking point that I feel is a disingenuous, fallacious lie.  Rubbish.  Regardless, even though we