The problems in schools

“The problems in schools”, Carmel Pine Cone – Sept. 1, 2023

I worked as an educator for 20 years in two very disparate districts, Los Angeles and Carmel. I had the privilege, in both places, of working with extraordinary teachers, counselors, and administrators in partnership with many wonderful students and parents. These educators were creative, positive forces in their students’ lives. They cared deeply about each other as an individual and were usually treated as professionals who knew the best way to educate these soon-to-be adults. They worked with their strengths and weaknesses, special talents, and the varying interests that all humans possess.

The new math curriculum, among other new education policies, is being forced upon schools by the socialist elites in Sacramento are the beginning of the end for a good public education. These evil forces, and I do not use that word lightly, will not stop until they centralize and control every last aspect of life and choice made by the citizens of California. This governor and legislature, with support from large teachers’ unions, are attempting to erase all individuality of teachers and students, turning educators and those they mentor into robots attending “Stepford” schools and being required to follow a path chosen for them.

A good teacher can change a life for the better and it will take strong local communities to stand up for students and their unique individualism. Municipal leaders proved too weak to demand local control on issues of housing. School boards and parents need the courage to dissent and refuse to let ivory tower know-nothings dictate what a community wants in their schools.

If that does not happen, what can a parent do but remove their children from public school. A heartbreaking but necessary action as out-of-touch, self-serving bureaucrats deserve no say in the education and future of your children.

Lauren Cohen, Monterey