In an article for today’s FrontPage Magazine titled “Schools of Education: The Academic Slums,” Walter Williams was right on the money. Speaking about schools of education, he said,
“Education professors drum into students that they should not ‘drill and kill’ or be the ‘sage on the stage’ but instead be the ‘guide on the side’ who ‘facilitates student discovery.’ This kind of harebrained thinking, coupled with multicultural nonsense, explains today’s education. During his teacher education, Sand says, ‘teachers-to-be were forced to learn about this ethnic group, that impoverished group, this sexually anomalous group, that under-represented group, etc. — all under the rubric of ‘Culturally Responsive Education.’”
At the University of Virginia, we recognized this problem and required our teachers-to-be to earn an undergraduate degree in an academic field, and then apply to the education school for a master’s degree if they wanted to teach our young people. That may seem like an insignificant thing, but it’s not. Not long ago, students in schools of education learned only fluff before being awarded degrees, and I’m being kind.
People with newly minted education degrees who knew precious little about history, science, math, or whatever descended on our public schools to “teach.” And what did they teach? They taught what they knew, and they didn’t know much. The situation at colleges and universities today isn’t as bad as it used to be because of changes like the ones we made at UVA, but it’s still a problem, and our public schools are loaded with teachers who got their education degrees long before any changes were made.
That helps to explain why Johnny can’t read, Sally can’t write, and Billy can’t add and subtract. As Williams makes clear in his article, many educators into whose hands we have placed the responsibility to teach our children can’t read, write, and do math either, or if they can, they do it at such a low level of proficiency that they are an embarrassment. Many of them have proven to be deft in some areas, though: union membership, union organizing, and picketing. If it were not for those teachers unions that you hear so much about, many teachers in our public schools today would be looking for jobs, and with their skill levels they would be lucky to find gainful employment at McDonald’s.
Don’t expect President Obama to deal with this issue in his State of the Union speech tonight. As Linda Chavez points out in her op-ed piece titled “Higher-Education Bubble is about Ready to Burst,”
“When President Barack Obama gives his State of the Union address tonight, you can count on his making a big pitch for education. No president in recent memory has failed to tout expanded educational opportunity as the panacea for all that ails us — and Obama has been the most passionate of pitchmen on the issue. In last year’s speech, he said, ‘Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine.’”
Higher education needs a complete overhaul — not just schools of education. It’s time for taxpaying citizens to demand performance from our colleges and universities and to hold them accountable for producing results. As things stand now, they are too expensive, and far too many of our college graduates have proven that they can’t compete at the global level. That’s why, for instance, the U.S. has been importing college graduates from other countries to fill high-tech jobs for more than a decade. Stated simply, our colleges and universities aren’t doing their jobs, and they should be forced to raise the bar.
This SnyderTalk editorial first appeared as a blog in American Thinker on January 24, 2012.
To see other SnyderTalk editorials, click here.
