People who identify as conservative, most of whom are actually reactionaries are famous for pining for “the good old days” or for some idyllic past when men were men, life was simpler, and the world was more ordered and sane. Those days exist only in their childish imaginations, of course. So, it is extremely disconcerting and disturbing…
People who identify as conservative, most of whom are actually reactionaries are famous for pining for “the good old days” or for some idyllic past when men were men, life was simpler, and the world was more ordered and sane. Those days exist only in their childish imaginations, of course. So, it is extremely disconcerting and disturbing when the people we consider to be more rational, scientific, liberal, and progressive engage in that sort of foolishness.
My Aunt Martha (my favorite aunt) was a teacher and became a school principal in a small town and then in a consolidated school district in rural Pennsylvania in the 1940’s until about 1980. She was very strict and conventional and her participation as an evangelical in her local church was hardly distinguishable from her role as a teacher and principal. She presumably did not proselytize or actively practice and promote her faith and religion in school. Yet, there can be little doubt that her beliefs and attitudes and a degree of moralizing along with her “liberal” use of stern discipline were well known and exactly what virtually all the parents in that district believed to be appropriate. You didn’t sass Aunt Martha.
Across the US in that time period, schools in rural areas and schools in cities were essentially all very similar in that regard. The popular consensus was that kids were sent to school to learn and by god, they had better sit still and pay attention, or they would be dealt with harshly and would either shape up or ship out. Conservatives are still solidly convinced that those were wonderful schools, kids really learned, and everything turned out great.
That is such a pile of horse manure that I don’t know where to begin. There were studies then, just as there are studies now which revealed that many students were not learning much at all, many were not attending or dropping out, many were “socially promoted” and graduated without proven skills or knowledge, and literally millions hated the experience and said so, although most forgot how bad it was as soon as they left. Many learned to have self-contempt because they didn't fit in or succeed. The Coles Report which was known as “A Nation at Risk” was filed in 1986 as I recall. It did not yet reflect the changes implemented by Reagan and Bennett. The lack of STEM was only the tip of a monstrous iceberg. I was not alone in graduating from a highly rated school in upstate N.Y. with a “B+” average but only the most superficial and meager knowledge about our government, our constitution, our history, world history, good literature, or much of anything else. I was semi-literate and anti-intellectual.
We do not have “public education”. We do not have “public schools”. We do not have and have never had “academic independence”. We do not have “honest inquiry and intellectual integrity”. That is all mythology and propaganda. Our schools are state schools and they suck. It’s time to grow up and wake up and face reality. This infrastructure was well on its way to destruction generations ago. If you want to salvage it, get real and stop kidding yourself. The privatizers will happily exploit the phenomenal faults and flaws. We have authoritarian bureaucracies, not educational institutions, he said for the one-millionth time.
I attended public school in Phillie till I was 17, then spent the last year of public school in Louisiana, and have seen the propaganda stuffed down kids throats, both north and south.
I wasn't taught the true history of America, not until I took up the hobby of genetic genealogy, and then acquired books and info, you will not find in school libraries. most things people believe today, are frankly bullshit, smeared on a toast to placate the masses and keep them under control.
However, even piss poor education is better than none. I posted this before. There was no such thing as Universal public education until Horace Mann. My own family fell into illiteracy after 1767 when my 5th great grandfather died, and did not emerge into literacy until Horace Mann's idea was adopted by (now backward) Arkansas, with my grandfather obtaining at least an 8th grade education.
Without the ability to read and write, men were at a disadvantage women had no rights, except dower rights to property, even then should could not sell it, unless she married again, or a son took control (shades of Muslim countries).
Sans the ability to read or write, they were unable to do business, and were at the mercy of white collar crooks.
The movement now,follows on the heels of that asshole Milton Friedman, whose ideas killed Allende, Chileans and elevated Pinochet. he preached school vouchers, and what do that facilitate religious education and schools for the well to do.
