Civics education must be improved in American education. Now. [View all]

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/12/civics-education-must-be-improved-in.html

The results of the 2024 election are just one more in a long string of examples giving us reason to reconsider the place civics education has in the mandated elementary and high school curriculum in this country. An educated electorate is one of the major keys to preserving the values of democracy and of the American Republic. The deterioration of education has become obvious in the results of multiple elections and in the divisiveness and the agenda-driven politics that have delivered gridlock
and partisan loyalty over patriotism.

For being as prosperous and influential in the world that we are, our education system doesn't match the responsibility that we have in the world. Our education system isn't world class. There are few places where students in this country have an opportunity, through the publicly funded education system, to get what their European counterparts get. For the most part, that kind of academic rigor is available mostly in private schools, though they are also not prepared or capable of teaching social studies at a high level.

And while there are social issues and community issues that are obstacles to education in many parts of the country, the biggest problem is that improving and funding education at a high level has become a progressive, left wing, Democratic party owned political issue. Republicans don't care. And when they're in charge of education, mainly at the state level, they generally underfund the whole system, and there's little in the way of any kind of educational initiatives included in the budget. Their solution to solving the difficulties and problems of American education is to teach the Bible in public schools, and cut the budget to eliminate anything innovative or that works.

The biggest hint we've been given, indicating where the GOP is headed as far as improving American education is concerned is that they're not going to improve it. Trump wants to disband the Department of Education, which will move public schools in exactly the opposite direction from which they need to go. Most Republicans see the public schools as the agent of progressive liberalism in society and their control of it involves doing anything to avoid that happening, including undermining the curriculum.

Elections do indeed have consequences. It's no accident that the states which have the highest achieving public schools are the ones who put the most money into them, and who are blessed with the best teachers. They pay well. They provide reasonable benefits. They require a high level of continuing education, which they help pay for. And they get good results, which set the example for those states who are struggling to provide quality education.