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An Educational Quagmire

Vincent Viewpoints Header-vincent-kenI have been talking to a couple of long-time friends of mine this week about the state of education and how it got to where it is today. They are retired PhD and taught for many hears at the college level. They have lectured and written a number of books. I had several questions about why our higher education has fallen from first to somewhere between 14th and 21st in the developed world, depending on who you ask.

First, why do we need tenure? Private enterprise doesn’t have it. Doesn’t it serve to insulate and protect incompetent teachers? The retort was that tenure is needed to protect professors from jealous peers and department heads. Tenure isn’t automatic based on time served. It has to be granted and it isn’t always. Yes, it can protect a bad or weak teacher, but it does not prohibit their being terminated either.

My next question was why our schools are not turning out world class graduates. The answers were disturbing, to say the least. First and foremost is the fact that a very high percent of high school graduates are not at an educational grade to haDiploma Hat Graduation-collegendle college level work. They can’t do simple math without a hand-held device, they can’t write two sentences that are grammatically correct and they are not able to write a paragraph that makes sense. Conceptual and analytical thinking is far beyond their capacity. One PhD also pointed out that college professors, and also high school teachers, have made their courses easier so as to be popular with the students. It seems that students can now grade their teachers. Raises, promotions, and even tenure can hinge on those student ratings. The end result of it is that teachers are pressed to be popular. Easing the workload allows better grades, fewer failures, and better student ratings. I can’t imagine who thought letting students grade teachers was a good idea.

Why are administrators pandering to what is probably a minority of their student body by setting up safe cry zones over the recent election, and offering free counseling for any little disappointment or bump in the road? Again, student popularity plays a factor. The concept that schools exist to serve their clientele, i.e. the students, dictates the policy that whatever the clientele wants, they should get. Somewhere along the path the concept that schools exist to educate and develop students into more competent and competitive adults has slipped off the radar.

There is a rule in cooking that says one needs to start with good products, and have good tools, and talent to make fine food. It seems to me that education is no different. If we are to turn out world class graduates we need to start with fully competent high school graduates, have the proper classroom tools and equipment, and qualified and talented instructors/professors/administrators. Then and only then will our graduates be able to take their place in the world venues.

Since our two professors agree that they are starting with inferior product, I talked to some high school teachers and administrators about whether or not they agree and if so, why that condition exists. Some of these people are actively teaching and some are retired. The response was a resounding agreement with the professors. The reasons were also uniform. Weak administration that has never been properly trained to lead. Teachers that are hindered by arbitrary programs and policies and politics. Teachers not allowed to maintain control and discipline in the class room. And, ill-conceived national programs such as “Common Core”, and “No Child Left Behind”. The end result are students moving on to college without the proper grounding and if expected to deal with normal college curriculum would be certain to fail. These contacts were also uniformly against the trend in schools to offer more and more non-educational programs such as before and after school child care, more meals, and expensive sports programs all siphoning off money needed in classrooms.

So, it seems to me that we need to get the federal government out of our schools. We need to establish required leadership training for administrators at all levels of education from K-12 to PhD programs. We need to establish control in the classrooms and if parents don’t like it that is just too bad. Kids that are violent in the classroom should be remitted to juvenile detention and removed from classrooms.

Certainly, there are other issues contributing to our slippage in educational quality, but those are for another day.

Ken Vincent
Ken Vincenthttp://sbpra.com/KennethVincent/
KEN is a 46 year veteran hotelier and entrepreneur. Formerly owned two hotels, an advertising agency, a wholesale tour company, a POS company, a leasing company, and a hotel management company. The hotels included chain owned, franchises, and independents. They ranged in type from small luxury inns, to limited service properties, to large convention hotels and resorts. After retiring he authored a book, “So Many Hotels, So Little Time” in which he relates what life is like behind the scenes for a hotel manager. Ken operated more that 100 hotels and resorts in the US and Caribbean and formed eight companies. He is a firm believer that senior management should share their knowledge and experience with the next generation of management.

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CONVERSATIONS

  1. I love that this article is research-based, even with a small sampling. I suspect that the feedback from these educators is echoed by most. Being an educator, I was trained in research and the use of evidence-based data. But evidence alone is just that, as Ken points out here. Two critical elements are missing – leadership and common sense. It is sad for a country that can be better. Great article, Ken.

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