An Educator's Frustration with Education

This year started off looking very promising with our math department and our school overall but that promise has turned into the same frustration that I have had every year as a teacher.

We made several changes in our school which focused on collaboration within each department to establish clear objectives for teachers and students. This collaboration has now turned into requirements from the top on how we would teach our classes. Teachers are no longer able to teach their classes using their own uniqueness and strengths, rather, we are expected to create a one-size-fits all style that makes every class a carbon copy of those in charge.

We must all use the same chapter tests and final exams. We must all use the same worksheets and assign the same problems from the book on the same day. We must all test on the same day and we must all do it under the mantra, "If learning is to be the constant, time must be the variable." This is the newest buzz phrase in education. Educators have accepted this notion that it shouldn't matter how long it takes a child to "get" something, as long as they get it. In our math department, this led to a discussion about replacing a failed chapter test during the semester with a grade taken from the score on the corresponding section of the final. The idea is that the student was able to demonstrate that they learned the material so why should they be punished for not knowing it the first time.

This sounds great at first but you must take it to its logical conclusion. At first thought, why shouldn't a student be able to replace a poor score with a better score on the same material? Well, where does it stop if time truly is the variable? What if the student fails the tests and the final exam? If time is the variable, why should this student fail? Shouldn't they be able to extend their "learning" into the next semester and retake the final. What if they fail all of their tests, should they be able to replace every test with their better score on the final exam? If so, what is the point of taking the tests in the first place if they won't count? What if a kid passes all of their semester exams but fails the final? Will they lose the scores from the semester because they could not demonstrate the fact that they "learned" the material? Why do we have semesters in the first place if time is variable? Shouldn't the students be able to take as long as they need to pass the class and ultimately graduate from high school? Why not, time is variable by the way and must be extended to allow the student enough time to demonstrate learning which is our desired constant.

All of this is silly because time is not variable. Time is the constant because time leads to deadlines. There must be accountability and standards that a student must reach in order to successfully complete requirements for graduation. Life is full of deadlines. All of us from previous generations made it through the system where time was constant. We had tests, we had final exams, we got grades at the end of the semester, we failed if those grades were low, etc. We were accountable for our own education because we did not have the ability to replace grades and take as much time as we wanted.

This mindset comes from a culture brought about by social liberals and moral relativists. We hear many of these same underlying ideas coming from those running for the Democratic nomination for President. They tell us that we have two Americas. One where people got lucky and became wealthy for it. The other that has not received the same breaks and without those breaks they will remain poor. It has nothing to do with life choices, it is pure luck from a system is set up to be unfair and uncaring. They say that the health care system is out to get people and the government needs to come in and provide health care for everyone. They claim that their is massive disenfranchisement of voters (unless they win of course, then it was a fair election and the voice of the people) and feel that everyone should be able to vote, even if they miss deadlines, fail to fill out forms correctly, or do anything that invalidates their vote. It is never anyone's own fault, it is always something else that was set up in a way to do them in.

This is a very important election. We cannot afford to have any of the three Democratic candidates to become President. They would continue a devastating trend in our education system and country that teaches us that nobody is accountable for their own actions. We must be given chance after chance, and handout after handout from those above us, whether they be teachers and administrators or government officials.

I haven't decided who I want for our President but any of the Republicans (my current order is Thompson, Romney, Giuliani, Huckabee, McCain)would be better for the country. We will have to wait and see.