The View From 1776

Commenting on the following two quotations from the Wall Street Journal that appeared in Democrats Consider the Fascist Option, Mr. Becker gives us observations from the playing field that contradict the amateur theories from the sky boxes.

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. . . Democrats, [Gene Sperling, a Democratic cabinet-secretary-in-waiting] says, must figure out what government can do to encourage business to create more middle-class jobs in the U.S.

     . . . [Robert Reich, the former Clinton labor secretary], recites a familiar list: trade policy, industrial policy-- overnment attempts to influence the flow of capital toward promising industries and companies--antitrust, publicly financed research and development, and stronger trade unions.

The best thing that Democrats and government can do is to not mess with the economy. The real need is a return to the concepts that existed prior to the infamous “Great Society” of the Johnson era that created the dependence on government to provide that which people provided for themselves, especially with regard to creating more middle class jobs in the US.

Creating middle class jobs, rather than a bureaucratic government program, is to create an educated and skilled direct labor workforce that existed in the past by returning to the education concepts that existed prior to the late ‘60s when education was replaced by the current failed scholing system. A time when the focus of the schools was on creating an educated populace, exposed to college and vocational options alike for which graduates were academically prepared for a post-secondary program of their own choice, rather than “college only”! A major reason American manufacturing could not compete, and became “obsolete smokestack industry” was the lack of an educated and skilled direct labor workforce capable of gaining the requisite skills and knowledge applied in the direct labor workplace.

As for the “stronger unions"  envision by Robert Reich, unions are part of the U.S. economic problems. They demanded maximum pay and benefits in return for minimum output in quantity and quality. The result will be American items less competative and affordable due to high labor costs per item; low productivty. Unions were against the replacement of manually operated machine tools when CNC (Computer Numerical Control) began replacing manually operated machines in 1977. Their concern was the loss of jobs. Machining and manufacturing jobs were lost because American manufacturing failed to jump on the CNC bandwagon as did the Japanese and other overseas companies.

MATH EDUCATION QUALITY BETTER, LESS COSTLY, IN THE PAST
Richard Becker, Graphic Image Education Reform, Broomfield, CO

As spending on schools has been increasing, there has been a growing number of high school graduates who require high school remedial work as college freshmen, along with enrollees in vocational and technical programs in this era of computerized machining and manufacturing that has replaced manually operated machines since the mid ‘70s.

To illustrate that education quality was better prior to the mid ‘60s, when spending was less, a 1951 second edition textbook MACHINE SHOP MATHEMATICS for high school graduates as vocational and apprenticeship students seeking machinist skills and knowledge. Chapter 1 Shop Arithmetic states in the opening paragraph that “Arithmetic is the basis for all mathematics”. The last paragraph states: “This chapter will deal with a review of the principles involved in the solution of shop problems concerned only with fractions and decimal fractions, since it is assumed that those who will use this text will have mastered the four fundamental operations as applied to whole numbers” ; addition, subtraction, multiplication and division! (emphasis added). Chapter 7 Geometric Construction teaches geometric principles as the basis of machine drawings. Chapter 8 Shop Trigonometry states: “Trigonometry, as far as the apprentice is concerned, deals with the solution of right and oblique triangles. He will find many applications of trigonometry in his daily work, especially angle boring and tapering”. It addresses the solution to problems using the trig tables or the Pythagorean theorem.

If non-college students of the early ‘50s were well versed in arithmetic in elementary school prior to high school graduation, to the extent they needed only a review, it can be assumed that students going to college in the early ‘50s were also properly taught arithmetic as the basis for all mathematics. Conversely, if high school graduates as college students require elementary school arithmetic, it can then be assumed that non-college students are also lacking in arithmetic as required for machining and manufacturing skills.
However, the sixth edition of a college textbook, first published in 1969 shortly after the infamous “new math” was created and imposed to “improve math education”, is titled ARITHMETIC FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS. It was published in 1991, shelved on a college bookstore on 5-5-94, and covers the identical elementary school arithmetic properly taught prior to the mid ‘60s when school spending was less than today. If college students of today need elementary arithmetic, then non-college students as vocational and technical students are logically also deficient in that important basis for all mathematics!

Citing a study by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a Rocky Mountain News editorial of 11-25-96 ("Wanted: real math teachers") noted that “one fourth of all teachers in secondary schools lack even a minor in their fields”! It further notes that 40% of math teachers lack proper training, and 30% of science teachers are unqualified. That explains the recurring problem of American students in math and science falling behind students in other nations. Another RMN editorial of May 15, 2005 “Straight talk on Math” notes that “colorado students get worse at math the longer they stay in school.....”!

A U.S. News & World Report of 9-1-75 notes that “.....money spent per pupil has more than doubled” from $484 to $1,255 K-12 in ten years. Using the inflation calculator (http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl) from the CPI website, the $484 per student in 1965 translates to $3,117.57 and the 1975 increase translates to $4,733.08 in 2006 dollars. And, teachers and school officials clamor for more spending for “literacy programs” to improve education as quality has declined despite increased spending.

A contributing factor, teacher education failures: the key is a return to the teacher education concepts that existed prior to the mid ‘60s when the current schooling system was created to replace the previous education system that served many generations quite well. The mind cannot function without a strong academic base imparted via academic instruction. The human mind is basically an organic computer of potentially infinite capacity. Unless it is loaded with quality academic “software” to create an “operating system” for thinking and reasoning ability, and establish an academic data base of facts and knowledge on which to draw when arriving at a conclusion based on data input from the senses, it cannot function any better than an electronic computer lacking proper software. If academic information is not downloaded, and installed via drilling in the facts and knowledge, it cannot be effectively applied. The computer industry axiom GIGO (garbage in=garbage out) applies. This is true whether the individual is attending college, a vocational school, technical school, entering the workforce, or just getting along in life after high school graduation.

(Copyright 2000 by Richard Becker, Graphic Image Education Reform)

As a prospective teacher in college ‘60-’65, this writer knows from experience that all prospective teachers of that era were required to declare a major and a minor in a teaching field, if not a double major. In addition to intensive course instructional requirements in the chosen field, each field included teaching methods known to be effective in instructing students, and education testing, measurement and evaluation. A prerequisite were general education courses including basic principles of education testing, measurement and evaluation essential to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. Considering the vehement opposition to the CSAP test, it is obvious that teachers since the mid ‘60s have not only been improperly educated in a subject area, but also not educated in evaluation principles. It was the lack of testing and evaluation since the mid ‘60s that has resulted in high school graduates require high school remedial work, in any capacity, because the problems were not caught and addressed.

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