Wednesday, November 19, 2008

'No Fail' and 'Too Big To Fail' Attitude From American Public Schools

Too Big To Fail is now generally accepted by Americans as an evil necessity. Where did this Cannot Fail concept originate? Among other places, blame must be pointed at the American Public School machine.

Back in my day, elementary students showed up on time; kept their mouths relatively shut; sat up straight and listened, as the girls kept their skirts below their knees and kept their knees together - relatively - during and after school.

We had no autistic, ADD, or "specially gifted" stupid students which today require enormous amounts of extra funding for paying the specially trained teachers who are usually lib females. Since affirmative action, there has been a greater push for more female teachers vis a vis smaller classrooms. Smaller classrooms, more teachers. The reason girl enrollees into college are outnumbering boys is affirmative action and other modes of favoritism.

In the fifties and early sixties, teachers could maintain order by either threatening or actually using a paddle. Lib female-dominated teacher unions currently are opposed to elementary school corporal punishment and rather prefer suspension, thus giving the student a mini vacation, or detentions in rooms where the students may compensate for the sleep lost from the previous night playing video games. In the day, detention study halls were only used for studying. Imagine no loud, dirty talk, or cursing in the classrooms and halls. American teacher unions partnered with the ACLU have eliminated any semblance of authority and order within the mush minds of today's student. Self esteem has replaced sound academic performance which is not required for graduation.

Students had to pass tests to graduate from their current grade or advance to the next. Truancy was always investigated and punished if there was no valid excuse. A real bad boy or girl, which would be today's average inner city school student, could be taken to Juvenile Hall and read the riot act if other disciplinary measures were not effective. Large city school districts, such as the nearby Cleveland schools, are lucky to have half the city's students show up on any given day. Forget about the percentage of graduates.

Public schools are quite restrained in their expulsion policy, and will keep a student, that I know, on the rolls even with over 100 days absence. State and local funding of public ed, which has risen exponentially compared to other Consumer Price Index quantities, is diminished whenever a non-attending "student" is officially expelled and removed from school rolls.

The parents of the heathen youth cannot be primarily responsible for the behavior because libs have long dreamed to be the effective parents of the students from cradle to grave - even as Obama has promised. Schools have a governmentally enforced loco parentis. In fact, parents are allowed less and less authority over their children as the years go by. Know anyone that has had to battle with Child Protective Socialist Services? I know plenty of some women and many men who "fought the law, and the law won."

The non-competing, heavily union-dominated, pro Public School intellectuals not only refuse to discipline, they have been remiss to employ academic standards for two generations of Americans.

In the day, a student graded with an "F" would be in danger of failing. It is fair to say that yesterday's "F" grade could be today's "A" in many schools. And, there was no jiggling and fudging the SAT scores, which are not even required today by many colleges.
In defense of the parents following the lead of lib educrats, it was not the parents who invented fuzzy math, fuzzy English, fuzzy spelling, or anti-American history courses which have destroyed the patriotism of two generations of U.S. citizens (mainly Democrats).

Japan and China are graduating more Engineering degrees than the U.S. and soon we will be far below the rest of the world in research and development. Lady teachers are not particularly motivated to (A) like boys* or (B) apt to teach basic math and science courses. *However, there does seem to be a trend of young female teachers having excessive liking for young, puerile boys.

Public Ed has pulled and even towed the heartstrings of tax-paying parents for mo' and mo' money,while every politician has made "education my number one priority," thus promising even mo' money that will be invested in the totally dysfunctional enterprise.
China spends less than $500 per year to train well behaved, achievers - over 200 million students - as we are paying nearly $15,000 and more for kids who need remedial schooling in order to enter colleges which have also been dumbed down. After graduation from college, businesses are requiring these grads to take additional remedial schooling.

In short, yesterday's children and today's adults have learned early on that they could not fail. Public Ed has been simultaneously learning that it is Too Big Too Fail. No matter is the underachieving and over expense compared to countries around the globe. Public Ed allows for no competition and is the darling of the Democrats as most Government, tax-soaking unions are.

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