School's out

Let’s be blunt. If it weren’t for sports and extracurricular activities, many students (most?) would not choose to attend school. Therefore, radio AM 1490, WBEX, devotes inordinate time to celebrate the divisional championship of the Chillicothe Cavaliers. What’s to celebrate? A one point victory? Sheer luck! I hear the call for a city-wide celebration, not for bended knees and prayers of thanks. As usual, a sports achievement alone merits respect; only a championship off the academic field pulls the community together.

Let’s be candid. The conditions for public education often require wasting learning time. Snow days = dismissal. A pep rally for the Cavaliers = early dismissal. A championship game = postponement of the student achievement tests. Musicals, plays, sports activities = no time for reading or homework. The rule of majority in a democracy = faking, fudging and fixing scholastic text scores and ratings. To borrow a quote from Michele Obama and take it out of its pathetic, anti-American context, "the soul of America is broken." Why? How?

Let’s be honest. The rebellious few, the lonely, proud, nerds of yesterday and today like me, still believe a "mind is a terrible thing to waste."