THE
CLASSROOM
It comes under many names; block scheduling, group learning,
cooperative learning. But, it's all part of a radical change in the way
children are taught in the classroom.
Children are paired with others for group grades. Individual
achievement is de-emphasized. Under block scheduling a number of subjects
are tied together in one long class. For example, in one school, math
science, health and physical education have been combined. Children are
supposed to learn these skills by working on a class project, such as
launching an imaginary rocket to the Moon.
Presumably when faced with various problems in building their rocket,
students will seek out the necessary information. They'll need math to
calculate the projectory, science to find out where the Moon is and health
to know what to feed the astronauts. Apparently physical education will
teach them how to get the astronauts in shape. Children who can't keep up
are supposed to be helped along by other children in their group. It's
called "kids teaching kids."
"Cooperative learning" is nothing more than a
classroom-management technique that provides a convenient hiding place for
bad teachers and under-achieving students. The student who doesn't care to
learn, or has failed to grasp a concept, allows the rest of the group to
do the work - yet he gets their grade.
However, it’s been discovered in school after school that students
coming out of such classes cannot perform math problems, recite
multiplication tables, conjugate a verb or structure a sentence. Random
facts picked up in the rush to complete a project do not supply the proper
background or structure needed to understand a subject.
MATH
Perhaps the most bizarre of all of the school restructuring programs is
mathematics. Math is an exact science loaded with absolutes. There can be
no way to question the fact that certain numbers add up to specific
totals. Geometric statements and reasons must lead to absolute
conclusions. So today, math classes simply ignore math and talk about
something else. Any real problem solving is performed on a calculator.
Under the category "New-New Math" children are not
taught to memorize multiplication tables. Those who promote the new
teaching method believe memorization is bad. Instead, they say, children
should be led to "discover multiplication." Students, they say,
learn to multiply over several years by "thinking about math"
and will therefore retain it longer.
Educrats don't seem too alarmed that many children may never learn
basic math structure through this random approach to an exact science. But
there seems to be no shortage of programs that teach children nothing.
One is called "Action Math." Back-to-basics education
activist, Sarah Leslie, who has experienced it, spent two days just trying
to figure out why her sixth grader (an excellent math student) was even in
the course. She finally came to the conclusion that there were no options
for advanced students because there were no other math classes provided.
Action Math goes back to the above example of the integrated math,
science, health and physical education. As Sarah describes it,
"because the nature of this class is activity-oriented and
project-based, do not expect your student to bring home a math book on a
regular basis."
She goes on to provide a verbatim explanation from the school as to how
the grading system would work when all of the students were grouped
together in a project. The school said "as in any class,
differences in student abilities may require adjustments to individual
assignments. Projects may allow students to select one of many ways to
demonstrate competence in a particular skill area (i.e.
measuring/collecting data, graphics or drawing conclusions). Modifications
will be made, as needed, to accommodate for the rate and level of learning
for specific students."
Sarah expressed her concerns to the teacher that this system sounded
like a "dumbing down" process if her child was placed in a group
with overall lower math skills. "On no", said the teacher,
"in situations like that we will DUMB UP" But hang on, it gets
worse.
Perhaps the worst of all of the New-New Math programs is a monster
called "Interactive Mathematics Program" (IMP). Billed as a
college prep course developed by the University of California at Berkeley,
IMP does not follow traditional sequence and therefore will not provide
students with basic math skills.
One parent reporting on his child's experience with IMP tells of a
trail of misinformation and outright deceit surrounding the program. The
parent reports, "we were told this is a college prep course and that
it contained more rigorous academics and higher standards than traditional
math. We were told that the traditional progression of Algebra I, Geometry
and Algebra II would not be taught as the students would receive those
classes in IMP."
The father went on to say, "we were not told the IMP is integrated
with English grammar, extreme environmental issues, HIV/AIDS instruction,
social studies, science and geography. We were not told that standards had
not been developed. We were not told that the academic content has been
dumbed-down to the point that only about one fourth of the normal math
content was being taught. We were not told that the students assessed
themselves and their classmates for a grade." This, in a
"college prep" course.
