Education in Public Schools in Alabama

Selected from the on-going INTERNET BOOK, "The Doctor's Terrific Tablets"
( http://www.terrific-tabs.com )
by John N. Todd III, M. D. (link)


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Posted here 3/01; 5/01; 7/01; 8/01; 9/01; 12/01; 3/02; 5/02; 7/02; 8/02; 9/02; 10/02; 1/03; 3/03; 4/03; 7/03; 8/03; 9/03; 2/04; 4/04; 8/04; 10/04; 10/05; 1/06; 7/06; 6/17/06

CLICK links BELOW to see related opinions, by the author of this website:
QUALITY of LIFE -- in ALABAMA (link)
And: Taj Mahal Public Schools (link)
And: The Intellectual Capacity Line (link)
And: "LABORATORY" public schools -- managed by a college (link)
And: TRACKING in public schools (link)
And: RACISM, and "anti-Racism" at University of Alabama (link)
And: EBONICS and Albonics (link)
And: MUTUAL involvement FOUNDATION for education ("M.I.F.F.E.D.")
And: MORE Local TAX from productive citizens (link)
And: What would SANTA CLAUS and ROBIN HOOD do about taxes? (link)
And: TAX: more and more TAX for "education" (link)
And: A+ COALITION for Education, in Alabama (link)

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This detailed opinion-piece... composed by Dr. and Mrs. John Todd, the authors of this website... was published verbatim in "The Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News", on Sunday, 2-16-92. (Minor changes in wording, and in formatting, have been included for this "Internet" version.)


 HEADLINE:

 PERSONAL OPINIONS and CONCLUSIONS of two EDUCATED "non-Educators" -- after attending Tuscaloosa's 1991 "EDUCATION SUMMIT"

My wife and I attended the "Education Summit", in Tuscaloosa, in early December, l991. The majority of attendees were education "insiders", plus a few "politicians" -- and a small number of us "outsiders". We attended the "Summit" with great eagerness and anticipation, thinking that we would hear the cream of the "education" leaders, and the best of the local and state legislators -- and that we would be greatly enlightened about profound changes that were being formulated, to revise and improve our city and county schools. Much to our disappointment, we heard virtually nothing about the real problems in the schools, or about what should and would be done to correct "intrinsic" problems. Instead, we heard almost solely about the need for "more funding", and about the urgent need for more "revenues" (taxes) in order to generate the additional "funding". Beyond that plea, there were all kinds of vapid, "generic" remarks concerning idealistic (as contrasted with honest) "goals" -- goals that need not even be dreamed about, until the intrinsic and ingrained problems are first admitted -- and then attacked.

About two weeks after the "Education Summit", we attended the "Summit Review". Again, the same predictable remarks were heard -- banal terms like "community involvement", "local input"; "vision", "working together", "we need your support", and "something's got to be done".... all of which sounded to us like shallow euphemistic terms for: "You just get us more money, more 'revenues', more taxes. We 'educators' and 'legislators' know what to do. You people don't really understand about all these education technicalities. We'll solve all the problems, just like we've been doing, for all these years" (and probably with the same results).... "All we really want from you is money -- not advice."

Our impressions and thoughts concerning the "Summit", are as follows, based on our thirty years of experience at all levels of "education" in Tuscaloosa -- and based on our adult lifetime of successful business experience in Alabama:

In the medical profession, when a physician agrees to treat a sick patient, he first makes an honest diagnosis -- and then he treats the illness for what it really is. If there is a malignancy, the physician does not label the disease "the flu" -- hoping that the real disease will "just wish away". Treatment for "a cold" will not cure a cancer. When a correct diagnosis is obvious, proper treatment is mandatory. Then, if simple treatment fails, non-conventional, or even experimental therapy is indicated. To continue a persistently failing therapy wastes not only money, but desperately needed time. In the "education business", now, there seems to be a plan of treatment aimed at "a cold", while the "patient" is dying of an erosive cancer.

Concerning "funding" for education, it is agreed, and generally accepted, that more money, if available, can always be put to use by any and all school systems. But.... if more money were suddenly found, now, from some source (like increased taxes, or corporate donations), for this year's needs and wants, would "education's" quest for further additional "funding" recur soon.... and again next year -- and the next, and the next? The answer is "YES". Will there ever be an end to the perpetual pleading for "more revenues", additional taxes, and greater funding for "educational reform"? The answer: NO.

If no additonal "funding" is obtained -- now or later -- will the public-education system disintegrate, and disappear? No.

Does "educational reform" mean simply obtaining more money to increase the salaries of teachers and administrators, and other "insiders" in the "educational" bureaucracy? Some would say "Yes".

