As the world moves solidly into the 21st century, education in America appears to be headed to the 19th. Teachers and the country’s public school system have been targeted by political conservatives who seek to cut salaries and job security for unionized teachers while diverting taxpayer dollars to parochial, religious and private schools. The latter is justified under the banner of “choice” but it’s clear that the real agenda is the dismantling of the public school system, along with federal mandates and the U.S. Department of Education.
As this political and social struggle plays out, domestic student test scores are stagnant, and remain well below those of many countries. At the same time India, China, the countries of Europe and other nations are rapidly educating scientists, engineers and high-tech professionals to fill the needs of a digital world, while simultaneously offering attractive tax and low labor cost incentives for American companies to shift such jobs overseas. Thus not only is America falling behind in education, but graduating students in the U.S. cannot find jobs at home.
Most people assume that these developments are simply unfortunate byproducts of decades of poor educational policy combined with changing global economics and as such are not intended; but this assumption is a mistake. The truth is our educational policies are working perfectly as intended, but not for students.
Thirty five years ago, French social theorist Michel Foucault clearly explained how institutional and political systems create and sustain unequal power relationships. His analysis of the prison system, for example, explains why a continuously greater proportion of taxpayer dollars get allocated to prisons; the prison industry (law enforcement, construction and management) all profit through the creation of a permanent criminal class and growing population of inmates. The prison system is not about protecting society or criminal rehabilitation, rather about protecting systemic power and wealth. Thus to understand our educational system, we must avoid the common narrative and determine who and what benefits from our “dysfunctional” system.
A recent Carnegie Corporation study indicates that a quarter of our graduating high school students lack a basic understanding of American democracy, how government is structured and operates. Accordingly, uneducated voters participate in elections that are little more than high-cost “beauty contests” filled with fluff but no substance. This benefits a political class delighted with the accumulation of wealth and power; 44% of congress are millionaires vs. 1% of America as a whole.
Not surprisingly, America’s largest corporations and multinationals, looking for compliant workers and citizens lacking critical thinking skills, also benefit from the status quo. As the union movement in America is eviscerated and jobs sent overseas, insuring that most of those entering the U.S. workforce submissively accept what corporations offer is the actual goal of education, and it is succeeding brilliantly. Thus we can see that American education is not failing, it’s working perfectly for those with wealth and power who benefit handsomely from a system that supports, maintains and expands their position of privilege.
When we assume that the purpose of education is to create well-informed citizens who understand public policy and governance, have well developed critical thinking skills, see a clear path to secure meaningful careers and wish to make a positive contribution to the world, we indulge in the common fantasy. Sadly, the reality of education in America today is far darker.
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