Why government schools fail

WorldNetDaily / Comentary ^ | 09/06/2003 | Kyle Williams

[George Frm Br00klyn Park]

WorldNetDaily
Commentary

Why government schools fail
Kyle Williams

Posted: September 6, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

I told you last week about my plunge into the public school system of America. I started school on the 13th of August, and as I began, I had many concerns about the experience on which I was about to embark.

Sure, it's only been three weeks, but in this short time I have observed some very sharp contrasts between public schooling and homeschooling. Moreover, I believe that these contrasts are some of the core reasons why many public schools are failing.

Comparing one method of education to another, the homeschooling method repeatedly scores high on standardized tests and shows amazing results in academic events, despite being such a small minority. The public-schooling method has many success stories, but is terribly weighted down with a majority of low test scores – and many are puzzled by that.

The real answer to why one works and the other presents abysmal results is in the system.

The real answer as to why government schools don't adopt good principles is the bureaucracy, while a real solution to our education woes would be to actually reform the core system of public schools and adopt other ideas from high-scoring private, charter and home schools.

I've observed some core principles with the daily system of schools that hinder students from success.

The first principle of education where I've seen sharp contrast is in motivation. I've noticed a subtle but very important contrast between my experience at home and my experience thus far in public schools regarding the motivation of a student. At home, I did most of my work on my own, so the only person I needed to please was myself, and if I didn't get a good education, it was my own fault. That's exactly what drove me to work hard.

In contrast, public-school students are driven by teachers. This system would work if it weren't for two things: 1) many teachers are tired, worn down and have come to a point where they can't instill a drive in students to learn, and 2) most students couldn't care less about their teachers and have a great lack of respect for them. As a result of this lack of motivation, I can see that a lot of students float through their high-school careers with no academic goals, no drive for a future. Indeed, the only passion for a lot of students is sports – and that tends to take over.

A big blow in the flawed system of public education is the priorities of students and of teachers. I've said it before and I'm seeing it now: The students don't care, the teachers are worn out, and the administrators throw money at the problem.

The students really don't care because they're not taught to care. It seems that almost from the beginning they are simply nagged on to do work by their parents and teachers. Students' only motivation for good grades is to graduate and get out of school.

Additionally, the system requires teachers to do a tough job but prohibits them from administering real work and discipline to their students. Likewise, many parents today force teachers to raise their children from first grade all the way up through their senior year in high school. However, when teachers push and challenge their students to do work, the parents attack the teachers! The same people who put them in that place are not allowing them to do their job efficiently. Their hands are tied, and therefore teachers are completely frustrated and after so long, tend to lose interest.

We see it on daily basis – bureaucratic administrators want to throw money at all problems, but we also know that it doesn't help – it really shows a lack of concern for real solutions. These three things combined turn into a big problem for schools.

The last problem with the public school system is the fact that it is completely boring. A student has seven hours of classes, plus lunch and athletics. All of these classes are done in the same systematic routine, which becomes extremely monotonous. No wonder every teen in high school has been diagnosed with ADD.

With these systemic problems, coupled with the culture wars that go on in government schools, I'm not surprised students, my peers, are not living up to their full potential.

These are the deep-rooted problems with the daily government school grind. However, there are some deep-rooted solutions.

Kyle Williams is 14 years old and lives in a rural community in America's heartland. Each week, he offers his unique perspective exclusively to the readers of WorldNetDaily.

THIS article at WND

[George Frm Br00klyn Park]

Why government schools fail

All, Because they are designed and engineered to do so. Peace and love, George.

[George Frm Br00klyn Park]

The students don't care, the teachers are worn out, and the administrators throw money at the problem.

Guys, Ah-yup'!! Peace and love, George.

[Bobber58]

"why government unions doom our schools to failure"

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

"The last problem with the public school system is the fact that it is completely boring. A student has seven hours of classes, plus lunch and athletics. All of these classes are done in the same systematic routine, which becomes extremely monotonous."

I went to high school in the mid 60's with those same "7 hours plus lunch and athletics" with an added club activities after school. I found public school to be challenging and exciting. I went on to the University and suceeded with no problem and a great love for learning which has continued over the years.

I don't believe the problem is because they are "public schools" but because public schools are run so very differently than they were years ago.

