January 19, 2017 ~ I continue to ask this basic question: Exactly WHAT is the definition of BASIC EDUCATION. I have yet to find a CLEAR and CONCISE definition of what constitutes “BASIC EDUCATION”. We are being told we MUST FUND EDUCATION but there is NO codified definition of what that term means so we can tell if it is what can be used to obtain a job and live life.

Consider how much more MONEY has been committed to ‘low income’ students during the final hours of his occupancy of  the White House…

It used to be understood that basic education meant that the students were taught (and they had to pass the tests to prove they had learned the subject matter) how to READ, how to WRITE (cursive), How to speak and write in ENGLISH so others could understand what they were talking about, how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, and that 2+2 does NOT mean anything they want it to mean. To study History, and Civics so they understand what our Constitution says and what it means. We are NOT a ‘Democracy’. America is a Constitutional REPUBLIC!!!! Students didn’t get passed on to the next grade until they successfully passed the test to advance to the next grade. Now the ‘higher’ education schools offer high school classes to those incoming students so they can “catch up”. Had they been required to pass the tests from grade to grade or not move up those “catch-up” classes wouldn’t be needed.

Here is the 8th Grade test of 1895 from Salina, Kansas. Do you really think any high school graduate of today could pass this test – Could the teachers – or the politicians who are pushing for more MONEY to ‘fund‘ the dumbing down that has been taking place for decades in America?

It is a well known fact that the teaching of SEX – right to the teachers having sex with their students is now the norm across this nation. They can’t spell – they can’t tell you who is President or who is their Governor but they can tell what the latest APP is on their cell phones.

And we wonder why many businesses can’t find qualified workers here in America to fill job positions. A lot of today’s students are hard pressed to make change in a burger joint. If the computer cash register didn’t tell them the correct amount they are unable to count back the correct change for a sale. Even many of the clerks in the Big Box stores no longer COUNT BACK THE CHANGE when handing it to you. They simply read what the sales slip tells them and hand it to you in a lump with the receipt.

It is long past time to undo what never should have been done – letting the Federal government stick it’s hand into the education of our children. We need to bring back to the LOCAL district the control of education and the funding of education. No more Feds – no more State – no more County – restrict it to the local school district where it can be easily monitored by the parents and the COST can be kept at an affordable level – no more funding each level of controllers (staff, office space, utilities, supplies, all add to the COST at each level which isn’t doing anything beyond costing more. No Charter schools – No vouchers – no classes that aren’t for the purpose of teaching the students how to obtain productive employment or running their own business. Sports and cheer leading do not fall into that category IMHO.

~ The Author ~
Jackie Juntti (Granny) was a daily reader and frequent contributor to the Kettle Moraine Publications.