Highbrow Magazine - public schools https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/public-schools en Why America’s Education System Is Failing https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/9487-why-america-s-education-system-failing <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 11/27/2018 - 11:54</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2education.jpg?itok=0eHRHi6B"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2education.jpg?itok=0eHRHi6B" width="480" height="326" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>Opinion:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>We, as Americans, at least in recent decades, always seem to be looking for an easy fix. And if we cannot find the easy fix, we try to give the impression that we are at least doing something whether in actuality we are accomplishing much of anything or not. Our Congress has probably been the most prolific purveyor of the easy fix for most major issues in the last half century, from Social Security reform, to tax reform, to reform of the criminal justice system and education system reform.</p> <p> </p> <p>One area that all Americans really need our leaders to succeed in is education reform. Our educational system has been failing our young people for a long time. One only has to look at test scores, proficiency rates, graduation rates or any other of a number of benchmarks to recognize we are in trouble. We might be at the tipping point from which we cannot recover.</p> <p> </p> <p>School choice, vouchers, alternative schools, church schools, private schools, charter schools, and home school are some alternatives being used to try to give students the opportunity to get a good education that will carry them through their adult lives. While these educational options may have their place in our education system, the public educational system is still the foundation of the American educational system. It cannot be abandoned or fully replaced in the foreseeable future.</p> <p> </p> <p>What the president and Congress need to fix, regardless of what other issues need to be addressed, is the public educational system. Quality teachers, appropriate salaries, after-school programs, tutoring, mentoring, discipline within schools, class sizes, substandard facilities, lack of educational materials and related issues need to be comprehensively analyzed and solutions to these problems need to be found.</p> <p> </p> <p>The fixes will be difficult and we will not all agree on the direction that our public educational system must take, but we have to get started on the right path immediately. Only then can we even hope to have any sort of opportunity equality that in turn can lead to better income equality.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3education.jpg" style="height:334px; width:633px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>We can pass all the laws we want, provide funding without direction, we can give the appearance we are doing something, like we have for the past 50 years, but in the end, most of the same problems will persist unless we make real change. The result of the many years of educational problems is now being regarded as racial inequality, but there is more to this. The root of the problem lies with the inequality of education and the loss of opportunity.</p> <p> </p> <p>During the mid ‘60s to the early ‘70s there was a lot of anger and violence in the U.S. over various issues but particularly the shortage of career opportunities, the lack of quality education, social injustices, and other inequalities facing minorities. There was much debate on all levels, much as there is now, on what could be done to rectify the situation and provide equality for all: the rich, the poor, African-Americans, Hispanics and others.</p> <p> </p> <p>Over time, many programs such as Affirmative Action, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Unemployment Benefits, Pell Grants and others were either created or modified to provide better benefits to the poor or disadvantaged.  There were some that argued that while these programs had become necessary and that it was in the best interest of our country to provide assistance to those most in need, the real key to long-term prosperity was through education.</p> <p> </p> <p>Now, almost 50 years later, we can no longer ignore the obvious: that we failed to address many of the issues we faced in the ‘60s and’70s. We have spent an incredible amount of money; developed numerous social, economic, and educational programs; and otherwise tried whatever we thought would bring about major change with members on the lower end of the socioeconomical pyramid, and yet the results show our efforts have been underwhelming. We only have 82 percent of students graduating high school – African-Americans graduating at a rate of 71 percent, Hispanics at a rate of 75 percent, and whites at 86 percent. And these are record highs. And these statistics include those who have been “pushed” through the educational system without the benefit of having achieved the quality of education required in today’s society.</p> <p> </p> <p>Education is the key to opportunity in our society. To have a high chance of success, however one wants to define success, one must become educated by whatever process works for that individual or group- technical education, traditional education, homeschooling, etc. To have a fighting chance of success in today’s world, one must at least complete an education equivalent to the high school level.