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My wife brought home a flyer from her school that I
think might shed some
light on the status of public education within which
a lot of our Physics
instruction must take place. I will reproduce it
below--sans the more
'political' statements of the author (although the
title will give away his
point of view). Those statement are basically a
call for community action.
FWIW--Rick Tarara
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Schools cannot do this alone---by Jamie Vollmer
America's public schools can be traced back to the
year 1640. The
Massachusetts Puritans established schools to:
1. Teach basic reading, writing, and arithmetic
skills, and
2. Cultivate values that serve a democratic society
(some history and
civics implied).
The creators of these first schools assumed that
families and churches bore
the major responsibility for raising a child. The
responsibility of the
school was limited and focused. America's schools
stayed focused for 260
years.
At the beginning of this (20th) century, society
began to assign additional
responsibilities to the schools, Politicians,
business leaders, and policy
makers began to see the schools as a logical site
for the assimilation of
newly arrived immigrants and the social engineering
of the first generation
of the "Industrial Age". The trend of increasing
the responsibilities of
the public schools began then and has accelerated
ever since.
From 1900 to 1910, we added
nutrition
immunization, and
health to the lest of school responsibilities.
From 1920 to 1940, we added
vocational education
the practical arts
business education
speech and drama
half day kindergarten
Phys. Ed. including organized athletics, and
school lunch programs (We take this for granted
today. It was, however, a
significant step to shift to the schools the job of
feeding America's
children 1/3 of their daily meals.)
In the 1950's, we added
safety education
driver's education
expanded music and art education
foreign language requirements are strengthened, and
sex education introduced (topics escalate through
the 1990's)
In the 1960's, we added
Advanced Placement programs
consumer education
career education
peace education
leisure education, and
recreation education
In the 1970's, the breakup of the American family
accelerated, and we added
special education (mandated by federal government)
Title IX programs (greatly expanded athletic
programs for girls)
drug and alcohol abuse education
Head Start
parent education
behavior adjustment classed
character education
environmental education, and
school breakfast programs appear (Now, some schools
are feeding America's
children 2/3 of their daily meals.)
In the 1980's, the flood gates open, and we add
keyboarding and computer education
global education
ethnic education
multicultural/non-sexist education
English-as-a-second-language, and bilingual
education
early childhood education
Jump Start, Early Start, Even Start, and Prime Start
full day kindergarten
pre-school programs for children at-risk
after school programs for children of working
parents
alternative education in al its forms
stranger/danger education
anti-smoking education
sexual abuse prevention education
health and psychological services are expanded, and
child abuse monitoring becomes a legal requirement
for all teachers
And, finally, in the 1990's, we have added
HIV/AIDS education
death education
expanded computer and Internet education
inclusion
Tech Prep and School to work programs
gang education (in urban centers)
bus safety education
bicycle safety education, and
gun safety education
And in most states we have not added a single minute
to the school calendar
in five decades.
"All of the items added to the list have merit, and
all have their ardent
supporters. They cannot, however, all be assigned
to the schools." {This
is the main focus of the author--I think}
___________________________________