By ADAM ELLWANGER
Imagine these words as the first speech delivered by the incoming Secretary of Education.
Today, I am here to deliver bitter medicine: American education has failed. Teachers and parents, administrators and government—and even students—all bear some responsibility.
The most common explanations for our educational crisis are inadequate funding, overuse of standardized testing, and systemic prejudice. They are false.
- Our schools do not lack funding—no country spends more on public education.
- The poor results of standardized tests indicate our failures; they are not the cause.
- Our schools are not prejudiced—the most aggressive education reforms since 1955 directly aimed to eliminate systemic discrimination.
For decades, we ignored signs of trouble, but the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the depth of our challenges. The problems are so pervasive and complex that there is no quick fix. We cannot merely repair; we must rebuild.
Since 2020, American families have struggled mightily. The declining quality of education prompted affluent families to opt out of public schools, leaving middle- and working-class families with diminished resources and influence to push for reform. States’ refusal to enact school choice reforms widened the wealth gap and limited generational mobility.
But lower- and middle-class families bear some responsibility, too. The rise of single-parent households, less common among affluent families, has been catastrophic. When the only adult in the home works up to 60 hours a week to make ends meet, there is little time for homework help, PTA meetings, or engaging with school officials. Even in households with two working parents, time and energy are often in short supply.
Teachers, for their part, have good reason to despair. Despite the monumental importance of their work, many are underpaid. They face administrators who value standardized test scores above all else. Meanwhile, declining standards for decorum and discipline, often justified in the name of “social justice,” have made schools unsafe for both teachers and students. Violence and insubordination create an environment unfit for serious learning. Some parents treat schools as daycare centers or demand good grades for minimal effort. Worse, parents of disruptive students often refuse to ensure their children do not rob others of the opportunity to learn.
Yet teachers, too, have failed. They inflate grades to keep their jobs but do no favors for students unprepared for future challenges. This, in turn, lowers the quality of education for students ready for more advanced work, driving gifted students out of public schools.
Another harsh truth is that many teachers are unprepared for the job. The education system has failed for so long that many teachers have never mastered the material they are supposed to teach. Colleges steer future educators toward “education” majors, where coursework focuses more on leftist “social justice” ideology than on subject mastery. Some graduates believe their mission is to “dismantle” an “unjust” society by creating anti-American activists.
When these activist-teachers enter classrooms, they often abandon their duty to transmit America’s culture, knowledge, and values. Instead, they teach students to disdain their nation, its people, its past, and its way of life. This undermines social cohesion and deprives disadvantaged students of the tools they need to succeed.
Outdated curricula exacerbate these issues. Most schools still use models from the late 20th century, failing to address how computing, the internet, and artificial intelligence have transformed how we read, write, and learn. Even in innovative schools, teachers often struggle to balance the needs of non-native English speakers with those of native speakers, diluting the educational experience for the latter.
Our colleges and universities are also broken. Admitting underprepared students has lowered academic standards nationwide. General education curricula often assume a need for remediation, leaving motivated students without the challenge or preparation they deserve.
Government-run financial aid has inflated tuition costs while diminishing the value of college degrees. Proposals to cancel student debt signal to universities that they can continue raising prices without consequence, encouraging predatory admission policies that saddle students with unmanageable debt.
How do we revitalize American education?
Nothing short of an academic Sputnik will suffice. Just as Sputnik spurred the urgency that sent Americans to the moon, we need a bold initiative to revolutionize education:
- We will create K-12 curricula prioritizing history, civics, and an understanding of our government.
- We will eliminate curricula that divide Americans by race, class, religion, sex, or sexual identity.
- We will implement school choice nationwide.
- We will end federal student loan programs, allowing private lenders to evaluate borrowers’ ability to repay. Conditional lending will force colleges to lower tuition and revise admissions and program offerings.
- We will expand vocational training and enhance opportunities for gifted students.
- We will raise teacher credentialing standards to ensure advanced subject knowledge.
- We will enforce decorum and discipline in schools. Uniforms will unify student bodies, and measures like suspension and expulsion will ensure classrooms are conducive to learning.
- We will revise college accreditation standards to reflect post-graduation success and employment metrics.
- We will penalize public colleges and universities that engage in discriminatory admissions practices.
And that is just the beginning.
The destiny of our nation depends on education. The effort to revitalize our schools must be as bold as our aspirations. Together, we will bring American education into the 21st century. Together, we will make American education great again.
This article was originally published by RealClearEducation and made available via RealClearWire.
It sounds good on paper. Let’s see how it really comes out. Yes, our education system is one of the big Reasons for where we’re at right now as a civilization and country not much to be happy or be making a speech about how good they are. Contact
Education system is a huge failure. We have no where to go but up.
