The issue of education seems to come up during every election cycle. Candidates from both major parties stress their commitment to education reform, promising to increase the quality of education in America. Usually, the proposed solution is to increase the amount of spending that goes towards education.
In America, primary education, K-12, is run by the government through tax payer dollars. Though private schools do exist, the majority of students attend public schools. The quality of education at these schools has steadily decreased, as evidenced by the rapid decline in test scores and graduation rates. The consensus opinion seems to be that the lack of funds devoted towards public education is to blame for the decline in student performance. Reformers typically stress the need for reduced classroom sizes and increased teacher pay as ways of improving the system. They say that such changes will provide for an environment more conducive to learning. Former President George W. Bush passed a major initiative in his first term known as the “No Child Left Behind Act”, which called for massive increases in education spending at the federal level. The bill was written primarily by the late Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy and it enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress.
There is no doubt that a problem exists in the education system. Minority students are hardest since their tests scores are considerably lower on average than white students. However, increased spending itself doesn’t solve the problem. This is evidenced by the fact that foreign students from countries such as China and India typically perform very well in American schools. In fact, many Asian countries themselves typically spend much less on education than America does, yet their average test scores are much higher. The real secret to improved performance lies in pushing students harder, asking more from them. The current public education system has descended to a point where it is now resorting to promoting failing students to higher grades simply as a way to get them out of the system. Ostensibly there are people graduating from high school without even knowing how to read.
Contrast this would today’s scholastic environment. Children are given sex education classes and even given condoms while at school. Not knowing the true aim of life, educators are teachings students to live a care-free life with sense gratification being the only aim. Naturally academic performance will suffer as a result. No amount of government spending can fix such a system. As stated before, this human form of life is meant for tapasya. If one learns to regulate one’s senses early on in life, it will be much easier to make spiritual progress later on. There are 8,400,000 varieties of species in the world, but only the human being has the capacity to understand God and take the necessary steps to rekindle their lost relationship with Him. Animals spend all of their time on matters pertaining to eating, sleeping, mating and defending. All of us are born in complete ignorance and for this reason we require the guidance of our parents and elders in our early years. For this age of Kali, the Vedas declare that everyone, regardless of their parentage, is born a shudra, which means a fourth class person. Shudras are considered lower class because they have no training in spiritual matters. One can be promoted to a higher class person such as a brahmana, kshatriya, or vaishya only after being trained by a bona fide spiritual master. If we don’t receive an education about God and how to serve Him, we will continue to remain in an ignorant state.
