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Feb 27, 2004 In 1997, I decided to go back to school to upgrade my photo lab skills by learning the Adobe Photoshop program. I chose one of the local private technical colleges because it had a very good curriculum--everything I wanted to learn and more. So I made an appointment to speak to an academic counselor to enroll. When I arrived, I discovered that I would have to take an entrance exam. “Wow, this school is tough,” I thought to myself as I went to one of their solitary exam rooms, exam in hand. The counselor informed me there would be three 15 minute timed exams in total, testing my reading, problem solving and math skills. I was a little confused when I realized that these tests were easy--so easy, in fact, that I burned through all three in the first 15 minutes. When the scores was determined, my counselor came out spouting superlatives on my work. On and on he went. I sat there thinking, “You have got to be kidding! I was doing this stuff in the fifth grade!” And so my realization of what has happened in the US education system came to my attention. More and more I come across young people that cannot read their high school diplomas. Every time Jay Leno has a clip of some high school or college student that has no clue about anything other than what’s on Reality TV or Celebrity Watch Central, I cringe. My suspicion is that the reason so many US jobs are being outsourced is not only because it is cheaper to do so in some cases, not only because many Americans think that many of those jobs are beneath them, but also this--many Americans are unqualified to do some of those jobs. I remember when it was reported that an airplane manufacturer was having trouble filling his staff with qualified people. He offered $18/hour to start, offering airfare to those who would relocate to take the job. No one answered his ads. He then put in his ad “No Experience Necessary--We Will Train.” Finally he received some responses. Unfortunately, none of the candidates panned out because none of them could do the necessary math! I believe that to be absolutely true, and I will relate a story that backs this up. One day I went to my local Post Office to purchase a roll of 100 stamps when they were still 34 cents a piece. I asked for the roll, and the clerk challenged me with “Can you tell me what the price is on that roll?” Without missing a beat, I replied “Thirty-four dollars.” The clerk responded with surprise: “Wow! I can’t believe it! You’re the first one in a long time that knew the answer to that question!” I remember thinking, “What? People don’t know how to move a decimal point over???” Sadly, many coming out of high school cannot do basic arithmetic, or read, or write. They don’t have the basic skills to function fully in this country and take advantage of the opportunities available to them. The reason? The education system has failed them. Instead of being challenged with a classical education steeped in literary masterworks, with the intention of developing clear logical thinking, many students are instead facing lowered standards, designed to make them feel good about themselves instead of teaching them usable skills. Instead of learning about how mathematical processes work, they are simply given numbers to work in a calculator. Sometimes not even that is provided. This point was brought home with me when I was making a purchase in a retail store when the power went out. The whole world came to a stop when the cashiers could not figure out how to total up a purchase without their automatic barcode scanning machines. After seeing all this, it is no wonder that homeschooling has become such a phenomenon. Same for private schools. Despite their high price, many parents are willing to spend more in order to get their kids a good education. Here in Minneapolis, MN, public schools are closing because of the lack of students in them, because many parents are either home schooling or paying for the private schools. My opinion is that educators who profess to have the kids best interests at heart, but are not teaching the students should do just that: have the best interests of the students at heart, and teach them usable skills, challenge them to think and how to form their own opinions instead of simply looking to spread the blame around for failing to provide that good education. All involved with educating the young should stop with the rhetoric and get to the job of education, from all sides of the ideological spectrum. ------------ About the author: Paul Carter is unique; he thinks that a Grant Green jazz guitar solo, The Federalist Papers, an El Greco painting, the National Football League, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are all interesting. When not working a home business, he is a graphic artist. Email Paul Carter: paulcarterdesign@earthlink.net Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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