Episode 71 Show Notes- Reimagining Education: How Big Government & Big Tech Will Further Destroy Education
Episode Description
Governor Cuomo’s initiative to “Reimagine Education” would not fix our broken education system. As I have highlighted before, our education system has fundamentally collapsed and in need of serious reform. However, the initiative to “Reimagine Education” is not the answer. Merging big government and big tech will completely destroy our education system. Rather than an education system built on learning, knowledge, social engagement, and the ability to think critically, it will be an education system built on obedience and compliance. Teachers do more than teach and technology cannot replace.
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Intro
Welcome to The P.A.S. Report Podcast. This is your host Nick Giordano and I hope you are having a good week.
We are in Week 9 of the lockdown, and while talks of reopening the economy are heating up, one thing is evidently clear, and it is how Emperor Cuomo is drunk on power. He’s not the only one, but he is certainly one of the biggest offenders.
Apparently, many of the governors throughout the United States need a little lesson on Executive Power. We have state legislative branches that are supposed to serve as a check on the governors. Unfortunately, many of these state legislatures are cowards who are proving that they are largely irrelevant as they fail to exert their power and influence within the system.
Without pushback from the legislative branches, governors have begun to rule by decree. They just issue an emergency order, and just like that people think it’s the law.
However, we are a nation of process, rules, and laws. We are a nation where each branch has its own respective powers and serves as a check on the other branches. We are a nation that has a Constitution that needs to be upheld. We have state constitutions that need to be upheld. And governors cannot rule by decree. In fact, contrary to what Emperor Cuomo thinks, an executive order cannot change the law, add law, revoke law, or manipulate law. An executive order does not have the force or effect of law.
Emperor Cuomo’s latest decree is to “Reimagine Education” and he is enlisting the Bill Gates of Microsoft and Eric Schmidt of Google to create a 21st century overhaul of the education system. In normal times, I would have laughed at such a notion because he would never be able to push something like that through the state legislature. But these are not normal times.
I never thought I would witness such clear disregard for the Constitution. I never thought I would witness an executive of state exerting absolute power with little pushback from the state legislators, the press, or the people.
For this episode I am going to explain why Emperor Cuomo’s “Reimagine Education” push is a clear and present danger for every student, parent, faculty, administrator, and the education system as a whole.
Before I jump into this episode, go to thepasreport.com to see the show notes, and sign up for The P.A.S. Report Newsletter.
The Emperor has spoken
Last Wednesday, I was listening to Governor Cuomo give his press conference, and he came up with an initiative to “Reimagine Education.” Now I want you to take a listen to what he said. The clip is about 3 minutes long, so I apologize in advance, but you need to hear him in his own words.
PLAY Cuomo Reimagine Education Clip
The Emperor has spoken, so it shall be done.
I mean my goodness; it would be nice if we have a press that actually held his feet to the fire and asked tough questions. It would be nice if someone asked him on what authority does he have to revamp the education system without input from the state legislative branch?
Now in that clip, the Governor did not provide specifics, but if you go to his website, there are some slight specifics provided and I am going to tell you how the Emperor’s plan will fundamentally destroy education throughout the country. There are 7 bullet points listed on the NYS website.
- How can we use technology to provide more opportunities to students no matter where they are;
- How can we provide shared education among schools and colleges using technology;
- How can technology reduce educational inequality, including English as a new language students;
- How can we use technology to meet educational needs of students with disabilities;
- How can we provide educators more tools to use technology;
- How can technology break down barriers to K-12 and Colleges and Universities to provide greater access to high quality education no matter where the student lives; and
- Given ongoing socially distancing rules, how can we deploy classroom technology, like immersive cloud virtual classrooms learning, to recreate larger class or lecture hall environments in different locations?
The dangers of the Tech Industry controlling the education sector
If you notice the common thread in each of those bullet points, it’s quite clear that he envisions technology and the tech giants as the main drivers of redesigning the education system. In fact, he wants to let these tech giants do a complete takeover of the education system and develop education policy here in New York. And for those of you in other states, make no mistake about it, he wants this to be exported to other states as well as his national ambitions continue to grow.
