Another example of what is wrong with politics in government schools

Since public schools were formed a little over a century ago the focus for a long time was to educate the children.  The goal was to teach them how to read, write, master math, understand history and be grounded in the basics of science. 

One of the reasons for the huge decline in government schools over the last couple decades is the increasing number of goals.  Today there are federal programs to teach sex education, death education, make sure each child has a lunch, teach the role of gays in history, and watch for signs of abuse.  The list goes on and on.  Some of these issues are important concerns, but the original goal of public schools gets lost in the many competing demands on government schools.

An example of this is central topic in Gap Between Minority Teachers and Students Widens in Denver. 

Because some "experts" think minority students learn better if they are taught by teachers who are minorities, there is concern that the percentage of minority teachers has fallen while the number of minority students has climbed.  This is a second order affect.  Maybe some students learn better if they are being taught by someone of the same race, but historically minorities were often taught by teachers of other races.  The goal should be to get good teachers into the class room; not to put some teacher into a classroom because they are the same race.

It is hard to focus on fifty goals.  I defy anyone to do a good job if they are given fifty goals.  If there was a single minded focus to teach children the basic academics that we originally asked public schools to deliver on, the government schools would improve. 

While the government continues to impose dozens of goals on public schools the government schools will continue to decline.