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Thomas Jefferson
“For here we are not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”
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Jeremiah 40: 15-16
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”
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Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Hosea 4: 6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
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Stand! is a gripping novel about the subterfuge surrounding the global warming debate. It lays out the facts concerning climate change through an exciting story that pits a college professor and his research collaborator against corrupt university administrators and radical environmentalists. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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- Report: Preconditions in place for Israeli Iran strike
- Navy SEALs rescue ill U.S. hostage in Somalia
- Castro: GOP primary a ‘competition of idiocy and ignorance’
- WHO’S GREEDY? Obama Gave 1% to Charity, Romney Gave 15%
- Rev. Luke Robinson: ‘They Want Us To Be Silent Because the President Is a Black Man’
- Hoyer: No President in 30 Years Has Shown Obama’s ‘Willingness to Compromise’
- New U.S. Ambassador to Russia: We Support ‘Universal Values’ Not ‘American Values’
- NJ Dems firm on gay marriage despite veto threat
- Poll: 79 Percent of Americans Support Restrictions on Abortion
- George Soros on the Coming U.S. Class War
- Obama’s fact-challenged claims
- The zero-sum president
- “Where There Is No Vision, the People Perish”
- Judge Andrew Napolitano: A Few Words About Abortion
- Ben Shapiro: The Euphemisms of ‘Pro-Choice’ Evil
- Michael Brown: Gay Rights Still Trumping Freedom of Speech, Religion
- Mattie Duppler Corrao: Obama Presides Over a Budget-less 1000 Days
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Top 5 diggtm articles yesterday:
- Romney’s released tax return reveals 13.9% rate, holdings in foreign tax havens
- Tennessee Tea Party ‘Demands’ That References To Slavery Be Removed From History Textbooks
- Indiana Senate votes 28-22 for ‘right-to-work’ bill
- Gov Chris Christie nominates first gay African-American candidate for Supreme Court
- WHO’S GREEDY? Obama Gave 1% to Charity, Romney Gave 15%
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The Jerusalem Post:
- Israeli hackers plan response to website attacks
- ‘No peace talks unless J’lem agrees on borders’
- Halt in Iran oil could push crude up by 30 percent
- In Gaza, Ashton calls for continued peace talks
- Analysis: Iran has options apart from Hormuz block
- Iran tries to stem money crisis after sanctions
- Russia says it opposes sanctions on Syria
- Turkish Parliament Speaker rejects Knesset invite
- Analysis: Why do some Jews see Obama as so sinister?
- Civil rights groups to PMO: Suspend chief of staff
- Media’s role in Arab-Jewish relations debated
- The other side of Itamar
- Terra Incognita: Hamas’s ‘Jerusalem 4’ down to 0
- Pressuring Iran
- Yalla Peace: Palestinians’ worst enemy – themselves
- United, we stand divided…
- Candidly Speaking: When Ronald Lauder calls on Abbas
- Relations with China
Haaretz:
- Pro-Palestinian hackers bring down Haaretz Hebrew website
- Hackers paralyze Israeli hospital websites, as cyber war heats up
- Netanyahu must stop misusing the Holocaust
- Israeli, Palestinian negotiators clash at Jordan meeting
- It’s time to end Israel’s war of culture and religion
- German group cuts support for Palestinian rights NGO
- Thousands of Egyptians gather in Tahrir Square to mark one year since uprising
- Egypt’s military ruler partially lifts emergency laws
- U.S. to grant three-year extension of loan guarantees to Israel
- IDF chief warns Hezbollah on overseas terror plots
- Kadima split as it prepares for Livni-Mofaz showdown
Israel Hayom:
- ‘The cost of inaction on Iran is too great,’ Prosor warns UN
- There’s no making up for lost time
- Iran sanctions preserve the status quo
- Israel jails Hamas parliament speaker for 6 months
- ‘We’ve barely scratched surface of Israeli-Chinese relations,’ PM says
- IDF introduces new regulations to prevent soldier abductions
- ‘Israel-Palestinian talks must turn into genuine negotiations’
- Gulf states tell 55 monitors to leave Syria immediately
Other:
- Palestinian, Israeli Negotiators Meet in Jordan at Deadline
- EU’s Iranian oil embargo will be phased
- From Arab rights to chicken rights
- What about human rights?
