21 Sep America’s Failed Education System

“The facts are clear. Solutions are more challenging.” – The Lonely Realist

America was once a “can do” nation. That’s no longer true. Americans today won’t accept facts harsh realities. They instead rely on fantasies and falsehoods. That’s glaringly true with respect to America’s K-12 education system, which is not merely failing, it’s already failed. America’s young as well as their parents have lost faith. We all know what that means for America’s future.

The fact is that every K-12 student who doesn’t drop out receives a high school diploma, and that’s true whether or not the student has absorbed received an adequate education. Far too many students graduate without skills or proficiency in anything, whether reading, science, math or, well, anything. Inexplicably, every high school graduate nevertheless can find a place in an American college or university. America reveres the benefits of education and yet undervalues, under-educates and underperforms. Why are young Americans urged to pursue a college degree when neither a high school nor a college diploma ensures either an education OR a job? The outcome for America’s next generation is pitiful, and one that America’s youth well understand, which explains why almost half of today’s teenagers have lost faith in the value of education.

Although every American who wants a high school diploma can receive one, what level of education does that diploma represent, and what skills should a high school graduate bring to the workforce? Only 8 States require graduates to pass high school “proficiency” exams…, with alternatives available for those who fail and yet end up with high school diplomas anyway. A K-12 education provides few, if any, career options or opportunities, the “passport to college” all-too-often being the only seemingly reasonable option available for many high school graduates. With K-12 dissociated from educational and technical competence, and with grade inflation providing a passport to college acceptance, it’s no wonder that so many graduates of American high schools enter college and, after receiving both high school and college diplomas, nevertheless lack marketable workplace skills. Unlike their international counterparts, America’s education system rarely offers vocational training that provides a pathway to employment. No wonder young Americans are disenchanted with a economic education system that leads to a dead-end credential and no employment-ready skill.

An equally disturbing problem is that K-12 education has been notably unsuccessful in bridging the gap between poor and better-off children. In addition to receiving less State and local education funding, the poorest American children are undernourished. Hungry children cannot learn focus at the same level as their fellow students. Providing them with one meal/school day would be a huge improvement since relatively few local school districts provide free lunches (nutrition having been sacrificed to special interest lobbyists). Federal education dollars (~$60 billion/year) accordingly should be targeted to where they will do the most good – that is, rather than operate as a form of revenue-sharing, they should fund nationwide free lunches for K-12 students. American education itself – teacher budgets and bricks and mortar – is funded almost entirely by State and local tax revenues. Americans have practiced throwing money willy-nilly at “education” in the hope that money buys success. It hasn’t worked.

It used to be that a career in teaching was a profession highly respected by students, teachers and parents. Becoming an educator was aspirational, along with doctoring, lawyering and accounting. But that apparently was a passing 20^th Century phase. Today, too few young Americans aspire to a career that educates young Americans…, while too many seek a career in K-12 teaching to secure a sinecure tenure (that is, lifetime job security) and, along with it, an easier work schedule. Tenured teachers are rarely fired for poor performance…, and truly incompetent teachers continue to receive raises based on seniority while awaiting extensive hearing processes. However, there are school districts (and States) where it’s all-too-easy to fire teachers who push back on parental pressures based on politics, religion, smut, etc. This is a local issue and not one that should be addressed at the Federal level (though elected officials like to pretend they have solutions). It can only be addressed through competitive pressures that raise the importance (and the stature) of education and educators.

America’s Constitution allocates no responsibility for education to the Federal government…, and Federal government partisanship has proven Congress incapable of dealing with K-12 education issues. Education consequently is left to States and local school districts, the quality and content of education being dependent on State and local administrators whose prejudices efforts are funded by State and local tax revenues. That fragments American education and necessarily results in winners and losers. There are those who blame under-performance on funding – that is, underfunding of schools and teacher salaries and an overreliance on “teaching to the test.” There are others who point to a lack of competitive school choice, poor teacher preparation and the woke invasion of classrooms. All have a point – there are many reasons excuses for poor performance. The only contribution the Federal government should be making is to provide standards and data that allow States, school districts and parents to compare and contrast performance. Congress attempted to do so in 2001 in the No Child Left Behind Act where it mandated standardized testing to provide a measurement mechanism through the accumulation and publication of data. After pushback from special interests, Congress in 2015 enacted the Every Student Succeeds Act, eliminating nationwide testing in favor of State-by-State standard-setting…, which has been an abject failure. K-12 education can improve only if the performance of both schools and teachers is made transparent and measurable – competition is beneficial only if the results are available and understandable.

Another necessary step in improving America’s education system would be to limit the presence of smartphones in schools, a step supported by educators, administrators and a majority of parents, and opposed by those parents who believe that their children must have the ability to get in touch in case of a school shooting emergency. The solution, once again, is to let each school district decide for itself.

In today’s America, education of one size “that fits all” cannot fit all. America’s K-12 education system has shown itself to be ineffective in student learning, educator performance, and the effective utilization of money. Devoid of accountability, it is not educating America’s children. The No Child Left Behind Act adopted a sound mechanism for educational improvement. Special interests killed that mechanism. Data nevertheless exist that can provide the transparency necessary for an educational competition to determine which educational methods work best and where they work best, allowing local school districts to market their successes…, and be condemned for their failures…, and parents to choose accordingly. There needs to be accountability.

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