Have our Children Really Been "Dumbed Down"?

By C. Grady Drago, President of Lincoln Heritage Institute

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article previously appeared in the ADDRESS, a publication of the Lincoln Heritage Institute.


The comedian Sam Levinson, had a great story about how his mother would tell him to get a good education, "that's the one thing they can't take away from you." He would add, "I could never figure out who "they" were." Well we now know they are the federal government and the teachers' Union's, and while they can't take it away, they can prevent you from getting it.

Why don't we simply eliminate the significant, identifiable, and consistent factors that has been present since our public education system began to collapse – federal funding and federal regulation of local public education and the heavy hand of the teachers unions.
With the beginning of the massive involvement of the federal government more than 40 years ago, the educational achievement and competence of America's youth began a downward death spiral. Proponents can kick and scream, but the truth will still be there.
Our system was once the envy of the world and a model for many countries; however, we have gone from being the best in the world to being one of the worst according to the Department of Education's (DoE) statistics.

With the onset of the major increase in federal involvement and massive increases federal spending, everything the Unions and Washington elitists said the system needed was provided. Per-pupil expenditures increased, teacher salaries increased significantly, pupil teacher ratios improved dramatically, the Unions grew larger and stronger, and the percentage of funds going to administration increased as did the presence of educational equipment in the classrooms.

And just what did our children get?

They got an increase in school violence, and truancy and dropout rates increased. At the same time there began the steady downward slide of SAT and ACT scores, graduation rates, and literacy rates. All while government bureaucracy and regulations flourished.

Proponents of big spending explained away the almost criminal annual failure of the heavily funded education bureaucracy by stating that while spending did increase, it wasn't enough. They also like to point out that federal funding for public education is only about 15 or 20% of local school board budgets. What they don't mention is that 100% of federal regulations go along with that money, eroding local control. The impact of the Unions is to discourage parental involvement. We must face the fact that no matter how much rhetoric is used, we can not make the cause of the illness the cure.

Haven't you had enough? It is time for Congressional leadership and the President to actually take some genuine steps to return control of education to the states and local entities. They know their children, and they know their needs, and can respond to them quickly and meaningfully.

As the Department of Education statistics show, money, while a necessary and beneficial factor in education, is not the only determinant factor. School systems, including those in urban areas, with low per capita expenditures are out performing richer and more heavily funded school districts.

Congress should take action now to hold aggressive oversight hearings to identify unsuccessful, duplicative, and intrusive programs and then eliminate them, and then return control of federal program to state and local governments Programs such as Goals 2000 and Standardized Testing simply increase federal control. While there is a role for the federal government in public education, it is not a as a absentee regulating landlord.

The resounding success of home schooling, charter schools, vouchers, and private schools have been the saviors of our youth's education and can account for the recent modest improvements in our children's academic performance. Not only have these programs' results been significant, but they have provided a ray of hope and have challenged our public schools to improve their performance. These proven programs should be encouraged and enabled by the federal government, not opposed or ridiculed because they expose the failure of the current public system.

In addition, we should be encouraging the privatization of school board activities that do not deal with the classroom such as catering, custodial care, and transportation. School Boards were not established nor designed to run private sector activities. There job is supposed to be educating our youth at which they were once the world leaders.
The basic and minimum responsibility of our education system is to educate our children; teach them how to read, write, and do basic math. After that foundation is established, it can be built upon by adding arts, humanities, and other cultural enrichments and theoretical concepts that require a base for formulation.

No matter how you cut it, no matter what hysterical justifying rhetoric is used, no matter what minuscule detail is isolated to debate, evaluate, or demagogue; the fact is our children's education began to deteriorate when the massive federal programs began and the Unions changed from a professional organizations to employee bargaining units.

Caring for our children should not be the rhetorical political game the Liberals have made it. No matter how sincere they appear. our children's education is used as a pawn for political gain and for the egos of a group of elitists in Washington, D.C. that think think they know more about our children they we do. Why does such a huge percentage of teachers keep their children out of public schools? You know why, and that's why this game must change now. Deep down, we know the unspeakable truth about what is going on, and unfortunately, our children are loosing out every single day. Isn't it time to end the sham and really do something for our children?

For addition information and statistics, contact the DoE and ask for a copy of the Digest of Education Statistics - 2003, or contact the Institute at lhi@wmis.net, or go to http://www.lincolnheritage.org .