This time of year, I get the same question. A lot.
“Do your classes count as high-school credit?”
Short answer. Yes. They do. To find out exactly how… read this excellent article: https://welltrainedmind.com/a/how-to-assign-high-school-credits/
And now, brace yourselves. Rant coming.
Almost no one ever asks this question:
“When I finish your classes (or, when I finish Visual Latin) will I be able to read in Latin?”
Almost no one. Ever. In twenty years.
The answer, by the way, is yes. You will be able to read in Latin. If you finish Visual Latin, you will be able to read the New Testament gospels (with a dictionary nearby, of course. I can’t teach you every word in the language.) If you go through the online Lingua Latina class with me, you will be able to read even more. That book kicks gluteus maximus. There is nothing like it. Anyone who says differently is selling something,
Still. Not many people care. They don’t want the skill. They want the credit.
I get it. I am not getting on your case. We are all products of the system. We do what the government tells us to do. We submit and pass under the yoke because we have been trained to do so. When they say accredited, we jump.
Funny thing is,,, when it comes to education… they don’t know their head from a hole in the ground. And these are the guys telling us we have to prove that our studies are accredited.
In a recent report put out by the Council on Foreign Relations, they admitted they have no idea what they are doing. The system is failing. This is from the horse’s mouth.
- More than 25 percent of students fail to graduate from high school in four years; for African-American and Hispanic students, this number is approaching 40 percent.
- In civics, only a quarter of U.S. students are proficient or better on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
- Although the United States is a nation of immigrants, roughly eight in ten Americans speak only English and a decreasing number of schools are teaching foreign languages.
- A recent report by ACT, the not-for-profit testing organization, found that only 22 percent of U.S. high school students met “college ready” standards in all of their core subjects; these figures are even lower for African-American and Hispanic students.
- The College Board reported that even among college-bound seniors, only 43 percent met college-ready standards, meaning that more college students need to take remedial courses.
No worries. They have solutions. They are going to…
- Implement educational expectations and assessments in subjects vital to protecting national security. “With the support of the federal government and industry partners, states should expand the Common Core State Standards, ensuring that students are mastering the skills and knowledge necessary to safeguard the country’s national security.”
- Make structural changes to provide students with good choices. “Enhanced choice and competition, in an environment of equitable resource allocation, will fuel the innovation necessary to transform results.”
- Launch a “national security readiness audit” to hold schools and policymakers accountable for results and to raise public awareness. “There should be a coordinated, national effort to assess whether students are learning the skills and knowledge necessary to safeguard America’s future security and prosperity. The results should be publicized to engage the American people in addressing problems and building on successes.”
Sure they are. All they need is what they always need. More money. They forgot to start with one question… a question they should always ask:
“Who is going to pay for this?”
Of course, they never answer this question.
Meanwhile, government workers are in charge of the education of our children. It never ceases to amaze me that Americans make fun of government bureaucracy, the DMV for example, and then happily turn their children over to another government bureaucracy (the department of education).
But, hey. No worries. They are going to solve the education crisis. Reform is coming. Any day now.
Meanwhile, let’s all make sure that our own classes are up to their standards.
