Very recently, I lost faith in the community in which I teach. By not passing the budget override, voters doomed our schools to larger class sizes, lower salaries, fewer programs, and lower morale. I understand the schools are notorious for poor money-management, but the failure of this override to pass has crippled education in the community.
Do people today value education? What price does society pay when education isn’t valued?
The educational system itself is not immune to fads. The pendulum swings and pedagogy changes, but one observation I have made over the past several years is that it seems many young people are ambivalent toward their education. I’m sure there have always been students who haven’t liked school for whatever reason, but the numbers appear to be growing. The drop-out rate continues to rise. The number of students failing classes simply because they refuse to do the work required has grown by leaps and bounds. The trend is disturbing and the repercussions could be even more frightening. Are we witness to the death of education? If so, what does it mean for our future?
Is This A Test?
By on November 19, 2009 ·
About M. JaynesA female educator with anger-management issues, M. Jaynes is causing change in the world by inspiring (some may say forcing) young minds to think for themselves and question everything.
People value education, but it is so removed from their immediate view it is hard for them to prioritize. It’s big numbers and vague generalities for most people, and the same people who don’t want to pay taxes for education lament the state of our current system. Then there are challenges in the system itself, like outdated methods of education in many cases.
But a heart salute to the many teachers who work hard with what they have for the sake of the students.
My biggest frustration as a teacher are those students whom a colleague of mine refers to as “the aggressively ignorant.” These are the ones who refuse to learn, no matter how much we try to help them or how hard we work to make material relevant. In many cases, these students are merely echoing their parents’ attitudes, and it is these parents who lobby against educational funding. It’s a pernicious cycle that doesn’t seem to be getting better. But thank goodness for those kids who choose to learn in spite of what their slacker friends and misguided families may say.