What’s in a name?

Brian Siegel
Posted 2/15/17

In the context of the debate over our new education secretary, Betsy DeVos, I offer the following commentary regarding the precision of words. There are certain words that universally evoke feelings …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

What’s in a name?

Posted

In the context of the debate over our new education secretary, Betsy DeVos, I offer the following commentary regarding the precision of words.

There are certain words that universally evoke feelings of comfort and joy. A basket full of cuddly puppies. Rainbows and fluffy white clouds. Ice cream sundae with a cherry on top. Doesn’t this make you feel all happy inside? Now, “public education.” Ahhh… so pure and wonderful. I bet you’re picturing a little red schoolhouse on a grassy hill, filled with smiling children and a teacher who is free to teach each child the way she knows best. Unassailably delightful.

This is precisely why the teachers’ unions and corporate education pirates have tried to paint Betsy DeVos as an “enemy of public education.” Why, that’s like calling her a puppy killer, or a storm cloud, or a bowl of anchovies. Clever politics, but shamefully disingenuous.

Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment and really consider the current state of “public education.” Sorry folks, it’s not the little red schoolhouse anymore. Under our last two presidents “public education” has become a money-laundering scheme through which politicians and bureaucrats funnel taxpayer dollars to multi-billion-dollar corporations who sell products like Common Core and its bevy of textbooks, worksheets, gadgets and standardized tests.

Sadly, the people we entrust to look out for our children have sold us out. This is a bipartisan tragedy. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have pawned our kids’ classrooms for campaign donations. President Bush started the madness with No Child Left Behind (NCLB). And after eight years of President Obama, all we got was Common Core, Race to the Top and a lousy T-shirt.

Who can argue against the virtues of “public schools?” After all, who doesn’t love puppies? But what if we used more precise language?

“Government schools, ruled by politicians according to the predacious schemes of their corporate benefactors.” Less cuddly, more accurate. For decades, teachers have embraced classical literature as a means to foster imaginative and critical thinking. Today, Common Core dumps the great novels for informational texts, to create the “21st century worker.” So says mega-billionaire political interloper Bill Gates. Teachers be damned. To quote Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” “When you’re rich, they think you really know.”

“One-size-fits-all, high-stakes standardized test prep centers.” Harsh, I know. But, ask any public school teacher about their annual professional performance review.

“Developmentally inappropriate centers for neurologic abuse.” Toddlers shouldn’t have to worry about “college and career readiness.” They should be playing, coloring and enjoying their cookies and milk. We shouldn’t have to fight for recess. Teachers have understood the social and cognitive benefits of unstructured free play since Piaget and Vygotsky. Until NCLB.

The reality is that our “public schools” have been hijacked by forces that do not understand, or even care about, our children’s needs. The 2016 election was a rebellion against a corrupt and overbearing government, and there is no place where change is needed more desperately than in our besieged system of public education.

This is not meant as a ringing endorsement of Mrs. DeVos. I am appalled at her inability to recognize the importance of the distinction between proficiency and growth, and I can’t ignore the likely reality that she purchased her cabinet post. Nonetheless, I welcome President Trump’s antiestablishmentarianism as our last, best hope to break the stranglehold of special interests, politicians and bureaucrats over our children’s education. The power now shifts from the back rooms of Washington and state capitols to the rightful guardians of public education: parents and teachers. I believe Mrs. DeVos will work to end the failed experiments of the past two decades. I only hope she acts quickly, before we lose an entire generation of beautiful minds.

[Brian Siegel is a public school parent and member of the Eldred Central School District Board of Education.]

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here