The elephant suggests imposing longer suspended sentences on students who commit violent crimes. If that doesn't work, we should slap them on both wrists. And all teachers should be replaced by animatronic dummies playing canned lessons through speakers in their foreheads.
All sarcasm aside...there are significant numbers of people in America who like things just the way they are. As peculiar as it sounds, the existence of crime and poverty ridden communities provides an awful lot of people with someone to look down on and feel superior to. Few will admit to feeling this way but it's very instinctive and commonly observable behavior.
Here's an example:
A few nights ago Jay Leno was doing his Jaywalking routine where he presents random individuals with seemingly simple questions. He asked someone which two countries border the United States. After a moment of thought the individual responded, "Australia and Hawaii."
We laugh at Leno's routine because it makes us feel good to feel superior to someone. Being a graduate of the public school system myself, I of course knew that the real answer is Yugoslavia and Wyoming.
Amused, are we?
The public school system suffers from two basic problems:
1) Schools are funded locally. If you live in a poor community you're going to have a school system funded by a poor community, with predictable results. Until we federalize the school system that basic problem isn't going to change.
2) Sociopaths reproduce. Bullies, bigots, batterers, convicted child molesters, and yes...even personal injury lawyers are legally allowed to reproduce and dump their violent progeny into the public school system. Long ago I knew that I would never be a school teacher or a policeman because both professions spend every day dealing with the chronic dysfunctions of the American Family, an elephant-in-the-room problem that they're not allowed to publicly complain about.
In the country of Wyoming they don't have these problems.
6 comments:
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!
I totally disagree with "federalizing" anything more in this country!! ESPECIALLY our school systems! We think we are screwed up now???
The elephant is certain that locally administered, locally funded schools appear very quaint on reruns of "Little House on the Prairie" but are in fact 19th century anachronisms that should have gone the way of the buggy whip decades ago.
A national standardized curriculum, textbooks that don't cater to the delusions of every moron, psychopath, and mental defective in the bible belt, funding that is not a function of average local income, and the willingness to tell criminally incompetent parents that you're not a baby sitting service for their violent progeny would solve most of the school system's problems.
Just don't hold your breath waiting for this to actually happen.
I take great exception and insult to the phrase "the delusions of every moron, psycopath, and mental defective in the Bible belt". Some of us in the Teacher's Union are Bible believing people. And better local anachronisms than pandering to a national government that can't take care of itself, never mind knowing the challenges of my community.
Not a fan anymore, elephant.
"Lighten up Francis"....
The elephant believes that the basic objective of public education is to make as many people as possible as educated as possible with the available resources. If you want to believe in a deity, or several deities that's your private business. Do not try to fund the personal beliefs of flat Earthers and creationists with my taxes.
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