Public education needs to be reformed, but that idea is countervailed by the question... how, without empowering the right wing. Reformation is a double edged sword. Look no further than Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma and other MAGAt controlled states.
People who identify as conservative, most of whom are actually reactionaries are famous for pining for “the good old days” or for some idyllic past when men were men, life was simpler, and the world was more ordered and sane. Those days exist only in their childish imaginations, of course. So, it is extremely disconcerting and disturbing when the people we consider to be more rational, scientific, liberal, and progressive engage in that sort of foolishness.
My Aunt Martha (my favorite aunt) was a teacher and became a school principal in a small town and then in a consolidated school district in rural Pennsylvania in the 1940’s until about 1980. She was very strict and conventional and her participation as an evangelical in her local church was hardly distinguishable from her role as a teacher and principal. She presumably did not proselytize or actively practice and promote her faith and religion in school. Yet, there can be little doubt that her beliefs and attitudes and a degree of moralizing along with her “liberal” use of stern discipline were well known and exactly what virtually all the parents in that district believed to be appropriate. You didn’t sass Aunt Martha.
Across the US in that time period, schools in rural areas and schools in cities were essentially all very similar in that regard. The popular consensus was that kids were sent to school to learn and by god, they had better sit still and pay attention, or they would be dealt with harshly and would either shape up or ship out. Conservatives are still solidly convinced that those were wonderful schools, kids really learned, and everything turned out great.
That is such a pile of horse manure that I don’t know where to begin. There were studies then, just as there are studies now which revealed that many students were not learning much at all, many were not attending or dropping out, many were “socially promoted” and graduated without proven skills or knowledge, and literally millions hated the experience and said so, although most forgot how bad it was as soon as they left. Many learned to have self-contempt because they didn't fit in or succeed. The Coles Report which was known as “A Nation at Risk” was filed in 1986 as I recall. It did not yet reflect the changes implemented by Reagan and Bennett. The lack of STEM was only the tip of a monstrous iceberg. I was not alone in graduating from a highly rated school in upstate N.Y. with a “B+” average but only the most superficial and meager knowledge about our government, our constitution, our history, world history, good literature, or much of anything else. I was semi-literate and anti-intellectual.
We do not have “public education”. We do not have “public schools”. We do not have and have never had “academic independence”. We do not have “honest inquiry and intellectual integrity”. That is all mythology and propaganda. Our schools are state schools and they suck. It’s time to grow up and wake up and face reality. This infrastructure was well on its way to destruction generations ago. If you want to salvage it, get real and stop kidding yourself. The privatizers will happily exploit the phenomenal faults and flaws. We have authoritarian bureaucracies, not educational institutions, he said for the one-millionth time.
I attended public school in Phillie till I was 17, then spent the last year of public school in Louisiana, and have seen the propaganda stuffed down kids throats, both north and south.
I wasn't taught the true history of America, not until I took up the hobby of genetic genealogy, and then acquired books and info, you will not find in school libraries. most things people believe today, are frankly bullshit, smeared on a toast to placate the masses and keep them under control.
However, even piss poor education is better than none. I posted this before. There was no such thing as Universal public education until Horace Mann. My own family fell into illiteracy after 1767 when my 5th great grandfather died, and did not emerge into literacy until Horace Mann's idea was adopted by (now backward) Arkansas, with my grandfather obtaining at least an 8th grade education.
Without the ability to read and write, men were at a disadvantage women had no rights, except dower rights to property, even then should could not sell it, unless she married again, or a son took control (shades of Muslim countries).
Sans the ability to read or write, they were unable to do business, and were at the mercy of white collar crooks.
The movement now,follows on the heels of that asshole Milton Friedman, whose ideas killed Allende, Chileans and elevated Pinochet. he preached school vouchers, and what do that facilitate religious education and schools for the well to do.
Public education needs to be reformed, but that idea is countervailed by the question... how, without empowering the right wing. Reformation is a double edged sword. Look no further than Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma and other MAGAt controlled states.