League of Education Voters Gives Schools a C-

A local organization put together a report on the quality of schools in Washington state. Our schools got a C-. Obviously, I would give the schools an F if I believed in letter grades. This report can be found at http://www.educationvoters.org/2011-report-card/

I thought that I would share my thoughts on their views regarding our schools and what they think needs to change. I will go topic by topic.

Invest in early learning - C+

The League of Education Voters feels that progress has been made in pushing pre-kindergarten on children and extending kindergarten to a full-day schedule. They find that the state isn’t moving fast enough in this direction.

The problem with this argument is that we have never tried to tie early learning programs with higher expectations from students. We are simply trying to increase the number of students that meet existing expectations. A supermajority graduates from high school on time. With increased schooling for the same amount of learning, we are slowing the process down. Ultimately, our attempts to help the bottom students are coming at the expense of the faster students.

Prepare all children for college, work, and life. Provide every high school student with the opportunity to graduate with a meaningful high school diploma. - C+

Washington is below average when it comes to students graduating on time, and gaps exist between ethnicities. Some numbers have improved, and others have declined.

After reading this, I’m surprised that the League of Education Voters scored the state as high as they did. Once again, I disagree with some of their points. Graduation rates have got to be the most overrated indicators of education quality. A single rigid schooling system is not for everyone. Insisting that we must do whatever we can to increase the graduation rate only pushes the idea that we should all conform according to the schools’ misguided standards. I also don’t like the emphasis on ethnicity. One of the best things we can do to fight racism is to stop defining people by their races.

Focus on math, science, and engineering. Support every student in passing algebra I by 8th grade. – C-

The League of Education Voters feels that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are the most important subjects. There are signs that we are slipping in this area, with algebra being particularly weak.
I partially agree with the League of Education Voters on this one. STEM subjects are certainly more valuable than classes such as social studies. The problem is that we can’t force children to prefer these subjects. If we do, they will start to hate learning. If children hate to learn, do you know what we end up with? The modern world. Do we really want to wish that kind of misery on these children? Rather than push our favorite subjects, we need to allow better opportunities for students to learn what they want.

Prepare everyone for the 21st century job market. Increase the number of students who complete one year of education after high school and return for a second year. – D+

The value of college is increasing as more jobs demand a degree. Even living-wage jobs are demanding college. Washington is in the bottom five in the chance for college by age 19. The League of Education Voters is blaming tuition and race.

I will not dispute the argument that businesses value pieces of paper more than ever before, but I would like to point out that this is not due to the colleges preparing students for life. The reality is that this is a form of discrimination. Businesses don’t want to prolong searches for employees, so they ask the schools to tell them who to hire. As a result, what we know is no longer anywhere near as important as how we know it.

Making colleges affordable has been a long battle for many. The League of Education Voters seems to be among the groups that believes that if you can push everyone through college, the gap between the rich and the poor would decrease. We used to think that way about our K-12 system. Look at how that turned out. The simple reality here is that if everyone attended college, higher-priced colleges and post-graduate work would displace our current demand for college degrees. With the increased resources required for a high-paying job, the poorest students would become more likely to leave early to make money instead of losing it.

I should also point out that the money required to make college accessible has to come from somewhere. Higher taxes would be a certainty. I am unsure if those below the poverty line would be required to pay any of those taxes directly, but you can be sure that the poor would be responsible for helping out the rich.

Invest in what works. Improve the transparency, accountability, and funding necessary to drive student achievement. – C-

This is the age old, “Gimme, gimme, gimme!” The League of Education Voters is blaming the bulk of the problems on financing. The schools were built off of the desire to destroy thought and individuality. The reason that students are having problems is certainly not due to a lack of funding. If we completely dismantled the schooling system in this country, we would improve the quality of education significantly and save around a trillion dollars a year.

Conclusion

It appears the the League of Education Voters is among the numerous groups that believes that the solution to the schools’ problems is to focus on more of the same. Rather than addressing the schools’ blatantly anti-educational values and their role in our declining quality of life, this organization is focusing on the idea that our population should consist entirely of mindless products of our schools. I feel that we deserve better than that.