- Militant Islamism, Islamism, Islam
- Islamists insurgents kill over 178 in Nigeria’s Kano
- Obama: “America Is Determined to Prevent Iran from Getting a Nuclear Weapon”
- Israel’s First Natural Gas Field to Run Out This Year
- Arab States Seek UN Help as Syria Steps Up Violence
- Arab League’s Peace Mission to Syria on Verge of Collapse
- Palestinians Refused to Negotiate with IDF Officer over Security Arrangements
- Palestinian Negotiator Refuses to Let Israel Present Position on Security Arrangements at Amman Talks
- Palestinians Say Amman Meeting with Israelis Wednesday Will Be the Last
- Iran: The Syrian Highway in the Fight Against Israel Is Still Open
- Syria: The Lost Bequest of Hafez Assad
- Israel to UN: You Never Hear Palestinian Leaders Say “Two States for Two Peoples”
- UN Envoys Slam Russia for Selling Weapons to Syria
- Terror Targets in Azerbaijan Included Israeli Ambassador
- Muslim Brotherhood to Maintain Egypt-Israel Industrial Zones
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What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Business:
- Fed Says Benchmark Interest Rate Will Remain Low Until at Least Late 2014
- Bernanke Tells People Stop Saving And Start Spending
- Stocks march higher on Fed promise of low rates
- Apple takes No. 1 again from Exxon
- ECB split on how to handle any Greek bond losses: sources
- Merkel: Germany won’t make bailout promises it can’t keep
- Merkel calls for greater unity as Davos elite sees signs that Europe may do what it takes
- Berlin ready to see stronger ‘firewall’
- Eric Schneiderman promises aggressive financial fraud probe
World:
- Egypt’s New Parliament Convenes Amid Concerns About Islamist Domination
- No joy in Egypt
- Egyptians Mark First Anniversary of Uprising
- France, Britain join Syria peace push at UN
- Italy captain says was told to approach shore: transcripts
- Islamist militants led by Anwar al-Awlaki relative leave seized Yemen town
- Tibet Exiles Express Concern Over Killing of Protesters in China
- How the SNP became more Labour than Labour
- Russia’s field of presidential candidates loses one, gains one
- Russian FM says Moscow will continue to resist UN sanctions on Syria, urges talks
- Analysis: Libyans losing faith in fair division of power
- Turkey’s Erdogan lambasts France on genocide law
- Nicolas Sarkozy – the view from Britain
- Peace Talk Encourages New Afghan Envoy
United States:
- President Obama’s Lofty Laundry List on Display in State of the Union
- Obama’s Just Another Clinton
- State of the Union: Peter Beinart on How Obama Blew It
- Mitch Daniels blasts Obama for ‘trickle down government’
- Ed Meese: House Should Pass Resolution Condemning Obama for Unconstitutional Act
- Gingrich on Debate’s No-Clapping Rule: ‘Media Doesn’t Control Free Speech’
- Romney Had Swiss Bank Account; Was Closed in 2010
- Heated charges, counter-charges in Florida debate
- Watchdog: Administration’s Efforts to Restrict Executive Pay at Bailed-Out Firms Failed
- Obama’s new re-fi plan a gamechanger?
- Romney Calls State of Union Speech ‘Detached From Reality’
- Obama calls for changing tax code during Iowa stop
- Death Row Inmate Writes Taunting Letter About Life of Leisure
- China largely ignores Obama’s trade criticism
- APNewsBreak: Army to Cut Combat Brigades
- Bachmann Says She’ll Seek 4th Term
- Pelosi hints, then denies she has Gingrich secrets
- Watchdog releases annual global media freedom index
- Santorum cancels (then tries to get back in) Univision forum; says Republicans
Opinions:
- Thomas Sowell: A Brass Age?
- Michelle Malkin: Obama’s Green Robber Barons
- John Stossel: The Real State of the Union
- Brent Bozell: Obama vs. Catholics
- Jonah Goldberg: Newtzilla Conquers All?
