Education Reform Now

[Larry O. Doyle Esq.]

Statement of Purpose

                There are many challenges facing public education and higher education today. Most of us have preconceived ideas as to why public education is failing so many students. There are historical reasons why public compulsory education was instituted. Many people believed that compulsory public education was valuable because an educated workforce was needed as the United States moved from an agricultural based economy to one based on industrialization. I have seen many changes in the education system and I am compelled to ask why today's students do not place more value on education. We can speculate all we want but there is nothing like the scientific method to separate fact from speculation. It will take research and analysis of facts gained from asking the right questions.

                African Americans in particular have reason to ask probing questions about how the educational system is faring because the present research shows that African American children are failing to graduate from high school in alarming numbers and many who do graduate lack the basic skills needed to assume jobs which pay a living wage. In some ways I consider myself the last of a dying breed. I say this because I grew up in the segregated South under Jim Crow and contrary to many in the education establishment believe that Black students received a better general education and were better equipped to succeed in life because of a difference in focus. Is this fact or fiction?

                As an educator I see first-hand the students today that have graduated from our high schools. I have taught in the Toledo Public Schools and have three sons who are graduates of Toledo Public Schools. It is obvious to me that the real problem is not today's students but the philosophy of teaching that is presented to the students. We must reevaluate the purposes of general education and get back to basics. What is the purpose of general education and whose interests are we serving? In a global economy we cannot continue to produce graduated or ungraduated students who are functionally illiterate and then import workers from other countries to fill the job gap.

                At the present we are producing a permanent underclass of American students who then become social psychopaths filling our prisons and becoming even more socially marginalized. Part of the debate centers on the education reforms called No Child Left Behind. The debate in the public arena centers around those that claim that the problem is lack of money and resources in the public schools and those who claim enough already and allow parents to choose to opt out of failing public schools altogether. Either way the solutions will be worked out in the public arena and politics is the vehicle by which solutions and answers will be presented. Regardless of how this debate is concluded research and analysis within the scientific method is called for. We can speculate all we want but we will not find answers without the facts. America does not promise equal results but it does promise equal opportunity.

 

                                                                                                                                Larry O. Doyle, Esq.

[Ron Mosby]

"Commerce diminishes the spirit both of patriotism and military defence." Thomas Paine.  I was at a baccalaureate service for my youngest son's graduating class, and the superintendent said something interesting to me. He said "we don't teach deportment anymore." I was reminded of one of my own sayings - where there is a lack of civics, there is a lack of civility.   Take a look at the mission of the U.S. Department of Education's mission, and you will find an interesting phrase - global competitiveness.  Here is the statement from their website: "The mission of the Department of Education is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." Absolutely nothing about character, nothing about patriotism. We must have a radical overhaul of our education system. 

[Larry O. Doyle Esq.]

Ron Mosby said:

"Commerce diminishes the spirit both of patriotism and military defence." Thomas Paine.  I was at a baccalaureate service for my youngest son's graduating class, and the superintendent said something interesting to me. He said "we don't teach deportment anymore." I was reminded of one of my own sayings - where there is a lack of civics, there is a lack of civility.   Take a look at the mission of the U.S. Department of Education's mission, and you will find an interesting phrase - global competitiveness.  Here is the statement from their website: "The mission of the Department of Education is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." Absolutely nothing about character, nothing about patriotism. We must have a radical overhaul of our education system. 

[Larry O. Doyle Esq.]

Larry O. Doyle Esq. said:

Ron Mosby said:

"Commerce diminishes the spirit both of patriotism and military defence." Thomas Paine.  I was at a baccalaureate service for my youngest son's graduating class, and the superintendent said something interesting to me. He said "we don't teach deportment anymore." I was reminded of one of my own sayings - where there is a lack of civics, there is a lack of civility.   Take a look at the mission of the U.S. Department of Education's mission, and you will find an interesting phrase - global competitiveness.  Here is the statement from their website: "The mission of the Department of Education is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." Absolutely nothing about character, nothing about patriotism. We must have a radical overhaul of our education system. 

This is what its about and I mean radical change. This is not education but miseducation.