THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 125, May 18, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE UNITED STATES OF STUPID
By Alan Caruba
NATIONWIDE FAILURE IN AMERICAN ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY SCHOOLS: THE TOP-DOWN APPROACHES TO
LEARNING THAT HAVE PLAYED A LARGE PART IN THE CONTINUAL "DUMBING-DOWN" OF AMERICAN EDUCATION -- THE
U.S. NATIONAL GOVERNMENT'S TAKEOVER OF PUBLIC SCHOOL CURRICULA & TESTING METHODS -- CENTRALIZED
CONTROL & DIRECTION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION FROM THE STATE CAPITALS, AS WELL AS FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. --
STATE LEGISLATURES STRAYING BEYOND THEIR THEIR TRADITIONAL ROLES TO TINKER WITH SCHOOLS IN
UNPRECEDENTED WAYS -- THE CONSEQUENCES OF LEGISLATIVE MICROMANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION BY THE
NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY -- LEGISLATIVE CONCERNS VERSUS PEDAGOGIC ISSUES -- STATE LEGISLATIVE
POLITICS VERSUS THE BEST INTERESTS OF STUDENTS & THEIR PARENTS
FULL STORY:
In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education released a report titled A Nation at Risk, a report that
documented nationwide failure in American elementary and secondary schools. Not much has changed since then and the
federal takeover of school curriculums and testing methods has mercilessly continued with the Bush administration’s "No
Child Left Behind" and the Obama administration’s "Race to the Top."
They are the top-down approaches to learning that have played a large part in the continual “dumbing-down” of American
education. Once the province of local school boards, innovative schools and individual teachers, the education of children
has been taken over by Big Government.
Making matters worse, amid the confusion of federally mandated education requirements, state legislatures are now
straying beyond their traditional roles to tinker with schools in unprecedented ways.
A recent example of this involves two bills making their way through the North Carolina General Assembly – House Bill 766
and Senate Bill 479 – which focus on testing in that State’s public schools. While the motive behind these identical bills may
seem to be to “improve” testing, the bills serve only to further dumb-down education through legislative micromanagement.
In the case of North Carolina, the bills not only order schools to administer a specific college admissions test to all students
in the 11th grade -- the ACT -- it also mandates “diagnostic tests” for students in grades eight and 10 that will “align” with
the ACT.
In effect, the North Carolina Legislature is using the force of law to compel classroom teachers to teach to the test rather
than providing a solid education.
Since there is a long established, respected alternative -- the SAT -- it further reduces the element of choice for local boards.
It begs the question, when does a legislative body possess the requisite knowledge to decide which test is in the best
interest of students and their education? Isn’t that a pedagogic, not legislative, question?
Even the uninitiated could be forgiven for thinking that this legislation was rigged from the outset and reflects the best bill
writing that special interest money can buy, but it gets even worse.
The North Carolina proposal requires that “students who do not pass the tests adopted for eighth grade shall be provided
remedial instruction in the ninth grade.” Using legislative fiat to push weak students from eighth to ninth grade and
expecting them to learn new material when they don’t know the old material is a sure fire recipe for utter failure.
Common sense says that not all students at all ages learn at the same pace. Some learn faster than others. Some students
come from lower income brackets, are raised by single parents or even their grandparents, and face other socio-economic
factors that lead to greater obstacles and fewer incentives to study.
Rather than face this simple truth and deal with it through an effective, flexible policy, North Carolina lawmakers would let
struggling students sink even further behind as they are pushed to the next grade level with a vague promise of remedial
teaching.
The real problem with such top-down, one-size-fits-all legislation is that, once passed in one State, it spreads to others and,
of course, it has its origins at the federal level. That makes it attractive to lawmakers beyond the Tar Heel State where
politicians are juggling shrinking state budgets and teacher layoffs with their need for popular poll numbers and reelection.
Education has become highly politicized, providing opportunities for special interests to inject themselves into policy
debate. This deliberate dumbing down of education and students has afflicted the U.S.A. since the 1960s. It shows no
signs of being reformed.
Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III, said:
“We must always evaluate policy proposals in light of
principles like the rule of law and the logic of our
constitutional system. The [U.S.] Education Department’s
sponsoring and funding of a national curriculum runs
counter to both laws of Congress and the wisdom of the
Founders.”
The Founders, who wrote the U.S. Constitution, knowing that the best education was locally determined and directed
education, did not even mention the word “education” in the national constitutional document. If for no other reason than
this, the North Carolina Legislature should scrap these education proposals and make a fresh start.
-------------------------------------
© Alan Caruba, 2011
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Education, Training, & America's Schools:
U.S. Institutions of Elementary, Secondary, & Higher Education:
Schools, Colleges, & Universities As Instruments of Political Propaganda:
Propaganda Platforms in the Islamist Jihad Against America & the West
Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. An author, commentator and business and science writer,
he is the Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven "scare campaigns" designed
to influence public opinion and public policy.
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity