46%

Ed u cation.  Now there's an interesting subject if ever there was one.  Someone ran the numbers for this state the other day and discovered only 46% of the kids in our local high schools manage to graduate in four years. 

The next picture, on our almost brand new HDTV, was one of an educator explaining the numbers are a little off.  There are SO very many more requirements these days, he complained, it is taking the kids five years to graduate.  What the heck is that all about??  High school is high school, and if 46% of the kids can do it in four years, there can't be that many more requirements these days. His lame excuse doesn't pass the smell test, in my opinion. I'm guessing he is in some sort of supervisory position, but lacks the brains required to make a decent excuse for failure. 

The kids I've met around these parts are pretty well behaved, exuberant examples of the everyday, garden variety, kids I hung out with every day of my teen years.  They seem to be of average intelligence, respect old fogies like us, and are full of life and curiosity.  What has occurred that makes them take five years to graduate instead of the four it took the youngsters of my generation?  Ya think maybe it might be us?

How is it this great nation of ours has gone so wrong it is incapable of educating our children?  May the good Lord help us, they are the future.  They will move this nation forward, continue this experiment in self government, and pay the taxes that provide funds to support us in our old age.  Why have we failed so miserably?  When I grew up, we were going to send a man to the moon.  My President promised me that and I believed him.  Jeeze, a little later, I even helped.   Now, my president can't manage to keep a promise to balance the budget.  Do any of our Senators and Congressmen even have checkbooks these days?  Do they have enough grasp on reality to realize checkbooks need balancing every now and again? 

Sorry, that's a different rant, and this one's supposed to be about education.  Must be something I ate. 

I have two nieces, daughters of my next younger brother, who are teachers.  If they are representative of the profession, it's not their fault the kids can't learn.  Neither of them are lazy, they are not dumb, and they both answered that calling because they wanted to make a difference in the lives of small people.  Not because they couldn't make it in the "real world."   Let's look instead at the parents.

Now here's a sorry bunch, and the ones most often criticized by the teachers.  "How can I teach a child without the aid of the parents?",  you'll hear the educators ask.  Well, here's the answer to that particular query.  Ya can't, but the parents are worn out.  After both of them have put in a hard day at whatever work they must do to feed and clothe the youngsters, they are just plain TIRED.  Worn out by the effort to make ends meet, keep up, pay the bills.  When I grew up, it took only one income to do these things.  One parent was left at home to mind the place and raise the kids.  That's what wrong these days, nobody home. The kids are raising themselves, and computer games are much more engaging than Copernicus.

I can get upset with the situation, the educators can say it's someone else's fault, and the parents can complain about the quality of education forever.  It won't help.  All that will help is to pay one member of the family, either the male or female member, enough to support that most basic unit of civilization, the family.  Also, the other parent, either male or female, must be satisfied with the role of "parent" and realize it is one of the most important of professions.  Somehow, it's importance has been minimized in our society.

There's a reason for that, but that's also another rant - the ruling class requires the labor of all the males and females in this country to support them.  One of these days, when I'm feeling a little more suicidal, I'll expand on this thought.  A little whisky might be just what it'll take for that topic, remind me to buy some. 

Without the aid, comfort and example set by an adult human being during most of the waking hours, children will grow up a little off.  And, when they are out on their own, members of our civilization in addition to being members of their families, our civilization will be a little off.  Until we can somehow turn back the clock to the days of Richie and Fonzie, when one parent was present, this nation is gonna lose more and more of it's standing in the world.  People are gonna get meaner, and the kids?  Well, they're just gonna be lost.  May Heaven help us and them - that's already happened.