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4education.jpg" style="height:446px; width:625px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>We all know there are many successful people who never finished high school, but they are more the exception than the rule. There are many opportunities to advance in today’s world without even having a minimal education. Those who work as plumbers’ helpers, stock persons, fast food chefs, department store sales persons, etc. should and do take pride in their work and many work hard to advance in their chosen path. They can be successful, but the path is very difficult. It is exponentially more difficult in today’s world than even 25 years ago to meet one’s financial goals with a minimal education.</p> <p> </p> <p>So where does that leave us after 50 years of programs? We have far more minorities (percentage wise) unable to get through high school than non-minorities. The job opportunities for minorities are fewer than for non-minorities since the non-minorities have a higher level of education. With better career opportunities, the non-minorities have amassed greater wealth than the minorities and have saved significantly more for retirement than minorities. The educational divide is very high, thus resulting in a large financial divide.</p> <p> </p> <p>The long-term answer is that in today’s highly technological world, a high school education is a must for everyone and a college education is becoming more important than it has ever been. We can offer everyone who finishes high school a free or reduced cost for college education, but how does this help those that have not finished high school and the tens of thousands each year who will not finish high school?</p> <p> </p> <p>The immediate outlook is bleak. This is the Land of Opportunity but, realistically, what chance do most youths have today in achieving their goals without even a high school education? I do not know how we can change the statistics in a short period of time. Nor do I know what can be done for the millions who have received less than a minimal education in the last few decades. I don’t know what the answer is, but we must come up with a solid solution. Only when the education of our population improves will the real cause of social unrest improve in our culture.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>This is an opinion piece by Dan Reider, who is a consulting engineer living in Columbia, South Carolina. For more than 30 years,<a name="_GoBack" id="_GoBack"></a> he has been involved with design of K-12 facilities as well as colleges and universities. During the course of designing these facilities, he has attended and been a participant in many meetings where the topics have included discussions about student behavior, campus security concerns, and drug and alcohol use.  </em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/american-education" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">american education</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/public-schools" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">public schools</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/affirmative-action" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">affirmative action</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/pell-grants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">pell grants</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/charter-schools" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">charter schools</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/minorities" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">minorities</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/high-school-education" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">high school education</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/college-education" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">college education</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Dan Reider</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Google Images (Creative Commons)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 27 Nov 2018 16:54:03 +0000 tara 8389 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/9487-why-america-s-education-system-failing#comments Why I'm Protesting Against Betsy DeVos https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/8583-why-im-protesting-against-betsy-devos <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sun, 10/15/2017 - 12:47</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1devos.jpg?itok=5Pg7msQy"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1devos.jpg?itok=5Pg7msQy" width="480" height="302" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>From <a href="http://www.iexaminer.org/">International Examiner</a> and republished by our content partner New America Media: </strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Opinion:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>On Friday, October 13, I [was] in the streets protesting Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Secretary of Education, because I believe in freedom and equal opportunity for all students, regardless of skin color. I also have experience with fascist leaders relentlessly targeting minorities, and believe DeVos’ Education Department is part and parcel of Donald Trump’s fascist agenda.</p> <p> </p> <p>In the Philippines, we had a president, a man who rose to power democratically, who held is seat for more than 20 years by persecuting those who disagreed with him, silencing the press, and attacking the rights of his citizens. When I was 11, I moved from the Philippines to America, narrowly escaping the 21 years Ferdinand Marcos spent as “President.”