The privateers love this idea. Go back to the separate but unequal schools and pull in big bucks for the wealthy while depriving the students. School choice for all is nothing but I want you to pay for my children’s private education. If you want to fix education then we need to trust teachers not curriculum experts who are interested in selling the curriculum, tests, remedial materials and trainings. No Child Left Behind was about private businesses grabbing as much education money as possible.
Alaskans 4 Freedom, we already have “separate but unequal schools” in the Anchorage School District. The cause is inequitable transportation. If you are a low income parent and cannot transport your child to school, then your child is not allowed to go to one of the better charter schools. That’s true, even if the district receives State money to transport that child to school. Give the money to the parents to get their kid to a better school. Under No Child Left Behind the districts were required to provide transportation for a student who was enrolled in a failing school for 3 consecutive years. That child could go to a better public school. Guess what? The ASD and Superintendent Carol Comeau never ever publicized this opportunity for a child to get a better public education. BTW, what does the district do with the extra money it gets from the State for NOT transporting these students???
That’s a pretty well written piece of work there. Although the current education secretary, that’s up for consideration doesn’t have any teaching experience, it doesn’t take a teacher to know these things. It’s popular right now to blame the teachers and the n e a on low test scores in alaska.But I can tell you that the real reason scores are low is because of lack of support of parents. You can look at any student in school and instantly tell what kind of family life they have. Some of it may not even be the parents fault.
When wages are low and housing is sky high, it is hard for parents. Especially single family parents to provide for their families, and as a result, the despair is passed down to the students. Anchorage, taxpayers don’t want to spend any money on homeless housing, let alone something as a necessity as public restrooms. They like to complain about the problem. But don’t want to offer any solution. I often wonder how they would feel if suddenly they found themselves homeless. I was homeless once for 2 and a half months. I was between jobs and had a job lined up, but was a few months away from being able to occupy that position. So I was forced to live in a ten, which technically is homeless, because it’s not a permanent residence. I can tell you that it’s not fun. Living out in the elements and being a victim of crime and lack of transportation weighs heavy on a person’s
Ability to function. There are a lot of problems in this country and homeless people is one of the unpopular ones that no 1 really wants to deal with. And the ugliness of it, it’s something that citizens either look down their nose at or look the other way or complain.
Not every. A homeless person has children. But the same things that effect homelessness also effects, poverty, stricken households. Most of this has been passed on down through generations. And you can just about bet that poor parents came from poor parents and I don’t mean poor by lack of money. I mean, by bad parents and parenting, they lack the skills and possibly the morality to be parents, so it’s just an endless cycle
You obviously dont have a clue what the Anchorage ASSembly spending habits have been since the pantsless mayor had to quit when his naked selfies showed up when he had nothing more important to tend to during Covid.
You blame Anchorage taxpayers for not wanting to pay for homeless housing and (public toilets at a half million apiece). Construction workers and many other temporary employees use the plastic “sanican” facilities all day long that dont cost a half million apiece. What makes that group so “special”?
How many tax dollars were given to the cross dressing Sam “baggage thief ” Brinton for his hairbrained ideas on how to counsel Anchorage youth with sexual identity issues? No one knows because Chris Constant deleted the communication files Hillary style that should have been public record.
Take a peek at how the millions of covid relief dollars were spent completely outside the federal guidelines (illegally) on certain select groups.
Which were intended for small businesses who were shut down but were still forced to pay property tax to the muni. (Many closed for good losing their lifetime investment).
Since you were a user of a place to camp and the public transit system you should donate part of your retirement on paying back the Anchorage taxpayers burden you used when you were homeless.
Put your money where your mouth is.
Only then will your opinion have any credibility.
You are just too far away and have no skin in the game to be ctiticizing the homeowners whose tax dollars are being pissed away on foolishness and the current regime has maxed out the tax cap with an additional 7.5% tariff on food and supplies coming through the port which will boost the homeless population even more.
So the answer is Greg…send more of YOUR dollars to support their spending habits.
See, you’re the problem.
Ok teacher Greg. Thats all you got?
Those who can do and those who cant teach.
A very important lesson I learned early in life.
The point is i could do, that made me an expert.
Andy,
Your analysis is spot on. But maybe I’m the problem too.
Well, are you part of the solution.?
According to greg we are all part of the problem if we dont have it in us to hand over all the money the ASSembly thinks they need in the effort to “solve” homelessness when in actuality their methods are the cause and effect of the current situation.
Its a typical leftist idea used in Democrat run cities across the country where they rely on the working class to feed and house the group that chooses to take all the handouts without any responsibility for their actions.
Drug and alcohol abuse is rampant that puts them in a mental state that makes them totally incapable of survival on their own which is their “choice”.
When there are elected members on the ASSembly (Meg Zaletel) making a generous 6 figure salary in addition to her generously overpaid position on the same governing body doling out and wasting millions per year of taxpayer dollars on a situation that is growing totally out of control is the core of the corruption scam we call their “homeless empire built by their own Czar Dr. Meg.
