Getting back to school
The second August issue is a stark reminder the summer vacation season is over, and the new scholastic year is getting underway. With today’s publication of the School Bus Schedule the reality the summer is waning comes into full focus.
This week as well area colleges are accepting students back into dorms, and welcoming incoming freshmen for their next four-year educational stint. To all, from first graders to incoming college seniors or post-graduates, we offer our best wishes for the new year and the hopes they fulfill their goals in the next nine months.
Education is a topic in the news and much on the minds of parents who have children of school age. And the question comes up, “What is the goal of education?” In the 1890s it was simple. The National Education Association, the nation’s oldest teachers’ union announced the goal was to promote “saleable skills” for students to succeed in the workplace and in adult life.
Over the decades the place of schools has expanded, some would say it has evolved into realms that were never intended for classrooms. To a certain extent we agree with that assessment. School is not a replacement for parental or adult supervision and parents and guardians have a right and responsibility to instill their ethical and religious values onto their children.
Schools are the place to learn “saleable skills,” reading, writing and arithmetic among them. Schools are not the place to determine cultural mores or ideologies. It is becoming increasingly evident that many in education are more interested in social engineering than promoting core skills to help students succeed.
This is not to condemn all teachers or administrators, but it is obvious even here in Connecticut there are so-called educators who believe they can and must convey ideas or ideologies as part of their pedagogy. They should stay in their lane and not use the classroom as a bully pulpit.
Education took a hit with the Covid panic of 2020, and students were the victims. There must be an increased effort to teach basics. For example, we are encouraged that phonics, a once-maligned part of language arts, is once again taught in many places, including those that discarded the subject as “old fashioned.” Reading scores are improving with its re-implementation.
The woke mentality of every educational discipline being a symbol of racism is on the way, and none too soon. It should be cast upon the ash heap of history.
That said, we reiterate our hopes that students entering the classroom in the next few days will be encouraged, advance and prosper in the new term. They are the future of the city, state, and nation, and should be given the skills necessary to succeed.
A reminder to drivers
Meanwhile, a word to drivers. With school buses now taking up their precious cargoes, we urge drivers to be more careful. Anecdotally, we have seen what are increasing incidents of cars ignoring the buses’ red lights, skirting the vehicles.
This is, unfortunately, a symptom of the bigger problem of drivers running red lights, turning at intersections clearly marked as “no turn on red,” and disregarding posted limits.
With children on the streets waiting for buses, the need for vigilance is paramount. As the signs on the highway note, “When speed is involved, there is no such thing as an accident.”
Slow down, be careful.