These tech giants already have an enormous amount of power in our country and our lives, and now the Emperor wants them to create education policy.
Why should Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt lead this initiative? Now, I have nothing against Bill Gates even though some now view him as the Sith lord. He’s obviously a smart guy, but what the hell does he know about managing a classroom? As I always say, think about it logically. Would we want Bill Gates to create directives for open-heart surgery? The answer is obviously no. We should kind of leave that up to the cardiovascular experts.
Education and technology do not go hand in hand. How many of you really trust the tech industry? This is the most powerful and least regulated sector in our country. Some can argue that they have more power than many governments out there.
They have proven their capabilities to censor information and silence those who they disagree with. They have proven their biases. They have proven that they believe they know what’s best the people and they have proven their willingness to manipulate information if it goes against their biases.
In fact, Jen Gennai, Head of Responsible Innovation for Google was caught on tape saying, “The reason we launched our A.I. principles is because people were not putting that line in the sand, that they were not saying what’s fair and what’s equitable so we’re like, well we are a big company, we’re going to say it.” (Project Veritas)
I want each and every one of you to remember, that some of the same companies that the Emperor is enlisting in his push to reimagine education are the same ones that help the Communist government of China to build their Great Firewall of China. This firewall is designed to prevent any dissent and control what the Chinese people are able to see and hear.
Some of these are the same tech companies that helped the Communist regime to develop their social credit system. In China, the social credit system works like a credit score. The higher your social credit rating, the more benefits you receive from the country such as education benefits, healthcare benefits, job preferences, a passport to travel, participating in community events, and things like that. The worse your score the more you are shunned in society. You will have to pay more for education and healthcare. Your passport for travel will be denied. This program is nothing more than a way to socially engineer society and build in obedience and compliance. (PJ Media) Any criticism of the communist system will result in a lower social credit score.
Do you really want these tech giants to be put in charge of the education system?
The real motive of the tech companies
Let’s be honest, the tech industry could care less about education, it cares about pushing product, getting government contracts, earning billions in profits, and increasing its power and influence throughout all segments of society. The more people that use their products and services, the more money they make. How many of you are aware that many of the tech companies give an enormous number of free products to k-12 schools. Why do you think they do that?
Understand that these are not dumb people. They are extraordinarily smart. They do it for two primary purposes. The first purpose is to get the kids addicted to technology. This is a quote from a former Google employee Vijay Koduri. He develops this technology, and he has major concerns. He said, “The tech companies do know that the sooner you get kids, adolescents, or teenagers used to your platform, the easier it is to become a lifelong habit.” (Business Insider) The tech giants clearly understand that habit is part of human nature, and once we get used to a product or name brand, we normally stick to it.
So, the tech companies want to get in these schools because the earlier they get our children addicted to these devices, the more likely a company has a lifelong customer.
Another reason why they provide the schools with free or discounted products and subscriptions, is because it allows the tech giants to gain an enormous amount of information about user habits, they use this to develop new products. They also sell these user habits to other companies and make a fortune. (CNN) Essentially, our children and faculty are under a constant state of digital surveillance.
Understand this, that most in the Silicon Valley area don’t send their children to schools that have all this technology. Now these are the people that created these products. These are the people that are employed by the tech giants. They understand that this technology is like poison. Some of the tech moguls have banned their children from using the very technology they created. If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, I don’t know what will.
Our education has collapsed
The tech giants do not have your children’s best interest in mind, and Emperor Cuomo’s Reimaging Education initiative is an automatic failure before it even begins.
Now, I am not saying our education system isn’t in need of reform. I highlighted how our education system has collapsed in a previous episode. To briefly highlight the failures, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, is the “largest ongoing assessment of what U.S. students know and can do.” They found that in the student population of public schools:
- 23% of graduating seniors are proficient in government and civics
- 19% of graduating seniors are proficient in geography
- 23% of graduating seniors are proficient in math
- 36% of graduating seniors are proficient in reading
- 21% of graduating seniors are proficient in science
- 11% of graduating seniors are proficient in American history, and
- 25% of graduating seniors are proficient in writing (The Nation’s Report Card)
These numbers illustrate just some of the failures in our current education system, but there are many others that exist.
