2 x 2 = 4

When my son was deciding where to go to college for undergraduate school, we looked at a number of universities which were offering him scholarship money. Some of these schools were pricey, with tuition pushing the $30,000.00/year range. Of course, the scholarship money would drop the price down to fifteen grand, but geez.

He decided to attend Youngstown State because the tuition was substantially cheaper, and the scholarship money went much farther, not to mention the quality of education at YSU is second to none. But at the end of the day, why would anyone pay $30,000.00 for freshman English, Math, and History? We did not regret our choice.

President Obama alluded to making education one of his priorities. Who can argue with that? Public education in this country is pitiful. But in typical liberal fashion, his intent is to throw gobs of money at the problem. That has never been the solution, and never will be the solution. The Feds have been throwing money at education for years, and it is never enough. Education has become a sink hole of experimentation, molly coddling, and collapsing discipline. Administrators beget more administrators who beget school psychologists who beget vice principals who beget new math….ad infinitum.

A friend of mine who is a product of Catholic education (me, also, for 2 years) pointed out that when he was in Catholic grade school, there were 55…I repeat 55….students in a class with a nun or a lay teacher who lacked full certification. Yet these schools produced college bound students by the bushel full. Those students learned. How? Good old fashion teaching techniques. I remember taking home stacks of mimeographed homework sheets with tables upon tables of math problems. We did hours of homework night after night after night. And we learned.

Today, homework is a dirty word. Too much is a bad thing. And learning has to be fun. Teachers are supposed to be entertainers, baby sitters for mainstreamed special needs students, be on the lookout for drugs, worry about whether the students have had breakfast, not allowed to fail the student let alone discipline a student for misbehavior. The teacher is dealing with cell phones and I-pods, scared to death that someone is secretly videotaping him/her. And in the middle of this circus, they are supposed to teach.

So here is a little secret for President Obama. 2 x 2 = 4, whether it is in a magnificent classroom or in a log cabin. You see, it isn’t the surroundings or the degrees of certification or the number of administrators filling out bureaucratic forms that teach a student. It is hard work, repetition and discipline. Those things are free. You can pour all the billions of dollars you want into our school systems, black, white, or purple…inner city or suburban. The only way you can learn 2 x 2 = 4 is to memorize it. Until all of these educated geniuses learn that, we are screwed, and the country should open the gates so the Indians and Chinese who understand what hard work education is can come into the country for the jobs our little darlin’s can’t fill.

Like I said, why pay top dollar for freshman English.