Public Education

My wife is a school teacher . . . she is also a student working on her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction. Public education is a topic of considerable interest and is discussed frequently in my home. We spend some time with her teacher friends and education is often discussed then, too. I read the papers and articles she writes for her classes and sends off to be considered for publication. I think an important part of marriage is to develop an interest in your spouse’s interests and be knowledgeable about them so that they can be discussed. I do that by reading her work, as well as her textbooks.

I also have a good friend, Bill Strong, who spent many years in education. Bill worked at many different levels in the educational food chain, including the University level. It is interesting that Bill’s field was psychology and he does not considered himself as an educator. He insists his work was aimed at trying to influence and trying to fix what he viewed as a broken system. He has a website named bstrongoneducation. Bill is a double PhD, and when we have lunch, he wants talks about public education. I am willing to listen to the thoughts of anyone with two PhD’s.

Honestly, my interest in public education sort of tends to come and go. Yet, there are certain times that I do have a greater interest in the subject. I just paid my real estate taxes across the State of Texas. A large part of the bill was for school taxes; thus, for the moment I am in the posture of having a greater interest in public education.

One thing I find of considerable interest is that there are a number of leaders in public education who believe, teach, lecture, publish articles, and publicly declare that the current system of public education is seriously broken and out-dated. Their claim is that the system perpetuates itself, resists change, and thus fails to meet the needs of today’s society. Many of those critics say that public education in the USA is falling behind that of other nations around the world and they have some facts and figures to support their claims.

I have been looking at the history of public education, and was surprised to learn that public education in the USA really wasn’t much until the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. In fact, in 1870 less that 50% of the children in the USA received any formal education at all. There were a few states that offered free education for children between the ages of 5 and 21, but the economic realities of that era prevented most kids from going to school. Most of them worked in mines, factories, or farms to help the family earn a living. At that time, only six states had compulsory education laws, and those laws only required school attendance a few weeks during the year.  As an example, Massachusetts was the leader in tightening those laws, and by 1890 all children living in Massachusetts between the ages of 6 and 10 were required to attend school at least 20 weeks during the year. But, it was soon discovered that those laws were easier enacted than enforced.

Despite resistance, acceptance of mandatory elementary education began to spread and by 1900 such laws were in place across most of the North and West – yet the South lagged behind. Even when the South did begin to follow suit, there was the issue of Jim Crow laws that negatively impacted them.

There were other issues as well. In the early 1900’s, only 20% of the public school teachers had a degree.

Between 1870 and 1900 only 4% of the children between 14 and 17 years of age were enrolled in school. Employers began making demands for a better educated work-force. Church leaders and modern liberals, concerned for the welfare of children, pushed for a strong education system. They insisted that an education was not only appropriate but was also an inalienable right for all children. Critics of child-labor practices jumped on board and demanded longer mandatory school years (e.g. children in school could not be pressed into service in the mines, factories, and farms).

As I look at public education, it seems to me . . . that one failing in the system today is that it’s being geared toward the notion that every student should go to college. I believe that notion is silly and only creates other problems. Such a notion sets the system up for failure (e.g. that will never happen in the real world), but even more damaging to society is its impact on many of the students under that system. A student who knows that he lacks the interest, drive, ability, ambition, and family encouragement to go to college feels like a failure at a time in his life when he needs to be confident; he forms an impression of his ability and limits himself through the life process by that impression.   

The reality of life is that only a percentage of public education students will go to college, or for that matter even need to go to college. Failure to recognize that reality and adjust to it can only result in the appearance of failure for the system and leave students ill prepared for life, and feeling bad about themselves.

I think by the 9th grade, the school system has recognized and identified the students who have the intellect, motivation, and discipline to be successful at the college level. Rather than trying to force the others into that mold, the system should focus on trying to prepare them for life with skills and things of interest to them. I think a school system should have a strong vocational program and offer classes such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical, welding, and metal smith, auto-mechanics, cosmetology, culinary arts, and office education to include computers and shorthand. Those are things many students would enjoy studying and do well with. Those classes would also help prepare them for employment.

A couple of examples:

#1.  I personally know a young guy who lived in assisted-housing and his family depended on food stamps to eat. He was not a very strong student and never particularly liked school. I doubted he would even graduate and figured by age 17 he would be a deck-hand on a shrimp boat.  Then, in his sophomore year, he was able to take a welding class. In that welding class it seems he had found direction and developed an interest. Actually, he spent every moment he could in the welding shop over the rest of his high school years. I believe that welding class kept him in school, and he did ultimately graduate. After high school, he joined the army and today he is doing well. He delights in getting to weld things in the motor pool and use his skill. Using a skill which most other soldiers don’t have makes him feel like he stands a little taller within the group.  Since joining the army, he has been able to come home for a couple of visits. I have been surprised on those visits that he has actually spent more time with his welding teacher than he has with his parents . . . but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by that . . . all things considered.

#2. Last week I spent the day with a now-retired “Progressive Farmer” (I think the term means he did well financially while farming). This man and his wife have a beautiful home which is well decorated. The man told me about the 9’ tall and wall-length entertainment center in the family room. He beamed as he told me that the entertainment center (a real work of art) had been built by his grandson.  I was impressed and asked how the grandson had become such a gifted cabinet maker, seeing as how he grew up in a family of farmers. He laughed and said that he grandson had taken a wood-working class in high school and really enjoyed it. When it came time for the grandson to graduate, he announced that he did not want to go to college and that he did not want to work on the farm. When asked what he would do he simply said, “I don’t know.”  His wise Grandfather (who just happened to be the President of the School Board), put his arm around the boy’s shoulders and said, “Find something you enjoy and do it.” The young graduate soon went to work in a cabinet shop and a few years later had become a master cabinet-maker. I would argue (1) that being a master cabinet maker is an honorable vocation; (2) that a happy cabinet maker is better off than being an embarrassed, unhappy college dropout; and (3) the school district did a good thing in offering that wood-working class.

It just seems to me . . . these two young men found some direction for their lives in a vocational program  . . . and there ought to be more of those available. It seems unfortunate to me to require a future carpenter, plumber, electrician, or auto mechanic to sit in a Chemistry class along with other students who will ultimately become Doctors, Pharmacist, or Chemists and have to struggle along, all the while feeling inferior because he just doesn’t get it. The reality is that he would do much better in a vocational class developing skills and interest in what may well become his trade . . . one day, he just might build a house for the Doctor, or he may repair his Mercedes.  

That is how a society works, and it is how a society’s education system ought to work.

History is full of stories of mediocre students who discovered their talent in a music class, an art class, an athletic program, a drama class, or a vocational program. Many of them became brilliant and some even became famous!

The objective should never be to mold students into something they simply are not designed to be . . . the objective should be to assist the student in developing into his or her potential, calling, and place in life. Just imagine the possibilities . . . of a generation who collectively said, “I believe that I can . . .” What a change that would be for a Nation that currently has 50% of its citizens frustrated, without direction, and living on a food-stamp program . . . those citizens who are now adults and the product of a misdirected educational system!


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