Archives

Does Our Educational System Work?

A report released in April of this year by America’s Promise Alliance, an educational advocacy group that includes former Secretary of State, Colin Powell as one of its founders, reports that the dropout rate from high schools in the 50 largest cities in America now stands near 50%.

1.2 million children in America’s 50 largest cities drop out of public high schools every year in this country. Nationally, 30% of America’s young drop out and never complete high school.

I don’t know how to break the news to these kids who are dropping out, but today even Starbucks has closed outlets and is paring down its workforce. Where they will end up is anyone’s guess.

America has spent billions of dollars trying to address the problems existing in our schools. Going by these statistics, we have failed in every endeavor. I find it hypocritical for politicians to announce that the “No Child Left Behind” program that President Bush began is working when it’s so painfully obvious that we are leaving behind 1.2 million children every year.

Although it seems that politicians would rather not address this issue and tend to exclude it from their campaign stomp speeches, I want to assure you that this statistic underscores a greater danger to the United States than terrorism. The goal of terrorism is to disrupt the economic stability and liberty of America. It would take a whole lot of terrorists to accomplish that in this country. But for certain, an uneducated populace will destroy the economy and liberty we have in America and we are well on our way to accomplishing just that. The United States economy is built upon free enterprise. This means that people are free to develop businesses or work wherever their skill and knowledge is sought. The United States’ system of democracy is built upon the idea that a well-informed and educated population will make the right decision for our country. It doesn’t mean we will let a few elites lead us around by the nose.

Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Above all things, I hope the education of the common people will be attended to; convinced that on their good senses we may rely with the most security for the preservation of a due degree of liberty.” Jefferson understood that a democracy intended to be of, by and for the people obliges the people to remain informed and participate in the governance of their land.

In this day and age, when high technology and information systems are key to our nation’s economic prosperity, it’s going to be hard to keep up with the rest of the world when half our population in illiterate. And with half of our population without a viable future, they will be ripe for enticement by frauds and charlatans who will offer them a full stomach in exchange for their liberty.

It is time that we acknowledge that our public educational system is not working in this nation. It is time that we seriously address how that educational system is being run and how it should be changed. Those who feel that our country will be fine with a population split between the haves and have-nots are fooling themselves. Even the have-nots have a vote in every election. And if history has taught us anything, it should be that people have never bartered away a full stomach in exchange for personal liberty.

I don’t profess to have all the answers to solving our educational crisis, but I do have one suggestion. I believe we should do away with the General Equivalency Diploma. The GED was a good idea when it first came about but the process has fallen to abuse. It is difficult to convince a kid to stay in high school when you promise him or her that they can take one exam somewhere down the line and wind up with a certificate that has as much validity as a high school diploma. The GED is not a substitute for a high school education. Through abuse of the program, however, high school students can consider it a real short cut in the educational process. They can drop out of high school, kick back for a year or so, then take the GED and register at a Community College. Even if you drop out of college, you still can post it as your last place of education and fool most employers who will assume you completed high school and went on to take some college courses. The fact that you can barely read or write and cannot hold an intelligent conversation will eventually lead you back to the street. But most kids don’t think that far ahead. Most kids think all they have to have is that piece of paper. When they find out the truth - that they really have to know something to be successful - it usually comes too late.

While the requirements for taking a GED varies from state to state, some states permit anyone who is 16 years old and not attending a regular high school to take the GED. Now think about it! Your 16-year-old kid can drop out of high school at the age of 16, take the GED and, if successful, register at a community college. With this sort of policy, you have to wonder why more kids aren’t dropping out of high school and taking this government-run shortcut!

The GED may have a place in the educational system for people who are 20 years old or older, but it has no place for 16-year-olds who should be in school. The two years a sixteen-year-old loses in the classroom can never be replaced by a single multiple-choice exam. The GED is a scam and it should be recognized as a scam. If we are serious about changing our educational system, the first step may be to cut out this inane shortcut.

Archives