Misguided Notions: The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Publicly Funded Education in America

By Garrett Williams

Americas public schools are in decline and in need of urgent reform. Once the envy of the entire world, the American public school system now struggles to keep pace with other industrialized nations and is falling further behind with each passing decade. This disturbing trend raises two important questions: Why did our schools decline? What must we do to make our schools great again?

To answer these questions, Misguided Notions goes back to the roots of human civilization and retraces the development of education over the last ten thousand years. Along the way, a wise reformer offers warnings based on his eyewitness accounts of the collapses of historys greatest civilizations. The evidence is clear: when schools discard tried and proven principles of education and when society abandons its core values, both will collapse.

The commonsense solutions offered in Misguided Notions combine proven old-school educational principles with the advantages of modern technology. Teachers, principals, school board members, parents, community leaders, and politicians perplexed by the lack of answers to the current dilemma in public education can find enlightenment in Misguided Notions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 22, 2011
• ISBN: 9781450295154

Garrett Williams

Aka John Ed Garrett was born and nurtured in Springfield, Tennessee, and has lived most of his adult years in the Madison Community of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. He was a four decade career educator with the Metro Nashville Public School District as a special needs classroom teacher, coach, guidance counselor, supervisor, and H.R. Director for the Secondary Schools. He married his high school sweetheart, the former Jo Ann Adams, and they have two children and six grandchildren. Ed's talents beyond the classroom have awarded him U.S. patents and copyrights for intellectual property creations including a public television multi-media production, two personal books, and ghost writings resulting in four additional published books and numerous magazine and newspaper articles. His pseudonym as a writer is Garrett Williams, the surnames in honor of his father and mother. I have known him in diverse roles for over 50 years and have utilized his knowledge and skills along with that of the forthcoming Nancy Arnold in the publishing of two books, viz. A Journey to Remember and Unstable Times-Unlikely Outcomes. With admiration, I call Ed a "wordsmith." You will enjoy his clever imagination and creative contributions to this book. -author Jack Van Hooser

Book preview

Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Author

A Personal Note to the Reader

Introduction

Prologue

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

XVI

XVII

XVIII

XIX

XX

XXI

XXII

XXIII

XXIV

XXV

XXVI

XXVII

XXVIII

XXIX

XXX

XXXI

XXXII

XXXIII

XXXIV

XXXV

XXXVI

XXXVII

XXXVIII

Epilogue

Compilations

Credits-Citations

Credits-Images

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Also by Garrett Williams

Chet Atkins Fame—Guitar Teacher’s Manual

Copyright 1972—Famous American Musicians and Educators, Inc.

Dedicated to all patriots and legal immigrants to the United States of America

—past, present, and future.

Acknowledgments

I offer my deep appreciation to a few of the many master teachers who served as my resource persons for this work. Some hold formal degrees in higher education—others with equally valuable qualifications graduated from the school of hard knocks. Most were unaware that they contributed. Their examples and subtle messages influenced my life and thoughts. In particular, I mention:

The Springfield High School Class of 1953, Springfield, Tennessee

Thanks to all the children who taught me, especially Jim Ed, Jenny, Carol, Beau, Heidi, Devin, Ginger, Natalie, and Will.

…and a child will lead them—Isaiah 11:6

About the Author

"Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing, onward through life he goes;

Each morning sees some task begin; each evening sees it close;

Something attempted, something done, has earned a night’s repose.

… Thus at the flaming forge of life our fortunes must be wrought."

—Longfellow, The Village Blacksmith

There is a certain excitement and anticipation for me with each new sunrise. The dawn brings an invigorating freshness. The air is clean and crisp as the earth and all things therein blink and marvel at the wonders all around. Surely, there are good times in store for us today—the neighborhood boys and me. Best of all, there is no school, so we might just go swimming and fishing. Making slingshots and peashooters would be great fun too … and the picture show—yes! Gene Autry is starring … coming home we could even place a penny on the railroad track. The South Wind is passing through today, and to have a penny flattened by it really would be something.

