Half of the children in the United States, by some measures of poverty, now live in poverty or within the condition known as "food insecure." Of the several measures of poverty in America, food insecure is the factor most likely to be of immediate impact to education, since hungry kids do not learn well. Our question is of staggering importance; How does a country educate a population when a majority now have food insecurity, dental health problems, problems in home stability, problems in mental health, problems in gaining work experience or guidance from the family, and problems merely keeping a roof and a bathroom available for the next uncertain meal?
We have entered a New Era in American Education. It is not the era envisioned by the Reformers of the past 20 years, the Gates Foundation, the Chalkboard Project, the College Board or the US Congress. It is not about the new era of competition in the global arena. The New Era for Students is this; will I survive childhood?
Data is being generated about how our kids are doing in school, through sampling of year-long testing, elaborate evaluation systems, algorythms and high speed data analysis tools. All seems to show a decline in scores on the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) a statistical analysis begun during the Clinton Administration to shed statistical light on how, overall, US kids and schools are performing. Those scores flattened out, on average, in 2007, and have been on a slow decline since. On average.
The top percentage of scorers are still in the top quintile, in direct competition with the best schools in the world. Our top third are getting a world-class education at this moment. But, the other two thirds are not making statistical progress. They are doing as well as they were in 2007, and to Reformers, this is a tragedy. It must be someone's fault.
Obviously, our schools are failing. Our teachers are not doing their jobs. The funding we give to schools is wasted money. Our concept of Public Education is done. We have tried, and failed.
Data, data, data, and somehow, we come to the wrong conclusion about the cause of the slight decline in NAEP. Despite years of cuts to schools, cutting pensions, benefits and salaries, much larger class sizes, no electives or enrichment classes or activities in classes, declining attendance, increasing absenteeism, increasing attrition, increasing retention problems in the teaching profession, increasing child mobility to allow parents to find work, increasing health problems in kids and increasing levels of childhood depression and neglect, we find ourselves wondering; when will the "smart people" look at the true causes of a plateau in NAEP scores? When will the Economists and Sociologists and Social Psychologists and the Phd's in Educational Theory FINALLY say what we all know to be true:
The hollowing out of the economy by International Corporations has stolen the future of these kids because their parents are now in survival mode. The cause of educational decline has NOTHING to do with teachers or schools, and everything to do with the rise of the Corporate Governance of the Economy; lower taxes reduce school revenue; outsourcing jobs leads to unemployment and worse, shadow underemployment who are not even counted; lower wages and no benefits, not even for sick leave, deprives kids of their parents time and care, and teaching, and hopelessness about the future is part and parcel of every kids life now that they see how miserable their parents are working two jobs while sick, and having no time to cook dinner. Even child nutrition is suffering.
I do not know how a moral, lawful, Constitutional republic society can allow this to stand. To make war, by way of the violence of poverty on children is a fact which is so horrible that most people will not even read this diary, or will try not to think too hard about it.
But if you think about one thing today, think about how the poverty of the 51% of kids today guarantees a diminished society, a shrinking democracy and a future as grim as anyone can imagine. Before you go off on the rights of a corporation to keep their money because freedom, and have low taxes, reflect on what that means to kids who are learning their place in the world. At the moment, it is no surprise that a vast minority turn to drugs, crime and immorality out of desperation.
With this one point of data, we should reflect that we are the authors of our own collapse, and until we reverse this with Fair Progressive Taxation of Corporate and Personal Income, we are literally going down the Highway to Hell. I hope Jeb, Marco, Chris and the rest understand our anger and our absolute determination not to let it stand. We will not let it stand, one way or another, of that we are certain.