Assembly Line Model for Education Doesn’t Work

It doesn’t work for all.  It doesn’t work as well as Homeschooling

Having no elementary and secondary schools worked in 1800.  Parents taught their kids to read, write and do math.  Students were the ones responsible for learning.  Some did, but their livelihood depended more on what they could do.  There were apprentices working in every craft and lots of family farms and family businesses.  There were small libraries and lots of book lending going on.  Every family had a bible and it was frequently the only book families owned, so everybody read it.  Children worked on family farms and in family businesses and for other businesses and factories.  Those who wanted to learn, did learn.  Those who were content just to be literate continued to work in their jobs.

Town or Village Schools worked in 1900.  The one-room schoolhouse included all grades.  The older students tutored the younger students. The town or village built the schoolhouse and paid the teacher. There were still tutors and the responsibility for learning, or not, belonged to the student.  The US had the most “literate” population on the planet.  Most folks graduated 8^th grade with remarkable skills to read, write learn, problem solve and do math.  Many went to trade schools to learn auto mechanics, shoe making, office skills, etc. 

When Child Labor Laws were passed in the 1930s, the public school was born and it has been “downhill” ever since.  The big change was that schools were now funded by tax dollars with mandatory funding and attendance.  The student lost their freedom to choose, many dropped out and still do.  Some drop-outs returned to learning after a few years and this still happens today.

This is, therefore, a generational problem.  Those who went to school in the 1910s to 1940s generally had excellent skills.  Those who went to school in the 1950s to 1960s showed a decline, but ACT scores peaked in the early 1960s.  After that the decline has been swift. The best students have come from disciplined families.  The worst students came from inner-city public schools.

The current public school model is costly, clunky and dangerous. All the million dollar buildings, the “lecture” model, the bureaucracy, the buses, the political indoctrination, the law suits, the boredom, the wasted time and the failure. To make public school work, teachers and parents need to be in daily contact to force the student to conform and learn.  Student interests count some, but the goal is to “keep up” with the assembly line.

The current model needs to change to put the student back in charge and get the government assembly-line out of the way.  Homeschooling is producing the best students, because it does take the students’ interests into account. It gives students the tools for self-learning. Homeschooling uses internet resources and home-based course materials augmented by tutors and activity groups.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader