Is Education Really about Managing Social Chaos, Joblessness?

union-thugsFew of our social managers talk about knowledge and learning as end goals of academia these days.  Politicians and fiscal planners in national education agencies seem to be a throwback to the birth of the social sciences during the nation-gobbling time of Napoleon, who was trying to figure out what to do with all the teaming masses he’d conquered.  Along came statistics, and their ability to mesmerize the public into acceptance of just about anything.   The mere mention of “research says” silences all critics.

       Those in power have always worried about social unrest getting out of control.  Rightly so.  Schools and universities have become the perfect tool for managing millions of youth who might otherwise be adrift in gangs and up to no good.  Compulsory education gets them off the streets, though almost incarcerated against their wills in many cases.

       In “Wrestling Chaos in America’s Classrooms” Lee Culpepper argues that “some of the most counterproductive behavior imaginable stems from the good intentions of liberal educators and the politicians they support.”  The old movies depicting blackboard jungles were right after all.  Gangs and malcontents have relegated serious students to an underground status, afraid and betrayed.

       Culpepper describes a Santa Monica High school science teacher nightmarishly alone in confronting violent drug dealers.  After multiple attacks the teacher “then found himself abandoned by his politically-correct superintendent.”

      Santa Monica is still populated by upscale liberals, while Hollywood projects an ultra-cool image of the hip good life, but the educational system there sucks.  No wonder that kids come home from school sullen and withdrawn.

      For federal managers of US education, schools may be less about education and more about social control.  Computer bling has come to the rescue of embattled faculty, keeping the youngsters entertained while parents are making money in perhaps soul-deadening jobs.  Well, just enough cash to eat out every night and buy a few expensive status toys.

          Colleges have now become the preferred dumping ground for the would-be unemployed.  All comers will be accommodated, despite motivation or intellectual ability.  Retention is mandated from above, and national jobless figures look pretty impressive.

      Gone are engaged students quietly reading, absorbed in their studies.  Missing too are the faculty who centered their careers upon gaining more knowledge themselves to set an example for those in their charge.  Meanwhile, the public still dreams about the Normal Rockwell school settings of yesterday, long since gone.  Union members have replaced traditional faculty, and student bodies are increasingly intimidated by thugs.

       Places like South Dakota have as yet not received the full impact of trends that first show up on the East and West Coasts and their urban enclaves elsewhere.

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