Let's Correctly Label the Problem With Education...

What set me off on this prickly tangent was an article on CNN about the gaffe made recently by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (read the Op-Ed piece by Kathleen Porter-Magee here http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/19/opinion/porter-magee-arne-duncan/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7) She rightly makes the point in stating that while yes, Duncan made a bone-head comment that insulted white suburban moms (presumably directly referring to the ticked off people of NY State, who have been berating the State Commissioner of Education on his state-wide tour about the ill-received implementation of the Common Core standards), the greater focus should not be on the insult – but on

the real inequities and problems within our education system.

She’s correct, of course – there are enough ineffective and problematic methods and practices in the US education system to write 168498721 giant books on the subject. I have an unused Master’s in education so I have some notion of situation of which I speak, and I have friends who do teach and who have children in the public school system. The methods we’re using to teach aren’t

working because we’re more interested in assessing and testing than we are with learning. NY State had one of the more rigorous education standards in the country (which wasn’t saying much) so the switch to Common Core really upset the apple cart, perhaps because the work is more difficult, but also because the content completely disregards the fact that children are human, not automatons.

The math content that I’ve seen makes giant leaps in logic over a short period of time, considering we don’t start formally educating out kids until age 5 in kindergarten and then we have lengthy summer vacations etc etc. The math homework being doled out to a 7-year old is enough to make even their parents scratch their heads – they can solve the problem, but often not using the half-baked method that is the focus of the assignment. Developmentally speaking, some of these methods just aren't appropriate for the children being subjected to the curriculum. Plus, it isn’t fair to teachers – who have to cater to the new methods and standards and be observed constantly by administrators without having been effectively taught themselves how to implement the changes. Also, consider this: according to Diane Ravtich (http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/25/opinion/ravitch-common-core-standards/index.html?hpt=hp_t4) "The [Common Core] standards, unfortunately, were never field-tested. No one knew in advance whether they would improve achievement or depress it, whether they would widen or narrow the achievement gap among children of different races. It is hard to imagine a major corporation releasing new product nationwide without first testing it among consumers to see if it is successful. But that is what happened with the Common Core standards." So Arne Duncan and his army of greed monsters jumped the gun and made it a financial incentive for states to adopt a curriculum that hadn't even been test driven. Fact.

But the thing that really frustrates me is everyone’s refusal to identify the issue for what it really is: a socioeconomic problem. It’s painfully obvious – Duncan unknowingly implied it by identifying the largest detractors of the Common Core system as “white suburban moms.” Think about that. We know without question that the largest populations being failed by education in all 50 states

are ethnic minorities – African Americans, Hispanics, and Native American groups. Statistically speaking, these are the populations that graduate from high school the least and don’t continue on to college. That’s not to say that plenty of white students don’t drop out of high school or pursue a degree in higher education, I’m speaking in generalities. Eventually, these student have families of their own, and either they work 2-3 low-paying jobs to make ends meet and aren’t really present to attend to the educational needs of their children, or they’re caught up in drugs/alcohol or gang life and don’t care much about whether their kids are struggling in school or not. So, which population is likely going to have the parents who will turn up at a meeting to complain vocally about the workload or ineffectiveness of Common Core? White suburban kids, of course! This population has the time and money to sit and do homework with their kids and watch them struggle. Who’s to say that black or Hispanic urban moms aren’t angry about the effect Common Core education is having on their

children? May be the demographics are skewed because these moms and dads have jobs that don’t offer PTO and they can’t just call out on short notice to attend a forum where they can express their displeasure with the state of education in their neighborhoods. May be they had no idea there even was a forum because they were occupied providing for their families and getting the bills paid. It’s absurd to me that in 2013, how much money you come from is still the biggest indicator of how successful/comfortable you’ll wind up as an adult in America.

It all comes down to the almighty dollar. And with everything we've accomplished as a species, we should be beyond this kind of primitive have vs. have-nots crap. Every child who attends school in America should have the same quality of education and attention to their needs as every other child - whether they live in a project in the Bronx or in a penthouse in Manhattan. Education shouldn't be a luxury - it should be a given. If we improve economic stability for the majority of the citizens of this country - we'll improve high school completion rates, we'll have a better educated workforce, and we'll be better equipped to improve the other issues that plague our nation. Let's raise the federal minimum wage, let's lower healthcare costs - let's do something because at the rate we're going - we'll be a giant nation full of dullards only capable of working assembly lines for the new world super power - most likely China.