"Interactive Mathematics" promotes group-only student
questions, has no practical problems and has a huge social engineering
content. Looking through the pages of the text book, one will find
problems based on radical environmentalism, AIDS, child-abuse, social
studies, science, geography, "finding the perfect group" and
many others.
For example, the child abuse problem has the student calculate the
number of unreported child abuse cases, given certain statistics, and then
asks each student "HOW THEY WOULD VOTE" on a child abuse
screening program!
Social, political and especially environmental issues are rampant in
New-New Math text books. One such eighth grade math text just making its
way into classrooms is blatant. Dispersed throughout the book are short,
half page blocks of text under the heading "SAVE PLANET EARTH."
One of the sections describes the benefits of recycling aluminum cans and
tells students "how you can help."
The teacher's edition lists additional activities and, after the lesson
on endangered species, tells teachers to ask students to list threats to
animals, including destruction of habitat, poisons and hunting.
The book contains short lessens in multiculturalism under the recurring
heading "Cultural Kaleidoscope." One such section gives
information on Blamndina Cardenias Ramirez, a pioneer in developing
multicultural educational practices. This is not math. It is nothing more
than propaganda for the purpose of behavior modification.
Meanwhile, data is beginning to emerge on students who have been
subjected to such "math" classes. From California, where it all
started, they now have data on its first graduates, Top students at
California-Davis can't find math classes simple enough to gain basic
skills. They are being shipped off to Community Colleges. In Palo Alto,
students who have always scored high have seen standardized test scores
drop from 86th percentile to 58th percentile. Sixty-three percent of the
parents of middle school children pay outside tutors to get real math for
their children.
ENGLISH, READING
AND
LITERATURE
Conjugate a verb, diagram a sentence, learn to spell? What planet are
you from? This is language class. We have much more relevant things to
learn.
In a seventh grade language arts class in Prince William County,
Virginia, children are given a test entitled "What Makes You Good
Friendship Material."
Children are to circle their answer of "yes", "no"
or "maybe" to questions like the following: "Am I someone
who: is trusting of others; likes to have close personal friends; is able
to influence others; enjoys sharing with others; can keep a secret?"
At the end of the test this statement appeals: "if you answer
'yes' to most of these statements, you are really good friendship
material. If you answered 'no' to a lot, you need to work on
yourself."
English class is usually where students are told to keep a journal of
their deepest thoughts and impressions. These journals are then collected
and read by the teacher.
One book being used in these classes is called "The Book of
Questions." Designed around "situation ethics," the authors
openly admits that "this book is designed to challenge attitudes,
morals and beliefs." He also states that there are no correct or
incorrect answers or moral absolutes.
Here are some sample questions from "The Book of Questions:
(1) "You, your closest friend and your father are on a vacation
together, hiking in a remote jungle. Your two companions stumble into a
nest of poisonous vipers, and are bitten repeatedly. You know neither will
live without an immediate shot of anti-venom, yet there is only a single
dose of it and it's in your shirt pocket." What would you do? In
other words, who would you save?
(2) "On an airplane you are talking pleasantly to a stranger of
average appearance. Unexpectedly, the person offers you $10,000 for one
night of sex. Knowing that there is no danger and that payment is certain,
would you accept the offer?" These questions are for high school
kids!
(3) "A cave-in occurs while you and a stranger are in a concrete
room deep in a mine shaft. Before the phone goes dead, you learn that the
entire mine is sealed and the air hole being drilled will not reach you
for 30 hours. If you both take sleeping pills from the medicine chest, the
oxygen will last for only 20 hours. Both of you can't survive; alone one
of you might. After you both realize this, the stranger takes several
sleeping pills, says it's in God's hands, and falls asleep. You have a
pistol; what do you do?
A book for younger children by the same author offers questions like
this: If a rich kid wanted to buy your parents, how much would you ask for
them assuming you were willing to sell? Would you trade parents with any
of your friends?"
GEOGRAPHY
Here you might expect radical environmentalism and, of course, it is
rampant. The world map is used to point out biosphere reserves and
disappearing rain forests. But here again, no subject is safe from the
psychological profiling of each student.
