**Previously Recorded by Phyllis Schlafly**
Most Americans think that the purpose of public schools is to educate all citizens with basic knowledge and skills so they can meet the challenges of life and reach the maximum of their potential. But a lot of powerful people have a very different vision of what public schools are for.
The National Governors Association reported in December 2004 that they want to use the public schools to build a planned economy. This report speaks approvingly of”using schools to feed workers into selected corporations,” “identifying their state’s key industries,” “seamless connections between the (components of) the [education] system and (with) the skill demands of the workplace,” and “connecting workforce development to economic needs.”
All that mumbo-jumbo really means changing America from free enterprise to a planned economy, and turning public school students into a compliant workforce for multinational corporations. The new buzzwords are “career pathways,” “education pipeline,” “redesigning high schools,” “smaller learning communities,” and “cluster-based economic development strategies.” Parents recognize these buzzwords as just a recycled plan to impose “business-education partnerships,” “school-to-work,” and “outcome-based education.”
Idaho is one of six states chosen to use a pilot plan to implement these new goals. At the six public hearings on these proposals in Idaho the reaction was overwhelmingly negative from both parents and teachers. The plan calls for all 8th grade students to select their learning plan for a specific career pathway and choose “career focused electives” to enter the workforce. Under the revised plan, students will have to do this only by the 8th grade.
But how many 8th graders do you know who can ( or should) map out their career pathway and narrow their education options to meet a single goal? And what about the colossal conceit of the politicians and businessmen who think they can predict the jobs that 8th graders can or will want to fill in their future years? Planned economies are always a failure, and students should be educated to reach their potential whatever that is.
