Education Free Our Children

When it comes to education, there is a general agreement among us that each student should have access to the “best.” In the 21st century, we are fortunate that this miracle is possible. Online knowledge is the great equalizer and promises to help us understand that we are all on equal footing when it comes to access and acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge is no longer secretly held by any individual or group. It is accessible to all, though access to many journals and databases still requires payment or association with an academic institution. Science and technology can make it possible for us to view the best lesson, from the best school, almost anywhere. This means that we should not have to go to a school like Harvard to see (hear or read) the best presentation on almost any subject. We shouldn’t even have to go to a university, or a school to access the most up to date knowledge and lessons. Many educators are willing to share their lessons and many are willing to participate in creating and updating online lessons. This means that we should be able to provide up-to date, instantly accessible course material of optimal quality for grades 1 -16. This would bypass the obsolete barriers of the past educational system. We know that the technology is available and we know that educators are willing to share and optimize the lessons. For many fields of knowledge (such as medicine), summaries of the most up to date information is already posted online, though it requires subscription. Similar information sites can be established for all subjects. Such information can be edited for any learning level. In addition, use of AI would enable us to employ interactive learning and optimize each lesson for each student. We are fortunate that educators are already working to make this a reality. Online courses and computer based learning modules are already available and are rapidly improving. What we need to do is join the effort to implement these learning modalities in public schools. A grade 1-16 Wikipedia, and letters to the US Department of Education would be great starters.

The process of learning has drastically changed in the past few decades. The main change is that most knowledge is most effectively acquired by the learner, independently of the physical interaction with a teacher. For students who become proficient in learning skills, the most efficient source of information is not the individual teacher or textbook. Digital formats can enable concise presentations of the essentials. Use of hyperlinks can provide instant access to detailed explanations and to extensive optional information that expand the breadth and depths of the subject. This enables the learner to be more actively engaged in the learning process and to be in command of the material. At this point in history, our main educational aim is to prepare the student to seek and acquire knowledge on their own. Our technology allows us to make this happen at an early age. Our hope is that after completing school all people will go on to engage in lifelong learning.

Our, very feasible to-do list includes:

1) internet access to all in the USA.  The internet is the great equalizer. It  has done more to spread equity and freedom of information than any previous event in history. Internet access should be a national priority.

2) In order to optimize access to required educational material, make optimal use of student time and mental energy, and reduce anxiety, grade 1 - 16 course content should be posted online for everyone to see. This should include all the information needed to pass standardized tests for each course. Posting the course content would enable many experts to critically asses, edit, and update the information, and to edit the presentations to suit students with varying learning styles and at different stages of their education. Students should be able to choose the presentations that are most suitable for them. There are approximately 3.9 million school teachers and 1.9 million higher education teachers creating their individual versions of the same courses. Enormous time, effort, stress, and cost would be saved, and the quality improved by collaborative creation of the lesson content. Teacher time, expertise, and creativity could then be focused on helping each student comprehend the subject matter and become an independent learner.

3) computer workstation for each student, in all schools.

4) computer based learning modules, including interactive modules, for school courses. We can assume that AI would enable students to engage in active rather than passive learning. They could receive instant prompts, answers, explanations, and critical feedback as they learn.

Implementation of the new technologies would enable teachers to spend more time addressing the needs of individual students and overcome antiquated barriers to teaching.

We need to free our students to do the following:

1. Learn and progress at their individual pace.
2. Choose their lesson material and sources. There are approximately 3.9 million school teachers with their individual versions of the course lesson. The student should be able to choose the most accurate presentation of the subject that is best suited to the student’s learning skills.
3. opportunity to spend school time in educational activities outside the confines of the classroom and the school grounds. This would include a wide range of activities and skills such as music, arts, sports, science projects, and vocational skills. Hopefully, future schools would be constructed more like community centers with large spaces for social and sports activities.
4. Pursue options for expert vocational training within the 12 year curriculum, and the opportunity to continue work-specific training after graduation. It is our responsibility to provide students with the opportunity to become expert in their future occupation and to acquire the skills to pursue life-long learning.
5. Be free from mandatory “after school” homework. Students should be free to choose their after school activities, but should have the option of receiving guidance on what educational activities would be helpful for them.
6. Pursue alternative paths to professional careers. Persons who are competent in a field of knowledge should qualify for the associated diploma.