Leftist ideas from people like Greg thinks WE are the problem.
Tag team time when you can’t stand on your own. Go for it!
I can stand on my own any day when it comes to pointing out the faults in your “head in the sand” comments Greg.
Thankyou for bringing up what is likely the biggest threat to our society over the long term, the lack of education for our youth.
It’s worse than poor quality, modern American education policy is designed to incapacitate children from the ability to develop their intellect and fails to build the foundational development sequence from early ages.
Periodically changing the Secretary is useless. The existence of the federal Department of Education itself is the centralized problem. The Department, in its’ entirety needs to be removed.
The entire Department removed and voiding all the massive federal regulatory mandates, all monies that have been collected and sucked into its’ vortex left in the states from which they originated.
This includes ending federal head start “programming”, children need protection from government commissars that call themselves “administrators”.
The 2nd central foundation for the destruction of education is the monopoly state run schools have of public tax monies.
Any and all taxes and resources available for education belong to the children themselves, with their parents responsible to choose the school that is best for their child.
Monopolies destroy competition, competition leads to innovation and excellence. The educational services industry is no exception. This is classic anti trust theory in any industry.
Parents must be able to use the annual allotment of state derived education funds to shop for any schooling that they deem best for their child, period.
With the trillions of dollars released from government monopolies, a plethora of options would be offered by private entities competing for those dollars by designing and offering meaningful and effective services for parents to choose from.
If there is only one meaningful fundemental change Trump can accomplish for the long term benefit of our society, ending ALL federal interference or funding in education is the most critical.
Is this before we shut the doors to the Dept of Education?
Make federal education funding contingent upon each state passing pro school choice where each student/family decides where their BSA goes.
He’s got it mostly wrong except for one thing: school choice. Refer to Milton Friedman’s textbook “Free to Choose.” The best way to provide a product to the public is always the free market. If students are entitled to government money for their education then it should be provided to the parents who should then be free to choose. The parents will find the best value where ever it is to be found. If it is religious institutions so be it. If its home schooling so be it. Same with secular private schools. The biggest hurdle is overcoming the resistance from teacher unions. They won’t let go of their grip on the gravy train without a fight. Communists.
Reality based instruction is education, religious based instruction is not education and does not = knowledge.
Summarize; Superstition is just that, superstition.
Considering the fact that for thousands of years only priests and monks could read and write, and record scriptures, and the ever accumulating history and science, that along with traditions equate the base for the recorded body of current human “knowledge”, this comment receives the ignorance of the decade award.
Superstition is one of the basic components of every ethnicity and race of peoples. It is remarkable how rapidly the decline of western cultures is occurring, including the intense rise in extreme superstitions, such as atheism, catastrophic man made climate change, belief in manipulated fears along with many others.
My comment above in one word: vouchers.
Spot on article. Yesterday, I was at a dental office. The young lady, a dental assistant, and I were reviewing my dental charts. I couldn’t read some of the scribblings on the chart, so I asked her about it. She apologized for her poor printing skills. Then I asked her if she knew cursive handwriting, to which she replied, “what is that?”
I explained it to her and she said she could print in English and push buttons on her cellphone and computer with proficiency. I showed her how to write in cursive. She loves it and said it was like art. This young lady was 26 years old.
The schools are truly failing our children to the point where essential tools are not even being taught in schools anymore.
Good anecdote, Elaine. I bet the young gal knows all about transexuals, lesbianism, man-made global warming, DEI, CRT, Black lives matter, and sexism in the workplace. Math, Writing, Reading, reasoning skills……….very little.
OK.
Let us observe, truthfully, and without fail, what has become of our educational system.
What has been left behind.
Civics, Mathematics, Reading, Writing, and History.
What has been brought forward.
All things Social, including engineering, transitioning, and falsely existing.
Reality begins within the home, and within the existence of said reality.
The lack of reality begins within the chosen ignorance of leftists such as Greg Forkner and Whidbey the Dog, within that they cannot only not see, but even understand why they are wrong, and always shall be.
There are some basic factors to a great education. These include a relevant good curriculum, an effective classroom teacher, and a motivated student. If the teacher is effective in the classroom, the student will probably be motivated. If a parent stresses the importance of a getting well educated to achieve, then the student will be motivated. Much of this depends upon the culture in the community, the student’s home, and the local public education system. Little else matters, especially beautiful overpriced school buildings.
Spot on assessment.
It takes all of those important factors for success.
What I have witnessed is way too many students are graduating without the ability to proficiently read a simple tape measure.
One of the most basic elementary tools for anyone to be able to sustain or be productive on their own.
This particular situation is rampant in many villages throughout Alaska where the need for youth to develope a solution for their own housing is so important.
They have the need and the desire but not the tools to work with.