</p> <p> </p> <p>In America, I learned about our freedoms of the press, speech, and assembly. I learned that liberty was inherent in human life. Starting in 1972, I also learned that tens of thousands of Filipinos were abducted, tortured, and killed. Though every person is born with inalienable rights, Marcos denied those rights to the Filipino people.</p> <p> </p> <p>He was a force of evil, power hungry, violent, and unwavering. But I was pretty stubborn myself. I knew what was happening in the Philippines was wrong. So I did what I was best at: I called my friends, neighbors, and community leaders. I organized and protested. I spoke out about the murders of two anti-Marcos activists, Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, and called for an end to the U.S.-Marcos dictatorship on the streets of New York and Seattle.</p> <p> </p> <p>I used the freedoms of America to fight fascism in the Philippines: the freedom of public assembly, the freedom to criticize the government—freedoms Marcos had stolen from Filipinos and replaced with oppression. These freedoms enable regular people to make real change. They were crucial to free the Philippines from tyranny.</p> <p> </p> <p>On Friday, October 13, I intended to use these freedoms to do the same.</p> <p> </p> <p>America, my home of 45 years, has a president who attacks protesters, the media, and the rights of citizens. It is a familiar story to me and millions of my fellow Filipino Americans.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2devos.jpg" style="height:394px; width:625px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>We have a lot to lose. Trump issued a racist immigration ban based on religion and skin color. He continues to imperil undocumented students and their families. He threatens to cut critical services that many Americans need to live. The AAPI community needs to be worried—Trump’s agenda makes clear that the rights of people of color are secondary to those of his white constituents. Our fundamental freedoms are at risk.</p> <p> </p> <p>After years of working to stop Marcos, fighting for unions, and serving as Washington State Representative, I now continue to fight for the rights of Americans. This includes the right to a world-class education for all students, regardless of ethnicity.</p> <p> </p> <p>Washington’s education system doesn’t serve our community equally. 50-70% of Southeast Asian Americans don’t have a college degree. Most teachers lack an understanding of API cultures and languages. They struggle to communicate with AAPI parents. And too often, grouping all “Asians” together in one broad, unequal racial category blurs the data that dictates public education services.</p> <p> </p> <p>Together we’ve fought for real victories: disaggregating data, pushing for more bilingual teachers, and growing ELL programs. But there still remain significant concerns. .</p> <p> </p> <p>President Trump appointed Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. DeVos is a billionaire who believes schools are for profit and not for students. Trump and DeVos have proposed a budget that cuts $9 billion from public education and gives hundreds of millions to for-profit schools. DeVos’ plan funnels taxpayer dollars from the schools our kids attend to predominantly white institutions.</p> <p> </p> <p>Under DeVos, public schools will be even more underfunded. The programs we’ve fought so hard for, the ones that protect our AAPI students will be first on the chopping block.</p> <p> </p> <p>That’s why on Friday October 13, I join[ed] thousands in protesting Betsy DeVos as she sp[oke] to the Washington Policy Center in Bellevue. I fought fascism in the Philippines and now I will fight it in America, standing up for the rights of AAPI everywhere.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>The Honorable Velma Veloria, was born in Bani, Pangasinan, Philippines and immigrated to the United States in 1961. She was elected into office and became the first Asian American woman and first Filipina American elected to the Washington State legislature. Representing the 11th District, Veloria served from 1992 until 2004. Now she works as Community Organizer for the Equity in Education Coalition, and is active in the Faith Action Network and CIRCC.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>From <a href="http://www.iexaminer.org/">International Examiner</a> and republished by our content partner New America Media</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/betsy-de-vos" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">betsy de vos</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/donald-trump" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Donald Trump</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/racism" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">racism</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/education" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">education</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/public-schools" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">public schools</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/protests" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">protests</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Velma Veloria</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media; Wikipedia Commons</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sun, 15 Oct 2017 16:47:05 +0000 tara 7763 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/8583-why-im-protesting-against-betsy-devos#comments