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“EDUCATION IS WHAT REMAINS AFTER ONE HAS
FORGOTTEN WHAT ONE HAS LEARNED IN SCHOOL.”
Albert Einstein
I had a conversation with a friend not long ago whose daughter is a math teacher. She said her daughter was very upset from taking classes to learn how to teach the latest version of math. She is not only upset at the new standards because it will cause students to become very frustrated, plus it will cause school districts to spend millions of dollars statewide to buy all the new books and materials for the course. It also is frustrating for the teacher in the fact that there has not been a COLA in their salaries in five years and the last raise they had was offset by increases in other things like insurance.
My first impression is that the Common Core curriculum has been renamed and recycled. It was a furor in past years as to the ridiculous procedures that was required of students to take a problem and learn a new formula that was over complicated and unnecessary.
I have written in years past about the Common Core curriculum that were being forced on school and how it was not only over complicating subjects for students but revising history and creating very hard circumstances for parents to assist on homework. In most states the Common Core was rejected but it has been re-named and is making appearances in places.
I like to have both sides of a story when I form an opinion and contacted my Representative about this new math standard. I have visited with him in the past about it. The Legislature stands back on education because the State Board of Education develops these standards and by the time legislation goes through the long road to becoming law it would be close to the 7 year re-evaluation that the School Board does and it would all be at square one.
My Rep. connected my concerns to a member of the School Board and his reply was that he was delighted that they had just reviewed and adopted new standards. He went on that it was not Common Core. He also said he would have someone contact me to explain the new system. I have not heard from this person yet but I did reply that if this was not Common Core renamed, why is the teacher upset about it?
No answer yet. I draw on my experience for a lot of my opinion and I go back to the time in my education that the math standards were changed to what was called NEW MATH. I had a hard time with it, my parents could not help with it. When I entered college I was evaluated that I was five years behind on math skills. Even though I spent a semester in a math lab and it was recorded that I made five years progress in that time, I have been hindered by poor math my whole life.
My dad can add a column of numbers in his head faster than you can punch it in a calculator. I get a headache when I try to work math. My favorite saying is “that I was OK with math until the alphabet got involved.” Funny but sad.
We now have graduates of school going into jobs with no work ethic and not equipped for what employers are needing. The factories are feeling this right now and it is not going to get any better. As long as actual education is lost to political correctness and people spend all their time on their I phones there is going to be a crisis in business.
I know I am going to get a lot of comment about the Governor and the Legislature, but I am tired of millions being spent on lawsuits and no one spending time actually figuring out how to make the schools work, teachers paid, and not buying astro-turf for the football field.
I don’t have all the answers but if you don’t put the actual education of the kids first the mess is going to get worse and not better. Even if the judges take over education I don’t see a lot of help for the graduates.
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