The school survived the week, which was not certain after Tuesday when the school went crazy. Somebody posted the comment on Facebook “What the heck is wrong with education?” Actually, I think this week at school is symptomatic of the worst tendencies of American society as well as education.

I teach mostly immigrants and children of immigrants, and they generally have a different attitude towards schooling and personal responsibility than the majority of students whose families have been in this country for many generations. This country’s wealth and–let’s face it–arrogance instill many people with a sense of entitlement moreso than responsibility. Many people want as much as they can get with as little effort on their part, and this unfortunately attitude often filters down from parents to children.

If you doubt this, take a look at what is happening in New Jersey right now. The people have elected a thoroughly anti-education governor who is trying desperately to protect the income of the rich people at the expense of firefighters, police, state workers and teachers. Even though it was the state legislature which has created the fiscal crisis by illegally stealing pension money from those groups for the past decade, the majority of citizens in the state believe that those same workers should sacrifice more than anybody else to save the state. Do fair-minded people really believe that the victims of crime should be the ones to sacrifice the most for the common good?

As for education, any teacher will tell you that dealing with parents is often a futile and frustrating endeavor. Sure there are many who support the teacher’s efforts and will do what they can to encourage their child to perform or behave better, but there are equally many who do not believe their precious darlings can do anything wrong, that their failures and boorish behavior must be the fault of the teacher who should enable the child as thoroughly as the parents do.

I wonder what percentage of parents in this country really care if their children learn anything? Most only care if the children get diplomas and degrees, so they can earn big buck$$ afterwards; if they actually learn anything at all, that is an irrelevant side effect of education, but don’t dare let it interfere with the parents’ greed or the children’s sports and leisure activities!

Anybody who studies history can see that most great cultures have a limited life cycle, and one of the earliest signs of impending collapse is the loss of work ethic and dedication, replaced by laziness and self-involvement. Am I being too fatalistic in believing that America is on the downward side of its greatness already?

And consider all the trends to limit immigration taking place in this country. As I see it, only the infusion of the work ethic and attitudes of immigrants are saving us right now. Doing away with those people will only accelerate our country’s decline even more.

Retirement is looking better and better. *sigh*