Let's not forget real-world implications

"Are schools preparing students to meet employers' needs?" Only 20% of 450 business and political leaders answered "yes" to the question, according to a survey cited last year in this newspaper.

Unless Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and the Bush administration free the curriculum from the control of academics and the majority of professional educators, changes in the No Child Left Behind high school initiatives are not likely to counter the woeful preparation of our high school students for living in the 21st century. Focusing solely on higher academic standards fails to deal with the reality that most of what is taught, and the way it is taught and tested, does not help students develop the skills they need to pursue successful careers and become responsible citizens.

High schools students spend the bulk of their academic time mastering algebra rather than statistics, interpreting English literature rather than improving written communication, memorizing historical facts rather than developing a civic character, and studying scientific theory and definitions rather than applying scientific thinking and findings to health and environmental problems. Our high school curriculum suffers for political reasons. Not political as in Democrat, Republican or independent. Curricula are produced by a liberal arts elite acting as academic interest groups. These groups, such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics or the Modern Language Association, seek to get their subject in the curricula as aggressively as Pepsi and Coca-Cola seek to get their products into school vending machines. Unfortunately, the political inertia is rooted in longevity. For decades, college professors and their disciples who have taken up teaching have dictated curriculum. These individuals occupy positions of power on state government-sponsored curriculum committees that determine what is taught.

The idea of putting workplace and citizenship skills above specific content goals is not new to American education. Ben Franklin saw a similar educational problem more than 250 years ago — students being taught subjects that were in Franklin's word "ornamental" rather than useful to them as workers and citizens. He was particularly agitated by the practice of teaching Latin when it was no longer necessary, since most of the great works were translated into English. Franklin called for a reformed, practical curriculum of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, rhetoric, grammar, literature, history, drawing, handwriting, accounting, geography, morality, logic, natural history, mechanics and gardening.

He started a school in the 1750s for this educational purpose, which eventually became the University of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Franklin was forced by the professional educators at the time to allow half of the curriculum to be in Latin. The Latinists took the school over, and Franklin withdrew his support after decades of frustration.

Educators still haven't learned their lessons. Can policies be developed to break the stranglehold that the liberal arts political machine has on our high school curriculum? The question has more urgency today in such a competitive job environment and a time when there are so many challenges to our way of life.

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ENVY PLUS BUREAUCRACY DESTROYS GOOD EDUCATION FOR TALENTED STUDENTS

An honors program beset by ethnic tensions and strained relations between parents and administrators at Lincoln Middle School is being eliminated. After three months of public debate, trustees for Vista Unified voted 4-1 late Monday to eliminate the Gifted and Talented Education program, which supporters said promoted Lincoln's brightest students. School administrators, however, said the GATE program was closed to most students. The board's decision will open honors classes that have GATE students to everyone.

School and district officials said putting GATE students in classes with those of mixed abilities would help improve test scores.

Many parents of Latino students and English-learners said they supported the change because their children would be forced to excel. However, some parents said the academic mix would diminish a gifted child's education by watering down class content and pace. "My daughter's worth it," Robb Scheele, who led the pro-GATE side, said before Monday's meeting. "It's what I need to do to make sure she has the best education she can have."

Trustee Jim Gibson said he cast the lone dissenting vote because he wanted to leave the honors program as it is. About 275 people crowded into Lincoln's gymnasium for the three-hour meeting. Those who opposed the change sat on one side of the half-court line; Latino families who wanted GATE opened to all students sat on the other. Children of pro-GATE parents stood toward the front, waving signs that read, "Save honors." Their Latino counterparts, from the back of the room, displayed signs that read, "We want our voices to be heard now!" There was a break in the meeting when someone pulled a fire alarm at 9:15 p.m. The debate resumed 10 minutes later.

"All of the students should have the (honors-class) opportunity," Juan Rojas told the board in Spanish. His son attends Lincoln but is not a GATE student. By the time trustees voted, the crowd had dwindled to about 50. All students will have a chance now to attend classes with groupings of eight to 10 GATE students. They will not have to fill out an application, write an essay and be recommended by a teacher for the honors classes. Meanwhile, the district will study a proposal from Gibson to offer honors classes to all students at all four of Vista Unified's middle schools in two years. "We don't want to have a territory of the elite," said Peter Kuchinsky, a GATE parent who supported the proposal. "It's open access."

Gibson's compromise would require students who want to be in honors classes to have a high grade-point average or parental and teacher support. Lincoln Principal Larrie Hall's plan gives everyone a chance. "The issue for me is, do you provide honors-type classes for all kids or just some kids?" he asked rhetorically. The three other middle schools in Vista Unified previously eliminated their GATE programs, making Lincoln's unique.

Scheele visited state and federal offices last week in search of support. "I support the GATE program," wrote Assemblyman Mark Wyland, R-Vista, in a letter sent Monday to Vista Unified. It "allows individual students to accelerate academically beyond the boundaries of the classroom and reach their fullest academic potential."

Parents of GATE students in February learned from a teacher that Hall intended to break up the GATE classes in an attempt to improve test scores. English-learners and students of poorer households had weighed down Lincoln's academic performance it was said. Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act the school was put on "program improvement" status.

More here

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

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