Dupage Policy Journal

Over the last 15 to 20 years, the educational system in the United States has changed dramatically, and by many accounts not for the better. 

Some of the changes have occurred in the name of equity and diversity, but those are not the drivers of the change. Just remember to always follow the money. If anybody thinks the changes were intended to increase the wealth and well-being of those in poverty in this nation, then they are either part of the problem or benefitting from the political changes that we have seen in play. This is not an easy issue to dissect. The following information will give the reader an idea of what transpired in the schools. Connecting the dots and following the money will give one an idea of who made it work for themselves and why this new model needs to be destroyed.

Education began its descent when it was decided that the corporate model of inefficiency would determine policy. Data, data, data. Administrators sat in meeting after meeting, planning the next meetings. Some high level academic theorist used their thesis at a class of high level school administrators and the race was on! The politicians caught hold of lobbyist influence and No Child Left Behind was born. The Race To The Bottom.

There were plenty of Arne Duncans who made huge amounts of money with the new panacea. Technology became the rage as standardized testing flourished. The federal Department of Education became a bloated whale of ineptness. States were then left to determine their own standards as long as it was based upon Common Core, the scourge of every teacher not making money presenting the merits of Common Core to other teachers. Teacher evaluation eventually became tied to student performance but, teachers were then allowed to make their own performance evaluations. Self-preservation is goal one for many in education.  That’s why many who can’t teach go into administration. NCLB was a huge cluster bomb but it accomplished its goal, chaos.

After this debacle, something had to fill the place. Some genius confused correlation with causation in their doctoral degree statistics course and all of a sudden the next brilliant idea stormed the nation. It was found that many students in college had taken high school physics and Algebra 2. It was also a well known fact that those with college degrees made more money in their lifetimes than those who did not hold degrees. So then logically… if we get every high school student to take Algebra 2 and Physics…YES! They will all go to college and make more money!  The tail wagging the dog. The beautiful logic of illogic. Just remember, government and educational bureaucracies reward loyalty, not results. If you fix the problems then your position may be eliminated. The shell game called “ Find the Funding” is the only game in town.

What were the results of everybody goes to college? Schools needed more classes of Physics and Algebra 2. They abolished basic level classes and put low ability students into regular level classes. Immediately many of these students could not handle the shift. Teachers had larger classes with huge levels of difference in ability of students. Teachers who kept rigor high had more failing students and were put on the radar of administrators who fielded complaints from parents. Remember, in education self-preservation is goal one. So rigor declined and as frustration set in for low level ability students, their behavior became worse. High level students were leaving regular level classes for honors level courses. Wash, rinse, repeat. Honors courses had more students overnight. Parents saw honors classes for their kids as the new suburban parenting trophy.  A non-profit organization called The College Board saw this as an opportunity to turn their little company into a bloated bureaucratic money maker. More honors level students meant more Advanced Placement tests for The College Board to sell. But, these high regular level students couldn’t handle the rigor of these AP courses and tests. The booming business of after school AP and ACT/SAT prep courses was born! Nobody knows anything about the College Board, yet they are in bed with the most influential political policy makers in the world. Follow the money, if you can.

Advanced Placement courses used to be for only the top of the top students. As that expanded, a greater disparity was seen in the number of white and Asian students enrolled versus black and Latino students.  A new business was born! The Equity gig had arrived. Also, high schools realized that they were being ranked by the media entities known as the U.S. News and World Report along with the Washington Post. High schools like suburban Chicago’s Riverside Brookfield saw their ratings surge by placing as many marginal students into AP classes and having them take the tests. The grades the students received didn’t matter as tests taken was the major metric of evaluation of the schools. It didn’t take long for the other schools to figure out how they could gain false prestige.  The race to the bottom was in full flaming rage.

With money flowing out of the No Child Left Behind market, the new Advanced Placement market was moving full steam ahead.  The offshoot of that, the equity movement, wouldn’t be a money player for a few years. But the politicians had a great new way to shake down corporate America. Spreading fear of being called “racist” led to a crazy new philanthropic endeavor. The political left plan to teach every white person about the implicit biases, or racism, that every white person is born with. The “religion of race” has copied the concept of Original Sin from those Catholics who made good coin on the movement for centuries. The power brokers in the schools know that teachers shut their mouths and just say “Thank you ma’am, may I have another?”.

Maybe the political left feels guilty because they truly are racists or maybe they are just trying to use race to enrich themselves and their elitist academic friends. Or both. The guilt panderers go from school to school training white suburban teachers to find their inner racism.  Administrators then find ways to “even the playing field” for the students of color whom they then throw to the wolves. That means parent workshops, college field trips, extra help, different expectations, alternative grading scales and more in order for students of color to be able to experience the richness and joys of being in courses they have been forced into with no possibility of being successful. The crazy thing about this is the fact that every child of color is begged, cajoled or enticed into taking an advanced placement course just because of their skin color. In the old days they used to call that racism. Now it is called equity. Of course, assuming that people of color need special help in order to be successful is also racism. But, nobody calls out our schools for being racist. Turn your head and cough, please.

What is the ultimate goal, total one party control of thought or the demise of the entire system? Covid-19 just threw a huge wrench into this mess. The children of economically challenged single parent families have fared the worst in the last two years of insanity in the schools. They were the ones who could least afford this. Follow the money, please. The people who made out the best were the rich school districts in states that shut down everything in school.  These districts were given millions of dollars to spread around. Did they spend it on the kids? I think you know the answer to that question. What direction will education go? Spreading racist and Marxist ideas with CRT seems to be in the lead but people are pushing back. Home schooling and private schooling are going like gangbusters. The need for an alternative and Spiritually based educational system is as strong as ever. Will the old system survive or does it end up hoisted upon its own petard? The only thing we know for sure is that things will get way worse before they get better.