Emperor Cuomo’s Reimagine Education initiative is a failure
However, I want to focus on why Cuomo’s idea is a failure, and then I will provide real solutions to truly address the defects in our education system.
Technology is not the way to educate children. In fact, any person who is currently teaching during the coronavirus pandemic will tell you that distance education doesn’t mean that students are actually learning. And an online environment cannot replace the in-person classroom experience.
I noticed the failures of online education long before the coronavirus. I want to make it clear; I am talking about online education for those in grades K-12, and those who are in their undergraduate studies. I have no problems with accredited graduate degrees having an online tech component.
I earned a Master’s degree in Homeland Security from LIU. The program was run by Dr. Vincent Henry, and I had some of the most phenomenal teachers who pushed me in ways I never imagined. In addition, the interaction with other students provided real value because some of the student’s were soldiers on the battlefield in Afghanistan. Some were police officers and police chiefs. Others had years of experience of emergency management, and so bringing those backgrounds into the course was truly beneficial.
But the only reason it was successful is because we were all professionals that were looking to better our careers and gain credentials. I was 25 at the time and took it seriously. Had I been 18, I probably would not have been successful in this type of program.
For K-12, and those in their undergraduate studies, particularly if they are in year 1 or 2 of college, online education is a scam, plain and simple. I have seen this firsthand.
The most concerning aspect of the Governor’s plans is to “deploy classroom technology, like immersive cloud virtual classrooms learning, to recreate larger class or lecture hall environments in different locations.”
Larger class sizes will have a negative impact on the student
His desire to consolidate classrooms and schools by creating a virtual cloud classroom is moronic to say the least. Every study shows that larger class sizes has a detrimental impact on student learning, especially in the younger grades. This is simply commonsense. The more students a faculty member has, the less interaction there is between the faculty members and the students.
My classes have 35 students each. The way I design my classes is to start a class discussion on current events. These conversations can last anywhere between 15-45 minutes. This is when the students will give their thoughts and opinions and engage in debate and dialogue. I then tie those discussions to whatever the lesson of the day is. 35 students are manageable, and everyone can provide input. It provides me enough time to listen and learn from them, and to lecture where they can listen and learn from me. If I had 100 or 200 students, would I be able to have that discussion? I couldn’t possibly let everyone speak otherwise I would never get to the actual subject material and be able to current the debates to our overall system.
More importantly, you cannot foster a natural conversation in an online environment. I’ve tried holding online discussions through Zoom and the environment is just not conducive to fostering a natural conversation. It’s awkward and peculiar.
Now, this is even more challenging at the K-12 level where some students need much more attention and guidance than others. The fact is, many students would quickly be lost and I see it with my own children. My kids are smart, but they’re lazy and they have to be pushed. If they could get by doing the bare minimum, they would. We push them to do more than the bare minimum.
Lack of self-discipline
Another reason this idea is doomed to fail is because as human beings and kids, many lack self-discipline. Earlier I said online education is a scam. Colleges may like it because it’s cheaper to offer and it is a money maker.
Each semester, I teach 6 in-person classrooms, and 1 online class (distance education). The grading disparities are dramatic. For my in-person classes that hold 35 students, normally 1-3 per class will fail, roughly 2-8%. In my online class, roughly 22-30% fail.
That is a stark difference. Now, most fail because they stop logging in and doing the work. But, the test grades are lower in my online classes which is weird considering they can just save the PowerPoints and Lectures to their computers and use them on the exams because I would never be able to know. I actually have to commend them for their honesty.
And this isn’t just my observations. And most of my counterparts have experienced the same thing.
The question becomes why do students perform worse in an online class than an in-person course? The easy answer is because they lack self-discipline. Distance education requires students to have some level of self-discipline where they log in to their computer, check deadlines, write engaging and detailed posts each week, and ensure they are staying on top of the material. It’s much more independent work.
From a college perspective, that’s asking a lot of an 18 or 19-year-old. Think back to when you were 18. How responsible were you? Most of the people that fail my online courses, it’s not because they’re dumb, it’s because they just stop logging in and doing the work.
