Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

155 undertake the screening, how to do it, and how to get help from state and local agencies. “It’s not an either/or situation for the school district,” said Heneson-Walling. There are seven or eight degrees of involvement a school might undertake. Some schools are already involved in extensive health screening services, because of requirements of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, so it would be a natural step for them to become primary health delivery centers. (p. 6) [Ed. Note: The United States model was given wide publicity at the United Nations/UNICEF sponsored International Year of the Child Conference. The U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare served as co-sponsor of the International Year of the Child’s program in the United States. For a glimpse into the future role of the schools in providing health care services turn to the 1999 entry for the “Little Red Riding Hood” version of the government/private sector initiatives outlined in the U.S. Department of Education/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publication Together We Can. The 1999 Congressional proposal to completely fund the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act would go a long way toward universalizing these activities. Increased school violence in the late 1990s is also leading to increases in the number of school psychologists who can be used for “early screening.”] The Serious Seventies : c. 1979 “B IG S CHOOL C HANGES P ROPOSED ” WAS PRINTED IN THE B ANGOR (ME) D AILY N EWS ON November 30, 1979. The article covered what could easily be described as futuristic plans for Vermont public education. It stated in part: M ONTPELIER , VT —A blue ribbon commission has recommended a radical restructuring of education in Vermont with year-round, ungraded schools and a policy of allowing some students to drop out at age 13. In addition, the commission suggested creation of a 4,000 student, residential school for students ages 4 through 19. The state-run school would be a center for educational research and teacher training.... The commission recommends students should be permitted to drop out of formal schooling at age 13, as long as they get a job or enroll in an alternative training program. [Ed. Note: This extraordinary plan for radical restructuring seemed beyond the pale in 1979. However, it doesn’t seem so out of reach in 1999 when most of its recommendations are being introduced nationwide. Year-round school has been proposed in many locales, being adopted in some in 1999. Boarding schools have been openly proposed by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, but have not been widely embraced. However, the concept of allowing students to drop out at age 13 has its parallel in school-to-work efforts which force students to select a career emphasis by the end of eighth grade.] I N THE N OVEMBER 1979 ISSUE OF E DUCATIONAL L EADERSHIP , MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF the Asso ciation for Supervision and Curriculum Development, “Mastery Learning: The Current State of the Craft” by James Block was published. Excerpts follow: Indeed, with the help of dedicated practitioners and administrators, innovative teacher train ing institutions, progressive national and international educational organizations (ASCD, NEA, NASA, UNESCO, IEA), leading educational publishers (McGraw-Hill, SRA, Westing house Learning Corp., Random House), and powerful news media ( The New York Times , CBS), Mastery Learning has helped reshape the face of contemporary educational practice,