By Mecca Fowler
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed here are those of the authors. View more opinion on ScoonTV.
The K-12 education system is severely failing. There are several reasons for this. They include; teachers more interested in indoctrinating children and pushing their agendas than actually teaching, parents transparently seeing the agendas their children are learning and subsequently becoming more involved in their children’s education, teachers putting their feelings over the wellbeing of their students, and the rise in popularity of alternative education options.
In the last few years, it appears the American education system and many educators, in general, do not have the student’s best interest at heart or the forefront of their curriculums. This is not to lump all educators together, as there are still good educators who take pride in their jobs and do what’s best for their students. However, there has been a noticeable trend among educators putting their needs and comfort before students and blatantly pushing their agendas within schools to indoctrinate them.
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting stay-at-home orders gave parents a sobering look into what their children were being taught in schools. While parents were forced to work from home, their children were forced to learn from home, and parents were able to transparently see what their children were learning. Whereas parents may have been less involved in their children’s education before, they were now fully engaged.
At the same time, the fatigue and burnout of remote learning affected students and their education. There were publicly available reports that showed the negative impacts of remote learning on students. There were also reports that children were at low risk of becoming severely ill with COVID-19. When conservative parents took notice and some wanted schools reopened, some teachers and their unions protested and fought them every step of the way. The way the teachers abandoned their jobs because of their feelings of COVID-19 hysteria and sacrificed students’ education while there was clear evidence for them to get back to the classroom shows that they do not truly care about their students. One Chicago Teachers Union representative even vacationed in Puerto Rico all while urging her colleagues to refuse to show up for their jobs in protest of schools being “unsafe” during COVID-19.
The agenda to indoctrinate children has been persistent and brazen, leading to parents stepping up to object at school board meetings as well. Educators are so arrogant about willing their beliefs and ideology over students that they have been caught on camera describing the lengths they have gone through to indoctrinate students. Starting last week, controversial undercover investigative journalist group Project Veritas highlighted three different instances of educators speaking about their jobs and how they peddle agendas for their ideological fulfillment.
All of this insanity has led to a tidal wave of conservatives speaking up more at school boards, forming right-wing parent groups such as Moms For Liberty, running for school board positions, and some parents taking their children out of public education altogether.
Conservative parents believe there is a lot lacking in regular public schools. This has led to falling enrollment, another reason that public education is failing. Approximately 1 million children have left public schools since the start of the pandemic and have not returned.
Additionally, homeschooling is still on the rise despite schools reopening. Families who may have chosen to homeschool since the pandemic began instead of hurriedly putting together remote learning programs have stayed with it for a variety of reasons. Factors such as health issues, dissatisfaction with school regulations, and/or a desire to hold onto what has been successful for their children all played critical roles in them continuing to teach their children. Some parents are seeking out alternative schooling options such as charter schools. Nearly 240,000 new students enrolled in charter schools between 2020-2021.
The rise in awareness of conservatives demanding “school choice” is also a factor that is shaking up the education landscape. School choice frees up public education funding to be used to send students to private schools. It gives parents options over their children’s schooling whether they attend a public school, a private school, a charter school, a home school, etc. Opponents of the measure argue they shouldn’t use public taxpayer money to fund private schools, and that defunding public schools is what’s leading to the troubles at public schools.
In conclusion, there is a significant change in the culture of America brewing regarding how education is being handled. The increasing awareness that parents have of what is going on in classrooms has significantly contributed to this shift. Educators have exacerbated an already failing system with their politicized curriculum and actions. I predict that as more parents continue to wake up to the heaping mess that is public education, enrollment numbers will continue to drop.
The system was already failing before these last few years. However, the opportunity for large numbers of parents to sit with students and observe their education first hand due to COVID-19 lockdowns has unleashed uncontainable energy within parents to stand up for their children.
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