The 49th Annual PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward Public School was released. It finds that those surveyed apparently don’t realize what school is for – education, not social services.
92 percent of Americans support after-school programs.
The Atlantic reports:
“When it comes to judging a school’s quality, what matters most? A new poll suggests the American public puts a premium on offerings outside of traditional academics, including career-focused education, developing students’ interpersonal skills, and providing after-school programs and mental-health care.”
Education reformers have been pushing career technical education (CTE) and social-emotional learning and now we have a poll that shows Americans are eating the crap sandwich with a smile.
- 82 percent believes that public schools should provide career-related classes while 86 percent believe they should provide a certificate or licensure program.
- 92 percent believe public schools should provide after-school programs.
- 87 percent believe public schools should provide mental health services for students in need.
- 79 percent believe public schools should provide general health services for students in need.
- 65 percent believe public schools should provide dental services for students in need.
- 76 percent believe public schools are justified in seeking additional money to pay for it.
- 36 percent believe public schools helping students learn skills like being cooperative, respectful of others, and persistent at solving problems is the most important factor in school quality.
This is disturbing, but then you look at the methodology. Less than half of the respondents are parents of school-aged children (636 out of 1588). Why did they intentionally ask for the youngest adult of the household? How many of these respondents pay school taxes? How many were single parent households? How many who are dependent upon government assistance?
Polls like this will be touted by education reformers to further push their agenda and take drive us in a direction that will not improve the quality of public education, but toward replacing the family with the local school.
Schools struggle with teaching reading and math so we want them to take on additional social services too? That doesn’t make sense.
Written by Shane Vander Hart and published by Truth in American Education ~ September 1, 2017.
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This reliance on tax-supported schools to supply social services at the expense of literacy and critical thinking skills is a symptom of what I call “feral children of feral parents”. These are children whose parents have little or no knowledge or experience of spiritual or philosophical values. These are shallow people who embrace largesse without giving the slightest thought to whom they are surrendering their children.