The Demise of Education

You will find that I will rant quite a bit about public education.

Schools are no longer in the business of educating children. They push standards, curricula, pacing guides, etc. at students and teachers and expect to get results. What happened to teaching students how to read? How to count? How to tell time? How to write?
Gone are the days of making sure students understand material before cramming more into their brains. The teacher who is genuinely concerned about his/her students' progress and making sure they are mastering the content is a rare breed and most definitely on the endangered species list. Teachers don't have a chance to be creative any more. They are given a curriculum to regurgitate on their students and time crunched to death. And, don't forget, expected to produce miracles and achieve goals that no one could achieve.
Please tell me how children can multiply if they can't add. Please tell me why there are students in middle school who can't read cursive writing. Please tell me why there are no longer weekly spelling tests in elementary school (see previous post on the Death of Grammar and Spelling). Please tell me how children can do anything if they can't read. Why would you allow a student to sit in your class and not be able to do these things? Who cares if it is in your standards or not; if you are a teacher, YOUR JOB IS TO TEACH!
Why are test scores so important? Why do they have to be the driving force behind public education? What happened to actually (GASP) teaching students? What happened to making sure that when a student went on to the next grade, he/she could perform and succeed?
If we don't make some changes, our students are going to be illiterate, unable to count money or tell time, not productive members of society, etc., etc.

It should not be all about test scores and the school report card and how 'good' your school looks. MANY a school with an Excellent rating leaves its people scratching their heads as to how that happened. I know I do...