Child Abuse, American Style

No, this isn’t an op-ed piece on Jerry Sandusky and Penn State or even the horrific number of children in the United States who are victims of trafficking in the sex trade. This is the story of what we all seem to be tolerating as a nation and as a society… what we are doing to our children in almost every state in the union. This moving vignette was reported by Joy Resmovits in the July 14^th Huffington Post: “When Shania started third grade at P.S. 148 last fall, she was thrilled to be back at the Queens public school. An outgoing eight-year-old, she said she was happy to be among her friends again, and she had loved her class the previous year. Her second-grade teacher would take the time to explain tricky topics like addition and subtraction one-on-one. She had even been named ‘student of the month.’

“But since 2007, as the economy has tanked and expenses for public schools have risen, New York City has made principals cut budgets by 13.7 percent. When budgets are cut, teachers are fired and others aren't replaced -- including at P.S. 148, which has lost at least $600,000 and eight teachers since 2010. When teachers are lost, class sizes balloon. Shania had 31 classmates this past school year, compared to 20 the year before.

“‘Mommy, I want to change,’ Shania said a week into the school year, according to her mother, Laynory Loaiza. ‘There are too many kids in my class, and when I try to talk to the teacher, she doesn't pay attention to me.’… Shania liked her veteran teacher, Joan Barnett, but with 32 eight-year-olds to teach, Barnett said she simply didn't have time to slow things down and repeat lessons on multiplication and division more than twice… When Shania came home, she couldn't concentrate on her homework. ‘Writing, math and reading was hard for me,’ Shania said. ‘I need help with division, multiplication and subtraction.’… After consistently receiving B's in previous years, Shania finished third grade this year with C's and D's. She was almost held back and forced to repeat the year.”

How many Shania’s have we created under the recent mantra of deficit reduction? Will they drop out and add to the financial burdens of a struggling nation in ten or fifteen years? Does the cost shift to our criminal justice system where the cost-per-prisoner per year is four times higher than public education? How much productivity will we have lost in ten or twenty years? In five years? How many nations will have educated an even greater cadre of well-educated students to replace our labor force in the highest-level productive work? We are injecting our body politic with a malignant virus that will effect long-term disabilities and further polarize a society already fractured into segments that seem to hate each other.

“Unlike a shrunken police or fire department, the impact of school cuts isn't always obvious. There are no bodies in the streets, no charred evidence of harm done. That has made school systems attractive targets for austerity-minded politicians across the country… Thirty-four states have slashed their K-12 education budgets since 2008, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Making sure class sizes don't explode nationwide would cost $10 billion annually, according to a March report from the Southern Regional Educational Board.

“But impact of these cuts is visible when you look at kids like Shania, and the ripple effects can last a lifetime. Earlier grades are especially important, because that's when students learn the fundamentals -- how to read, write, add and subtract -- that undergird the rest of their education. Studies have shown that students who don't learn to read proficiently by third grade are much more likely to drop out. Third grade is also the year students start taking standardized tests, which can alter their educational futures.” Huffington Post.

Politicians and budget-cutting activist groups justify their budget cuts by reason of bloated educational bureaucracies, generous benefits to teachers that they say we can no longer afford and a seniority system that supports seniority above quality and results. They are sending a strong message to the educational system, all 13,000 school districts in the U.S. They are also killing the children who are compelled to resort to public education because they lack the resources to attend a private school of higher quality. They are burning a swath of permanent devastation across the lives of America’s children, dooming us to slip into a lower quality of life as our competitive advantage disappears with the uplift in international educational standards in both the developing and developed world.

By all means, fight the battles to rectify flaws in our schools and school districts, but do not do it by taking down the lives of innocent children who have no choice but public education. We need to label such indifference as “child abuse.” And shame to every politician and voter who has supported this demise to the system, this decimation of the lives of innocents. Shame, shame on you!

I’m Peter Dekom, and we have entered what I believe is the most self-destructive period in American history since the Civil War.