Now colleges don’t mind because if you fail the course, you have to take it again which means you a student will be paying for the course again. The schools also like the online environment because it widens the college’s geographic scope where the college may have only got students from a small geographic area, now they can attract students throughout the country.
Now, if 18-19 year old’s struggle with self-discipline, imagine 6-17 year old’s? Do you really believe kids in this age range are mature and responsible enough to do the work and get it done? As for the younger children, they will need to be guided by parents (I’ll get into that in a minute). As for older kids, I can assure the vast majority are thinking about so many other things beyond schoolwork. Once again, think back to when you were a kid.
Parents
This brings me to the next point, the idea of Reimagining Education and learning through a virtual cloud classroom is not feasible on so many levels. One of the main reasons, unless I’m missing something, parents will still have to work. So, if we think about the self-discipline aspect I just talked about, do you really think a teenager, whose parents are at work, will take it upon themselves to get their work done? Sure, some will, but most won’t because as kids, they are notoriously unreliable.
What about those who have young children? It’s not like a parent can leave a 7 or 8-year-old home alone so how would that work. Easy answer, it won’t.
I have established how the student-teacher interaction will be virtually gone. This means, parents will have to play a much more active role in their child’s education, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a bad thing in the context of the Emperor’s plan to reimagine education. However, it’s not a bad thing when looking at how to fix some of the current defects. I’ll explain that a little later.
But since the student-teacher interaction isn’t there, what happens when the child is not understanding the subject material? You have a parent, or parents, working all day. They get home, they have to feed the kids, clean up, maybe do laundry, do these parents have the time at the end of the day to spend several hours going over the work? Do they even have the head to do it at that point?
And what if the parent doesn’t understand the subject material? The subject material today is much different than when I went to school. I wasn’t trained in common core. Also, the reason I went into Political Science was that math was never my strong suit. Once my kids get into high school, I fear I won’t be able to help them understand the material.
What about children that come from single-parent households, and the parent is working 2 jobs just to put food on the table. Will that parent have the capabilities to teach their child when the child doesn’t understand the material?
Most importantly, what will happen to all the children who have absent parents? What happens to the children whose parents don’t prioritize education? Who won’t stay on top of their children to get the work done? These students will quickly fall through the cracks creating an even worse permanent underclass than we already have. These same people pushing this crap, are the same ones that say they care about minorities, the poor, the most vulnerable among us. But who do you really think this will hurt most? It will hurt those in lower socioeconomic areas and the most vulnerable in society.
Teachers do more than teach
We also need to recognize that teachers do more than teach. I recognize there are some bad teachers out there, but like anything, a few bad apples do not spoil the bunch. And I know many of you worry about teachers indoctrinated children. But do you really believe that the tech industry will be better?
The fact is that teachers do much more than teach. As faculty members, we guide, mentor, and push our students to explore thoughts and ideas. We challenge them to open their minds, to ask questions, and to back up their arguments with evidence. We encourage them to think critically. They are not robots and they shouldn’t be trained as such. No technology in the world can replace the passion students and teachers have for the subject material.
As trained teachers, we learn to recognize body language. We learn to understand our students. When the semester ends, my relationship with many students continues as they are constantly coming back to me for advice and guidance. I have students from over ten years ago that will still reach out to me with questions they have about a topic, an issue, or a problem.
I recently had a student that had an immigration issue. This student took my American Government and World Politics course. During that time, I got to know her. She always participated in class and was able to bring her life experiences which added value to our classroom discussions. When she came to me with the problem, I helped her and everything worked out.
Now suppose we went to Emperor Cuomo’s Reimagining Education initiative. There would have been little to no interaction with the student, and I can guarantee the student wouldn’t have come to me with the problem because she would have felt uncomfortable. Even if she did come to me, I probably would be too busy to really help her, and because she would be like a stranger, would I have the same level of empathy and compassion? Probably not.
Remember, it’s not always about education. In some kid’s lives, teachers may be the only good influence they really have. As teachers, we get little credit for all the other things that we do that fall outside our official job description, and most teachers never want, expect, or receive praise for all they do. Most will go unrecognized.