Suddenly I am shaken to reality as Mother frantically yells that I am going to be late for school. Horrors, it is only Wednesday, but in my glorious dream it was Saturday—every boy’s favorite day.

I never really liked going to school except for recess. In fact, at age sixteen, there was a discussion with my parents concerning the prospects of me dropping out. After all, they only had completed the eighth grade, so the subject was not particularly troubling. It did not happen. Perhaps it was because of that young damsel who distracted me. She still does, some sixty years later—the same one.

In time, somehow and for some unknown reason, my attitude toward schooling changed. Low-paying menial jobs well could have been the motivation. Maybe destiny or providence directed or called me. Perhaps my intellectual curiosity finally was awakened. It is interesting speculation, but—whatever the reason—the fact remains that the path taken led me into four decades of teaching and learning. I have been a continuing learner ever since.

George Peabody College was prominent in shaping my life and thought. Never had I been around such a brilliant collection of people. I was studying under professors who had written the very textbooks we were using. Most were renowned authorities in their disciplines, but one in particular dramatically influenced me. I became involved with the pioneer, Dr. Lloyd Dunn, as a part of the group experimenting with the development of an IQ test that focused on a segment of children, then termed as having mentally handicapping conditions—today, known as exceptional students. Since their reading skills were insufficient for them to take written exams, this test creatively assessed their capabilities using pictures rather than words. Today, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and Dr. Dunn remain world famous. That involvement inspired me to do graduate work in special education and focus on teaching children and adults who were emotionally, mentally, and physically challenged.

In the first classroom years that followed, I was told that my style and approach were quite unconventional and even shocking to some. We discarded the crayons, coloring books, and tambourines, replacing them with class-made teaching machines, interactive aids, focused learning centers, and guitars. Later, there were pilot programs involving selective mainstreaming of these special youngsters into regular classrooms. Traditionally, this had been forbidden. Then came industry-sponsored work-training and life skills programs that were unprecedented.

These notions attracted attention, notoriety, and considerable observation. At the time, I did not realize that using common sense was viewed as unusual and extraordinary. It should have been a normal expectation, not a praiseworthy trait, but I came to realize that it was quite a novelty—a door opener.

The decades flew by and my roles changed many times—teacher, guidance counselor, coach, coordinator, administrator, recruiter, ombudsman, facilitator, director, and consultant. They took me from a one-room self-contained grade, teaching all subjects, to interfacing coast to coast with the nation’s major colleges of teacher education. Ultimately, it became my heavy responsibility to select and place thousands of new teachers into classrooms where, for thirty years, they were to influence the lives of tens of thousands of our nation’s youth. It is a sobering thought for me—even to this day.

The foregoing is shared for only two reasons. The first gives me the opportunity to thank all who enabled me to function in a career where I looked forward to going to work every day. The second is the hope that this background information will give the reader a degree of confidence that the message I am about to deliver is credible.

Garrett Williams, 2012

…and I am firm in my belief that a teacher lives on and on through his students. I will live if my teaching is inspirational, good, and stands firm for good values and character training. Tell me how can good teaching ever die? Good teaching is forever and the teacher is immortal.

—Jesse Stuart

A Personal Note to the Reader

Reforming public education in America is the subject of this book. Most likely, you have heard that it needs reforming—that a serious illness is residing in the schoolhouse. It is quite true, but things are not going well in society either because the two are inseparable. One is but a reflection of the other—they rise and fall in tandem.

The outcry directed toward public education is not new. In 1635, the Puritans became the first to complain and—in every decade since—discontent has continued to be expressed. However, the current concerns are far more alarming than in any of those past 375 plus years where token attention and reform were sufficient to calm the complainers. This time it is different—dramatically different. The foreboding message is not from an overzealous alarmist or from a joker crying wolf. I wish it were a fable, but the cause for consternation at this time in history is not over ordinary matters. It is about this nation’s very survival. A serious and deadly contagion has infected our society—and it is true that the children unwittingly have brought it into the schoolhouses. The development is frightening, as you soon will see and understand.

