Dumbing down New Jersey schools

OPINION:

Among the many laws that took effect at the beginning of the new year is one in New Jersey that will astound and should anger people with children in the state’s public schools. It’s called Act 1669, and it removes a requirement that teachers pass a basic reading, writing and math test to be eligible to teach. The law was signed last June by New Jersey’s Democratic governor, Phil Murphy.

The rationale, if one can call it rational, is that New Jersey is not attracting enough teachers to the profession, so standards must be lowered so more will apply. This reminds me of what the Army has done for physical fitness requirements. In 2022, the Army lowered the physical fitness standards for women and older troops in its annual physical fitness exam to attract more enlistees.

Where did the idea come from that lowering standards might produce higher achievement?

The Pew Research Center notes, “U.S. students ranked 28th out of 37 OECD member countries in math and 12th in science.” In both subjects, Japanese students scored the highest.

It isn’t a matter of money, as some Democrats claim when they campaign for increased education spending for public schools. New Jersey is third in the nation in what it spends on public schools at $25,099 per student, far exceeding tuition for most private schools. More about that in a moment.

If spending on students (and teachers) were directly related to enhanced performance, New Jersey and the rest of the country would be at or near the top in positive education outcomes.

Since the 1960s, the U.S. appears to have been on a downward path, attacking wealth, success and people taking responsibility for their actions. We once promoted such things as examples of what one could be with the right attitude and practices that were thought to be universal and proved right by history.

Too often in modern times, politicians and cultures denigrate what used to produce desired outcomes and would again if it were embraced. We say we don’t like the outcome of today’s practices but appear unwilling to change direction in too many cases. The result is we get less of what we claim to want and more of what we claim to want less of.

President-elect Donald Trump says he wants to change this way of thinking on many levels, especially regarding education. He has announced plans to eliminate the Department of Education and return education power to the states where it belongs. This is a worthy goal, one that Ronald Reagan sought but failed to achieve. Entrenched interests in Washington are difficult to remove.

New Jersey has partial school choice options, but only for public schools that include charter and magnet schools. It also allows parents to instruct their children at home. But parents who want their children to have an education with the moral values that a religious foundation brings are out of luck. They must pay twice — their high New Jersey taxes and private school tuition. Many can’t afford it, especially poor and middle-class families. They are trapped in a system that now includes teachers who wouldn’t qualify to teach under the previous standard.

Would a universal school choice program help attract more qualified teachers so the bar could be raised to the previous level, instead of lowered? It should be worth a try.

• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books).