Most don’t even know the profound impact they have on a student’s life. On Facebook, I saw a teacher that I remembered from the 10th grade. I reached out to thank them. Not because I learned anything in the class. It was an art class, and I am artistically challenged. I always remembered this teacher because he would talk to us. He would learn about us. He would encourage us. Most importantly, he treated us with respect and dignity. He was shocked when I wrote to him.
But that would be gone in this virtual crowd classroom that the emperor wants to create.
Schools are much more than education
Also, the schools itself are much more than educational institutions. They are social laboratories that teach us how life works, some good and some bad. It allows us to engage with one another and build social relationships.
An online environment cannot replace the necessary social bonds we build in K-12 and the higher education levels. In fact, these social relationships are a critical part of life. First, these social relationships can be a key driver for success and become part of a network that students can utilize when they begin their professional careers. More importantly, as we advance in these careers, the social connections we make can take us to higher levels as those people will be in higher positions. Not only do these social relationships nurture our need for companionship, but they also can nurture our professional success.
Secondly, as humans, we yearn to be around other humans. It is unnatural for us to be isolated with limited to no interaction. It’s unnatural to communicate to humans through machines. And I like every teacher that has been teaching for over 15 years, we recognize the negative impact technology has had on the youth.
Over the years, the challenges with the students have become more widespread. As smartphones and social media have become the norm, students have grown more socially inept. Many are noticeably uncomfortable in social situations, and it becomes really awkward. When I used to walk into a class, students would be chatting away with each other. Now, when I walk into the classroom, students are glued to their screens. This lack of interaction, or interaction primarily through machines, has had a negative impact and it will only get worse if we adopt this dumb Reimagining Education initiative.
Technology cannot replace these important social relationships.
Schools also provide a number of other programs outside your normal academics, including participating in clubs and events, sports, arts, coordinating community volunteerism, and technology cannot replace the clubs, the awards, the memories, and many other things that only an in-person educational experience can bring.
What can we do to fix education in smart ways?
If you want to fix the education system, then don’t listen to people that have never managed a classroom like Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, or Emperor Cuomo. You wouldn’t go to a heart surgeon for a toothache. You wouldn’t go to a chef for stock market advice.
You don’t go to a teacher for a haircut- and trust me that’s a bad idea. Because of the lockdown, I attempted to give my kids haircuts, and let’s just say they are lucky we are on lockdown. In fact, the first thing I’m doing when we start to reopen is bringing my kids to the barbershop.
So why is a politician, who I’m pretty sure doesn’t understand the Constitution at all and a tech guy like Bill Gates trying to change the education system? Hey, Emperor Cuomo, if you want to fix the education system, how’s about you invite faculty, not union leaders, but faculty who understand what the defects are in education?
Get rid of technology
In fact, rather than incorporate more technology, we should actually incorporate less. Look at Finland. Finland consistently ranks at the top of the education rankings of developed nations, while the United States ranks between 27-30.
Finland does not incorporate nearly as much technology into their curriculums, yet they repeatedly outperform most of the world. Do you think there may be something to that?
The attention spans are higher in Finland, student performance is higher, and the quality of schools is better.
Teaching children how to point and swipe isn’t a life skill. Monkeys can do that. But I don’t want to bash monkeys too much. Apparently, Planet of the Apes is starting. This week I watched a video of a monkey riding a bike and trying to kidnap a kid and another video where monkeys broke an ATM and were stealing the cash. But that could be a whole other topic on a different day.
Rebuilding curriculums
The first thing we need to do is redevelop every curriculum and our approach to education as a whole. Education is not a one size fits all, and students there is a lot of useless information that students will never use. We need to take an academic and skills-based approach.
To me, education should be about teaching kids to survive and be self-sufficient. It’s about teaching them to be decent human beings and behave appropriately. It’s about socializing, having fun and learning.
When I talk about redeveloping curriculums, there are a number of things that should be incorporated. In the earliest years, in addition to the core subjects, things like respect, manners, discipline, and personal responsibility should be incorporated throughout the lessons. Knowing how to behave, and using common sense, in life can get you a pretty long way.