- John Ransom: Unions, Buffett, Robber Barons and Cronies Now Have Our Oil, Oh My
- Michael Medved: Obama and the Second-Term Curse
- Daniel J. Mitchell: Romney: A Total Failure on Double Taxation
- Terry Jeffrey: Obama Creates Unconstitutional Monster at Fed
- Austin Bay: Bush Derangement Syndrome a Problem for Obama
- Dave Ramsey: Dave Says Keep Your Money and Teeth
- Jeff Carter: The Poison Pill for the Payroll Tax Cut
- Jeff Carter: Romney Tax Returns Show Liberal Stupidity on Taxes
- Donald Lambro: Gingrich Lobbied For Freddie Mac Who Planted the Seeds of the Subprime Mortgage Meltdown
- Mike Shedlock: Keynes-Inspired Great Depression; Lessons Not Learned
- Bob Beauprez: The Cost of Obama’s Green Appeasement
- David Malpass: IMF Lowers Global Growth Forecast, but V-Shaped Upturn Comes Into View
- Ralph Benko: The Newt Gingrich Swing: For the Fences
- Bill Tatro: Inflation or Delfation? But Wait…
- David Malcolm: Beyond the Beltway: The Obama Promised Land
- Ken Connor: Newt Turns the Tables
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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- Obama says nation must address inequality
- GOP reactions reflect party divisions
- Confrontation wrapped in Kumbaya
- 5 policies to watch from SOTU
- Obama’s best surrogate
- U.S. special forces rescue kidnapped American aid worker in Somalia
- Google plans to follow users’ activities across its sites to better tailor its ads
- Grand rhetoric, smaller ideas
- Romney’s holdings in the Caymans complicate tax-return debate
- Newt Gingrich the revolutionary?
- In Libya, a growing restlessness
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- Iranian man prevents possible explosion in Ankara: report
- Israel is the most dangerous threat to the world: Iran envoy
- Over 4000 students apply to cooperate with Iran’s atomic agency
- Arrest of Hamas politician indicates Israel’s desperation: Larijani
- Iran advises Yemenis to remain vigilant about enemies’ plots
- 750 MKO members want to return to Iran: ambassador
- ‘EU will be responsible for consequences of Iran oil embargo’
- Advocate of Sunni-Shia unity assassinated in SE Iran
- China’s oil imports from Iran Jump 30%
- Iran’s annual non-oil exports to Iraq over $5 billion
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If You Voted for Obama in 2008 to Prove You’re Not a Racist, You Need to Vote for Someone Else in 2012 to Prove You’re Not an Idiot explains why voters in the United States need to elect someone besides Barack Obama to lead them. Whoever is elected President of the United States in 2012 will have to contend with the monumental problems that Obama’s misguided policies have caused both at home and abroad. One thing is certain, though. It should not be Barack Obama. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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http://www.americanthinker.com/
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- Newt Gingrich the Jacksonian
- Brian Williams v. Crowd: Who Is More Intelligent?
- Crony College Capitalism, Chicago-Style
- Are We Losing Our Constitutional Republic?
- ‘Pro-Choice’ Obama Forces Religious Institutions to Pay for Abortion Drugs
- We Know How You Feel
- Citizenship: Easy Come, Easy Go?
- The Gladiators among Us
- Negotiators for Greek debt deal back to the drawing board as deadline looms
- The debt iceberg ahead
- Obama’s favorite billionaire at SoTU
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- Obama’s Bankrupt Vision
- The Three Reasons Mitt Is More Electable Than Newt
- The Three Reasons Newt Is More Electable Than Mitt
- Ohio State Students Mobilize Against Freedom Center Ad
- Republican Debaters Miss the Boat on Cuba
- The Left’s Food Feudalism
- The ‘Protocols’ — Alive and Well World Over
- The Scourge of Jewish Self-Division
- Sundance, Soros and Robert Redford’s Double Life
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http://www.weeklystandard.com/
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- The Daily Grind: One Sentence on Obamacare
- Obama: Follow the Example of the Military?
- An Utterly Unremarkable Address
- Haven’t We Heard this Before?
- What Obama Didn’t Say in the State of the Union
- Mitch Daniels’s Response to the State of the Union
- Text of the State of the Union Address
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- Perverse austerity
- If Germany’s Angela Merkel wants to save the euro, she must do more for Italy’s Mario Monti
- A good professor in Rome
- Greece’s creditors would have to take a big hit to right its finances
- Charlemagne: Germany now stands alone
- Poll: Will the euro survive 2012 intact?