One sixth grade exercise is entitled "how to make a 'me'
map." Children were instructed to create themselves as a map by
answering such questions as; what type of land mass are you? Are you and
island? An island represents a loner, an introvert, a person who likes to
be by himself. A peninsula is almost completely surrounded by water except
for one side that is connected to the mainland. The connected side could
represent a close friend of a family member. Are you landlocked? If you
are landlocked, you like people surrounding you. You are an extrovert.
The paper goes on to describe that if you have a lot of problems in
your life then you will have a rocky shore, and so forth.
CIVICS
Learn about how the government is structured? No, too boring. It's time
for more situation ethics.
An eighth grade activity sheet entitled "You Are In Charge"
asks students to "imagine that you are the police sergeant in charge
of dispatching officers to investigate crime reports telephoned in by
concerned citizens." A list of calls are provided and students are
instructed to list them in the order they would send police to investigate
and then discuss why they made the choices. Again, the situations are life
threatening and students have to decide who survives.
HEALTH AND SCIENCE
These courses are, again, filled with radical, one-sided
environmentalism. An Earth Science text book published by Merrill offers a
teachers guide entitled "Science and Society" in which teachers
are provided classroom discussion material and project ideas for
"saving the environment."
One such discussion is called "Conservation and the Sierra
Club" in which this private advocacy group is played up as the hero
in a fight to stop the building of a dam in Colorado. Only one side of the
issue is given and the Sierra Club rushes to the rescue. It's simply
nothing more than a recruitment ad for the group.
At the end of the "lesson" there is a section called
"You Decide" in which children are asked "do you think
there is a need for an organization like the Sierra Club? How would you
have handled the fight against the dam?"
Another text book for seventh graders by Prentice Hall has a section
called "Science Gazette" which raves about James Lovelock and
his "Gaia hypothesis."
The book quotes Lovelock: "Gaia is Mother Earth. Gaia is
immortal. She is the eternal source of life. She does not need to
reproduce herself as she is immortal. She is certainly the mother of us
all, including Jesus...Gaia is not a tolerant mother. She is rigid and
inflexible, ruthless in the destruction of whoever transgresses. Her
unconscious objective is that of maintaining a world adapted to life. If
we men hinder this objective we will be eliminated without pity."
ONE STOP SOCIAL CENTERS
With federal money now dictating education programs, schools are fast
becoming local outlets for every other department of the government.
Federally-paid lunch programs have become a source of significant
income for schools. Since guidelines dictate that only certain "at
risk" students may receive the lunches, school administrations are
busy re-assessing as many students as possible to fit the category. One
school in Georgia actually managed to asses 75% of its students to be
"at risk". It's a growth product.
Several other federal programs, most specifically "Title 1"
provide taxpayer dollars to schools to perform special services. Most of
those services require staffs which set up shop right in the school
building.
To participate in and receive funding, schools must now show how they
identified the child as "at risk" and provide the student's
name. The information goes onto the student's permanent file in the
massive federal data bank. That's why the definition for "at
risk" is expanding rapidly.
According to the federal "Parents as Teachers" (PAT) program
run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it defines
"at risk" to include:
- inability of parent to cope with inappropriate child behavior
- inability of parent to relate to or connect with child
- overindulgence, undue spoiling on part of parent
One must ask, who decides if a parent has failed to "connect"
with a child? Who decides if a parent is spoiling a child? And how is it
the business of the federal government?
The most frightening new trend in the government's drive for control of
the children is the advent of massive powers for social workers and child
protection agencies (see The DeWeese Report, Vol.5, Issue7, "The
Coming Invasion of In-Home Social Workers").
Just as children are monitored and evaluated in the classroom, so are
parents in the home. Social workers perform in-home visits to look around
and evaluate the environment in which the child lives.
Their job is to determine if a child qualifies as "at risk".
There are, of course, horrible things being done to children. Child abuse
has become a daily headline.
But the definition of abuse has grown broad, as the power of child
protection agencies has expanded. Today, "passive child abuse"
is a threat to the most loving families.
How do parents defend themselves from a negative evaluation of a social
worker when that report is based almost entirely on the agent's personal
opinion? So broad are the definitions of child abuse that almost any
conclusion can be drawn.
