Final Grades

While this was a very long article I found it difficult to break away. This is possibly one of the most depressing things I've read this winter. It's a sad tale that portends doom for a dying America.

Almost unfair to call it an article - it is a story. And it does not bode well for our country. Dumb down education and you will get too many people with undeveloped minds and souls, who will someday be in positions in which they don't belong.

Mao's Red Guard, they turned on the teachers and their parents and millions were killed. Dumbed down individuals who have been given participation trophies throughout their lives, will follow anyone who provides for their dependencies. Face it, our Government run education system sucks bigly. Doctors and lawyers who cant doctor nor perform legal services will be soon graduating. America is fubar'd and cant recover. You are on your own. Protect yourself.

Dumb people are easier to control, which is exactly what the Rats want.

I've implored my children not to send my grandchildren to college, to no avail. I watch the children move to progressively dumb (literally and figuratively) adults with narrow outlooks , a lack of ambition and limited opportunities. In short, perfect Dems.

Years ago my wife was hired by the athletic department of a university to tutor athletes. Most of the time the "scholars" didn't bother to show up.

This is a great article. I know someone who had quite a bit of work done on their home, and yesterday, in conversation, I learned that this building contractor who does such excellent work had moved to Chile. I know nothing about Chile, but I was thinking, with the deterioration of more than a few of our once great cities, that the USA will no longer be anyone's first choice as to where to live and raise children.

Powerful. A wake-up call to parents before their children are lost.

Thanks so much, OP, this was the only article I found to be worth reading today. I have been exposed to all kinds and levels of teachers but I had the advantage of having completed military service first and traveling the world so I had perspective where most of the students fresh out of high school did not. I clearly remember the corporate controller who taught accounting and cared enough to come in on Saturdays to help those who were struggling, The business professor who ran a bank, Dr. Peng who taught Statistics in Psychology, Dr. Psuty who taught Sociology as a second career while dealing with addicts daily, Dr. Kitson, English professor at Pitt campus, Titusville, who was the best professor I have ever had. He asked the class to write something every day and present it in class. A large portion of the class did not even do that much and they missed out on a great experience. So many students did not care, especially the basketball players and inner-city "underprivileged" who were there on a free ride. I had no problem earning my 4.0 while working full time. There were some losers along the way like the French professor who cared more about maintaining an image than in teaching French and the well-educated doctor who preached that if all guns were banned in the country, crime would disappear. Today, college is an expensive boondoggle with people like the Professor K in the article being very rare.

After serving in the military and then teaching at a university I soon discovered one will find no more rank happy individuals than faculty at a university. Far too many are petty, backstabbing, illiterate of the real world, and thoroughly brainwashed into believing and spouting socialist/communist drivel. This article paints a sad picture of university life, administrators, and faculty. Thankfully there are a few teachers as described in this article. It should be mandatory reading for all who teach students. There is nothing in this world like seeing the face of a student who suddenly "gets it" and that makes it all worthwhile.

This narrative is compelling, and absolutely true. The type of "educator" who objects to the teaching of grammar are found much too often on campuses. This is equity in motion - if everyone is dumbed down, we no longer have excellence. American self-determination and personal success are being put to death by bottom-feeders.

I could have written this article. I recently retired and I miss the students. I miss planning lessons and I miss going out to schools to supervise students. I don't miss the stench of institutional decay. I don't miss being told that students need to be encouraged to be activists. I don't miss having previously required courses become recommended, and then dropped from the catalog without any discussion because not enough students were taking them. Why should they? A slew of social justice classes were easy replacements and students were happy to take these options. I don't miss seeing students that I have failed for utter incompetence get admitted to the Honor Society. It takes a great deal of stamina to teach well in today's climate. I could have continued for another 7-10 years but just couldn't take it anymore. For every example given in this piece I could give a dozen more. This is life in higher education and there are a ton of cowards who won't do anything to fight the corruption. It wasn't pleasant being a social outcast but that's only part of the price to pay for contradicting the powers that be. My health was severely impacted by the stress and I doubt it will get better. I lived this nightmare and I don't see any reason to hope for positive changes. I've not run out of grief but I have run out of tears. Ramona (the Pest)

I have an AA degree from a community college and a BA plus some grad work from a state university. With one exception, the best teachers I ever had were at the community college. Professors were not under pressure. One history professor knew personally people like former Hungarian premier Nagy, a president of General Motors (his name escapes me), French then-general Charles de Gaulle, Winston Churchill and John Foster Dulles, even an elderly Alexander Kerensky. He did not have a PhD, yet his classes filled in the first ten minutes of registration. He could say outrageous things (now considered anti-woke) knowing he would face no consequences. I had a German teacher at my university, a real iconoclast, but so capable that he could tell the administration and sometimes the faculty senate to "shove it" and still return year after year. Tenure made no difference to him, there were offers from elsewhere always on his desk. Ah, the good old days.