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There has been a cultural shift in America in recent years. With political correctness guiding our decisions there have been a lot of changes in the way we do things, and not always change for the better. Education is one of those areas.

In many areas there has been more focus on how our children feel than there is on how they perform. While the child's feelings are important, there must be a balance. Because we don't want to embarrass the child, they are promoted to the next grade even if they haven't grasped the concepts taught in the current grade. The message that gets sent is that they will be rewarded regardless of the results. This doesn't prepare them for the real world (unless they are fortunate enough to land a union job) where they will be rated according to the results. Rather than learning the satisfaction of working to achieve a goal, they learn that they do not have to do the work, and the end result will be the same as for those how did put inn the time and effort to get an education. The result is a generation of high school graduates without the ability to read at even a 9th grade level, without the ability to structure an understandable written statement, and without basic grammar skills when speaking. I have interview entirely too many young people who's use of slang, and misuse of words cost made them kept them from getting the job.

Our schools are crying about a lack of funding, and will cut programs, yet they continue to keep large administrative levels for their schools. They cut "extracurricular" activities such as sports and music that have proven academic and socialization values (music students have shown a better grasp of math, team sports teach teamwork, cooperation, and promote a better understanding/tolerance of differences). They replace these with socially popular items like diversity training, progressive sex education, and multicultural programs.

Meanwhile test scores are continuing to slide, the schools cry for more funding, and the taxpayers complain that the government isn't doing enough. The truth is, schools need to concentrate on what they are supposed to concentrate on: educating our children. Stop with the social engineering, stop with the political agendas/indoctrination, and stop with the "feel good" techniques that allow children to avoid the responsibility of learning.

Learn more about this author, Jim Smoot.
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