With all due respect to Thomas Jefferson (and I do respect him), in my opinion public education is a terrible idea, much as having an official, government-sponsored religion is a terrible idea. Anything government funded is doomed to degenerate into a "one size fits all" dystopia. If public schools were shuttered, their buildings sold, and the tax money returned to parents to spend as they see fit (and in the long run, never taken from them in the first place), there will be a blossoming of educational options, costing WAY less than the bloated public schools do today.
I don't see any way public schools can be saved. We can, of course, keep spending more and more money trying.
Indeed, there are terrible problems with public education today. It is NOT the public education that Thomas Jefferson envisioned. Which is the point I was trying to make. Please review the links in it, you'll find in "the actual basis..." and "Against everything..." to understand what he envisioned. His plan was for a decentralized system of public schools. In stark contrast to what we now have that you accurately describe.
Many more quote from Thomas Jefferson are available, all particularly illuminating, but perhaps one from John F Kennedy is most appropriate.
“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone. Someone once said that Thomas Jefferson was a gentleman of 32 who could calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, and dance the minuet.”
Disturbingly, under the educational system that's been developed most of these people wouldn't have ever been recognized and been allowed to teach or be called upon, cited as "experts" in the fields they've self-taught and mastered. Because of "credentialism.":
This may be starting to change. Until it does the entrenched education system that confers who's learned properly and sufficiently to earn those credentials will control who's allowed to teach or be called upon, cited as an expert who shapes public policy or testifies in trials on important cases. Denying those opportunities from and recognition of the Thomas Jefferson's of our time.
Public education has become part of a corporation. A very corrupt government, elite corporation. The materials are controlled. Payouts for loyalty to the corporation are huge. The result is assembly line education with the purpose of creating obedient workers who regurgitate the chosen agenda(s). The entire system is about making money for the corporation and keeping the common folks obedient. Give them a little knowledge so they believe they are free, but in reality the entire system is about keeping the workers in line.
Yep. Training cogs to be wheels used in the machine of production. Completely flipping Jefferson's idea of public education on it's head. We once had technical training schools funded by business and industry for that. Private funding for private enterprise. But with public-private partnerships (fascism) the model of governance that's been slowly replacing the model set forth in the Constitution, we now fund public education to produce more cogs in the wheels of corporate production. Not for the preservation of freedom.
For a sort of soft slavery under a soft tyranny...that's growing harder. Because freedom won't just die on its own. It has to be eradicated. Those who don't get captured by the menticide that is public education will need to be sent to reeducation camps. Failing that, brutally eradicated. How tyrants keep control of a rebellious populace.
I do believe I fit this category, but I can tell you, most people don't believe I know a damn thing unless I present them with "proof," such as some kind of "certificate" or "diploma." It seems rare to find those who will BELIEVE that I might know much about something I didn't take in school. Pretty indoctrinated and unquestioning is how I find most Americans, unless they're pretty OLD. Nowadays, VERY old.
With all due respect to Thomas Jefferson (and I do respect him), in my opinion public education is a terrible idea, much as having an official, government-sponsored religion is a terrible idea. Anything government funded is doomed to degenerate into a "one size fits all" dystopia. If public schools were shuttered, their buildings sold, and the tax money returned to parents to spend as they see fit (and in the long run, never taken from them in the first place), there will be a blossoming of educational options, costing WAY less than the bloated public schools do today.
I don't see any way public schools can be saved. We can, of course, keep spending more and more money trying.
Indeed, there are terrible problems with public education today. It is NOT the public education that Thomas Jefferson envisioned. Which is the point I was trying to make. Please review the links in it, you'll find in "the actual basis..." and "Against everything..." to understand what he envisioned. His plan was for a decentralized system of public schools. In stark contrast to what we now have that you accurately describe.
Many more quote from Thomas Jefferson are available, all particularly illuminating, but perhaps one from John F Kennedy is most appropriate.
“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone. Someone once said that Thomas Jefferson was a gentleman of 32 who could calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, and dance the minuet.”
Thomas Jefferson was an autodidact. And polymath.
https://knowledgelust.com/what-is-an-autodidact-the-ultimate-guide/
Many of the greatest thought leaders, innovators, inventors, artists, industrialists, scientists in history were autodidacts.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-blame-game/202103/autodidacts-habits-highly-successful-self-learners
Disturbingly, under the educational system that's been developed most of these people wouldn't have ever been recognized and been allowed to teach or be called upon, cited as "experts" in the fields they've self-taught and mastered. Because of "credentialism.":
https://sociologydictionary.org/credentialism/
Which has pitfalls:
https://www.newsweek.com/credentialism-its-pitfalls-opinion-1604285
https://web.archive.org/web/20201017120928/https://www.forbes.com/sites/brandonbusteed/2020/10/17/we-dont-value-education-we-value-the-credential/#1973cd8449fe
This may be starting to change. Until it does the entrenched education system that confers who's learned properly and sufficiently to earn those credentials will control who's allowed to teach or be called upon, cited as an expert who shapes public policy or testifies in trials on important cases. Denying those opportunities from and recognition of the Thomas Jefferson's of our time.
So true.
Public education has become part of a corporation. A very corrupt government, elite corporation. The materials are controlled. Payouts for loyalty to the corporation are huge. The result is assembly line education with the purpose of creating obedient workers who regurgitate the chosen agenda(s). The entire system is about making money for the corporation and keeping the common folks obedient. Give them a little knowledge so they believe they are free, but in reality the entire system is about keeping the workers in line.
Yep. Training cogs to be wheels used in the machine of production. Completely flipping Jefferson's idea of public education on it's head. We once had technical training schools funded by business and industry for that. Private funding for private enterprise. But with public-private partnerships (fascism) the model of governance that's been slowly replacing the model set forth in the Constitution, we now fund public education to produce more cogs in the wheels of corporate production. Not for the preservation of freedom.
For a sort of soft slavery under a soft tyranny...that's growing harder. Because freedom won't just die on its own. It has to be eradicated. Those who don't get captured by the menticide that is public education will need to be sent to reeducation camps. Failing that, brutally eradicated. How tyrants keep control of a rebellious populace.
I do believe I fit this category, but I can tell you, most people don't believe I know a damn thing unless I present them with "proof," such as some kind of "certificate" or "diploma." It seems rare to find those who will BELIEVE that I might know much about something I didn't take in school. Pretty indoctrinated and unquestioning is how I find most Americans, unless they're pretty OLD. Nowadays, VERY old.
Cheers, good post.