You Can't Make This Up

Yesterday all of the kids in our entire county had the day off of school. Every teacher in the district was required to go and hear a national speaker. The teachers were all bussed to hear this speaker- the speaker himself cost about $20,000. All told, the cost to taxpayers for this event went well into the six figures.

So what did this amazing speaker say? What bits of wisdom did he share to make the money worth it?

Drum roll please...

-We no longer need to teach kids to read and write!

-All kids need to know is how to Ask Siri!

-We are in the 21st Century, reading and writing and teaching is outdated!

-Kids don't need teachers- they need facilitators!

-Kids should decide what they want to learn and then research on a computer what they want to know! No teacher needed!

Here are some quotes from Mr. Mark Prensky himself (who, by the way, charges over $6,000 a day to spout this wisdom):

“In these digital times, is it still worthwhile to teach students how to write by hand, calculate in their heads, read, and define words and concepts . . . Or is that like teaching kids how to hunt for their food? That was useful—once.”

“In a world where you can point a scanner at any text and hear it read to you at any speed in any language, in an age when more and more ideas are distributed only on screens, do we still need to teach reading the way we do now?”

“When my 2nd grader needs to know the meaning of a word, I tell him to use my iPhone to ask Siri, an artificial intelligence program that’s always happy to look it up for him.”

Oh, but the good news is that teachers no longer need to teach to the test. Why? “Teachers would no longer have to “teach to the test” because technology can.”  How nice. Technology can teach to the test instead of teachers!

Over the past two years the district has been spouting that they want kids to get a 21 Century Education. They repeat that phrase ad nauesum without ever defining it. Finally, after our principal used that phrase SIX times in a meeting, I asked her point blank what a 21st Century Education is. She had no answer.

But now I know! A 21st Century education in our school district simply means that children know how to turn their computer on. Because, really, what else do they need to know?

My level of anger and frustration in regards to what is happening in our school district is beyond words. The fighter in me wants to fight and yell and protest and tell the world that this is CRAZY and will destroy our society!

But, the fact of the matter is that I already fought like crazy. I stood up, I protested, I yelled, and I screamed. 

And I lost.

The voters in our community decided that they wanted "Reforms" and "21st Century Education" and big money to make our decisions for us.

I'm tired of fighting. 

At some point, you have to realize that society is going one way and you're simply not on board.

So you have to make other choices. Other choices that you never before would have considered, but are now forced to entertain. Choices that allow you to break free from a society that clearly values a completely different set of philosophies and ideals than you do.

At this point, I truly believe that breaking free really is the only option.

Which, in the end, is exactly what the reformers want.

Their goal from the beginning has been to destroy public education in order to privatize education. My kids' neighborhood school used to be stellar- parents LOVED the school, and loved the community. But over the last 3 years programs have been cut, teachers have left (they are tired of being treated like garbage), and money is spent on standardized tests instead of supplies. Kids at our school no longer have science because we can't afford science kits (too much money spent on district assessments), their teachers have been told that they can not buy textbooks (because they can find their materials on-line), and now we know that the direction of the public schools in our district is to no longer teach reading and writing.

They have made it impossible for parents to want to send their kids to their neighborhood schools. They have effectively destroyed the public school- which was their goal from the beginning.

Now parents will demand charter schools and vouchers- anything to get away from their neighborhood school, even though just 3 years the neighborhood school was an unbelievably awesome choice for all the neighborhood kids!

Not surprisingly, their plan worked. They duped voters. They systematically and purposely starved the neighborhood schools. They silenced parents. They silenced teachers. They forced us out of our beloved schools.

And now their donors can reap the financial rewards of privatizing education.

It's so disgusting it makes me physically ill.

Which is why I simply can't fight anymore.

Instead, we'll just figure out a way to break free.