If an additional billion dollars were found, today, for Alabama schools, would the real and basic problems of "public" education be magically solved? You answer that one. (No.)

Would new school buildings, new buses, fresh paint in all classrooms, patching all the roofs, better lunchrooms, tastier foods, free paper and pencils, free and different textbooks, better athletic facilities and equipment, more teachers in "the arts", more "counsellors", more "social workers", more metal-detectors; and on and on -- would all these "improvements" help the basic and real problems? Read my lips: "N-O".

(See link Taj Mahal Public Schools.... an important topic.... on this website.)

Would unlimited funding alter, in any way, the following real, true, and basic "problems" in the public schools:

Inadequate, poorly trained, unproven teachers
(Intermingled with good, very good, and splendid teachers);
Intellectually and psychologically inferior students;
(Mixed with good, very good, and dedicated students);
(See link TRACKING in public schools.)
"Top-down" federal and state and local edicts;
"Civil rights" rules and regulations;
Cross-town busing;
Cross-county busing;
Assignment to schools, regardless of parents' choice;
Poverty in students' homes (see link Why are "the poor" poor);
How families spend their income;
"Fatherless" families; "never-wed-single-moms"; broken families;
Absence of male "role-model" at home;
Drunken and drugged parents;
Unemployed parents;
The color of a student's skin;
(See link RACISM, and "anti-Racism")
The "ethnic" background of each student;
"Families at risk";
Sexual proclivities and sexual habits of students;
Fighting and stealing in schools;
Student "disabilites" -- real, and pretended;
Gangs; and incorrigible students;
Psychological quirks, and behavioral disorders;
Medical and nutritional problems of students;
Clothing and dress of students;
Juvenile pregnancy;
Problems related to discipline and deportment;
Average "achievement-test" scores;
Racial mistrust;
Religious differences --
And on, and on, and on?
The answer to these questions: NO -- or very doubtful. Simply pouring more and more of the taxpayers' money on these "conditions" will not help.  

Unchangeable and uncorrectable "social", ethnic, and economic factors should not, and cannot, be managed and financed by the public school system. Is it within the domain of "public education" to trest and hope to cure all of the societal problems facing Alabama and the United States, today? No!

Should more "education-dollars" be poured into a sinkhole -- applying more effort and time and money -- using the same tired and failing "techniques", to alter the "unalterable", especially those problems that are clearly unrelated to the teaching of teachable students? The answer: "No".

Are the parents of intelligent, clean, proper, disciplined, teachable students -- black or white -- satisfied with the instruction their children receive, now, in "public schools"? No! Does not every parent of every "teachable" student -- black, white, native American, rich or poor -- want and deserve schools and classrooms where circumstances conducive to learning are mandated, and offered, and maintained? Yes!

What follows is a partial list of what some of us "non-educators" think should be considered by the "education bureaucracy" -- not just locally, but state-wide, and nationally. Although our recommendations may not be new or profound, at least they are honest. Our "list" cannot be extrapolated here, because of space considerations -- but is available to share with others. The headings of our "list" include the following: (1.) "Teachability" of students; (2.) Early "tracking" of students according to aptitude and educability; (3.) Honest testing of students; (4.) Competency testing of teachers; (5.) "Accountability" (justifying) of education expenditures; (6.) "Privatizing" of certain elements of "public" education; (7.) "Volunteerism", properly used in classrooms; (8.) "Alternative certification" of potential teachers; (9.) Improved discipline in schools; (10.) Dealing with drugs, alcohol, fighting, weapons, and gangs; (11.) Juvenile illegitimate pregnancy; (12.) Voluntary locally endowed funds and foundations, controlled by contributors.

The purpose of our writing this is not to be pedantic; although we can imagine how all of this comes across to "educators" and politicians -- and how they must feel about all the "help" and "advice" that everyone seems to want to give. But.... our feeling is that, somehow, the pretending must stop! Somehow, the teasing and the deceit (no one would ever call it "lying") must be stopped . For how long must the "system" tease and deceive itself -- and the "public" -- and the students themselves? For how long will certain students be deceitfully allowed to believe that they are qualified for the work-place and for college -- when the school knows, and the teachers know, and the non-learning students (themselves) know, and the "public" (the voters) know, and the in-state employers know, and the out-of-state industries know, and the accredited four-year colleges know -- the TRUTH.

Who is kidding whom?

The Alabama "education industry" does not need or deserve more "funding" -- at the present time. This overweight and lethargic "education" giant urgently needs adrenalin, dieting, and lipo-suction..... not tomorrow -- but today.

6/17/07