Once upon a time, two little American pigs went off to kindergarten, where they ate play-doh, drew on walls and fought over the purple crayon. In other words, they learned just about everything worth knowing.
By high school, the pigs were dabbling in chemistry, nearly drowning in busywork and learning in a less constructive environment.
Those little pigs have become the college students of today.
America: land of the free, home of the brave, champion of the uneducated.
Thomas Jefferson, in 1816, praised a part of Spain’s constitution for being a superior means of enlightenment. The provision stated that all people born after a certain day would not be given the rights of a citizen until they knew how to read and write, Jefferson wrote. "It is impossible sufficiently to estimate the wisdom of this provision."
But the U.S. constitution has no such provision, and today’s educational system is failing to meet the needs of today’s society.
The dictionary definition of ‘education’ is impressive, tracing back to the Latin educare, meaning to raise, train, or lead forth.
But as few American schools now offer Latin, as many are truly committed to raising, training or leading the students they are charged with serving. Our education thus far has done little to develop our innate abilities, expand our horizons, and everything else that lovely dictionary definition brings to mind.
While our government continues to hem, haw, and hold elaborate and empty signing ceremonies, it will pay lip service to education. Millions of young people will sit through coloring simulations in math — assuming schools can still afford copies, crayons, and chairs. America’s youth is increasingly uneducated and unheard.
Even twenty years ago, America led the world in its education standards; today it is ninth among the industrialized nations.
Though we still lead in using information for economic benefits, our education’s contribution to the future is waning, and nothing is being done, which is both depressing and frightening. If we can only do cookie-cutter problems from obscure workbooks, and students in China know how to apply what they know to do more, where does that leave us?
There are a great many students struggling to stay on the surface of this quagmire, but we have watched in exasperation as brainless, babbling, annoyances pass off with higher grades than ourselves with much less effort simply because we strive for something more, yet somehow fail to meet everyone else’s expectations.
There are more important things than how quickly and accurately students are able to pick out the wrong sentence from a group; their determination, intelligence, and adaptability will see to their success.
The required STAR exam is a long-standing joke that only reinforces the sad state of California’s education, and the California High School Exit Exam, which is meant to guarantee high standards and accurate evaluations of teaching methods, is laughable.
We would like to think that we did learn something in the years since kindergarten, thank you. Many critics of education cite problems in methods, resources, and personnel.
Though they do have crippling flaws, our education system lacks a vision and purpose.
Excessive legislation and bumbling administration, along with large amounts of money that vanishes before being put to visible use, has brought us here.
Students pass from grade to grade without any consistency, discipline, or aim, and flounder when thrown into the real world.
To be eradicated, problems must be solved from the root upwards, not dealt with haphazardly once it is too late.
Parents, many of whom are too wrapped up in their careers, are only too happy to place the blame on the inadequacies of school administrators, but it is they who protest against "too much" homework, "too hard" tests, "unfair" grades, and any attempts to create a lasting disciplinary and rigorous education system in which we can safely entrust our future. Our government has kindly condescended to look into our education, of course, as it must if it insists on telling off other nations about their domestic issues.
The U.S. Department of Education, between its colorful pictures of smiling, racially diverse children, offers a short analysis of a recent act: "No Child Left Behind is based on stronger accountability for results, more freedom for states and communities, proven education methods, and more choices for parents."
While too vague and broad to have a clear purpose, the actadvocates improvements in education. Many of its proposed changes are based on research that shows complex things such as the fact that academic achievement is linked to parental involvement, especially in the early years.
In 2004, after unexpected opposition from teachers unions, the federal department turned to Ketchum Inc., a global public relations firm, to promote the law. The firm currently holds 100.5 million in federal contracts.
Among the several pages of fine print, the act requires high schools to allow military recruiters access to student contact and academic information unless parents specifically request it not be released.
As high school students ourselves, however, the military calls us anyway. Ulterior motives, anyone? Closer to home, Governor Schwarzenegger (only nine years of schooling is mandatory in Austria) has repeatedly slashed California’s educational budget. Without education, tax dollars will instead provide young people with the best rooms San Quentin has to offer.
The federal and state governments are eager to place the blame on the other, and the betterment of our schools has been put on hold because there is no funding to be had. Money is not the problem. Our teachers have fought for some government recognition.
Every school day sees students more absorbed in last night’s television show than schoolwork, teachers desperately trying to make a difference, and administrators attending vague meetings in places like Jamaica to learn how to make students learn better butcher paper projects.
Schools elsewhere in the world focus on honing students’ skills, teaching new ones, and showing them how to find their place in the world.
Ironically, many of these schools are in countries termed "third world," and recent college graduates can find no work in the U.S. and have inferior qualifications compared to foreign students.
Every day at 3 p.m., our brains sink into a stupor, while millions elsewhere plan for a brighter future.
This article appears in the Feb. 6, 2006 print edition of La Voz.