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- Obama calls for end to inequality
- Somalia hostages freed in US raid
- Egypt marks protest anniversary
- UK economy shrinks by 0.2%
- ‘Starbursts’ yield cosmic giants
- Davos starts with eurozone worry
- Google in privacy policy changes
- China confirms second Tibet clash
- EU confirms data penalty proposal
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http://www.themoscowtimes.com/
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- Foreign Companies Challenging Tax System
- Recruiters Say Mother Russia Seeking Talent
- Kadyrov Wants Protesters Behind Bars
- Medvedev’s Future Dims as Term Ends
- Duma Deputies Harshly Criticized for Meeting With U.S. Ambassador
- Yavlinsky to Be Barred From Presidential Race
- Putin Pledges $8Bln for Coal Industry
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http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/
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- Economic issues top Obama’s State of the Union address
- Syria accepts extending Arab observers mission
- IMF cuts global growth forecasts
- Greek debt swap deal “very close”
- Iran: EU sanctions political game
- China supports all measures to restart Palestinian-Israeli negotiation
- Chinese healthcare firms seek opportunities in Gulf Arab region
- Japanese FM seeks closer diplomatic ties with China
- New Arab initiative on Syria unlikely to yield immediate results
- Thai defence spokesman rules out Thai-Cambodian clash
- S. Korea protests Japan’s sovereignty claim over disputed islets
- Anti-Qaida senior leader gunned down in Baghdad
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- ‘The Tide of War’
- The LAPD’s Continued Defense of Illegal Immigrants
- Where the ‘Counter-Obama’ View of the Middle East Is Right and Where It’s Wrong
- Obama’s State of the Union Speech: My Response Discovers Some Curious Insights and Strange Formulations
- The Left’s Flexible Attitude Toward ‘Rights’
- The State of the Election Address
- Forget about Economic Recovery: Obama Is Toast
- Florida Preview: Lots of Sunshine, Lots of Suburbs, Lots of Clout
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com/
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- Speak politics the Jewish way!
- House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
- Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style ‘melting pot’; must find its own way
- 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
- Adding an extra ‘m’ – marriage – to that M.B.A.
- Harnessing shrooms’ magic
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http://www.nationalreview.com/
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- O’s Final SOTU?
- Gingrich and Reagan
- Once More unto the Breach
- Paul, Weak on Entitlements?
- The Perils of Obama
- A Redistributive State
- Hour of Newt
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- Palestinians Open Fire on Israeli Car in West Bank
- United in Hate: Liberals and Militant Islam – Jamie Glazov (Part 2)
- Shalev Menashe Singing hallelujah
- Gates: I don’t pay enough tax
- Do the super-rich pay their way?
- One-minute World News
- Nigerian communities torn apart by violence
- Changing face of tourism in Egypt
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Yahweh to Jeremiah—Jeremiah 16: 21
“Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.”
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Natural Healthcare Store carries skin care, hair care, and oral care products. Be sure to check out the Dead Sea products imported from Israel and support the Israeli economy with your purchases. Natural Healthcare Store carries makeup, deodorant, and detoxification products. It also carries supplements, weight loss products, and loose leaf tea. Rounding out its product mix, Natural Healthcare Store carries natural household cleaning products.
Katie and I believe strongly in healthy living, and we use the products. We’re proud to say that our daughter Melanie owns the store.
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http://www.commentarymagazine.com/
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- A Diminished Obama Strikes a Tepid Tone
- Details Unfold About Gingrich’s Freddie Mac Role
- The Palestinian Authority’s ATM
- “I Am Jewish” — Remembering Daniel Pearl
- Coming Soon: The Romney-Gingrich Collision
- Romney’s “Electability” Argument Collapsing
- Don’t Penalize Tea Party Goalie for White House Boycott
- Why Don’t Conservatives Care About Newt’s Narcissism?
- Watch the Walker Recall Election
- Unleashing the Dogs of Class Warfare
- Don’t Ignore Substance of Newt’s Campaign
- A Dog Named Hibuki
- Why the Debate Was Such a Snooze
- Don’t Return Detainees to the Battlefield
- Romney’s Low Tax Rate: Double-Edged Sword?
- Newt Inadvertently Admits to Freddie Mac Lobbying
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback.
God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.”
Exodus 3: 15