[TheForge] now Japanese nuke plants OT: POL:

[Andrew Vida]

peter fels wrote:
> On Mar 18, 2011, at 8:10 AM, Andrew Vida wrote:
> 
> We are losing our economic position as a nation and thus our standard of living,
> in part because of the deterioration in public education.
> Public education offers a means for talent to rise in our society,
> with less regard to the parents economic situation.

	That was once true, and only marginally so.  The US public school 
system was patterned very directly on that of the one found in Prussia. 
  The openly and unabashedly stated goal of the Prussian system  was to 
produce the most docile, regimented, channeled, and *controllable* 
citizen possible.  This is a matter of historical record - please look 
it up and see for yourself.

	The openly stated goal of the architects of the system we know today 
was to produce MINIMALLY literate stock for work in factories with just 
enough ability to read, write, and do arithmetic.  Read the works of men 
such as John Dewey.  They put it in black and white for the world to see.

	The notion of what "minimally literate" was different in those days, 
the standard being higher than it is today in real terms.  Today the 
focus is placed on teaching to the standardized test, an abomination and 
crime against the children of any nation including ours.  When I was a 
teacher starting back in 83 I was still able to pretty well blow off 
most of the standard curriculum in favor of my vastly superior fare. 
Today I would not be able to do it for any of a few reasons including 
the threat of losing my position, possibly being criminally charged, and 
the fact that the "standards" that have been foisted upon the kids are 
so stupidly and worthlessly stringent, there is absolutely no time to 
stray from the script with which the teacher is provided.  Loss of even 
a day's scripted vomitus places the students at risk of not passing 
their standardized, cookie cutter tests.  The kids are placed under 
tremendous pressures and it is not healthy for them in any measure or 
respect.