In the middle grades, in addition to the core subjects, students should have to take home economics and shop class. These classes should not be electives, they need to be mandatory. Students should learn how to cook a meal. They should learn how to bake. They should learn how to do their laundry and how to sew a button. In shop class, students should learn the basics of carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing. Once again, these are important skills that will never go to waste. These are life skills and will always be beneficial. What would the drawback be of teaching students these skills?
In high school years, students need to be introduced to a variety of different subject areas, but we should also identify a student’s passion and abilities. Just to throw out an example, I struggled when learning about binomials and trinomials. It wasn’t fun and it solidified my hatred for math.
When I look back, it really annoys me that I was told I had to learn this math, and since then, I never encountered a binomial or trinomial in my life. In fact, if you gave me a problem, I probably wouldn’t be able to solve it. So why was there so much pressure to learn this useless information?
Why don’t we design curriculums that play to a student’s strengths and passions? I understand the importance of math and science, but too much emphasis has been placed on stem programs over other important subject areas.
Why don’t we incorporate saving, investing, and compound interest into the curriculums? Instead of binomials and trinomials, which I think you can see how my bitterness, why don’t we teach children that if they learn to live off 80% of their salary and invest 20% that they will achieve financial freedom? This would be far more beneficial to them and the United States as a whole because it will create a whole generation of fiscally responsible individuals. Far more fiscally responsible than our generation and the previous generation.
Instead of giving busywork as homework, why not just create a homework standard for most subject areas with the exception of math. In each subject have students write a one-page essay on what they learned and how they can apply it in their lives or how it’s relevant. This would reinforce what they learned, allow them to think critically, and improve writing abilities across the board.
Revive the importance of government and politics into the curriculums. Incorporate the concepts of liberty and freedom. And I’m not just saying that because I teach Political Science. Why do we place less emphasis on government and politics as a subject area than we do on math? Let’s face it, math is important, but everything you learn in math doesn’t mean it’s going to be useful.
Yet when it comes to government and politics, our students of today don’t even know the type of government we have, who is responsible for what, and how the system works. Yet, no matter what you do in life, government is involved. No matter what profession you are in, government sets the qualifications and requirements. When you drive on the roadways, that’s government and politics. When you fill your car with gas, that’s government. When you want to open a business or buy a home, that’s government.
Why don’t we teach students how to navigate the bureaucracy? Teach them that if you want to open a business, you are going to have to go to these agencies to file for permits, licenses, etc. Wouldn’t that be pretty useful?
And enough with prioritizing the amorphous idea of diversity above all else. We don’t need hundreds of diversity officers to act as the secret police punishing those who violate undefined standards. Stop prioritizing a global approach to education at the expense of the United States and the concept of love for the country.
For-profit big business
Another way to fix some of the defects in education is to get rid of the standardized testing metrics. These tests are useless. I know some really smart people, who are extraordinarily successful, yet they couldn’t pass a test if their life depended on it.
Tests are nothing more than a snapshot in time. It doesn’t tell me if a student is smart or not. It doesn’t tell me if a student is comprehending the material or not. The reason these standardized tests exist is that you an entire for-profit testing industry that has connections to political figures, and they know how to lobby.
The textbook business is another area that needs to be reformed. For all of you who think teachers have indoctrinated the kids, many times, it’s not the teacher, it’s the textbook the school is using. I encourage every parent to look through their child’s textbook and see what’s in it.
Once again, I can tell you from experience. I don’t use an American government textbook. Nearly every American government textbook I have reviewed is either not organized properly or it’s extremely biased. In American government, I teach my students about the fundamental structure of the United States, and how our government works. Why do I need to assign a biased textbook, when I can just have them read the founding documents including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers? These students are plenty capable of reading our founding documents and understanding the meaning of these documents. In fact, they clearly understand the importance of these documents better than the Emperor and many officials in power. Why do students have to rely on some moron’s interpretation of our founding documents, when the founding documents are pretty straightforward.
I can always bring in current examples, and when we need to discuss something like a Supreme Court decision, why can’t students read the decision rather than rely on some moron’s interpretation of the decision?
