Death of a term...

 

 

"Farewell K-12...we hardly knew thee..."

Well, that did not take long. And I was just getting used to it. The political and educational jargon just keeps on a changing. For the better we are told. It is important we are told. It is for the children (gag me with a spoon) we are told. So today I am mourning the death of a term I had finally become accustomed to. Good-bye K-12. Hello E-12.

E-12 is now so vital, so very important to the future brainpower of our state, our Governor is threatening to shut down the state government if he does not get funding for it this year. I guess the recently added full time Kindergarten was just not good enough. After we agreed to juice up our highly inflated education budget even more to get full time Kindergarten, the needle has not moved.

No problem. Early childhood learning will take care of the achievement gap. And the growing literacy problem. And the disgustingly low graduation rate in many Twin City high schools. And the teenage pregnancy problem. And the juvenile crime problem. Blah, blah, blah.

Some believe the Governor knows in his heart of hearts this entire early childhood stuff is a bunch of crap. This is nothing more than a payback to Education Minnesota. Education Minnesota - the union who votes lock step with the DFL each and every election. Education Minnesota - the union who would endorse Bullwinkle the Moose if Bullwinkle was a Democrat. Education Minnesota - the union who does not give a tinker's damn about kids - only themselves.

So that is the line in the sand. For politics only, we are getting ready to "shut her down" once again. The DFL spin machine is ready to release a barrage of advertising showing that the mean old Republicans are once again starving Granny and dumbing down our kids. Boo freaking hoo. Never mind that about half our state budget already is spent on education. Never mind many kids who graduate still don't know spit - and are sure not ready to compete on a world stage.

But knowing how things work around here, we will soon get E-12. With or without a government shutdown, somehow we are going get it. But don't get too used to it. Prior to the 2018 election, when the needle does not move again, Education Minnesota will have their lobbyists out in full force. Why we need E-14! For a variety of reasons. Plus we should stop testing the little darlings. More social promotion. More focus about how kiddies feel, rather than what they learn. As usual, there will be a bevy of goofy ideas ready to float.

One final thought before I close this out. I have mentioned this before several times over the years. I am in favor of longer school days, longer school years, and maybe a 13th and 14th grade. That is, ONLY if the right curriculum is taught. We could send kids to school for 30 years, and if they were learning from a Common Core type curriculum, they will still graduate stupid.

So fare thee well K-12. It was nice while it lasted. Sorry you had to be the scapegoat for a broken system. Someday smarter heads will prevail on how to fix education. Not only in this state, but the country as well. Some day - but not today.