Boys disappearing from school

This link comes compliments of Dan - an interesting read. I have become a critic of education as it is practiced today, based on both my experience as a parent and as an observer of the political order that has come to dominate education.

As a parent, I am frustrated by the automatic truisms that get fired at you, such as "You can't have more than 20 students in a classroom". I always think: I had classes of 35-40, no teacher's aides, no cafeteria, and yet somehow we learned. I look at the things that are emphasized, such as social engineering kinds of things (zero tolerance policies, self-esteem BS, etc), and the things that are not (like, um, education), and get angry.

The political order makes me quite disheartened that there will be changes that put the kids first. The unions and the school boards (stacked with teacher sympathizers) will make sure that teachers are taken care of first, and the kids' needs come in no higher than second place. A friend of mine ran for the school board last year on this simple proposition: School taxes have gone up 60% in the past 6 years, while enrollment has declined, and the course offerings have diminished. I want to know why. The guy met a similar fate to mine when running for reelection: he was demonized, his wealth was thrown in his face, and the school board members who got elected were spouses/relatives of teachers and administrators. I am sure that the hard question as to why the spending is up while enrollment and course offerings are down will be real high on their list of tough questions....

Anyway, I used to think that the hard-core libertarians who chided "government schools" were a little out there. Maybe I got to where they are through a different route, but I am with them on the idea that the best way to fund education is to collect taxes so that vouchers are distributed among the parents of school-age kids, who then decide where their kids get an education. Enough inertia in the system would probably keep the current order afloat for at least a short time, but as alternatives became available, more and more parents would make better choices for their kids. This won't happen, but I think it offers a better chance for education to become responsive to the needs of the kids, rather than those who constitute the infrastructure of the educational system.

And that's the bottom line I take away from this article: despite having identified a flaw in the system that could have enormous sociopolitical ramifications, if this guy thinks that anything will be done that doesn't put teachers' needs first, he's dreaming. And given how the status quo is so good for the teachers, I don't expect any changes anytime soon.