Edumacation

"I are a graduate of Cobb County Public Schools"  ~  Common joke heard in Cobb County.

Yes, I am.  I went to East Valley Elementary School, East Cobb (then Jr.) Middle School, and Wheeler High School.   At the point and time I went, they were the best public schools in the county.

Here's what I remember.  I remember they taught me how to tell time.  You would not believe how this impresses people. In thirty some odd years of employment, I've never been late to work. I've never been late to a meeting.

Once, I was working a temporary job after I was laid off at United Healthcare. My supervisor said, "We want to hire you because you show up".

Showing up, as Woody Allen once remarked, is 80% of success.  My education stressed the importance of showing up. Many times, my grade was "rounded up" because I simply showed up and showed I care.

My education stressed the importance of waiting in lines. The cool kids, the narcs, the heads, the dorks, and the dweebs all had to wait in line, particularly at lunch.  You'll get in. Honest.

On one of our trips to New York, we went to the 9/11 Memorial. There were a couple of people behind us, from a European country which has the Effiel Tower, and they were constantly breaking in line.  We almost had an international incident.

My education stressed the importance of sitting down and shutting up. This is a trait that is missing in today's educational atmosphere.

Recently, Charles Murray, a social scientist was hired to give a lecture at Middlebury College.  Dr. Murray wrote a controversial book 25 years ago called "The Bell Curve".  Some people say it isn't very nice.  I can't comment because I haven't read it.  However, it was an academic book and the issues Murray describes should be debated in an open academic atmosphere.

Yeah, right.

That's not how the game is played these days. Today, if there is something you don't like, you try to shut it down. Here's how The Washington Post describes it.

"The demonstrations began conventionally enough, with several hundred organized protesters packed into a lecture hall Thursday, chanting and holding signs. They ended with Murray being forced to cancel his lecture and later being surrounded by an unruly mob made up of students and “outside agitators” as he tried to leave campus, according to witnesses and school administrators.

"After swarming Murray and two school officials, the protesters shouted profanities, shoved members of the group and then blocked them from getting to a vehicle in a nearby parking lot. Witnesses said the confrontation was aggressive, intimidating and unpredictable and felt like it was edging frighteningly close to outright violence."

The President of Middlebury College, Laurie L. Patton, says she will respond to“clear violations of Middlebury College policy”, which I assume is you don't act like a bunch of trousered apes when you encounter an opinion you don't agree with.

By the way, Middlebury College is a "top-tier" liberal arts college, which means it accepts only about 16% of the students that apply and the tuition is around $48K a year.

All of this could have been avoided by simply going to the lecture, sitting down, listening to whatever the dude said, then going back to your dorm and writing a paper.

Those days are gone with the wind. Part of the problem frankly lies with the parents.

My mother always told me that she didn't care if I was a smart person as long as I was a good person. Parents don't seem to emphasize that at all. The upper-class kids seem like they have been told that they are the most wonderful creatures to ever pop up in this world and their self-esteem is the most important ingredient to a successful life.

While the lower middle-class and poor kids are sort of left on their own. Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance quotes one of his teachers: "They want us to be shepherds to these kids. But no one wants to talk about the fact that many of them are raised by wolves".

But, the education establishment is not blameless. They become enamored with the latest educational fad and want to ride that horse until it passes out. Back when I was coming along, it was "Open Classrooms". Now it is "Common Core".  And none of it ever works.

I don't claim to have any answers. Maybe "School Choice" is the answer. Maybe it is not.  I'm just glad I'm not going to school.