Our Educational Heritage

For John, BLUF:  As we struggle with COVID-19 we also wrestle with the question of what is the best ways to prepare our children for the future.  Specifically, is our two hundred year history of Government schooling the proper answer?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Myth that Americans Were Poorly Educated before Mass Government Schooling

Here is the sub-headline:

Early America had widespread literacy and a vibrant culture of learning.

From the Fuondation for Economic Education, by Senior Fellow Lawrence W. Reed, 29 April 2020.

Here is the lede plus †hree:

Parents the world over are dealing with massive adjustments in their children’s education that they could not have anticipated just three months ago.  To one degree or another, pandemic-induced school closures are creating the “mass homeschooling” that FEE’s senior education fellow Kerry McDonald predicted two months ago.  Who knows, with millions of youngsters absent from government school classrooms, maybe education will become as good as it was before the government ever got involved.

“What?”  you exclaim!  “Wasn’t education lousy or non-existent before government mandated it, provided it, and subsidized it?  That’s what my government schoolteachers assured me so it must be true,” you say!

The fact is, at least in early America, education was better and more widespread than most people today realize or were ever told.  Sometimes it wasn’t “book learning” but it was functional and built for the world most young people confronted at the time.  Even without laptops and swimming pools, and on a fraction of what government schools spend today, Americans were a surprisingly learned people in our first hundred years.

I was reminded a few days ago of the amazing achievements of early American education while reading the enthralling book by bestselling author Stephen Mansfield, Lincoln’s Battle With God:  A President’s Struggle With Faith and What It Meant for America.  It traces the spiritual journey of America’s 16th president—from fiery atheist to one whose last words to his wife on that tragic evening at Ford’s Theater were a promise to “visit the Holy Land and see those places hallowed by the footsteps of the Savior.”

If you guessed one size doesn't fit all you are probably close to the mark.  Different children respond differently to schooling.  I wouldn't wish my path on anyone.  I think my teachers saw some promise in me, but I kept getting very low grades and passed on probation.  In college I had to take several "turn out" exams at the end of the Semester.♠

Today we are trying to squeeze all students into one model.  I am not sure this is best for the students or for the school.  On the other hand, it might be best for the parents and the school teachers union.

My question is, how do we have a conversation on this?

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  A "turn out" exam was a comprehensive examination over the semester's course work, which, if you passed, meant your grade was raised from "F" to "D" and you were allowed to move on.