Why do conservatives bash American education so much?

[battleknight24]

... I always hear from conservatives in the media how Americans are unprepared and unqualified to work in a high tech economy... I also hear a lot of people say that Americans lack the skills necessary to do almost any job...

I have done a lot of reading on the subject, and I have found several counter arguments. First of all, there are tons of Americans out there with Bachelor degrees working jobs that high school graduates could easily do. Second, students are earning 25 percent more Doctorates than the economy can absorb, particularly in the SCIENCES and ENGINEERING. Lastly, conservatives point to the export of American jobs as one of many examples that Americans don't have the necessary skills to compete. Aren't corporations exporting jobs to other countries because the labor is cheaper?

Conservatives also point to the higher grades and test scores of other kids, particularly high schoolers, in other nations. Besides the obivious problem of comparing different countries, societies, cultures, and educational concepts and standards, many foreign nations (though not all) have higher dropout rates than the US, even in junior high and elementary! Furthermore, while in the U.S. every student with passing grades proceeds all the way through high school, many foreign countries have an educational system where only the best and brightest students proceed all the way to high school. Students with low passing grades are sent for training in technical, hard labor professions. This definitely blurs the notion of foreign countries having "superior" public education systems.

So why do conservatives bash American education so much?


Peace,

[pooja]

1. So they can have a way to seize control from the teachers...

who are more liberal minded most of the time

[Deja Q]

2. To help support and 'justify' offshoring.

Along with video gamer and the entertainment industry, who want to avoid fair responsibility.

We go after dope dealers for making addicts.

Video games and the like are no different.

[pooja]

3. I agree with you about the science jobs

It is hard to get a job that in the science field without #1) more than an earned degree in bs, and #2)experience. It is the number one reason why college science majors end up as insurance adjusters, restaurant manager, or chemical testers at pepsi. And these jobs do not require a degree... just common sense and training.

[Kellanved]

4. Yes, that is a very valid point

If you want a similar battle from outside the US: I give you the German educational system.

Like the US, Germany is a federal republic; i.e. schools are a regional matter falsely attributed to the federal politics. Because of that, there is no "German" educational system, but most German states have a system where students are evaluated after elementary school; a process which largely predetermines the future careers.
Evaluations have shown this policy to be heavily biased against poor families and immigrants; not considering the actual potential of the student in question.

As a result, the left political spectrum has tried to get rid of the selection in favor of American style High Schools since the 70s - with the result of losing dozens of elections over the issue. The Merkel administration plans to implement a constitutional amendment to barr the Federal Government from trying to rescue the educational system. According to the UN, this is a sacrifice of all rational politics towards short-term victories in regional elections; but then again - if Merkel gets her plan, there won't be a German federal government to speak off any more.

The effect is: the pre-academic German high schools offer an education arguably superior to most US high schools, while the lower schools constantly fail to qualify their students for any job.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

5. They bitch, but they make it worse.

Its their fault we have a crappy education in America. We can't compete in the science or technology fields anymore because of their stupid religious nonsense. (I'm not saying all religion is nonsense, I'm a catholic. What I'm saying is they are misinterpreting the bible and taking it literally which is alway dangerous.)
Duckie

[DBoon]

6. Three reasons:

1. They want to discredit anything run by the government for ideological reasons. Having even one government service (public schools) that could run effectively is a threat to their ideology of privatization. Like Margaret Thatcher, they want to make socialism impossible and inconceivable.

2. They are elitists who basically have contempt for ordinary people. They can't express this contempt overtly - so they use attacks on the education system as a way to justify their opinion that people are sheep who are too stupid to do anything unless they are lead by an elite (and conservatives think they are just that elite)

3. Corporate moguls want to justify paying people as little as possible. Blaming ordinary citizens for their poor education is a convenient excuse for stagnating wages (it sounds better than "because we can").

[Blue-Jay]

11. I'd add one more thing to that.

4. Uneducated people tend to hold educated people in contempt. "Yew thank yer better than me, college-boy?"

[DBoon]

14. How about this?

4. Ordinary people know they are being screwed by people who have more power and money than they do. Where ever possible, deflect this resentment by pointing it towards largely powerless but general liberal academics. That way, you train people that their class enemy is the liberal "egghead" instead of the corporate slave master who makes serveral hundred times more than the tenured professor.

[bumblebee1]

17. I've had several family members with the same attitude.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

7. This has to beone of the only threads I've seen in here that could

actually fit in GD :) While I agree with most of what you said, alot of public schools are a true mess (at least where I am)

[NewJeffCT]

8. I always like their hypocrisy on higher education

1) They use our terrific universities as justification for school choice, as they claim competition made our colleges great and keeps them great.

2) Then, they turn around and bash our colleges for having liberal professors and liberal student bodies and being havens for liberal elitism in general.

[Floogeldy]

9. Because it made us too smart to fall for their bullshit fascist propaganda

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[Downtown Hound]

10. I think the real reason is that

the schools are one of the few areas left in America where they have no control. That is why we're seeing all of the attacks on colleges and so forth. It is the last major institution where free thought prevails and patriotic fervor doesn't. If we don't defend this institution then in time we'll lose it as well.

[MichiganVote]

12. Because they want control of the money for schools. Its that simple.

Think about it.

[Brigid]

20. Exactly.

They'd love nothing better than to be able to control that money, and therefore the curriculum -- and we all know in what direction that curriculum would be slanted.

[meow2u3]

13. Tyrants prefer ignorant subjects

The better to manipulate and control the population with, my dear.

[AtomicKitten]

15. cuz thear stuoopud

[baldguy]

16. Because they hate America.

Isn't it obvious? They hate everything good and positive about America, like freedom, equality & diversity. Having an educated & intelligent population is just one more thing to hate.

[leftofthedial]

18. every possible reason

1. they want an ignorant population--easier to exploit.

2. they hate unions and the teachers' union is strong.

3. many of them are also religiously insane and hate all reason.

[mvd]

19. A few reasons

- They like to put it all into defense and useless wars like the war in Iraq

- They'd rather cut taxes for the rich

- They like keeping people uninformed

It's mind-boggling. Because so much is going to the war, grants to universities are becoming very scarce, and my dad's science job is in danger. I'm thinking about buying/starting a business with him anyway, but that doesn't excuse the Repukes.

[CanuckAmok]

21. Because they're against education on principle?

I don't know. I live up here where we're all born smrt.