Secularism in Public Schools: Teaching Religion and Teaching About Religion https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/5714-secularism-public-schools-teaching-religion-and-teaching-about-religion <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 03/31/2016 - 20:37</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1prayer.jpg?itok=ZTPhg5vV"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1prayer.jpg?itok=ZTPhg5vV" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>In October of 2015, Representative Sheila Butt (R-Columbia) <a href="http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/109/Bill/HB1418.pdf">introduced</a> a bill into the Tennessee legislature prohibiting the state Board of Education from including “religious doctrine in any curriculum standards for grades prior to grades ten through twelve.”  In other words, it banned the teaching of religion in public schools for any grades below tenth.</p> <p> </p> <p>A seemingly commonsensical and arguably reasonable statute, the bill drew a significant amount of both backlash and support because of the inherent ramifications it would produce. Congresswoman Butt argued that the current teachings were not age-appropriate and that, at that age, students are not able to discern between indoctrination and learning about what religion teaches. The bill was introduced at a time when anti-Islamic sentiments have surfaced across the country, and when Tennessean parents have expressed discontent with schools teaching about the Five Pillars of Islam.</p> <p> </p> <p>If passed, the bill would, intrinsically, ban schools from teaching about Islam and other topics that the state may consider indoctrination. Opponents of the bill (mostly educators) argue that it is a targeted attempt at a particular religion because, as it is, laws banning the teaching of religion in schools already exist at the federal level. The bill has also spurred the conversation on whether religion should be taught in public schools at all, regardless of the secularism facet of such teachings that the law would demand.</p> <p> </p> <p>One early test of the separation of church and state, at least with respect to education, came in the 1948 U.S. Supreme Court case of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/333/203"><em>McCollum v. Board of Education</em></a><em> [of Champaign County, Illinois]</em>. In her lawsuit, McCollum asked that the Board of Education to adopt and enforce rules and regulations prohibiting all instruction and teaching of all religious education in all public schools.</p> <p> </p> <p>Eight years prior to the lawsuit, various members of the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish faiths formed an association and obtained permission from the Champaign County Board of Education to offer voluntary religious classes for public school students from grades fourth to ninth. McCollum argued that these classes were not in fact voluntary, as they took place during school hours in school buildings, and students were nothing short of forced to attend, lest they miss out on actual school time and were ostracized for not being present.  After both the County Circuit Court and the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Board of Education, McCollum appealed her case to the U.S. Supreme Court. SCOTUS found in favor of McCollum, and effectively ruled that all religion teachings in tax-funded public schools are unconstitutional. </p> <p> </p> <p>A landmark decision, <em>McCollum v. Board of Education</em> also sparked a divisive gray area between what is legally permissible in schools and what can be considered religious indoctrination. Many wrongfully believe that public schools are religion-free zones because of this ruling, but the Equal Protection Act of the highly contested Fourteenth Amendment of the United States says otherwise. It is a very murky area that still has many difficult issues to resolve. Under the Equal Protection Act, for example, a student is allowed to submit an art assignment depicting a religious act or iconography, and it must be accepted and graded accordingly and without any bias. But because of the <em>McCollum v. Board of Education </em>ruling, this same artwork may not be allowed to be exhibited on a school hallway. (The other landmark <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/374/203">case</a> often cited with the topic of secularism in public schools is <em>Abington School District v. Schempp</em> of 1963<em>, </em>in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned an actual Pennsylvania law that required at least ten verses from the Holy Bible be read as part of the beginning of each school day in all its schools within its district.)</p> <p> </p> <p>A more recent case based on this same gray area between indoctrination and teaching about religion was brought to a U.S. District Court in Rhode Island. In July of 2011, 16-year-old Jessica Ahlquist sued the City of Cranston, Rhode Island, over a <a href="http://law.rwu.edu/story/eberle-cranston-prayer-banner-case">banner</a> that hung on her public school’s auditorium. A gift from the class of 1963, Cranston High School West’s first graduating class, the banner displayed a prayer that began with the phrase “Our Heavenly Father” and ended with an “Amen.” Ahlquist, who had been raised a Catholic but considered herself an atheist at the time, sued the city (with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union) on the grounds that the banner violated her First and Fourteenth Amendments.</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/1students.jpg" style="height:336px; width:625px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>The banner had drawn controversy before when a year prior to the lawsuit, the ACLU requested the school board remove the banner because it infringed on the beliefs of nonreligious students and was unconstitutional. After many heated debates brought upon by this request, the school board voted to keep the banner hanging in the auditorium. In <a href="http://www.rid.uscourts.gov/menu/judges/opinions/lagueux/01112012_1-11CV0138L_AHLQUIST_V_CRANSTON_P.pdf"><em>Ahlquist v. City of Cranston</em></a>, the defendants argued that the banner’s significance was not principally religious but rather a memento from the school’s founding days, and the message in itself was largely secular. The District Judge however, an appointee of Ronald Reagan, sided with Ahlquist and ordered that the banner be taken down, as he found its display on public school grounds to be unconstitutional.  </p> <p> </p> <p>Rhode Island is a vastly democrat state (it has only voted Republican in four presidential elections) that remains the second most Catholic state of the Union, the first being Massachusetts. Ahlquist drew severe <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/us/rhode-island-city-enraged-over-school-prayer-lawsuit.html?_r=0">backlash</a> for her lawsuit, received death threats, and at one point had to be escorted to school flanked by security personnel. Democrat State Representative Peter Palumbo caller her “an evil little thing” on a radio show, and florists refused to deliver flowers that had been sent to Ahlquist from supporters around the country.</p> <p> </p> <p>Cases like Ahlquist’s, and even McCollum’s over half a century prior, exemplify the divisive nature of the topic. Should religion be taught in public schools, in a responsible and completely secular manner? Or should it even be mentioned at all?</p> <p> </p> <p>There is, certainly, the inescapable fact that religions are so irrevocably weaved with world cultures that they must be mentioned in a number of subjects, such as Geography, History, or Social Studies classes. After all, it would be impossible to teach students about the Mayflower, algebra, or the Crusades without also touching base on the importance that religion took in all these matters. Proponents of teaching about religion in schools argue that it is an important facet for pupils to understand the world around them, particularly for younger students. They say, for instance, that teasing about religion can begin as early as kindergarten; and that Americans simply remain woefully ignorant about world religions in general.</p> <p> </p> <p>A 2010 Pew Research Center survey <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2010/09/28/u-s-religious-knowledge-survey/">found</a> that more than half of adults did not know Friday evening was the start of the Jewish Sabbath, or that the Dalai Lama was a Buddhist. Meanwhile, over half the participants knew the Koran is the holy book of Islam, but did now know that Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world, is mostly a Muslim country; in fact, it is the most populous Muslim-majority country. The quiz, by the way, also included the questions of whether or not, according to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, a teacher is allowed to lead a prayer in a public school, or read from the Bible as an example of literature (the answers to which are no and yes, respectively).</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/jesusmary.jpg" style="height:625px; width:417px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>On the other hand, opponents on the issue <a href="http://religionandpolitics.org/2014/01/07/the-dangers-of-religious-instruction-in-public-schools/">argue</a> that any presence of religion in public schools creates divisiveness, and that awareness of religious differences often creates walls between students. They state that teaching about religion should be the responsibility of the parents, and that no student should feel ostracized at any moment because of religious differences, as was the case with Ahlquist. The Freedom from Religion Foundation, for example, handles over 2,000 complaints per year from parents concerned about the separation of church and state. Devotional instruction and religious exercises are, of course, different from academic instruction, and opponents confer that, ideally, there would at least be a class on comparative religion at the high school level in public schools. The issue, they say, is that the non-religious sectarians are often overlooked, and the absence of faith itself should be considered and also be taught in these classes. Interestingly, atheists/agnostics, Jewish, and Mormons fared better on the Pew Research Center’s test cited above, while Black Protestants and Hispanic Catholics fared the poorest.</p> <p> </p> <p>In contrast with Rep. Butt’s initiative, some schools are taking an active approach to teaching about religion. In Wichita, Kansas, students begin learning simple facts about at least three major world religions in the first grade. In Modesto, California, high school students are required to take a world religions class in order to graduate. And in <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2011/09/23/test-faith/tHJoFiiHL1MW7FKSrKViWL/story.html">Wellesley</a>, Massachusetts, students even take field trips to local mosques and temples, an activity that has sparked nationwide criticism. In May of 2010, as part of a mandatory class of world religions, over 200 middle school students visited the mosque at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. During the call to afternoon prayer, a male worshipper told five Wellesley boys that they could participate if they’d like. The boys did and, unknown to anyone, this was videotaped by an unidentified parent. After the video surfaced, Wellesley Middle School found itself in a media conundrum.  The school conceded that there had been an oversight and the boys should not have been left unattended, but remained adamant that it was an individual who had asked the boys to join them, not any school official and had thus broken no laws. Parents were also divided on the issue, some condemning the practice while others applauded the inclusion of other cultures and religions into the school’s curriculum.</p> <p> </p> <p>The issue of secularism in public schools remains widely contested. The legislature that Rep. Butt introduced has since been withdrawn, but suburban towns in Tennessee are still grappling with the very thin line between indoctrination and instruction (a rather fascinating phenomenon in some cases, such as in Williamson County, which has almost 200 <a href="http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/c/47/rcms2010_47187_county_name_2010.asp">churches</a> within its limits alone, and its ongoing battle <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/12/fear-islam-tennessee-public-schools/420441/">against</a> what parents are afraid is Islamic indoctrination in the county’s schools).</p> <p> </p> <p>Our very own pledge of allegiance, which is dutifully and traditionally recited at the beginning of each school day, contains a religious passage. Meanwhile, Wellesley Middle School continues to teach world religion classes and taking its student to temples and mosques, as they believe that it is a very enriching experience and, with the appropriate guidelines, it can be done without breaking the separation of church and state. For their field trips now, though, they visit the mosque in Wayland, which doesn’t offer regular prayers during the day and students being asked to join in is much more unlikely.  <a name="_GoBack" id="_GoBack"></a></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><br /> <strong><em>Angelo Franco is</em> Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief features writer.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/prayer-schools" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">prayer in schools</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/religion-schools" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">religion in schools</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/banning-prayers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">banning prayers</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/education" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">education</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/teachers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">teachers</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/teaching-religion" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">teaching religion</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/public-schools" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">public schools</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Angelo Franco</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Google Images; Wikipedia Commons</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 01 Apr 2016 00:37:49 +0000 tara 6785 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/5714-secularism-public-schools-teaching-religion-and-teaching-about-religion#comments The Power Struggle Behind the Teacher Tenure Lawsuit https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4069-power-struggle-behind-teacher-tenure-lawsuit <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 06/16/2014 - 11:12</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2classroom%20%28Google%29.jpg?itok=8WPxAmqN"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2classroom%20%28Google%29.jpg?itok=8WPxAmqN" width="480" height="347" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>From our content partner <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2014/06/the-power-struggle-behind-the-teacher-tenure-law-suit.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Commentary</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>The Los Angeles court decision against teacher tenure laws has something in common with No Child Left Behind. The Bush administration rolled out NCLB with pretty slogans about helping poor children. In the end, the law enriched testing companies and left more children behind.</p> <p> </p> <p>The L.A. court decision striking down California teacher tenure laws was financed by the foundation of Silicon Valley millionaire, David Welch, who argued that the laws harm children. If allowed to stand, the court decision, like NCLB, is likely to hurt both students and teachers in two ways. First, it does nothing about the real issues of teacher availability and support. And second, its actual impact has more to do with political power than education.</p> <p> </p> <p>There is a large and growing shortage of long term, highly dedicated teachers in the U.S., especially in schools attended by children without money. That teacher shortage is caused by two factors, neither of them having anything to do with tenure. First, the set of bureaucratic procedures, tests, and financial burdens required of prospective teachers, do not predict good teaching and prevent community people who want to teach from getting the credential that allows them into the profession.