Bill Ferriter

One of the things rolling through my mind today is the animosity that people here in the States have for public schools and public school teachers.

Recently, I read a survey that said 80% of parents were satisfied with their child's school, but only 40% of the general public were satisfied with schools.

Do those same trends exist in other countries?

(And if not, how do we fix things here in the States?)

#WorthAsking

Nov 10, 2022 at 2:23pmWeb
Show threadDoohickie Nov 10, 2022
@plugusin Not sure. There has been a conscious effort on the part of the right to demonize public schools in order to justify diverting public money toward private schools which in many cases are right wing indoctrination centers. The power of the Big Lie is hard to fight.
Show threadBill FerriterNov 10, 2022

@Doohickie : Ooohh, Doohickie --- you have me thinking this morning about that phrase "The Big Lie."

It's not just an election thing, is it?

There ARE lots of lies being spread about schools in the States --- and that IS a systematic effort to funnel monies away from public education.

I hadn't thought of those efforts as a "Big Lie" before.

Thanks for sharing that.

Show threadDoohickie Nov 10, 2022
@plugusin The problem, as with so many other aspects of the right wing, is that they've invented their own universe and facts that are easily disproved by basic logic are accepted by them as foundational tenets of their philosophy. So far I don't know how to get through the BS. I have a cousin that I sometimes interact with on FB and it's difficult to talk politics because her set of basic assumptions differs so much from mine.
Show threadBertwoodNov 10, 2022
@plugusin I always thought how it was a little odd how homeschooling was such a big thing in the US (likely due to distrust of the public system as you pointed out). Certainly not the same trend here in Canada. While we have our share of issues in the education system, overall they're not that bad and most people still trust it to get our kids educated.
Show threadBill FerriterNov 10, 2022

@bertwood : Yep. Distrust of institutions is a very real issue here.

What breaks my heart as a teacher is distrust of schools.

Teachers quite literally sacrifice for their communities, so being doubted and criticized makes it difficult to continue.

The reward was never our salaries -- it was the respect of our communities. And that has dwindled.

Show threadBertwoodNov 10, 2022
@plugusin It is sad how so many Americans distrust not just teachers, but also doctors and police. Those are all fundamental roles in a proper functioning society.
Show threadBill FerriterNov 10, 2022

@bertwood :

Yep. And my guess is that distrust is sown for the same reason. If we discredit those groups, we can privatize them --- and that lines someone's pockets.

It's sad to see communities fractured in that way.

Show threadBertwoodNov 10, 2022
@plugusin hmm you might be right about that. Any ideas on how to reverse the trend?
Show threadBill FerriterNov 11, 2022

@bertwood : Honestly, I think it is all about transparency. Trying to educate as many people as we can about the misinformation that surrounds them.

Most of the people that I know that fall for this kind of stuff are genuinely good people who trust the news they are consuming without question.

That's the problem: We have to encourage people to question everything that they once thought they could accept without question.

What worries me is that is a really tough process.

Show threadBertwoodNov 11, 2022
@plugusin in theory that sounds good, but it's also a double edged sword. Clearly now we see people questioning what should be undisputed facts. What's misinformation to one group of people are facts to another group. I think minimally, there needs to be some common ground or set of facts that everyone can agree on and build on.