“The Fine Print”, by Michael Schrader

EDUCATORS GET AN "F"

(Written 11 February 1998. Published in the Neighborhood Journal. Posted 19 June 2009.)

Well, the results are in. Arkansas children are failing in great numbers. As our children are our future, it does not bode well for the future of our state.

Arkansas high school juniors statewide were required to take a test, a skills test, if you will. To test their knowledge of literacy and mathematics. And, statewide, only one, that’s right, one, school district, a small one, had a majority of its juniors pass both the literacy and the mathematics. While many school districts reported a majority passing the literacy portion, only one other reported a majority of its students passed the mathematics, although its juniors did not pass the literacy. (They can do calculus, they just can’t write worth a hoot.)

No matter what the education spinmeisters may tell you, these results are an abomination. Horrible. Unacceptable.

Not only do I expect each and every school district to report that a majority of its juniors passed both the mathematics and the literacy, I expect all students in every school district to pass both the literacy and the math. Period. 100%. Anything less is educational failure.

Folks, these are the basic skills needed to survive everyday life. And our kids don’t have them. Skills like being able to read and write, add and subtract, multiply and divide. Skills that are required for even the most basic, run-of-the-mill, ordinary job.

So, what can we conclude from all this, besides the fact that the state of education in the state is deplorable? We are raising a bunch of kids who are marginally literate, but cannot add or subtract. And if you think about, this makes sense. Go to, say, McDonald’s, or any other place for that matter. Let’s say your bill is $1.59, and you hand the clerk $2.00. The clerk rings it up. Suddenly you find that you have the extra nine cents, and, as two quarters are more preferable to you then a pocketful of coins of different denominations, you then hand the clerk the extra nine cents. The clerk, however, is befuddled, because he did not ring $2.09 on his register, only $2.00, and now he doesn’t know how much change to give. Why? He doesn’t know his mathematics (but he sure knows how to play football)!

Or, go to a restaurant and watch other patrons try to figure out the tip. I’ve seen many a calculator pulled out.

The argument given by the education establishment is that the schools are now equipped with computers. Whoop-dee-doo! Yes, I do write on a computer. Yes, I do "surf the ‘Net," But, I don’t relay on the computer to do all of my mathematics for me; I don’t relay on neat packages to teach me my grammar. I do that the old fashioned way--with my brain. You know, that grayish matter between your ears.

We have become so reliant on computers, we have lost the ability to think. Cognitive ability is fast becoming extinct, Computers are a necessary evil, but they shouldn’t be used to replace our minds. Perhaps I am anachronistic, I don’t know. I do know that I have seen computer programs that have given junk as output. And the junk was accepted by those in awe of the computer’s power. After all, Mike, it can’t be wrong; it’s a computer. Oh yes it can; a computer is only as smart as its operator.

The educrats, upon seeing in black-in-white what most of us have already known about the skills of the next generation, immediately started looking for reasons shy the results were so dismal. Except of course, themselves.

"It’s not that we’re not doing our job, no sir. It’s the kids. Yeah, that’s it. They just---let me think here--they weren’t motivated, yeah that’s it. The test doesn’t mean anything, so they just didn’t care."

I don’t know about you, but every year, I had to take the California or the Iowa test. Did it mean anything? In terms of life, no. But, in terms of prestige, yes. you see, when I was growing up, the worst thing a person could be labeled was a dummy or stupid or a dunce. So, every kid tried their darned on every single skills test to prove they weren’t. Ridicule and humiliation went a long way in motivating us.

Hmm. Perhaps I just might work again. Nevermind. Who cares about ridicule when you have your own cell phone?

Back to “The Fine Print” Index