Drops in the puddle

Some readers apparently believe I’m taking things a bit far when I call the “public schools” our tax-funded government youth propaganda camps.

In a recent letter to the editor -- challenging a fellow teacher who’s apparently now considered a traitor because she proposes teachers be paid according to how well they can be shown to improve student performance -- a lady who identifies herself as a “Dr.” and who lists her e-mail address @interact.ccsd.net (that is to say, in the warrens of the Clark County School District) writes:

“Our classroom is where we can influence the future. ... It is ONLY in the classroom where we can make a difference -- slowly, but surely. That is why I went back to teaching. To sum up my philosophy: Children are like droplets of rain. Droplets make a puddle. As each droplet falls, the puddle gets bigger and bigger. One day the puddle will encompass lakes, rivers, and oceans and will meld into one big push for change. Your power to effect change lies in each droplet.”

Just giving each child the facts and research skills so he or she can subsequently make up his or her own mind, separately and individually, as to what needs to be retained of the world our forefathers left us, and what (if anything) needs to be changed, and how?

Not so much, apparently.