Such power to destroy families leaves the door open for major abuse of
the system. But in today's education atmosphere in which "at
risk" children provide a valuable funding source and where
pop-psychology is practiced in most class rooms, is it any surprise that
over one million people are falsely accused of child abuse every year?
Trends indicate, however, that it won't be long before the "at
risk" requirement is dropped. In-school social services will soon be
forced on all students.
Under these programs, schools are fast becoming one-stop centers for a
vast array of social and medical services where students are counseled,
diagnosed and even administered drugs without parental knowledge. What was
once a simple trip to the school nurse now will include mental health
diagnosis and treatments, and full-scale medical clinics
After a hearty day of sex education in the classroom, the clinics will
provide birth control (including condoms, pills and diaphragms) and
pregnancy testing.
Abortion counseling, including laboratory pregnancy tests are also part
of the in-school services to be administered through federal programs.
This service may even include free rides to an abortion clinic.
On-site family planning services can include induced abortions and even
sterilization. In California it was disclosed that eight students were
implanted with the birth control device Norplant.
How can this be done without parental consent or even parental
knowledge? Check you state codes. Several states, have passed "minor
consent laws." California's law states that "a minor is not
required to have the consent of the parent or parents to obtain hospital,
medical and surgical care related to the prevention or treatment of
pregnancy. Even if the parent or parents refused to consent to the care,
the minor could consent to the care and it could be provided."
Even without such laws, schools are able to get around many regulations
by using outside agencies like Planned Parenthood that are not restricted
by school policies.
While not all schools are yet participating in such programs, it is a
trend for the future. As federal control grows in local school systems,
such programs will emerge. The ground work has been laid through OBE
curriculums and the advent of K-12 sex education programs.
MEANINGLESS SOLUTIONS AND POLITICAL POSTURING
This education restructuring has been underway for the past forty
years, but the pace has accelerated under the Clinton Administration
through programs such as Goals 2000, School-To-Work, The CAREERS Act,
block grant programs like Title I and Title IV, and many more. As the
situation grows worse, politicians scramble to provide solutions. They
call for stricter standers, more assessments of students, and of course,
more money and smaller classrooms. In fact, Congress has suggested about
every solution except the one that will do away with the problem –
federal intervention in schools.
The latest folly to excite Republicans is a do-nothing program under
the cute little title - "Straight A’s Act" (H.R.2300). Of
course the sound bites assure us all that the program is completely
"voluntary" (that’s just what they said about Goals 2000). The
program, they say, will give the states and parents the power to choose if
they want to participate in federal programs (that’s what they said
about Goals 2000). In addition, we’ll get higher test scores, school
discipline and a "brighter future for our children." Isn’t
that what the same politicians promised with Goals 2000?
"Straight A’s" promises to cut red tape and bureaucracies.
Yet, in order to keep the federal funds flowing all accountability
continues to go to the federal government. The strings are still there,
the programs are still in place. Under the Act, States must have in place
standards and aligned assessments – just like Goals 2000. Students must
meet certain federal standards – just like Goals 2000. Throughout the
Act, words like "states must assure…must implement…must have in
place…" are used to dictate federal guidelines in order for states
for states to qualify for the federal dollars. Where is the change in
policy? Where is the new-found freedom for the states? Where is the answer
to improving education?
Worse, across the nation, federal guidelines have become state law. Now
there are state level Goals 2000 and School-To-Work programs in place.
These programs are run by an entrenched state bureaucracy that answers to
and is in alignment with the federal Department of Education. They control
the flow and use of the money. They implement the programs.
Nothing will change under the "Straight A’s" Act. It is a
flimflam. It is an attempt by the Republicans to pretend they are doing
something about education while they leave the system intact.
Americans will only have hope that education will improve when someone
in Congress finally begins to understand that any program which controls
federal money is the enemy. Abolish the Department of Education, leave
education dollars in the states instead of laundering them through
Washington D.C. and get the federal government out of education. Then the
problem will solve itself. Any other solution is a worthless Band-Aid that
plays into the well-financed hands of the education bureaucracy that
created the crisis in the first place. That is the reason academic
skills are falling.