In the late sixties/early 70's a new philosophy of education had taken root. Men like John Dewey were saying that learning by rote needed to be replaced by a hands-on system based on scientific method. That all sounded reasonable. However in changing philosophies the schools also did away with such things as McGuffy's Readers that taught reading at the same time as instilling Christian/Judao values into the lessons. Old fashion discipline where the teacher had complete control of the classroom and respect of the students was replaced with "open classrooms" where in some schools the students were allowed, even incouraged, to roam and behave freely so as not to squash their creativity.

All of this new thinking had merit in theory, but has been a grand failure! Why? I truely believe it failed because of its tendency for students to become "self-centered" believing that "self" was the center of the universe, rather than God.... then told that, even so, you are to think socialisticly and bow to the good of the collective masses. This creates quite a parodox in the mind..... me me me, I am bigger than God cause there is no God, hey, I am god..... but then I am really not an individual but merely a part of the masses..... Even if I study hard, work hard and succeed, I won't own my own reward.... it will be taken away to support the masses.... so why not just be "smart" and let the masses support me.. the government owes it to me, because I am a god.

These words about Dewey very nicely sum up his failure to include God in his new philosophy:

"Dewey's religion may be said to have been one whose high priest was a democratic, and yet heroic, man; whose creed was the scientific method to be applied, eventually, in democratic man's good time, to all aspects of man's life; and whose prophet, the voice crying in the wilderness, was John Dewey."

[StoneColdTaxHater]

One thing that I beleive has doomed our students is the rush away from PHONICS. I learned to read by understanding the sounds of letters and learned meaning later. To this day and I am 40 I still sound out tough words and names and use a good old Webster's to look stuff up.

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

You are so right about the phonics! Again the Dewey philosophy rears its ugly head...... they wanted a way to teach reading by the "scientific method", thus something called Whole Language Reading Method arose.... it has been a grand failure too!

[netmilsmom]

>>The students really don't care because they're not taught to care. It seems that almost from the beginning they are simply nagged on to do work by their parents and teachers. Students' only motivation for good grades is to graduate and get out of school. <<

I need ideas how to teach my daughter to care. She is so bright and last year in kindergarten, was not held accountable for the work to be done. This year we are trying to "get her to care"
I don't want her only motivate her to get out of school.

[Tax-chick]

is the rush away from PHONICS.

That, and the drivel they're given to read. They don't learn to read easily, and they have no motivation to improve, because they have nothing worth reading in their cellblocks ... er, I mean, classrooms.

The ability to read well, and the freedom to read what's good, are among the greatest strengths of homeschooling. A person who can read well and wants to learn can always overcome any other shortcomings of his education.

[secret garden]

If you don't know what motivates your own child, you cannot expect the teacher to know. Think about it - what gets her excited and enthusiastic?

[Tax-chick]

There's a difference between being "motivated to learn" and being "motivated to get assigned schoolwork done." Sometimes they can even be mutually exclusive goals!

It's possible that the work she's been given is boring or pointless to her. Several people I know started homeschooling because their children already knew everything being taught in kindergarten or first grade, yet they had no options (in the school) other than sitting through it again. If that's the case, and you leave her in the class, then you can use external rewards (money, toys, clothes, outings) to motivate her to do the work. This can result in good grades, but isn't likely to develop an appreciation for education as a reward in itelf.

On the other hand, you can encourage a desire to learn by giving her opportunities to learn whatever she's interested in, as quickly as she can absorb it. My 6yo will turn up before breakfast asking for math worksheets ("Get your chores done first!), because he enjoys the challenge of completing them correctly (and the opportunity to annoy his older brother), and also the awareness that he's moving on to more interesting knowledge at his own fastest pace. "Now that you know all your addition and subtraction, we can start on multiplication!" This does actually motivate a child, if he sees people using the skills he wants to learn.

If any of our children sees a book or workbook that they want, if it's anywhere within their ability (even if we think it might be too hard) we'll get it for them. Tom loves doing geography workbooks ("Maps, Charts, and Graphs," available in Christian bookstores or education supply stores), so we keep buying them as fast as he completes them. He's on the 4th grade book right now (and he's not 7 yet), and has improved his reading, math, and handwriting skills dramatically, on his own initiative, because he's so eager to do these books.

Our 9yo, Billy, is not quite as eager, partly because he feels threatened by Tom, but if we can relate any lesson to the things he's interested in (Cub Scouts, construction, wildlife), he'll eventually summon up the gumption and do a good job. We just have to be more patient while he musters his internal resources.

