Like many other school districts, my local Coeur d’Alene, Idaho School District is working chiefly to protect its pet initiatives, and central bureaucracy. With a brazen shamelessness, our School Board and District Superintendent, abetted by the Teacher’s Union and our biggest local newspaper, are trying to overcome their defeat in the March election by a re-vote in the May election. They have done this many times before.
These expert school leaders know better than anyone what students need; just ask them! They will never, ever admit to error or graciously accept a public rebuke. Like all would be Revolutionaries, they are thoroughly dedicated to accruing ever more control over the rest of us in order to implement their utopian visions.
Expect that they will hold hostage every desirable aspect of life in their public schools. Courses in art, drama, music, and other electives as well as sports, clubs, libraries, technology, and other discretionary extracurricular activities are all now being menaced.
Advocates of the status quo are blaming all of this risk on Neanderthal “NO!” voters who just hate kids, love ignorance, and yearn to burn books. They cry to the high heavens, “Won’t someone please think of the children?!”
These lying hypocrites are the decision-makers who exclusively have the power to hold enriching activities hostage. With all the civic-mindedness of an addict looking for his next fix, they will stop at nothing to abuse their authority to induce panic in the public. Any means is acceptable to ensure a “YES!” vote.
None of the truly desirable aspects of a healthy school need suffer. Not one sport, club, or class need be eliminated. The problem is not money, but rather the priorities of those who have been permitted to run our schools.
Imagine schools without their bureaucracy, their initiatives, and their control. What would schools trimmed of these expert pedagogues be like?
Imagine a Superintendent’s Office with only those staff needed to manage the district budget allocations to each school, and protect the district from nuisance lawsuits. One Superintendent, one Deputy Superintendent, a consulting lawyer, a Chief Accountant, and a tight and efficient staff of clerks could perform this minimalist mission.
School Principals would be empowered to administer their schools semi-independently. Within the school, the Principal would determine budget allocation, lead facilities maintenance, administer student discipline, and manage staff supervision.
Assisted by an able Assistant Principal or three, depending upon school size, the school would be the Principal’s semi-independent fiefdom. Each school would compete for kids with a distinct approach to every operational matter. Parents could express confidence or no confidence in each school by keeping or moving their child or teen from a less to a more optimal environment.
Similarly, teachers would be free to innovate everything from curricula to lesson planning and assessment. No longer would teachers be forced into lowest-common-denominator common assessments. No more would people outside their classroom control instruction or classroom management.
Decisions would be made as close to the student and the family as possible, by teachers and Principals in the field. There would be no place for grand plans of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” which undermine a colorblind meritocracy.
No longer would teachers be forced to teach students of all ability levels in the same room at the same time. Student self-tracking would allow for teaching methods to match the broad characteristics of every type of individual student.
No more would expert-designed curricula guide instruction. Teachers would each experiment with the best methods for them and their kids in their classrooms this year.
Unions would be shut out of the equation as teachers were restored to their true identity as independent professionals. Teachers would be accountable for results. Ineffective teachers would be counselled, then fired. Good teachers would be freer than ever to be their personal best.
The illusion of pseudo-scientific educational research would be debunked. Instead, the subjective judgment and common sense of empowered educators working with families would be the fulcrum of most important choices.
Special education services would be controlled similarly, as close to the student as possible. The ideological component of many special services would be replaced by empowered staff who know each person determining how best to practically serve each individual.
No more would the districtwide stratagems and coordinated teacher training programs of visionary Superintendents dominate policymaking. No one would be left with the job description of warping faculty and staff from what they naturally are into the most currently fashionable ideologically correct mold.
Imagine schools devoted to genuinely educating children and teens to become productive Americans, without reference to social engineering and central control. Students, parents, classroom teachers, and school Principals would make the vast majority of important decisions about every aspect of education.
The central district office would be returned to a purely supporting role; supporting the innovating creativity of those closest to each student. Superintendents would exist to assist educators in the field, and not engage in political tilting at windmills. Certainly, there would be no role for a District Media Director, not under any circumstances.
One need not really imagine these wonders. This is the way the vast majority of U.S. schools used to be. Students from such schools won the World Wars, went to the Moon, and led the Civil Rights movement.
During my lifetime, an unholy alliance of educational theorists, Left-wing ideologues, power-hungry careerists, and connected Union bosses have captured most American public schools. The COVID pandemic exposed their character to many. Because of this, Americans are awakening to how bad things have become.
The cult of the visionary educational expert can be fought and defeated. If, and only if, well-intentioned and interested citizens challenge these leaders and their propaganda, control, funding, and their very legitimacy, our schools can once again be ours! Students, families, citizens, and even teachers deserve nothing less!
