MONTANA — Greetings from the Big Sky Country.
Thank you, Mark. And thank you for dropping by to listen.
I’ve got something special for you today.
It’s a song and I’m going to sing it.
Are you ready?
“Don’t know much about history.
Don’t know much biology.
Don’t know much about a science book.
Okay. Okay. Okay!
I’ll stop.
I grant you the original version of “Wonderful World” by Sam Cooke may sound just a little tiny bit better than my version.
Okay, a lot better.
I’ll include a link to his version of the song in the transcript.
Before you start dissing my vocal skills, however, I should point out that Sam Cooke had a slight advantage over me.
He sang “Wonderful World” as a love song.
Yeah, I know.
History, Biology, Science … what does that have to do with a love song?
But you know how popular love songs are. So the song was released in 1960 and became a big hit and made him a bunch of money.
I, on the other hand, was trying to sing this as an observation on the state of education in America today.
And you know how unpopular songs about education are.
Oh sure, maybe his voice is a little better than mine as well, but I won’t dwell on that.
Instead, I’ll get right to my story.
In the past decade, high school graduation rates have increased. That is good news.
And student grades (GPAs) have gone up. That is also good news.
Unfortunately, test scores have gone down.
How can that be?
In 2018, the Program for International Student Assessment found that U.S. students ranked 11th in science and 30th in math out of 79 countries.
The 2019 NAEP Exam indicated that only 24% of seniors scored at or above “proficient” in math. If my arithmetic is correct that means 76% of seniors scored below “proficient” in math. Only 37% of seniors scored at or above “proficient” in reading.
I’ve got a question for you.
Why do we have schools?
Nationally we spend almost $15,000 per year per student for our children to attend school. And yet many of those students leave school after thirteen years of sitting in classrooms without the ability to read well, or write well, or do math, or know history, or have any understanding of real science.
What happens if students don’t learn
So what happens if students don’t learn those things?
Won’t that impact their futures?
How will they get into college?
How will they get jobs?
Many colleges and universities have decided to help those students who’ve come out of our K-12 schools not knowing stuff by eliminating the SAT and ACT as part of their admissions process.
Those are tests were designed to measure what students have learned.
So rather than get on the K-12 schools for not teaching well, many colleges have decided to ignore students’ lack of skills.
What a creative solution.
I read an article a couple of days ago that the American Bar Association is recommending law schools don’t use the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) any more. That test was administered to college graduates who wanted to become lawyers.
Why did they do that?
It seems colleges are having the same problem our K-12 schools are having. The students aren’t learning.
We would never … ever … ever … say the teachers aren’t teaching.
No. It’s definitely the students fault. They aren’t learning.
Which means that test to get into law school is just too hard for many students.
The solution?
Don’t give the test.
Problem solved.
Which brings me back to the song I began with.
Too many of our students today don’t know much about history, geography, science, foreign languages, math, or any subject that one would have expected to have been taught in school.
But there is a real solution.
Rather than just throwing cash to the local public schools, let parents decide where their children go to school.
Tell your state legislators to give vouchers to families of each student.
If your state is willing to spend up to $15,000 per student, the families should decide where that money goes.
Make schools compete for the right to teach your children.
Whether those schools are public schools, charter schools, private schools, or homeschools, if schools have to persuade you to entrust your child to them, I think there will quickly be a dramatic improvement in education.
And if your state does that, then you won’t have to listen to me sing that song ever again.
There is a short video I think you might enjoy. “A Milenial Job Interview” has been viewed by more than 12 million people and presents an interesting take on our world today.
It’s less than 3 minutes long but I think you will find it fascinating.
Here are links to some other things that I found interesting recently.
“Couple Gets Pulled Over by a Cop.” You gotta watch this.
“The Age of Experts” by Joel Bowman. The world is too complicated for us ordinary people, so we must rely on experts to tell us what to believe. It’s a good thing all our experts are so honest and trustworthy.
“VIDEO: Couple Touched With Viola Player’s Serenade for Their 67th Wedding Anniversary” by Louise Bevan.
“Mom Learns She Can Homeschool Her Autistic Daughter With Patience, Love, and Consistency” by Louise Bevan.
Before I go I’d like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.
“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)
Until next time … be the reason someone smiles today!
Clint
Hey, I volunteer to do vocals for you for free! Loved this message 💕