Some startling changes began to take place in America in 1945, just after the end of World War II. The senior citizens of today experienced these changes and can speak about them as eyewitnesses. The era ushered in unparalleled economic prosperity, an enormous population explosion, and extremely accelerated rates of technological, political, and social change. Moreover, the system of public education in the United States positioned itself comfortably at the top of the heap as the envy of the world.

Things were progressing remarkably well with the baby boomer generation on into the fabulous fifties and the Age of Aquarius. However, when Future Shock appeared in 1970, we found it to be culture shock in disguise and realized that a profound transformation was taking place in our society. It was happening so fast and changing so rapidly that it was outpacing our ability to process and assimilate—we entered a state of permanent disorientation. It marked the beginning of a major paradigm shift from the old way to the new way. The mind, body, and spirit were liberated from traditional values, thinking, and practices—we had been emancipated.

Each succeeding decade and generation claimed to be more enlightened, freethinking, and humanistic than the previous. God was dead, we heard. The shift was to modern, liberal, and progressive ideologies such as secular humanism and moral relativism. Ethical decisions became situational and relative rather than absolute. The influences of John Dewey, the father of modern education, Dr. Benjamin Spock, the controversial pediatrician, and Charles Darwin, the evolutionist, played heavily into the thinking and influences of the day and pedagogy in particular.

The new way of doing things touted as the panacea has taken us to a new level in 2012, but it is far south of the Utopia predicted. Consider just a few of the outcomes it produced.

A welfare state with barely over half the citizens paying federal taxes, yet held accountable for supporting the other non-contributing half—not just a helping hand, but sustaining a way of life.

A refuge for illegal immigrants estimated to be as many as twenty million who are significantly contributing to the depletion and devastation of the resources of the nation’s social services.

A debt-ridden economy with a deficit growing at four billion dollars a day—state after state nearing bankruptcy and insolvency.

An excessively unhealthy and inactive society—by the millions addicted to overeating, stimulants, alcohol, prescription narcotics, and illegal drugs.

A society which produces the highest crime and incarceration rate in the world.

A fragmented family unit where traditional marriage and values are being rejected. Over fifty percent of couples are cohabiting outside of marriage, over fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, and close to fifty percent of all men under 45 have fathered at least one baby outside wedlock.

A public school system that has tumbled from the top ranking in the world to the tiers well below other industrialized nations.

This only scratches the surface, but is sufficient for us to conclude that the new way has proven to be a misguided notion. The forthcoming antidotes must be administered quickly.

Introduction

Publicly funded compulsory education in America ranks as one of our forefathers’ most significant contributions—perhaps it is the greatest. Alarmingly, its all-inclusive ideals and viability as the best educational option for the masses is seriously being questioned.

There is disturbing evidence that in many urban settings, this hallowed institution is in transformation from the school of choice to the only choice for the poor, neglected, and disenfranchised. The former heterogeneous face of the schoolhouse is losing its diversity and becoming more homogenous daily.

In significant numbers, the wealthy, socially elite, and privileged of every race, color, and creed are taking flight—rapidly from the inner city districts and somewhat slower in suburbia, but still in flight. Where are they going?

Observant parents—prudent and with appropriate resources—know where the best educational opportunities are in their given cities. They learn from personal experience, realtors, neighbors, the media, the man-on-the-street, teachers, or through the grapevine that there are three faces the public schools offer, and a fourth by the private sector.

There is a big smiley face on the first category. It showcases some of America’s best public schools. They rank at the top in national and international achievement competition. I will introduce some of them to you.

Suppose the head of a certain family has received a promotional job transfer to Washington, D.C. The first order of business is for them to assess the housing and schools. The real estate crunch has produced some attractive buys in an upscale community convenient to the husband’s new job location. The neighborhood is a favorite choice for many of the congressmen and senators due to its proximity to the nation’s capital.

Everything appeared to be perfect until they learned that the school in the zone where the house is located is struggling with a bad reputation and is facing colossal academic challenges. None of the politicians, including the president, has allowed his or her children to attend this school. For reasons known only to them, all chose to send their children to private schools. This factor concerned the family. They reasoned that if the school was not acceptable to the politicians for their children, it would not be appropriate for any other child. The now-puzzled family decided to look further and farther.

