Un-Liberaled Woman

So tonight I watched the documentary 2 Million Minutes. WOW. Talk about a slap to da faaace! Too bad after watching this, I think it should be required viewing for every high school freshman in the US.

In my high school economics class we watched the always educational Trading Places with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. Imagine what could have happened had that time been devoted to a film like this:

Here’s some of the shocking facts about the US public education system from the documentary:

• The percentage of high school principals who say they are not worried about low academic standards: 79%
• The percentage of parents who think their kids get enough math and science courses: 70%
• Only 55% of students take two years of a higher-level math, typically one year of algebra and one year of geometry
• Percentage of college-bound high school seniors that have no more than one hour of homework per night and none on the weekends: 66%
• The average US student spends about 900 hours in the classroom and 1,500 hours in front of the TV each year
• American studernts score highly in one area relative to their international peers: Self-confidence

Super – we ain’t gotz us no edumacation but gosh darn it we gotz some co-fi-dence! 

The educational systems in India are nearly all for-profit schools from K-12. Our teachers in the US education system are not hired based on merit or performance. In fact, 93% of US teachers who teach science classes have little or no training in the subject. As stated in the film the reason people in the US aren’t acting faster about the deteriorating public education system is because they relate their kids’ education experience to their own instead of to other competing systems. For instance, they’ll say well I want my kids to have the same education I did or better. But what they don’t realize is that the education systems outside of the US have surpassed our systems of the 50s, 60s and 70s a thousand times over. So even compared to our system today, their kids are dramatically behind children’s education around the rest of the world. Then you’ll hear the usual liberal quip “But our schools our so broken – how can we expect kids to learn in that type of environment. We need to put more money (even though they get over $100 billion a year) into the system.”

What’s that???

BIZZZZZAM! Tell that to the kids in India learning in the streets with no desk, no chair and no classroom – and all while probably studying AP Calculus.

Kids in India continue their studies on the weekend as well. One girl in the film is at the tutor 7:00 a.m. on Saturdays for additional math study. Not in preparation for any test or SAT – just because it’s more time to study. The high school experience in India is simpler because it is more organized and focused on the goals with minimal arguments – you will graduate high school, and you will attain a high grade point average to ensure you get into a good graduate program. They don’t even really define the end goal as college, unlike the US – they’re already shooting for Master’s and Ph.D’s when they’re 16!

Our education system is programming citizens not to value learning based on intellectual innovation and stimulation. Part of that then lends itself to the problems we see in the economy. America cannot sustain as a nation of manufacturing – that ship has left the port. Capitalistic economies are cyclical in that as higher-intellectual jobs increase in demand, lower-intellectual jobs are shifted to economies/countries where the production costs are lower. This is because white collar jobs are typically rooted in acquiring the best intellect/skills while blue-collar jobs are rooted in production costs   (vs. what the individual employee can bring to the table). So when your education system stifles intellectual challenging of students and the blue collar jobs dry up once they’re ready to enter the workforce – you’ve then got a receipe for a lot of people out of work unless they’re willing to move to a lower developed country to follow those jobs. But if we develop and maintain our education system based on producing the most intellectual stimulation possible, then your economy will adapt easily to the natural industry/job market fluctuations.

It’s a fact, and common sense, that people with more talent, motivation and ability will increase their odds of being a valued employee in the workplace. Not focusing on the development of academic talent and ability puts the US at a major disadvantage as the world grows more connected and globalized in business. This also plays in part to motivation – if students are not challenged then their motivation suffers on average. Unfortunately, our public education system has moved toward a system of let’s all do it together instead of motivating students by setting challenges and goals which then have to be met as an individual student not as a school. This mindset, as most socialized programs, is promoted on the false promise of having the stronger students brought down to same learning pace as the weaker students and therefore overall academics in the school will be improved. BZZZZ – WRONG. The actual result is that the US public education system has shifted to a lowering of academic standards so that we can make sure every child is included.  

For countries like India and China – engineering, math and science are the leading programs high school students know they will forge a career path from, prior to going to college. In the US, too often many students are unsure and focus more on the fun socializing aspect of college versus planning out the academic path that will shape their future career. It is also a problem that our country puts more emphasis on programs that have a more humanities element (sociology, communications, English, women’s lib) vs. a scientific or math-bias. I’m not saying that liberal arts careers and academics don’t have any signifcance in this world – I’m a communications major myself. Just trying to be honest that the capitalistic competitive nature of our world (now and in the future) lies more in engineering, math and science than it does in liberal arts. 

So as a country – what do we want for our economy’s future? An economy with prosperity, employment and skilled, competitive workers? Or do we want an economy with limited growth, decreased employment and workers who are the most sociable but cannot perform job fundamentals? If we want the former, then it’s time to reform our education systems to produce students who will in turn grow into employees that can firmly stand on their abilities and adapt with ease in changing job market landscapes.