</p> <p> </p> <p>Second, half the people who do manage to get a credential leave the profession in less than five years. The speed of exit has increased as standardized testing has overwhelmed U.S. classrooms and a wrong-headed critique of teachers has derailed the on-going project of making schools into loving, safe, stimulating places where young people want to be.</p> <p> </p> <p>Even if ending tenure laws were actually designed to get rid of bad teachers, it would not create any new teachers to fill up the classrooms so rapidly vacated in urban schools. In fact, it is likely to make teaching an even less appealing profession.</p> <p> </p> <p>But this issue is fundamentally about power. The general attack on teachers and teacher unions has little to do with education and more to do with the tussle for overwhelming political power being carried out by the wealthiest few among us.</p> <p> </p> <p>Teachers are one of the most solid, progressive forces in the U.S. Teaching is the largest profession in the world; large portions of teachers are unionized; and by some estimates 8 in 10 teachers are Democrats.</p> <p> </p> <p>The National Education Association has political power that it often wields in a progressive direction, working to uphold school funding, workable class size, free speech, and more fair taxation to name just a few issues It is one of few organizations that requires ethnic and gender diversity in its own elected representation.</p> <p> </p> <p>Recent Supreme Court decisions have given the wealthy the ability to make unlimited contributions to political candidates and campaigns. Teachers unions are one of the few entities with anywhere near the financial muscle to stand up to the funding provided by millionaires. The series of efforts designed to weaken the political power of teacher unions make sense in this context.</p> <p> </p> <p>Are the teachers unions always right? The unions supported a change from a three-year probationary period to two years, which was probably a bad idea.</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumclassroom%20%28Esparta%20Palma%20Flickr%29_2.jpg" style="height:401px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>In cases with which I am personally familiar, this change has actually caused potentially good teachers to be dismissed before they had taught long enough to prove that that they could do a good job.</p> <p> </p> <p>And though seniority should translate into some job security, the practice of bumping teachers from one school to another based on seniority during times of layoff is not a good idea.</p> <p> </p> <p>The countries which have the strongest schools, according to international comparisons, have strong teacher unions and they do not have millionaires making education policy from foundations funded by other millionaires.</p> <p> </p> <p>Teachers unions need to adopt the kind of community alliances and activities practiced by Karen Lewis of the Chicago teachers union and Alex Caputo-Pearl, newly elected president of the L.A. union.</p> <p> </p> <p>Community involvement in setting the criteria for good teaching; aggressive recruitment of Spanish speakers into teaching; funding for the year of unpaid student teaching which most applicants are now forced to endure; and an ethos of love and respect, rather than suspicion and control, can create the teachers we need.</p> <p> </p> <p>On the other hand, trying to knock teachers unions out of the political box will have devastating impacts on advocacy for children, for education funding, for decreased standardized testing, and for free speech.</p> <p> </p> <p>The sunshine in this event might be the shock it provides to all of us to work harder on that community-teacher alliance before public education really is a thing of the past.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><em>Kitty Kelly Epstein, PhD, is recipient of the 2013 Scholar Activist award from the Urban Affairs Association and author of </em>A Different View of Urban Schools<em> (2012).</em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/teacher-tenure" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">teacher tenure</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/teachers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">teachers</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/education" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">education</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/educators" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">educators</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/students-1" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">students</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/public-schools" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">public schools</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/los-angeles-schools" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">los angeles schools</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/teaching" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">teaching</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/no-child-left-behind" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">no child left behind</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Kitty Kelly Epstein</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Google Images; Esparta Palma (Flickr)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 16 Jun 2014 15:12:46 +0000 tara 4851 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4069-power-struggle-behind-teacher-tenure-lawsuit#comments