Some ten miles away, in Alexandria, Virginia, the grapevine directed them to the Thomas Jefferson High for Science and Technology. For three consecutive years, it has ranked as the best public school in the United States—number one. A student there might be enrolled in a chemical analysis research class making bio-diesel fuel from algae, or studying DNA science or even quantum physics. The reach of the mind is the only limit in this school with its array of incredible options. It costs nothing to attend and the graduates are essentially guaranteed acceptance to America’s top universities from coast to coast. There is a major hurdle for the rank and file. The admission requirements are very restrictive; each year, 2,500 applicants are turned away. For those who qualify and are accepted, this school ranks second to none.

There is another family relocating to New York City, facing the dilemma of choosing between The Bronx High School of Science and Stuyvesant High. They are public schools as well, so the tuition is free, but there is more to it. There are 20,000 applicants annually, and less than 10 percent attain the qualifying scores on the admissions exam. If their son is fortunate enough to be accepted, he may well become a Nobel Prize winner—these two schools have produced eleven.

On second thought, 3,000 students in a school are too many for this particular family’s liking. There is a more appropriate match to consider in the private sector. Trinity School in Upper Manhattan has a smiley face as well. It can accommodate their wishes by providing a teacher for every six students. How is that for individual attention? It is quite prestigious as well, and to top it off, Trinity holds the number one ranking in the entire United States among prep schools. It sounds terrific, but the parents will soon learn that the entrance requirements are formidable, as well as the tuition—$36,000 yearly.

Another family is moving to Cincinnati because one of their professional sport teams drafted the dad. They limited their search to include only highly ranked, private coed schools—those with smiley faces. From several impressive choices considered, they felt the most appropriate match for them and their daughter was the Seven Hills School. For around $17,000, it offers all the bells and whistles, including a superior quality staff and an exceptionally strong college prep curriculum—100 percent of its graduates routinely qualify for admission into the nation’s top universities. Recently, it was named the number one private school in the area—and in the top five academic schools in all of Ohio. The Seven Hills School is the only coed school in the state recognized as an Academic Champion, and has achieved that status for three consecutive years. It is a superlative choice—if their daughter can qualify.

So it goes—schools can be found with comparable reputations across the country, regardless of the region where one might search.

They are not options for the masses, but make no mistake—there are excellent public and private schools available in the United States that will match anything the best international schools have to offer. Sadly, only a relatively small percentage of students have a realistic chance of attending one. Nonetheless, the facilitators of these model exemplary schools are to be commended to the highest. While addressing a unique niche and fulfilling a distinctive mission and purpose, they are setting an academic benchmark that challenges all school districts. However, there remains the issue of parity for the masses.

The Rank and File

Cherry-picking students can eliminate many potential problems and challenges up front for the specialized schools—but what about the regular schools that have no such options. They must accept the rank and file, including those rejected by the elite schools—as well as those with special needs or those who present unique challenges. It would be grossly unfair to compare the relative effectiveness of two such schools in which the student body composition is so dramatically different, unless the variables are factored into the equation. Many of these schools accepting all comers are doing marvelous jobs educating the entire spectrum of the student population with all their varying exceptionalities. Naturally, the average achievement scores will not be comparable, but the top students in these schools will be competitive with the top students in the specialized schools catering only to the elite. These regular schools are typically the only option open to the masses of students in the United States. Their viability as an appropriate option depends—it varies from district to district and community to community across the country.

Alas, there is another face shown in the public schools, and it is not smiling. It is a look worn by multi-millions of children who do not live near these aforementioned schools, gleaming in the front row of excellence; their schools are substandard and deteriorating, and their numbers are growing. Over half of the children attending are from broken homes with broken lives. Their dads normally cannot be found. Their moms usually work two or more minimum-wage jobs to provide for their family’s meager existence. It is the only choice for most of these moms—moms who are high-school dropouts. However, with the same passion that drives other loving and prudent parents, they want to provide to the limit of their ability the best educational opportunity for their children.

