Education Gone Berserk

During my 30 years of teaching, I have experienced plenty of irrational teaching methods and behaviors coming from liberal teachers and administrators bent on controlling every move that students or faculty members made.

Every year administrators added extra pages to the official code of conduct. These were deliberate steps to restrict freedom and to punish real or potential bad behaviors. Needless to say, lawyers were busy defending ridiculous claims and actions that a person with common sense would have known to avoid or ignore. But liberals like to micromanage everything and everybody.

It was refreshing to see that a judge had the common sense to throw out Mayor Bloomberg’s ridiculous ban on large sodas. For every victory for common sense, more irrational progressive cases emerge.

A grade school in Michigan banned plastic soldiers decorating cupcakes. A seven year old was punished for biting his pop tart in the shape of a gun. I suppose there will be a ban on wooden toy guns next. Boys will no longer be able to play Cowboys and Indians. On second thought, the game may have been outlawed already as racist and insulting to Indians.

But it’s perfectly fine to mock the Bible by replaying the Genesis with “Adam and Steve” in South Hadley, Massachusetts at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School (PVPA), “A public school dedicated to academic and artistic excellence," grades 7-12. http://www.pvpa.org/

As Caitlin Canty was quoted, “It’d be good for business, why not; maybe they’ll have a full audience. I really don’t see why it could be a problem and who would be offended. I’m surprised around here too, such a strong pretty liberal leaning community.”

The play, touted as a comedy, “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,” is insulting to millions of Christians who do not like their religion disrespected.  It is a hateful school play mocking the Bible and Christianity with blatant homosexual themes. http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/hampden/High-school-preforms-controversial-play

Why can’t schools provide reading, writing, and mathematics instead of engaging in propaganda and pandering to various liberal agendas? It is shameful to use children as pawns to destroy the fabric of our society and its traditions.

There are so many examples of micromanaging and driving progressive agendas in schools.

-         Hugging and hand holding are banned in some schools.

-         Teachers are banned to grade papers with red ink because it stigmatizes those who do not study for tests. Red is too “confrontational” in some countries.

-         Dodge ball is too dangerous and aggressive.

-         Backpacks are apparently not safe in some Michigan classrooms.

-         Bake sales are too dangerous, the sweets may have been baked in unsanitary conditions and have no nutritional value.

-         Best friends make others feel uncomfortable and excluded.

-         Milk will be pushed out as “high in sugar, high in fat, high in protein, harmful to bone health,” if a vegan and physician group has its way.

-         Words like dinosaur, poverty, birthdays, Halloween, dancing, will be phased out because they “might elicit unpleasant emotions” in some children.

-         Competitive games during recess and winning stir emotions of worthlessness in students and should be banned.

-         Balls are banned in some schools because they may cause concussions when students fall.

-         Anything having to do with Christmas is already banned in many schools. We now have the holiday tree. We do not want to offend people of other religions who complain vociferously with the help of very deep-pocketed lobbies. I wonder why they did not stay in their countries if American traditions are so offensive. Why migrate to this country and expect the hosts to change their way of life in order to suit the guests’ traditions?

According to the Portland Tribune, one principal in Portland argued that a sandwich has “broader implications about race.” In a lesson plan last year, Verenice Gutierrez from Harvey Scott K-8 school explained that “the word sandwich is a subtle form of racism in language.” A peanut butter and jelly sandwich could be racist and socially unjust.

“What about Somali or Hispanic students, who might not eat sandwiches?” Gutierrez said, according to the Tribune. “Another way would be to say: ‘Americans eat peanut butter and jelly, do you have anything like that?’ Let them tell you. Maybe they eat torta. Or pita.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/is-peanut-butter-and-jelly-racist_n_1874905.html

It is absurd to consider a sandwich racist but schools across the nation are training teachers to indoctrinate students into “white privilege” social injustice, using racially-charged educational initiatives. Are the rest of us racists for disagreeing with progressives? It is shameful for any teacher to use propaganda methods to teach our children reverse racism.

Pacific Educational Group developed the “Courageous Conversations” program adopted in Portland to help minority students through initiatives that address educational disparities “intentionally, explicitly, and comprehensively,” through a “culturally proficient curriculum.” http://www.pacificeducationalgroup.com/pages/about

During my teaching career I have never encountered or used a “culturally proficient curriculum.” Based on evidence, I can assume the “culturally proficient curriculum” to be based on the failed multi-culturalism of Western Europe. Apparently there is a national association of multicultural education. A quick search revealed one such class in which teachers were told to “make a list of cultural groups in their classroom or school to include gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, exceptionalities, language, country of origin, and many more.” I can only imagine the caliber of instruction in mathematics and science, based on someone’s sexual orientation, gender, religion, and ethnicity.

How about teaching students how to think logically, how to read and write well, teach them grammar, how to spell, how to do math and percentages without the help of a calculator?

Proficiency in education should be based on a curriculum that emphasizes American exceptionalism, non-revisionist history, personal merit, performance, interest, and achievement. Howard Gardner of Harvard wrote his theory of “multiple intelligences” (visual, spatial, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, naturalistic, musical, logical-mathematical) as a guide to help learners understand how to use their dominant method of learning to their advantage because we are all born with strengths and weaknesses.

There is no race or “racial disparities” in education except those manufactured by educators with an agenda. We have left racial strife behind long time ago; there is no need to revisit it because everybody in America has the opportunity to excel and succeed if they have a burning desire to learn and are willing to work hard.

It is not surprising that more and more parents turn to home-schooling and private schools of their choice. As Rand Paul said in a recent speech, the federal government could save a lot of money ($70 billion a year) by closing the Department of Education and returning education spending and decisions to the states. (Rand Paul, CPAC speech, March 13, 2013)