Did I miss something, or was the issue of education not even mentioned in Tuesday night’s presidential debate?
The question Yes or no, do you believe Russia is an evil empire made its way into the 1 ½ hour timeslot, but education – an issue the U. S. should be embarrassed of, considering our 25+ ranking in nearly every single poll comparing 30 developed nations – didn’t even get a mention.
I am absolutely NOT getting into a political debate about whose fault the current mess is, NOR am I inviting one – especially since I truly believe that one of the biggest culprits in the entire education mess is the PARENTS themselves. Lawmakers as a whole have done their fair share of turning the education system into a pile of shit, (not to mention devaluing the teaching profession as a whole) but so have some parents, which is why I wouldn’t even begin to place blame on a single political party.
As one of the speakers on PBS’s Where We Stand: America’s Schools in the 21st Century said, “Education isn’t a Democrat problem. It isn’t a Republican problem. It’s an American problem.” (I highly, highly, highly recommend catching this 1-hour documentary on PBS.)
Let’s look at something for which NCLB is known: standards. Most content areas (math, reading, health, phys ed.) have national standards. These are very, very, very general guidelines regarding what students should know and when. The states then “use” those standards to draft their own. Individually. At different times. Seems like it should work, right? (imagine sarcastic inflection and head-cocked-to-the-side for effect)
Let’s look at an example of how this trickles down in a few states:
The national Health standards for grades PreK-2 make no mention whatsoever regarding nutrition. Even though almost 20% of American children are considered obese. The closest standard that might cover it is 1.2.1: Identify that healthy behaviors affect personal health.
That’s meaningful, huh?
Indiana is a follower. 1.7.1: Describe healthy practices to maintain personal health and wellness.
Louisiana, too. 1-E-1: Demonstrate personal health habits that promote optimal health (i.e. good nutrition, brushing teeth, washing hands, exercise, etc.
And then, there’s New Mexico. 3.3: Identify healthy choices in the areas related to sexuality; nutrition, alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; physical activity; personal safety; mental, social and emotional wellbeing (i.e. walk away from a fight, participate in physical activity, identify healthier foods from a list of foods, etc.).
Yep, that was a FIRST GRADE standard.
West Virginia seems to think their kids are born with an innate sense of what healthy & unhealthy foods are and how to choose them. They jump right into the effects of foods on their little first-grade bodies: WE 1.1.02: Describe the effects of healthy and less healthy foods on the body.
And the kicker? California, a state that requires public buildings to post warning signs about the health risks of microwaves, copiers, and STAIRS, doesn’t even have nutrition-related standards for 1st graders.
Oh, and are you wondering how many health standards there are for each state and grade? The counts below are for first grade, unless noted.
AR: 70
CA: 52
NC: 33
SC: 116 (K-5)
LA: 26 (K-4)
NM: 85 (1-2)
WV: 33
Does it make you wonder exactly what South Carolina’s and New Mexico’s students are learning that Louisiana’s, West Virginia’s, and North Carolina’s students aren’t? Here’s what 1st graders in South Carolina supposed to know regarding nutrition:
- Classify foods by their type, function, and nutritional content.
- Explain the short- and long-term benefits and risks of nutritional choices.
- Explain the structure and function of the digestive system.
- Recognize the relationship among food intake, physical activity, and health.
- Demonstrate the ability to locate valid nutrition information (e.g. food labels, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Food Guide Pyramid, school nutrition services)
- Use the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Food Guide Pyramid as guides for making healthy food choices.
- Describe reliable sources of nutrition information
- Demonstrate the ability to locate community nutrition-related resources.
- Explain the relationship between food selection and oral health.
- Demonstrate safe and sanitary food handling procedures that prevent disease.
- Demonstrate the ability to practice appropriate nutrition behaviors and make healthy nutritional choices.
- Relate examples of how parents, family, culture, peers, and personal preferences influence food choices.
- Explain how technology influences food availability and selection.
- Explain how mass media influence the selection of nutrition information, products, and services.
- Describe marketing and advertising techniques used to influence food selection and body image.
- Demonstrate the use of effective communication skills to express nutritional needs
- Demonstrate ways to communicate consideration and respect for self and others as related to body composition and shape and dietary choices.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply a decision-making process to nutrition issues and problems.
- Predict risks and consequences of positive and negative nutrition choices.
- Set a personal dietary goal and track progress toward its achievement.
- Demonstrate ways to influence and support others in making positive nutritional choices.
- Define nutrition issues that affect health in the school and community.
I hope your mind is spinning. I hope you’re appalled. Because you should be.
Oh, those of us who are conscientious enough to care are indeed appalled. We are a company that deals with trying to get schools to care every single day (we are trying to get schools to replace unhealthy junk food and soda vending machines with our natural and organic vending machines).
You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to get in touch with someone who cares enough to do anything! We’ve even had multiple schools just get machines for the teacher’s lounge!!! It’s pitiful…
Check us out if you are interested:
http://www.yonaturals.com
http://www.schoolhealthyvending.com
“Education isn’t a Democrat problem. It isn’t a Republican problem. It’s an American problem.”…
As someone who has lived through the devolution of American education I can attest to another big reason for the downhill slide of Education… Unions!
American education was on a continuing upward move. We were the best in the world. America was the model for other nations. The decline began (coincidentally?) at about the same exact time that teachers decided teaching was no longer a profession, but rather a job. So they turned schools into factories, and became union workers. Once considered a vocation, and even a ‘calling’ by many, teaching was now suddenly a job that… “someone has to do.”
The American institution of Education… once a team effort of Administrators, educators, parents and students working harmoniously to mold good citizens for America’s future… deteriorated rapidly into a divided, disorganized shell of what it had been, historically. Even ghetto schools were better off 45 years ago.
This has gone on so long now, nobody seems to have a clue on how to fix it. The only fix they ever bring up? Money. It’s always money… and that is a Union steward one-track mindset solution, and it has failed every year for about 45 years in a row. Sorry , but failure is still an “F”… and not made politically correct with an “Unsatisfactory”,or “Needs Improvement” grade report.
I agree that parent’s today are horribly inept regarding their role in their own child’s education, but who was it that taught THEM? Hmmm… We’ve failed when the parents were students, so really we can’t expect much from them now, can we?.
I agree there’s plenty of blame to go around, but politically I don’t see spreading the blame at 50-50. Try this. Randomly poll 100 teachers on their political affiliations. Are they split 50-50? And what about in higher Academia… i.e., those who teach the future teachers of America? Are they split politically 50-50? Statistically, it is about 90-10.
Notice how I did not mention any political partisanship by named affiliation, yet everyone reading this understands the factual implication. And while assigning blame, lets give partisan politicians their due… There is but one political party in bed with teacher unions (and every other union, and union affiliate), and there is primarily one party controlling education policy in general. Since it goes without saying, I’ll leave the topic on that thought.
What we need now is to rid education of politics entirely. Kids, parents, and teachers alike can all spew specific and meaningless talking points of rotten politicians, but have no understanding of basic American Civics.
One final non-partisan political statement:
Vote. Vote once. Vote intelligently. Perhaps things will improve if every citizen would employ that concept sincerely.