Education should be and was 95 percent a local thing, not dominated by federal bureaucrats and pressured state lackeys that could not “teach a dog to chew a bone.” Every president and governor now has the “reform virus.” They spout some key baloney platitude and spend millions more until the next “visionary” arrives with his or her mystical solution. Zero experience in the real world of teaching/learning but these politicians all have the “solution” that always flounders. How about backing way off for a decade and see how that works?

Recently the government monster has deemed teachers and administrators will be paid somewhat by “student achievement.” This, of course, is nonsense. Swimming upstream against cultural decay, bad parenting and “make it work” edicts, teachers in big cities with huge minority populations have already been caught cheating on the almighty government “achievement tests.”

Principals got caught helping rig scores because nobody wants to accept the reality that for generations students got what they earned and earned what they got. We accept failure as a sports or business option because that is reality. The enemy in education is always reality.

It must be avoided at all costs or the heavy hand of government will slap you around. American business constantly whines about the quality of their new high school graduates.

I wonder why.

Until American students are given what they earn, sent home when they disrupt those caring to learn and that government-mandated pile of fantasy paperwork is cut out … expect more painful reality denial.

Doug Schexnayder

Vidalia resident and retired educator