We need a revamped education system

As the nation follows the present administration's latest trail of corruption, I am confounded by supporters clinging to the myth of Donald Trump. Although I understand that some people view the Republicans as self-serving allies, there is more at play than meets the eye.

No Child Left Behind, for instance. A brainchild of the G.W. Bush administration, NCLB opened a wider door to educational testing. This, of course, was a move spurred by special interest groups to profit from the testing. 'Teach to the Test” became the unstated motto for schools.

Having been an educator in the public schools, I feel deeply what was left behind was the following: an understanding of the civic process (civics), a conscious reflection of the world and our place in it (philosophy) and an acknowledgment and respect for judicial process, and the balances of power as inscribed in the constitution, (government). And, of course, American and world history. Not to mention, all of the arts.

The expansion of America's competitive mentality, versus collaboration, and the kidnapping of educational mores by consumer values, is right here, in River City.

The task ahead is not to simply purge systemic corruption; it is to root out failed emphasis on testing, and reinstate the development of young minds who can save us from ourselves; we must value and invest rigorously in our children by revamping the educational system.

Corinne J. Stanley

Iowa City