“An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” – Thomas Jefferson
I read a post about an English teacher who was taking his students on a field trip to Henry David Thoreau’s cabin. Valuable. Thoreau was our most famous nature writer. And field trips can enrich us.
One father, however, was furious. Why? Background information referenced “transcendentalism,” a 19th century philosophical movement about nature and individualism. This father objected to the prefix “trans,” falsely assuming this was about transsexual “indoctrination.”
The United States has a reading problem. Studies show that half of Americans read at a sixth-grade level or below. We need higher standards than that. Higher levels include vocabulary, but also critical thinking – facts versus opinions, inferences, logic.
But given the new administration and the proposed dismantling of the Department of Education, standards will not rise; many students in our community, North Dakota, Minnesota, will be hurt.
As an English instructor at community colleges, I received notices that some students needed special support. Most came from K – 12 schools that included, by law, an IEP (Individualized Education Program), a legal document under federal law to ensure students receive special ed support. The document is developed with the child’s parents and school employees. This free service would probably be lost for students in varied categories, such as those with hearing and speech impairment, autism, visual impairment, dyslexia and ADHD. It can also include students with diabetes or sickle cell anemia, along with gifted students.
The Department of Education also investigates sexual misconduct and civil rights violations. If we rely on states, on “school choice” and vouchers – tools to destroy unions and academic freedom – we have even more uneven standards to help ensure student protection, when we need stronger, more equitable standards.
My parents thankfully believed in good public schools. I am grateful for good teachers and how they enriched my life. Unlike some of my college students, I learned about fractions and the roots of the Civil War. I recall art and music classes. In second grade, a French woman gave us weekly French lessons. And, yes, there were field trips to Detroit’s great museums, and the Detroit Symphony, where we learned the different sections of the orchestra, from strings to woodwinds.
It helped me to learn alongside a diverse population.
But the greatest gift was reading. Starting with phonics, (studies find it better than “whole language”), through reading I could see the world, its variety. Now many Ivy League students don’t know how to read a book. Studies show reading develops intelligence, empathy, a healthy skepticism, including analysis and questioning. It can produce lifelong learners and better citizens. Christian author Philip Yancey was asked why he did not conform to his racist upbringing. He answered, “I was a reader.”
With school choice, we leave too much power to sometimes biased parents. My parents were involved – my dad headed the PTA. Both met teachers, but my mother was plagued by superstition and, later, my “educated” sister would forbid her daughter from joining a field trip to a planetarium because she thought it an introduction to astrology.
Education, and especially reading, needs an upgrade. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is good, but as the saying goes “reading is fundamental” and eliminating the Department of Education is not the way to improve it.
Interested in a broad range of issues, including social and faith issues, Joan Brickner serves as a regular contributor to the Forum’s opinion page. She is a retired English instructor, having taught in Michigan and Minnesota.