Thursday, January 16, 2025
Greetings and Happy New Year! As I always point out, there’s never enough space to completely cover any given topic. Usually I like to start conversations, initiate critical thinking, consider all factors and, most of all, become educated on an issue. “Becoming educated” is the key phrase. Here I’d like to dive into our educational system.
In New York state, there are many different forms of schooling on the primary and secondary level: nursery, early childhood, pre-K, public, parochial, charter, private, Magnet, independent, home and online, career and technical, apprenticeships. Any one is worthy of an entire thesis or dissertation.
I just retired after 40 years as a certified K-12 public school educator, union member and vocational education advocate. I taught every grade from second through 12th. But I moderate this introductory discussion in the hope of simply getting people thinking and talking about some of the pros and cons of educating our youth.
Recently a friend asked me how I feel about the “indoctrination” arguments, mostly directed at higher education these days. I believe that parents feel the indoctrination pressure as early as nursery school.
Indoctrination, or being taught to accept a set of beliefs uncritically, is, in my opinion, the exact opposite of what teaching should be all about.
I always wanted my students to think critically. I got into the teaching profession because I loved the thought process. Partisanship has no place in education. Lately, this has become more of a hot topic, but trust me, it has always existed.
I’ve always been a proponent of traditional public education. I felt that graduates had to function in the real world, with a worldwide workforce of every race, religion, background and socio-economic status. The sooner we learned to interact with everyone, the better off we would be, or so I hoped. All three of my children were graduates of public schools.
I have personally witnessed a change in that environment, to one in which students in public education didn’t learn to interact well with others.
Instead of a melting-pot atmosphere, the schools felt more segregated, and parents demanded specific instructions and learning styles for their children instead of embracing the constructs of learning as a group.
Once again, this isn’t a complaint. If a parent insists on something specific for their child, that’s certainly their right. And public school may not be for you. Private, parochial, religious, Magnet or charter schools might well be a better fit.
I could never understand the idea of joining or belonging to a group with the intent of changing it. Choose the group that has your best interests at heart.
This applies to life, community groups, volunteer organizations and politics. You wouldn’t join a church with the hope of turning it into a mosque, would you?
Join the mosque, be with people who share your views, make your house of worship the best it can be.
Public schools are funded by property taxes, and everyone who owns or rents real estate, commercial or residential, pays for it, regardless of whether they have any children, or how many they have. Property values are often tied into “good” school systems. School taxes are the largest part of our tax burden, so I understand why some parents won’t take on, or can’t afford, yet another bill to send their kids to private schools.
Current statistics show that there’s really no “better” or “worse” school system — just better or worse fits for learning styles. When a student is in the proper atmosphere for their particular abilities, they tend to do better. Again, trying to fit in or change what wasn’t meant for you usually leads to failure.
This goes back to my vocational education advocacy. If a student has a propensity for hands-on learning, why force them into an academic-based curriculum? This logic applies to all education, including music, the arts and business. I don’t need my plumber to be able to write poetry, nor do I need my doctor to fix the wiring in my house. You get the idea.
It seems to me that we need to do a better job of seeing where our kids will excel in their educational lives and careers, and stop trying to fit square pegs into round holes.
In my last column, I shared with everyone that the Incorporated Village of Valley Stream is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Please visit VSVNY.org to stay up to date on centennial events. Have a safe and happy 2025!
Ed Fare is the mayor of Valley Stream.
