Why the US K-12 Education System is Failing
There are no more important reasons than this one...
There are multiple flaws on our K-12 education system, but the undying one has rarely been discussed, much less analyzed and addressed.
The fundamental premise of the US K-12 education system is basically:
1 - We will teach your children a number of Facts in select subject areas (English, Math, Science, History, etc.).
2 - Spread out over the K-12 period, this will be what we call a Sound Basic Education.
3 - This Sound Basic Education will enable your child to: a) continue on for Higher Education [if they so choose], and b) be a productive, happy member of society.
On the surface this all sounds good and reasonable. However, a more thorough examination exposes the reality that this model is profoundly flawed in several fundamental ways.
Some of these defects are:
1- Who determines the “Facts” that will be taught? For example, what are the Facts regarding our energy options, climate change, the origins of the universe, American history, gender identity, etc? Our present system has been taken over by Left-leaning academics and activists, so Progressives dictate to K-12 students what the “Facts” are on key issues — even though many of them are in dispute.
2- Critical Thinking is not taught. No State in the US currently has any statewide subject standards where K-12 students are formally taught how to do Critical Thinking. None. The reason for this purposeful omission is that Progressives do NOT want students questioning the suspect “Facts” they are told to accept.
3- Worse, the opposite of Critical Thinking is being taught. The pervasive message is that students should be conformists. For example they should: defer to authority, follow what’s politically in vogue, adhere to consensus views, accept what computer models and projections say, etc. In all of these, the message is clear to students: “We do not need or want your thoughts on any societal matters, as computers and smarter people than you have given us proper direction.”
4- The current Higher Education system is simply more advanced indoctrination. Once Critical Thinking has been squelched and Conformity has become the norm in K-12, it’s child’s play to up the ante.
5- Nothing about this education system assures productivity. True productivity is based on such qualities as persistent effort, good efficiency, and creativity (part of Critical Thinking). The current system is creating lemmings by instead teaching entitlement and conformity, which are both anathema to real productivity.
6- Nothing about this education system assures happiness. This can be made a complicated matter, but we are simplifying here. Happiness boils down to having a meaningful life. That comes about by embracing genuine values — e.g., Judeo-Christian. Instead children are infused with the corrosive idea of relativism (via SEL, etc.). This guarantees a mediocre country with inherently unhappy citizens.
The Bottom Line
Let’s make this very simple. The fight over the purpose of our education system can be boiled down to two radically different perspectives:
The Left believes that we should be teaching our children WHAT to think.
The Right believes that we should be teaching our children HOW to think.
For a few decades now the US K-12 education system has been following the Progressives Plan — primarily because no major Conservative organization is paying sufficient attention to the curricula issue. In this pivotal battlefield, the Right has surrendered to the Left!
Until this is fixed, America will continue a steady downhill descent.
Tragically we are quickly approaching the point of no return.
Here are other materials by this scientist that you might find interesting:
Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.
WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.
C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.
Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.
Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2024 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?
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Good points, John "what vs how" and then there is 1 of the biggest lies of all "public schools are underfunded". In truth public school funding is miss allocated and school districts go to great lengths to hide that from the local taxpayers. Case in point - rare the school district that does not have a stand alone Administration building filled with six-figure employees that never step foot in a classroom. There should be an independent audit of every school districts annual budget to reveal the actual allocation of monies to administration salaries & other admin expenses vs teacher salaries & other teacher expenses. The elimination of these stand alone Administration buildings, i.e. the elimination of those employees, would free up much needed funding for school classrooms (salary increases & supplies).
Right. Two important sides of this coin:
1) Family: Parents should not fight for change, hoping things will improve in time to help their children. If the public schools are bad, DON’T put your kids in and/or take them out- IMMEDIATELY! 1 year in a kids education matters because one builds on the next. DON’T let your kids essentially become lab rats in the ever-changing pedagogical models. Do whatever it takes. NO sacrifice is so great that would justify the heartache and guilt you feel for not having done right by your children.
2) LOCAL/STATE: Don’t bother with Feds. Too far, too deaf to your concerns. Fight for logical solutions which don’t require a lot of $.
I personally believe in the tried and true Classical approach to education. It is based on the threefold principles of the Trivium Plato wrote down wonderfully about- grammar, logic and rhetoric.
Grammar focuses not only the memorization of the mechanics of language as the word implies, but of math facts as well.
Students then move onto the Logic phase which focuses on the mechanics of thought and analysis- fleshing out fallacious arguments and statements through reason.
Finally, the Rhetoric phase is teaching the use of language in order to instruct and to persuade others.
This is the way my grandparents were taught in the early 1900’s. It is ancient, tried and extremely successful. Above all, the materials required are available in the public domain aka FREE.
Many homeschool curriculums use this model as do more and more private & parochial schools.
Consider Classical for your own kids AND as a workable model for the State in which you live.
If course, we’re up against very well-heeled Curriculum Company lobbyists who must always create something “new and better” to justify and maintain their livelihoods…