I have thought long and hard about the educational practices our nation created. I have found a great many things wrong with our system of education yet it is the crown of glory gracing the unique democracy that has survived beastiality, barbarism and barely civilized practices of past and present societies. In the present day we have confused SCHOOLING with education. Yet, where would we be without schools? There are two contending pressure groups vying for supremacy where before there was an excellent PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM of 50 state educational establishments and very viable private and religious school alternatives.
It seems evident to me that the current administration would like the public schools to disappear. In the place of taxes, parents paying for schools will be forced to buy into alternative “competitive” schools that survive throwing out the “baby with the dishwater”. There is yet no nationwide standard of excellence for all schools or a single “best” educational philosophy.
No matter which school system or educational philosophy emerges from the fight now going on over it a familiar process will be employed for it has worked well throughout history. There are differences between educands. If you find a classroom filled with super bright children there will still be a brightest and a least capable across a spectrum of ordinary looking kids. Even the brightest are different from each other. What we have done in our schools and classes is to separate the sheep from the goats. We have categorized children by their abilities to do abstractions and have differentiated them from those who may excel in manipulative and other skills.
Look at the way we have done this. We welcome the anointed. We pass the compliant. We fail all others for they are wanting and they must have done something bad in order to receive this punishment. That seems to be the consensus.
Some children are golden. Some are silver. Others are brass or dull and rusty iron. All are valuable and belong. We segregate not only by color, by income, by neighborhood, by social standing and by ability. Our present day “un-segregated” classrooms are in-fact segregated because all magnet, all voucher, all religious, all charter and all private schools keep some but shut out all others.
Our system of welcoming the anointed, passing the compliant and failing those who are found unworthy will be maintained when the present magnificent PUBLIC EDUCATION system passes from the scene.