This is not about blaming conservatives or liberals, Republicans or Democrats, or even parents vs. non-parents. This is about a society so apathetic about its own future that it has almost abandoned our children in the current education system. I consider this a form of child abuse that affects not only the child but the entire society. Public education got its start at the dawn of our democracy. Jefferson first lifted up the idea of public education here. By 1791, 7 of the 14 states who had their own state constitutions had specifically made provisions for public education.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) ensured we were not only going to leave some children behind, we were going to ensure they were properly educated in the doctrine of non-free thinking. Let’s grill them, pigeon hole them, test them out the wazoo and make sure they have not only the inability to think for themselves but the apathy to stay out of the democratic system – thereby ensuring the ruling class (corporatocracy) can continue to rule. To read the Department of Education website at ed.gov, funding has increased substantially in recent years and NCLB offers groundbreaking education reform, higher flexibility, and uses proven education methods. Really?!?!
We can’t get adequate funding for our schools, programs are being drastically reduced – or worse, cut – teacher layoffs are rampant, morale is low, and our "test scores" aren’t really improving, especially for the lower incomes. If by groundbreaking we mean training a bunch of ditch diggers, well then sure. They will be breaking the ground all right. Only about 8.7% of the federal budget goes towards education. For 2007, this translated to approximately $89.9 billion in education/training and $548.8 billion in defense spending. What needs defending is our future which can only be achieved with an educated generation.
Yes there are some bad teachers out there. There are some bad parents out there too. The majority of our teachers are good at their jobs and have a passion for opening young minds through education. They sure don’t do it for the money. People keep yelling about "Taxed Enough Already" yet I don’t see them pulling their kids from school, not calling the police/fire when they need help, not driving on the taxpayer maintained roads ... well I could go on and on. My point is – education costs money. Government gets money from taxes. Even if you don’t want to raise them – we sure can’t cut them! Here in my hometown we are fighting like mad to keep our specialists in science, music and PE and also to keep our classes small enough for the teachers to have time to actually teach to each of our students. The federal government would rather spend our money on foreign soil giving it to corporations such as Halliburton to fight a non-declared war. The state (especially California where I live) can’t seem to get its act together and just keeps cutting and cutting the budget for education. The local school districts are then forced into a corner of having to chop up a smaller and smaller pie. And for some reason one of the leading choices they are making is to take away science specialists for elementary and grow the classes so large the teachers mainly have time for discipline and test preparation. By the end of the day, they are exhausted and demoralized. And so are the kids.
I have been at every school board meeting this year. I am new to the process but, then again, I only have a first grader. We have a small group of parents who have become the reluctant warriors for the smaller class sizes. Other people complain about it but do very little. Or worse, just "tsk-tsk" and move right on. We need to start locally – every school board, every meeting. Get to know your school board members. They are also people working for our children’s education – and they too are not in it for the money. Most get paid very little (less than $1000 per month) and they take a heap of abuse for the decisions they do make.
Next step is to take it to the state level. Letter writing, phone calls, petitions, protests if necessary. Write to the newspapers. Then get our voice heard at the federal level. Loud and clear. And finally, take it to the polls. I am just one mom, with one student in first grade in one school district. The Fremont Unified School District knows where I stand. California Superintendent of Education Jack O’Connell knows where I stand. US Representative Pete Stark knows. And now you know. The question is – where do you stand and what are you going to do about it?