Gramsci in the schools

I have heard a few state that the content of The Beacon articles in question are not a reflection of the district schools. I find that interesting, as all of the public comments on The Beacon coming from the staff have been supportive; including the response to my Gazette letter that came from the husband of an OHS English teacher.

I have never heard, nor read, any administrator - other than the superintendent - publicly question the content of very public issues such as the OLMS assembly, the booklist, and now The Beacon. Never. Strong, vocal support has always centered on the side of the inappropriate.

If the teachers are upset at The Beacon articles, then Dave Maloney should say as much; he is their representative and voice. Additionally, teachers should write letters to the editor to add their voices to the debate. That has not happened yet. Nevertheless, let them shock me for once.

On other matters: Ohio State Operating Standards mandate stakeholder participation in curricular decisions, yet the book review committee going before the board has no parent members. "The school district’s curriculum shall be developed with input from and dialogue with parents, community members and other stakeholders. - 2006 Ohio Operating Standards"

In addition, I fought for years to have the middle school failures addressed. The result? More of the same nonsense. Math and the other essential subjects are struggling so the staff chooses to concentrate on teaming, collaboration, service learning, game clubs, and one of my all-time edu-speak favorites: authentic learning. The Middle School Study Update is the same recycled muddle that has ruined education. If the schools at least tried to address the root problems, I would turn my attention elsewhere.

Many of the actions we observe are guided by an underlying philosophy. Understanding the philosophic source helps in understanding problems with resulting actions. To this, I suggest that taxpayers read the absolute nuttiness coming from the prominent schools of education. Subscribe to the TCRecord This Week, a weekly update from the Teachers College Record published by the Teachers College of Columbia University. You will find the headwaters that form the brackish curriculum of most - if not all - public schools.

Funny, I have had people comment that some of my blog articles are idiosyncratic hokum. Yet the latest TCRecord This Week includes a featured article where the writer attacks “capitalist logics,” as if more than one logic can exist (the economist Ludwig von Mises called this Marxian belief polylogism). Who would believe such dribble? Yet, there it is, guiding the direction of a prestigious university. The same article celebrates the writer’s Gramscian views – Gramsci being the Italian socialist who believed that the way to bring about socialism was to slowly destroy the institutions of family and church.

Another fount of mishmash is Education Leadership from ASCD. I always said that if I read about a program in that magazine, I would soon find it in the schools. I cannot remember even one instance where that statement did not hold.

In the end, a government-run system of anything cannot be efficient. Nor can it satisfy the invalidated concept of public goods. Regardless of the economics involved, The Beacon incident shows that public education, as with all government programs, ends up being political in nature. The result is we all end up paying for that which we find reprehensible. I pay for the trash in The Beacon, while The Beacon supporters pay for the "capitalist logics" that I call traditional math.

And, most importantly, those who run the government system get to control future generations. The public voice of the district says the adherents of Gramsci have control.