Lake County students should come first

In my July 2nd column regarding the decline in Education, I presented figures and comparisons that demonstrated students have the ability, and will do more, if it is required. Students do respond, and they are capable  of learning faster. In some of the classes I took in High School, we were doing in half a year what public school students were doing in two years. All that is needed are higher standards in our educational system based on educating the students and not on the special interests of the teachers and administrators.

And it is that special interest that annoyed me when comments, letters and guest columns were written regarding my column. Not one talked about improving the education of the students. They all discussed why teachers need tenure and how the union protects the teacher along with the need for more money. The question remains, will higher pay make for a better teacher? Does higher pay improve their ability? And then there is the seniority aspect which gets a teacher promoted above a more qualified teacher because of seniority, or a more qualified teacher fired due to lack of seniority. That contractual arrangement certainly does not provide for the best education.

The main purpose of The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers is to represent the interest of their members. It is not designed to represent the interest of the students.

That’s reality. Unions represent their members.

For the sake of space, I’ll refer to the column by John T. McNay, a history professor who said in part:

“In other countries, especially those that outscore the United States, you have schools that are better funded than U.S. public schools” and he used that as an argument against the statistics I inserted in my July. Note that he admits that students in other countries do outscore our students but equates that to the ‘we want more money’ syndrome.

Educators are quick to point out improvement in graduation rates and/or compare them to other districts around the country. All educators accomplish when they compare graduation rates is to compare rates in a failing system.

Graduation rates are meaningless if the qualifications for graduation are lowered, which they have been. When standards are lowered it’s easy to say that progress is being made. I have a copy of a five-hour final exam that you, yes you, could not pass. You say that you are educated, maybe a college degree, so how can I make such a ridiculous statement. Now, to make it sound even more ridiculous it is an eight-grade final exam. Yes, an 8th grade final exam for graduation in Salina, KS – 1895. (I have a class picture. And No, I couldn’t pass it.) Our educational system is dumbing down our children. You may recall that shortly after President Obama took office, the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan said, “It’s obvious the system’s broken. Let’s admit it’s broken!  Let’s admit it’s dysfunctional! Let’s do something dramatically different, and let’s do it now. Let’s fix the thing”

OK, let’s fix it. Is there only one cause for the problem, or can the blame be spread around to various areas in the educational field?

In July I pointed out that teacher tenure and the Teachers Education Association (Union) were the main culprits. I also posed the following question in response to Scott McCulloch, president of the Billings Education Association. I asked, “Where does the failure lie? Is it with the school administrators; with the evaluation process; with the inability on the part of the teachers; with an inadequate college education prior to becoming teachers; with the lack of discipline, or with laws restricting the ability to discipline? Where, and with whom, does the failure to properly educate lie? Maybe it’s the Legislature not enacting stringent legislation requiring certain results, or in giving the board of education the authority to enact rules as it see fit.”

Most of us realize there is a problem. We also realize that it is our children and grandchildren that are going to have to right this sinking economic ship that the liberal socialistic agenda has fostered upon us as a result of our incompetent educational system. For the sake of our children we must all (that includes you) get involved.