Race to Idiocy

Tonight, the Fond du Lac School District will host a screening of a documentary entitled "Race To Nowhere".  According to a press release from the district, the film "examines the colossal price being paid by today's students for the achievement-obsessed way of life that permeates America."  I haven't been able to screen the entire film--but what I see in the trailers available on a website promoting the film is enough to set off plenty of alarm bells.

Editor's note--I don't have video editing software available--so here is the entire trailer containing segments that were played as part of the radio version today:

http://www.racetonowhere.com/trailers-clips

For the most part, the film attacks President Bush's No Child Left Behind and President Obama's Race to the Top programs--both of which require testing of children to make sure that they are meeting minimum standards of learning in the classroom.  Tests this teacher believes are unfair to kids.........

I love it when those on the left get caught exposing their hidden racism--"children of color just aren't 'wired' to take tests like white kid."  Now I want you to listen to that again--but this time substitute the word "accountability" for the word "testing", as that's really what a test is--holding a student accountable for learning something in the classroom.............. 

This teacher says requiring children to learn the fundamentals of education makes school "no fun"........

OH MY GOD!!!!!  A child in high school having to take TWO MATH CLASSES!!!  Where is Child Protective Services?  Seriously, isn't math the second most important aspect of education behind reading?  You'd hate to have kids with the fundamentals of good math before going to their science or economics classes--might ask educated questions about global warming or Keynsian Economic Theory.

And then you have this teacher who thinks competition in the classroom is a bad thing...........

So you're saying that using proper grammar, spellling words correctly and accurately adding up numbers makes you "a robot".  And isn't "real life" about production?  I'm expected to produce news stories every day.  You might be expected to produce accurate financial ledgers or military vehicles that can handle a rough Afghan road without falling apart.  And as for competition, you might want kids to learn that those who "produce" better--tend to get paid better too.

And then we have this teacher--who apparently believes that America doesn't need to be the best-educated country in the world...............

Really, they hate every minute of being school?  Are you sure they don't hate not being able to play video games all day?  Or texting their friends down the street all day?  Or sleeping all day and "hanging out" all night?  Of course, with instructors telling them how crappy their education system is all day--I guess I can see why kids wouldn't want to be there.  I should also note that footage of kids "studying" in this film show a good number of them with their I-Pod earbuds in.  Apparently listening to a little Lady Gaga makes Shakespeare easier to understand.

So after bashing the "achievement based" education system, the filmmakers must get around to "what we need to do to fix this"--since holding kids, teachers and parents accountable is so unacceptable.  The answer?  No surprise here--it's SPEND MORE MONEY!!!!.................

Given that "Race to Nowhere" is being screened at Fond du Lac High School tonight, the District and the School Board must be giving some tacit endorsement of the message it contains.  So I'm hoping that parents will take the time to go down to the event--sit through the 90-minutes of rhetoric and then ask some tough questions of school officials who are on hand.  I would also hope that they make it clear that around here, we want accountability for the hundreds of millions of dollars that are spent on education--and that we don't want our kids to learn that "just showing up" and "at least try" are good enough in life.

And by the way, there is a $15 cover charge at the door--the proceeds of which are not listed in the press release.