Parents really need to be looking through their child’s textbooks, and when they see extreme bias, they need to bring it to the attention of the school board, the PTA and the district as a whole. In K-12 systems, parents should be invited to give input on the textbooks the districts are considering especially considering it is their taxpayer dollars that are being used to purchase these books. Let’s face it, as parents, we have to get involved to fix some of these defects. You need to organize.
Change the qualifications for teachers
If you want better-qualified teachers, we need to introduce all teachers to innovative pedagogy. Pedagogy is basically the method and practice of teaching. In many professions, people are required to take Continuing Education classes where they learn about best practices, advancements in their particular fields, and any changes that have occurred. While many college professors attend conferences on issues in their field, many K-12 teachers don’t. Well, why not? If you have been teaching for 25 years and still teach the same lessons the same way since you started, you haven’t grown as a teacher.
We can also start to introduce a teacher reward system. This is a little bit more difficult to do because you can’t just use some simple formula like improvement in student grades. That is not an effective measure of teacher success. Obviously, the teachers in the wealthy districts will have a clear advantage of the teachers in the disadvantaged communities. Let’s be honest, a teacher teaching in a disadvantaged community will have much greater challenges. Also, if you do merit pay based on grading, you are creating a breeding ground for the temptation of corruption.
So, teachers that go above and beyond for their students and their school deserve more than the teachers who do the bare minimum. I’m going to be honest; unions will never go for a merit pay type system so we cannot make this a salary thing. And many of you may dislike the unions and say get rid of them, but I can tell you from personal experiences that unions are beneficial in a lot of ways, and even so, you are not getting rid of them any time soon.
Rather than use merit pay, we should consider health and medical benefits or retirement benefits as potential options. Teachers have to pay something into their healthcare premiums. So how about if a teacher goes above and beyond, and is deemed successful, then the next academic year, that teacher’s health insurance payment goes down. We can also use the retirement system. Teachers serve anywhere from 20-30 years sometimes longer. How’s about if a teacher qualifies under the teacher reward system for 17 out of 20 years, or 25 out of 30 years, they receive a 2-5% bonus on retirement payouts.
Once again, this idea is complicated and needs to be flushed out more, but it is doable. And if you attach it to medical premium payments or retirement options, I believe the unions would go for something like that. I know some of you would really like to see merit pay, and it’s not that I’m against it totally, I just don’t see it happening.
Finally, we need to figure out a way to get rid of teachers that truly violate the trust of the school, the students, and the faculty. In New York City, they have what’s called rubber rooms. These rooms are where teachers stay for the day when they have been barred from the classroom. In order to get barred from, the classroom, you had to do something pretty serious. Why can’t we make it easier to fire these types of teachers?
Closing
However, we also need to trust teachers more. Stop looking at teachers as glorified babysitters. They’re not in the schools to babysit your child. When your child fails, take it out on your child, not the teacher. Parents must start being parents again. And while some of the changes above will help fix some of the problems, the rest of the problems can only be solved by the family units themselves and bringing back the idea of personal responsibility.
We are all in this together, but make no mistake about it, if we allow Emperor Cuomo to fulfill his vision of reimagining education, the education system will be lost forever. Education will no longer be about knowledge, discussion, ideas, the ability to think critically, and building social relationships.
Instead, education will be about obedience and compliance with the powers that be with a little slice of social justice mixed in. Education will become nothing more than another app on our phones. It will become completely meaningless.
If Governor Cuomo’s vision comes to fruition, we will be creating an entire generation of mindless bots.
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Technology should never replace the human element of teaching. While technology can come in handy, it is completely unnecessary in most subject areas.
Perhaps if we had a state legislature that had a backbone or a press that would actually ask questions, we wouldn’t have to worry about the tech giants taking over the education sector. As I said, the last two months have shocked me in what I have seen in governmental abuses of power. During normal times, I wouldn’t even consider this a threat, but we are not in normal times.
We need to remember, it’s not we the government, it’s “We the People.” The idea of America, the symbol of America, the vision of America, the success of America is not government, it’s ‘We the People.’ America is not government. America is ‘the people.’
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