Occasionally, there is a grandma living with them who helps tend to the smaller children and gives spiritual guidance to all the family. There is no luxury car to deliver them to the schoolhouse door each morning—they ride the city bus or walk. There are no fashion jeans to display on arrival unless they got lucky at the Goodwill store. The children yearn for iPods, but realize that they are for the children of another world.

Life for this segment of society is a struggle—and a look of desperation and despair is their constant companion until they pass through the schoolhouse door. It is there where they feel there is hope for them. They were promised that it is their ticket to a better life—their only ticket. What a disappointment they must feel after they arrive. What an injustice! Their school is woefully substandard and inadequate. The playing field is not level for them. All that their mom ever asked in her prayers was that her children be given an equal opportunity—nothing more. She paid her taxes and trusted in her government to be responsible. It is shameful—perhaps criminal. Responsible citizens, please listen. We must fix their schools for them. We are compelled to do it and with all dispatch.

There is a final face lurking in all the public schools that is neither smiling nor forlorn. It has a sinister countenance—a sneer and a smirk. It is the look of defiance that portrays foreboding intentions. This is the face of the Anti-Culture. The Antis make themselves at home in every environment they invade. This culture currently causes civil society its greatest consternation—and will command significant focus and attention in the school reformation process. It is the destructive element that certain school people unwittingly allow to hang around and thwart the entire teaching and learning process. Oftentimes, it seems that the educators are prodded to be politically correct. Who are these Antis?

The Anti-Culture

Anti—the word that will be used hereafter to describe an antagonist who feels predisposed to go aggressively against society’s norms, prevailing standards, accepted mores, customs, and values. George Thorogood described them in Born to be Bad.

I grew up rough and mean in my early teens,

and I didn’t want to go to school.

I called no man Sir.

Work was a dirty word.

My biggest kick was breakin’ the rules,

Born to be bad. That is the story of my life,

Doin’ things wrong was my way of doin’ things right,

I was born to be bad.

The Antis of society constitute about 3 percent of the population, but when left unabated and unconstrained, they can infect and influence a considerably higher percentage of any group, class, or sub-set in which they are included. They distinguish themselves from the regular rank and file whose mistakes and missteps are accidental or occasional. The Antis intentionally go against everything that is civil and noble and for everything that is uncivil and ignoble—their actions are premeditated. It is the Antis’s mission and commitment to be disruptive, disorderly, disrespectful, rude, unruly, and uncooperative. Anti attitude and behavior cannot be corrected or amended in normal environments.

Because the Antis will themselves to be unmanageable and incorrigible, the schoolhouse and its professionals are not qualified to accommodate them. Such extreme deviant Anti-behavior requires special alternative placement options away from the regular schoolhouse. The rub is that Antis frequently are allowed to exist uncontested and soon redefine the nature and atmosphere of any school setting until they render it to be dysfunctional. They are major obstacles in the reformation process and their removal at earliest detection is essential.

It is an unfortunate human condition and empty goal in life to be a professional Anti. There will be strong opposition to removing them from the mainstream, but their behavior leaves society no other choice. In all of recorded history, there has never been a period absent a jail and a jailor—a place to keep and guard members of their respective Anti-Cultures. It is the nature of human nature and an unpleasant fact that some persons are intent on pursuing a death wish and refuse help. Many will be found in the schoolhouses training new recruits.

Throughout history, clashes between good and evil and right and wrong have been a common theme in philosophy, psychology, religion, and literature. It often is used to explain the human condition—the nature of human nature.

Six hundred years before Christ’s birth, Zoroaster described it as conflict between two forces. The good represented truth and order, and the bad represented chaos, falsehood, and disorder.

The Ancient Greek Tragedies personalized it as roles—the protagonist who stands on the side of what is good, right, proper, and appropriate behavior, as opposed to the antagonist whose mission is to foment discord and willfully practice bad behavior.

In the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis and continuing throughout the Bible, the forces of evil constantly seek to destroy the good, honorable, orderly, and holy.

Even young children learn of this constant struggle, and are taught lessons of morality through fairy tales such as Cinderella, who is contrasted with her evil stepsisters, and Snow White as the antithesis of the evil queen.

