Americans are upset about our education system and every week or so we see some report that deepens our concern. It’s been this way as far back as I can remember — and my dad was a school board president in the 1940s so there’s a yardstick for you.
A recent “study” I saw reported that 49 percent of all Americans believe God created everything just the way it is, and the human race is less than 10,000 years old. Now, is that a sign that our collective education in biology, physics, archeology and arithmetic is sadly lacking, or does it indicate that our Amerian sense of humor makes us answer a stupid question with a stupid answer? To test this hypothesis, I called 25 of my closest friends, chosen randomly from the phone book, and asked them the ultimate stupid question: “Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?”
Ten people (representing somewhere between 40 percent and half of the American population) earnestly answered “General Grant,” “President Grant,” Ulysses S. Grant,” “Grant” or “That guy on the $50 bill.” Five people hung up. Four were either screening calls or not home, and did not return my call. Two answered. “Foster Grant,” one answered “Cary Grant,” one intrepid “Mythbusters” fan answered “Grant Imihara” (who is not dead, by the way). One asked if I was a cop, and one accused me of being “A bleeping” liberal communist faggot.” (How rude!) All-in-all a typical pollster’s day, I suppose, proving nothing.
The essential first step to any solution is to understand and correctly express the problem. My impression of this one is that we shoot so many arrows at eduction, the entire backdrop looks like a pin cushion, but the bull’s-eye remains untouched. Some students may in fact be unreachable and unteachable. Many teachers would be beter off in another profession (a college education doesn’t hurt anyone). School administrators make too much money and have too much power. Higher teacher’s pay for college courses taken is like a cart filled with carrots before the horse. And public-paid pensions need to be balanced agains financial reality.
But stupid questins often beget stupid answers.
Lynn R. Allen
Geneva
Opinion
June 16, 2012 Letters to the editor: Lynn R. Allen
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