The Rationalization of American Educational Failure

We’re About to Rationalize Ourselves Into a Third World Country

ra·tion·al·ize

ra·tion·al·ized, ra·tion·al·iz·ing.

verb (used with object)

1. to ascribe (one's acts, opinions,
etc.) to causes that superficially seem reasonable and valid but that actually
are unrelated to the true, possibly unconscious and often less creditable or
agreeable causes.

I don’t know when or if this will ever be posted but it is written on the morning of 4/15/12 after reading the cover story in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution about high school dropout rates in Georgia.

SOMEBODY PLEASE DISAGREE WITH ME HERE, IT CANNOT BE THIS
EASY!

According to the AJC, the new method of determining dropout rates in our public high schools has changed and suddenly the statewide graduation rate is only 67.4%. That means roughly a third of our children do not complete kindergarten and twelve years of education. 

How shameful is that? 

We know the future of these dropouts. Maybe not all, but most will become underachievers and a drain on the state’s resources. We rationalize this by saying the schools are letting them down. Really? A free education and the kids are dropping out at this rate. In large parts of this world, children sit two to a desk in a dirt-floored school house just to learn the alphabet.

City of Atlanta schools are even worse.  They only graduate about half their kids.  One parent of a low-achieving student was quoted as saying, “I would like for the school to find more ways to reach kids. Every child doesn’t learn in the same way.” 

Yes, they do. They learn by attending class, paying attention, doing their homework and studying for their tests.  I’ve written before about the critical third grade year and how learning to read morphs into reading to learn. We are so damned tired of the kids with no study habits and no interest in class that we just promote them to get them out of the way. And the parents are blaming the schools. 

In 2011, nationally, 25% of eight graders were “below basic” in their reading skills. Go ahead and tattoo a “D on their forehead ‘cause that’s your dropout group, guaranteed. I’d bring up the racial mix of these numbers, but like most of us, I’m afraid to call out the elephant in the room. Someday I might be braver. Here’s a link to the hard truth. Check it out. 

There are other examples of some good rationalizations in the same AJC article.  Two obese sisters were photographed sitting on a couch. One had dropped out because “she couldn’t stand being bullied” and her older sister had “departed after falling in with the wrong crowd.” They then accused the school of failing them because the counselors were not prepared to help. AAArrrrrrgggggghhhh!

I know society has woes and often the children suffer for the sins of their parents.  But that can be a broad rationalization, too.  Many of today’s public school parents could care less about their children’s behavior in class or their efforts at the kitchen table.  I’m sounding like an old fool, but video games, 24-hour TV in the bedroom and absolutely no curfews or consequences at home do not make for a ready-to-learn child. 

Private schools don’t always spend more per student to get them educated.  They just enforce school policy. Not prepared for class, you must go to study hall.  Fail geometry; find someplace else to spend your parent’s money.

Parents, kids, left, right, rich, poor--stop looking for someone to blame in this mess. Look in the mirror. We have rationalized poor achievement and the sad state we might find ourselves suffering through by blaming ‘they system’ or ‘the man.’ 

Two weeks ago, Rebecca McCarthy my editor, penned a thoughtful piece about how the financial recession has affected funding for schools resulting in loss of paraprofessional jobs and crowding of classrooms.  And the mandatory testing is
resulting in wasted effort with minimal upside. 

For my money, we could do away with the entire Federal Department of Education and give that fat bucket of money to the states allowing the best managed of the fifty to eventually see the best results. If Alabama increases their graduation rates and industry with high paying jobs follows, good for them. But don’t allow my dislike of the DOE to become a rationalization for broke school districts and broken schools. 

Education is too damned important to allow anyone to short change your child’s
opportunity. And if you don’t like what the schools are giving you, first look at your child and his or her habits. If it is still the school’s fault, stand up and do something about it. But do not let them drop out!

Update:  The Los Angeles Unified School District has a fabulous idea to improve their graduation rates; lower the graduation standards.  Please....