School accreditation is a scam

A recent letter (Jan. 7) indicated that unless Monadnock voters approve all warrant articles at the March 11 election, and approve a multimillion-dollar building proposal next year, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges will pull its accreditation.

This is a tactic meant to scare the voters into doing what the association wants. One might say it is reminiscent of mafia shake-down methods. What is the New England Association? It isn't affiliated with the New Hampshire state government or any government body. In fact, it's a private enterprise from Massachusetts, a group of self-appointed educational "experts" who, for a fee of several thousand dollars, will issue a report telling the district what it needs to do to measure up to the association's standards.

It can, if asked, tell tax-and-spenders on school boards whatever they'd like to hear.

Do you want a teacher contract? No problem, they'll indicate in the report that you should have one for accreditation. Desire a new building? Not to worry; it's in the report.

This technique is used by the educational establishment to acquire what they desire from already overtaxed families and it's happening wherever taxpayers are standing up and saying, "Enough."

To a certain extent, association accreditation is just another tool used by the establishment to get what it wants, along with putting an item up for a vote countless times until it wears the opposition down.

Public education has been in a tailspin for decades with dumbed-down curricula, flat or falling test scores and college freshmen unable to write a coherent sentence. This is mostly due to the failed policies and educational theories of the educational establishment, the same folks who make up the New England Association.

Why are we asking the people who got us into the mess how to get out? Hire the fox to build the henhouse?

Essentially, it's not about educating kids. In numerous cases, public education today is primarily about jobs, money, benefits, retirement and workload, a version of corporate welfare, an educational-industrial complex not unlike the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about decades ago.

Reading and writing proficiently takes a far back seat in this system, despite the heroic efforts of some truly dedicated teachers.

The best indications of how well a school is doing are the SAT or college entrance scores of the students, and how many obtain a two- or four-year college degree.

By the way, those test scores are what colleges are looking at first and foremost, not the school's accreditation.

Why do colleges race to snatch up home-schooled students? They don't come from accredited schools, and their parents are seldom "certified teachers."

It should be noted that many private schools shy away from hiring teachers with a degree in education, opting instead for candidates with a master's degree or better in solid subject matter such as English or math.

Home schools, as well as many charter and private schools that are not accredited, but produce exceptional students, expose a fact that the educational establishment would rather you not think about: Teacher certification and accreditation are not a necessity in producing good students.

Monadnock district homes valued at $200,000 face possible school-tax increases ranging between $790 and $1,200 this year if all the warrant articles pass; this with a steadily declining student population and Surry out of the district. The amount that must be raised in taxes from the seven remaining towns is up 29 percent this year alone and the budget has now doubled in 10 years. And next year the school board will want even more.

A recent news report related how businessmen in Sicily are throwing off the centuries-old yoke of organized crime's shakedown racket.

The Monadnock Regional School District should do the same and dump the accreditation association immediately.

Otherwise, the educational establishment will continue to use it to extract payment from overburdened, middle class families.

Monadnock voters must not let themselves be held hostage to accreditation and the tax-and-spenders on the school board.