Letter from the trenches: Parent describes K–12 dystopia

American Thinker ^ | Dec. 12, 2021 | Bruce Deitrick Price

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

On a regional Mensa forum, I posted analysis of problems in education. To my delight, an indignant parent left her assessment of how bad our schools have become. First-person reports from the trenches are the most reliable intelligence you can get about this murky and unintelligent demimonde::

----"I read your article and couldn't agree more. I have lived it with my twins for the last 13 years. I nearly cried when we moved from a NYC public school to a school district in an affluent part of NJ only to find out they had the same mind-numbing constructivist Math program (TERC, Everyday Math, etc.).

As someone who loved Math in school, I couldn't believe how much I hated and was confused by their math homework. There were many tears and much throwing of pencils across the room. At one point, I think around 6th grade, every single one of my son's friends was being privately tutored. Which made me think the school system shouldn't really have any bragging rights if their math scores are presentable since they are more a reflection of parents who can afford tutors, not an excellent program.

This issue was apparently raised shortly before we moved here and shot down by the school board. Every time I have raised the issue, I have been told, "Everyone loves it." Why they are so married to this abysmal program is a mystery to me. I personally think it is an abomination.

I do believe it's a follow-the-money situation. All that expensive "retraining" of experienced math teachers so they can teach the Egyptian lattice method? And don't get me started on whole word reading. So ridiculous. I recall being stupefied when we were told not to correct misspellings....

[ALPAPilot]

Public Schools are child abuse. Just hire Jeff Dahmer to babysit.

[BobL]

“Public Schools are child abuse. Just hire Jeff Dahmer to babysit.”

Same here. Even some people ON THIS SITE defend their local public schools...because these dingbats think they have some control over them. Some they think that people who DESPISE THEM for being white will not take it out on their kids.

Oh well, I kept my kids as far away as possible...which meant never attending, and to the credit of the public schools, those schools made it REALLY EASY for my kids to be years ahead of their grade levels. Not because my kids were particularly smart...but because the standard is so low now that anyone educated via traditional means (phonics for reading, math without calculators, etc.) looks like a GENIUS.