WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE EDUCATED?
If we prioritize political issues, education has to be at the top of the list. A smart person once said, “…it must begin with the children,” the economic ‘a chicken in every pot’ coming in a close second. Another person observed that the purpose of society is to raise and nurture children so as to be responsible adults for the succeeding generation. Considering that the performance rating of U.S. education is well down in comparison to other countries, no one can argue against the above premise. Drilling down a little deeper, most educators will tell you that you must inspire and teach to the individual student via a synchronized conversation between teacher and each student. This, then, is why mandated ‘Common Core’ implementation of the noble ‘No Child Left Behind’ concept is certainly an over-reach of an enthusiasm mindlessly defying logic. One might analagize the ‘top-down’ governmental regulation of education as uniformly fertilizing a lawn with a purposeful myoptic view that all grasses and weeds must be fed together and the same. Historically, schools were enabled, implemented, and maintained at the local level. Then, each adult indeed had a voice and used it in town hall meetings. Perhaps the scariest conclusion is that many Americans either just don’t care; or, they refuse to participate in the exercise of precious American democracy. When was the last time you attende a PTA or PTSA meeting…if such meeting are ever held anymore. Education is one of many issues in which each individual voice has been lost, and diversity has been equated with divisiveness according to a scale of political correctness.