The Saturday cowboy movies had their protagonists riding the white horses down the trail to do battle with the evil antagonists, the crooks who were wearing masks to conceal their shame.

The early radio favorites such as Gangbusters and Mr. District Attorney portrayed nightly the struggle between virtue and crime—justice always prevailed. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel were among the many that constantly reinforced positive behavior and condemned negative behavior.

The foregoing examples illustrate and emphasize that every society and every entity within that society has its Anti-Culture. However, not every society interfaces with their Anti-Culture the same. The less democratic ones seemingly have the fewest problems. Their Antis disappear in the middle of the night and are never heard from again. Civilized societies are more tolerant and permissive—often to a fault. Why?

Freedom of Expression

In the United States, freedom of expression is so hallowed and protected under the constitution that a person can literally cross the lines of propriety and civility to extremes without repercussion. The right to dissent and object can include burning the American flag, advocating illegal and subversive activity such as resisting the draft during wartime, joining political organizations aimed at overthrowing the government of the United States, and threatening public officials, including making hyperbolic threats to kill the president. It is clear that citizens in the public forum are given extreme latitude in ways and means of free expression, although they may appear to be patently offensive, rude, and uncivil as measured by society’s prevailing view of appropriateness.

However, public schools are not a public forum for students. Although students possess First Amendment freedoms, the courts have ruled to allow school officials to regulate certain types of student expression. For example, school officials may prohibit speech that substantially disrupts the school environment or that invades the rights of others … school officials can restrict student speech that is lewd … school boards may be empowered to regulate student dress, including prohibiting the wearing of gang-related apparel … school boards can remove books and prohibit language that are pervasively vulgar … students cannot drown out the lectures of teachers and guest speakers in the classrooms thereby disrupting the schools’ academic purpose.

A school need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission, even though the government could not censor similar speech outside the school. Fourth Amendment rights of public school students are not exactly the same as the rights of adults in non-school settings.

School officials can conduct a search of a student’s purse or locker without a warrant—on the grounds of reasonable suspicion that the search would turn up evidence of a violation of the law or school rules. This is true even though a similar search outside of school would be unconstitutional.

Student suspensions are appropriate in accordance with board policy and due process. This includes short-term suspensions without providing students the opportunity for representation or legal counsel.

Chief Justice Warren Burger summarized the rights issue as follows: The undoubted freedom to advocate unpopular and controversial views in schools and classrooms must be balanced against the society’s countervailing interest in teaching students the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior.

Therefore, we have seen the face of the public and private schools in the United States. The public schools as a whole will not be handled with kid gloves in the coming chapters. The forthcoming harsh words exclude the vast majority of the students, their teachers, and principals throughout America’s systems of public education. They are holding themselves accountable, applying themselves, acting responsibly, and performing ably.

Studies show that these top public school students perform as well as the top private school students on standardized tests. When apples are compared to apples, neither the public nor the private systems can accurately claim to be the academic panacea. There are advantages and disadvantages in both, and the competition each provides is healthy.

However, the goal of the forthcoming proposed reforms is to fix the public schools and not impugn or champion private education. Both can and should be viable options, but neither will thrive as they should in a fragmented, dysfunctional society.

The Public Schools

Public education is the cry of the day. How and why it is failing in its mission and purpose and how to fix it are the ongoing questions. It is not a new topic. Our grandparents talked about it and theirs before them.

Founded as our nation’s noblest experiment, Horace Mann termed it the great equalizer in the early 1800s. In 1999, Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt summed up its infamous failings for most of the next two centuries in her chronological history and bestseller, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America.

In 2011, the headlines and airwaves are continuing to send these all-too-familiar messages. We read and hear daily portrayals of dismal achievement, excessive dropout rates, disorderly classrooms, unsafe environments, violence requiring police patrolling the hallways, drugs, gangs, guns, knives, extortion, bullying, sexual abuse, corruption, ineptitude, waste, indiscretion, and inefficiency—a chalkboard cesspool it seems.

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However, federal, state, and local governments are spending record amounts of money. Teachers and administrators are better trained