Anyway, you need to look at what your goal is for your daughter, and then develop strategies based on her personality. It can take time, especially if she's got no personal investment in what she's being asked to accomplish.

[ladylib]

I read that whole language was put into place because it made children dependent on other children (children would be placed into little groups and help one another decipher the texts) -- a typical socialistic approach IMHO. Unfortunately, that type of thinking can lead to "the blind leading the blind."

If a child learns to read well, he doesn't have to confer with other children, and he can come to his own conclusion about what he's read.

[Maria S]

"...he can come to his own conclusion..."


That's the WHOLE point behind education these days; we don't want kids to be able to think through things and reach their OWN conclusions! Anybody who can reason through something (used to be called 'common sense') is dangerous.

[Gal.5:1]

It started in the early 20th century with Horace and Mann, and the purging of true education and the installment of a socialist plan to dumb down most people for a worker bee class to serve an educated elite ruling class.

I looked at a 4th grade neighbor's homework yesterday and couldn't believe it. It was just like I have heard. The vocabulary, spelling, grammar and handwriting were the level of my 2nd grader's, the math was about our 3rd grade, the reading and writing were about the 1st grade level, the stories were values clarification lessons("what kind of person is Mona? a. A person who believes in good luck charms.")and the "social studies" -remember, they don't teach history and geography- were politically correct ( a lesson on discrimination in the 1880's)and designed to make America look really evil.

My 5th grader is reading high school level books and writing at an 8th grade level, and my 2nd grader is going 3R's at the level of the gov't school 4th grade. It really is as bad as you have heard.

[Gal.5:1]

2nd grader is doing

[LiteKeeper]

INTSUM - Education

[FITZ]

I need ideas how to teach my daughter to care.

I think it's easy to get kids involved in certain things that get them motivated to learn ---- letting them figure out how many groceries they can get with a set amount of money teaches them why they should want to learn addition, multiplication, division, and subtraction. Family cross-country car trips with the kids figuring out where they are on the maps and atlases will teach them geography basics and make their classwork more meaningful. Hiking trips, trips to museums in various parts of the country, traveling to different climates will help with science, history, geology, etc. It's interesting to watch how a kid will find studying what happened at the Alamo much more interesting after they've physically been there. Or the knowledge of oceans improves after they've seen them.

[FITZ]

In contrast, public-school students are driven by teachers.

And teachers are very limited by time and class size. My daughter in the 9th grade was telling me how the kids are so poorly prepared for geography --- many have never been outside this region for one, they have no concept of north-south-east-west. The teacher was trying to explain about different states, where the Great Lakes are, she finally tried to relate to something most of the kids here should understand --- she asked the class if you are travelling from Juarez to El Paso which direction must you go --- and even on that one my daughter was the only one who knew the answer would be north. Some things are still the parents' responsibility.

[junta]

Because they are predicated on the egalitarian fantasy of the blank slate of human nature. Once that particular fantasy is passed off well enough then the centralized state so beloved by Left and their allies the Neo-cons is contracted to do the writing on the "children." Its failing miserably because so many people actually believe these myths instead of just giving them lip service and doing the right thing by abandoning the day care called public schools.

[eleni121]

This essay goes easy on the real culprits: the educrats and their accomplices - the NEA, the union that has been taken over by a left wing cabal that believes America is evil and capitalism is obsolete.

For the most part, teachers, schools of teacher training, and its corporate structure, is going along with this destruction of education. The decline in standards is especially noticeable in large urban school districts where parents are too busy, too ignorant or too beholden to the dimocrats to care. Unless schools get back to the basics and allow parents to form their children's values, public education is doomed.

I think it is already too late to save public education in its present form. Good riddance!

[shhrubbery!]

whole language was put into place because it made children dependent on other children (children would be placed into little groups and help one another decipher the texts) -- a typical socialistic approach

Verrrrry interesting!

In my local public schools, from kindergarten through 12th grade, 'cooperative learning' has been the rage for several years now.

This means students have to work in groups and 'teach each other.' The teacher is not supposed to actually teach, mind you -- he or she is merely present to be a 'facilitator.'

Well, naturally this is a recipe for disaster.

Math scores, particularly, plunged in our district, to almost the lowest in the county. They are barely above those of the poorest districts where most children are recent immigrants, even though our district is quite well-off financially.