Not so long ago, the educational system in the United States was the preeminent educational system in the world. However, in the last few decades, the US educational system has been usurped by many nations and now ranks somewhere in the middle, making several nations the envy of the US. The US still has a sizeable number of exceptional colleges and assuredly a smattering of excellent public and private primary educational systems across the country. The US has been devaluing education for many years, either by underfunding education at the local and state level and/or maligning the once much more respected profession of being teachers. Recently this devaluing of education has been accelerating nationwide.
When the US is compared to the countries with top tier educational systems, there are noticeable differences. The most important thing that most top tier countries do is truly appreciate their educators and are paid accordingly. These countries have a keen understanding that being well-educated is something to strive for because in the long term it will greatly benefit the economic well-being of the country. In the US, for whatever reason, mostly pure politics, we have begun a slow process of devaluing education and disrespecting and second-guessing educators. It is like some politicians, more than there should be, want a lower educated electorate, so it is easy for politicians to hoodwink and manipulate them. President Trump even stated, “I love the poorly educated”. Not exactly a mystery why President Trump showed this affinity for the poorly educated.
Primary public education is under extreme scrutiny from a variety of outside forces that do not have the best of intentions for our public education system that was once the envy of the world. Over the years, many states have inadequately funded primary education in the tax cutting fever that has greatly affected one specific political party that way too often was joined by the opposing political party.
Now we have entered the era of book banning, curriculum censorship, and extreme parental intrusion. We now have classrooms in some states where teachers that had a small library in their classroom, which their students could use, have now removed all those books for fear of doing something contrary to what a governor or some other elected official might determine is inappropriate. School curriculum is being scrutinized excessively to find issues that can be used in the culture war strategy of one political party. The bogus issue of Critical Race Theory being taught throughout the country, when little evidence existed it was happening, is a vivid example of curriculum censorship. Increasingly, some parents want more oversight about what is being taught to the point that soon some school districts may face the challenge of individualized education plans not just for students with special needs but for every student that has a parent wanting greater control of what their child is taught for some foolish politically or ideological reason. These dubious reasons plus some additional burdens are creating a huge number of teachers to leave the profession and being replaced, in many states, with unqualified individuals who will work for less money and toe the line as docile conforming employees.
Post-secondary education has seen its cost increase significantly over the past few decades. This has created a student loan debt crisis that negatively impacts millions of individuals beginning the next 30-40 years of their employment with a huge debt of $50,000 to $100,000 that can limit their future. There seems to be two dominant reasons for this untenable situation. First, that issue of tax cuts inducing budget-cutting fever inflicting most states, but particularly conservative leaning states, which has reduced state funding for post-secondary education resulting in a shift of costs to students. The second problem area is the growth and cost associated with the administration and management of post-secondary education. There needs to be streamlining of how post-secondary education is managed and administered to reduce its impact on overall costs. While the overall cost of post-secondary education will continue to increase, the administrative costs should be maintained at a fixed percentage to limit the bloating of institutional administration.
It is hard to imagine over time how, if we continue to decimate and restrict education, we produce a better overall society. It seems that there is a concerted effort to restrict how history is taught by eliminating as much as possible the negative aspects of history to placate a minority of the populous with extreme viewpoints. Doing so will condemn millions to an insufficient understanding of history so as we repeat many of the atrocities of the past. Fewer people will understand how poorly and limited they were educated. There needs to be dramatic change from the path we are currently on, that is, politically motivated, to restore our once envied educational system.
