Monday, March 21, 2011

Teeching Enviramentel Litterusy

Many of the States are rushing to add an entire curriculum revolving around "environmental literacy" to their school programs. Some states, including but not limited to California and Wisconsin already have such programs in place. In Wisconsin, the Department of Public Instruction just reactivated the position of environmental education consultant.

I'm not sure whether that was before or after the citizens elected a governor and legislature to fix the education mess coming out of Madison. I'm guessing before, since it would seem to add another bureaucrat, another salary, another pension and another colossal waste of money. State Superintendent Tony Evers asked the No Child Left Inside Coalition what they would like to see, and environmental literacy education was right at the top. He had them draft the Environmental Literacy Plan, and the fun can begin.

So considering that many of these states were already overpopulated with green weenies and ecofreaks, what was the sudden rush? Well, you should be able to guess. We've already discussed the expensive uselessness of the federal Department of Education on several occasions, most recently this past Thursday. One of the primary goals of the Department is to whip all the states into line by lavishing buckets of money on the state "education" systems to keep students ignorant and union teachers employed. Hmmm, mmmm, mmmm, Barack Hussein Obama.

So almost the moment the Department of Education announced that is considering including environmental literacy as an integral part of the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act (formerly No Loser Left Behind), the "gimme the money" enviroweenies went into high gear. First State in line with the right school program at the federal trough gets the biggest share. Feed early, eat as much as you can get.

Which leads me to the big question. Why is environmental literacy even on the radar when the schools as currently run and funded can't even teach literacy literacy?

13 comments:

T_Rav said...

Hmm, environmental literacy...I wonder what that consists of, exactly. I'm imagining a beginners' class, where you learn to draw pictures of dying polar bears; a middlers' class, with mandatory recycling programs; and maybe an advanced class, which has you launch massive protests/death threats against evil capitalists and their Republican cronies, or something. I can't wait.

Writer X said...

If schools (and parents) could simply remind kids to throw their soda cans and fast food wrappers in a garbage can instead of in the streets, I'd be happy. How expensive can that lesson be?

Unknown said...

T_Rav: That sounds like the core curriculum. Of course there will be elective courses such as tree-hugging 101, Love the banana slug 152 and Delta smelt cuddling 210. I'm so excited I could just . . .

Unknown said...

WriterX: What, and put the union cleanup crews out of work?! LOL

AndrewPrice said...

I have to assume this environmental literacy plan will have no relation to science, because it would be mighty inconvenient to disprove all of the Church of Gore's tenets. This should be doubleplus good!

StanH said...

To think this was the nation that put a man on the moon, the nuclear bomb, first in flight, and now this, further proof our great country is in decline.

Unknown said...

Andrew: Science? Why bother with hard science when you can have voodoo science? The plan will also have nothing to do with literacy. Don't tell me what you think, tell me what you feel.

Unknown said...

Stan: Don't you know that we've already destroyed the ecosystem on the moon? I don't think you're taking this seriously. LOL

rlaWTX said...

yep, cuz enviro literacy is where we are falling behind in the worldwise standings... math, hard science - who needs those?

and after we get that enviro literacy up we can go hard after multicultural literacy (including a special section for LGBT)! and then start hitting those hard to learn areas of vertebrate animal leteracy and invertebrate animal literacy...

Tennessee Jed said...

First and foremost, Litterussy is spelled with two s's. Second, my idea for dramatically reducing costs (not to mention improve quality) of our teachers is to fire and/or prevent from ever again being a teacher, anyone who voted for Barrack Hussein Obama, or thought they might had they only been old enough to vote.

Unknown said...

rlaWTX: You've read the playbook.

Unknown said...

Tennessee: Thanks for korecting my speling. I new it didnt look rite.

Joel Farnham said...

LawHawk,

I don't mind children learning new things. I do mind them being indoctrinated. That is what this is about. It makes me mad.

I mind that children aren't being taught the basic history of the United States.

Why the first deal for Manhattan Island actually was a con job and they had to pay for it again and not for beads and twenty-four dollars.

Like the Constitution and the reasons for it, not the made up reasons that redefine the colonies as slave-mongering whites.

What the causes for the Civil War actually were. Ridding us of slavery was ancillary and not the primary reason.

Why the Native Indians were excellent warriors as well as great thieves, but still lost because of manufacturing.

When I went through school, I was taught that the Constitution is a living document. Imagine my surprise when it is more fixed than that.

I now know that if we stopped all Federal Funding to all schools, we would have a better educated populace. And that is no joke.

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