EDUCATIONAL INSIGHT

I CAN NOT BELIEVE I AM FORCED TO CUT THE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM IN AMERICA SOME SLACK. I HAD AN INSIGHT ONE RECENT EVENING AS I LISTENED TO A SPEAKER PRESENT DATA ON THE FAILURES OF OUR SCHOOLS. MY INSIGHT DISREGARDS THE DEBATABLE SUBJECTS OF VOUCHERS, UNIONS AND FUNDING. I REALISED THAT AMERICA'S CULTURE DOES NOT FOSTER THE LOVE OF LEARNING. IN THIS WE ARE DEFICIENT TO THE CORE. I MAY ACKNOWLEDGE SOME EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES. YES, IT IS A COMPLICATED, BUSY WORLD WE LIVE IN. YES, THERE ARE OODLES OF PARENTS WHO CANNOT PRACTICE PARENTING. YES, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS OBSTRUCTS LEARNING WITH ITS AURA OF ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM AND HEDONISM. YES, STUDENTS ARE PERPETUALLY DISTRACTED. THEY WOULD RATHER PLAY SPORTS, PLAY GAMES OR PLAY WITH EACH OTHER THAN READ, STUDY OR SACRIFICE.

NEVERTHELESS, I REALISED - AND FELT GENUINELY SAD- THAT AMERICA TODAY IS SPOILED AND LAZY. AND DANGEROUSLY SO. OUR CULTURE DISTAINS - EVEN EXCUSES THE ABSENCE OF - ACHIEVEMENT. A YOUNG TEACHER MAY BEGIN A CAREER PROPPED UP BY IDEALISM AND ENTHUSIASM, BUT IT WON'T BE PAPERWORK OF THE BUREACRACY OR THE URGE FOR SELF-PRESERVATION THAT CAUSES THE NEOPHYTE'S DISILLUSIONMENT. IT WILL BE THE FACT THAT STUDENTS RESIST LEARNING.

IN THIS TIME OF EDUCATIONAL CRISIS, WE NEED ACTION. PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT IN WORLD WAR II ALLOCATED APPROXIMATELY 25 BILLION DOLLARS FOR SCIENTISTS, PHYSICISTS AND THINKERS TO CONCEIVE AND DEVELOP A MEANS TO END THE SECOND WORLD WAR. IN MERELY 3 YEARS WE HAD THE ATOMIC BOMB. THIS ACHIEVEMENT CELEBRATED PERSEVERENCE , NOT LAZINESS. IN THE 3 YEARS SINCE 9/11, HOWEVER, OUR CONGRESS HAS DONE PRECIOUS, PRODUCTIVE OFFICE WORK. MEMBERS HAVE SIMPLY BICKERED AND BITCHED. YOU CAN GUESS WHICH PARTY DID WHICH. SPEECHIFYING AND SPENDING FOR CONGRESS HAVE BEEN AN EASIER PATH TO FOLLOW THAN HARD WORK. ALSO, IN THE 3 YEARS SINCE 9/11, TONS OF MONEY HAVE BEEN WASTED ON HOMELAND SECURITY. A SIX FIGURE GRANT PROVIDED - I HOPE PARTIALLY - FOR THE HIRING OF A MAN TO TELL ME THIS MORNING THAT I MUST PREPARE FOR ACTS OF NATURE LIKE AN ICE STORM AND PRACTICE CHRISTMAS FIRE SAFETY. IS THIS PROPER USE OF HOMELAND SECURITY MONEY? IS THIS PROGRESS OR CULTURAL STAGNATION? WHERE IS THE MOVEMENT FORWARD?

AMERICA IS AS LAZY AS ANY AESOP'S ANIMAL IN CRISIS. HER CULTURE IS IN DANGER NOW. THIS HUBRIS OF IGNORANCE WILL NOT BE ELIMINATED IN OUR FUTURE IF WE DO NOT 'SHAPE UP' NOW. IT MUST START IN OUR SCHOOLS.