Our Challenges:

There was a time when fantastic innovations were easier said than done. Fortunately, at this time, many things are easier done than said. Meaning: Internet posting of all that grade 1 -16 students are required to know in order to graduate, can be done quickly, and economically, but talking about it can take many, many years and extensive resources. There are many experts in each subject taught in school. They can quickly post many versions of each subject. They can critically review each version and provide very high quality interactive presentations of each subject. The cost would be very low, and the quality extremely high, compared to the work of  millions educators whose class content is usually invisible to the public and to students and cannot be objectively assessed. Posting the course contents would be a boon to students and teacher. It would greatly reduce the stress of education and make learning a lot more time-and-effort-efficient. Our challenge is to implement our technological advances now rather than wait and talk at the cost of our students. It makes little sense that commercial enterprises can readily apply scientific and technological discoveries to products sold for profit, while many academicians and educators discuss, research, and prolong the agony of our problems while delaying the implementation of technological solutions. We need to work together to upgrade our schools. The US Department of Education will respond if there is an grassroot request for an economical upgrade.

At this time in history, the major challenge to education is the divisive atmosphere in our country. We are taking our political conflicts into the classroom. We are introducing our beliefs, ideologies, politics, to school children. In many cases, this takes precedence over the teaching of basic learning skills. Issues that evoke divisive volatile responses among educated people and among our elected officials should be kept out of our schools until we resolve them among adults. We should not feel free to teach our children at school what we cannot say to each other in public, in the House of Representatives, or in the US Senate. If millions of us are fighting on different sides of the issues, we should keep our beliefs on these issues out of the school. Fortunately for us all, the US Constitution mandates the separation of education and religion. Our Constitution tells us to keep our beliefs, no matter how true we think they are, away from our public schools.

Above all, we must respect the boundaries, and the separation of powers, that preserve our democracy. Government officials who we like and support, do not have the freedom to impose their campaigns on school children, or on public spaces, or on the beach.

The UnitedAgainstHateWeek.org campaign is normalizing practices that divide us and threaten our democracy.

In 2023, more than 50% of school age children in California, (and the USA), did not reach competency levels (were not up to grade), in reading, writing and mathematics. We must reassess and do better. Though there is work to be done in communities outside the classroom, teachers cannot focus on changing the world while our children are waiting to learn to read. Doctors cannot turn their backs to a bleeding patient, and pilots cannot leave the cockpit in order to go and address social issues. Teachers have a similar responsibility towards students. These professional tasks require expertise, and full commitment of our efforts, leaving most of us without the ability to perform more than one profession at a time. Let experts in the social sciences take care of social issues, and let teachers teach school courses. Competency in learning skills, including reading, writing, mathematics and science will enable students to become independent learners and to critically assess what they read and observe. If they do not reach competency, they may remain vulnerable to other people’s opinions and to misinformation.

Nobel prize winners and leading scientists urge us to refrain from spreading and imposing our beliefs and ideologies on students and on each other. Please read their message.  This message comes from people who devoted their lives to making this a better world for us all, and who succeeded in improving the quality of life of millions of people. Their message can save our educational system as well as our democracy and freedoms. Let’s refrain from imposing our beliefs on our children. Based on a long history of scientific progress, our scientists assure us that “consensus among truth-seeking actors—scientists—is possible.” Lets work together and seek consensus on what we teach our children in public schools.

Leading scientists have signed a petition for ideological neutrality in education and science. Educators could unite by signing this petition or a similar alternative.