I do not care if it is a black cat or a white cat. It is a good cat so long as it catches mice.

[Suji to Seoul]

A little over 60 years ago, a rather short, bald man, who loved green, full length coats, stood up in front of his people, announced that the War was over, the other side had been exiled to an island to the east and that a new country with new ideas was about to be formed. Surrounded by his closest advisors and allies, the man read from a piece of paper over a loudspeaker to the gathered masses in the city square, and to those gathered around loudspeakers in the local radio in every city, town and village in his land. Indeed, this was a time for celebration in this land. Their country was free.

Over the next five years, a brutal reign of terror was propagated and certain elements of the opposition were expunged in various methods. Struggle sessions, public humiliations, imprisonments and executions were common. The leader dictated that at least .01% of the population needed to be executed. The blood ran red along the ground. Still, the followers wanted this to occur, as those executed, imprisoned, humiliated or destroyed were simply the enemy of the new system.

Soon, a new economic policy was hatched. Farmers were pulled from the farms so they can create backyard steel refineries. Farms were then collectivized, allowing the remaining farmers to lose their incentive to do work. The bald man declared that sparrows, rats, flies and mosquitos were pests. The people killed sparrows en masse because sparrows ate grain. As a result, the locust population ballooned, eating all the crops. What crops weren't eaten failed due to the an unproven, empirically evidenced system of digging up to two meters into the ground to get the "good soil" for planting. This eroded away the top soil and the remainin crops failed.

What resulted over the next three years was the worst famine in the history of humanity. Estimated are between 20 and 72 million people died, many at the doors of graineries that would be used for exports, begging for someone to help them. Repors stated that dogs were eating the bodies of those who died. However, those reports were untrue, as the starving people ate the dogs months ago. Reports of cannibalism occured, where people began eating their own. The effects of this misfortune are still felt even today, where people born during this time are much, much shorter and thinner than normal.

As for the steel. . .it was all useless clumps of metal. The farmers didn't have metalurgy backgrounds and the leader refused to advice of engineers on ideological conflicts. A land that had seen more blood spilled in 100 years by foreign hands was now running the knife over its own wrists. Three years after the death began, things went back to normal and people found food again. A rival to the leader then stated, "I do not care if it is a black cat or a white cat. It is a good cat so long as it catches mice."

I have dictated to you, in a very brief way, the results of the Chinese Civil War, the policy of Zhen Fan, the Great Leap Forward and the Great Chinese Famine. I present this because, in this time of economic upheavel (I call the New Repression, as a combination of Recession and Depression), the targets of flawed governmental policy are not Kuomintang or Captialist Roaders. It's not landlords or "local tyrants." The target are teachers. Let me re-write the above history for contemporary American times.

A little over 10 years ago, a rather short, inspid little man, who loved his fake, folksy accent, stood up in front of his people, announced that the campaign was over, the other side had been exiled to a politcal wasteland of minority status and that a new country with new ideas was about to be formed. Surrounded by his closest advisors and allies, the man read from a piece of paper over a loudspeaker to the gathered masses in the city square, and to those gathered around loudspeakers in the local radio and television in every city, town and village in his land. Indeed, this was a time for celebration in this land. Their country was free from the last regime.

Over the next eight years, a brutal reign of terror was propagated and certain elements of the opposition were expunged in various methods. Public humiliations, questioning of patriotism, imprisonments (Don Seigelman), selective prosecutions, torture and renditions (of foreign enemies) were common. The leader dictated that at least 50% of the population needed to be marginalized. The metaphoic blood ran red along the ground. Still, the followers wanted this to occur, as those imprisoned, humiliated or destroyed were simply the enemy of the new system.

Soon, a new educational plan was hatched. Educatoes were pulled from the classrooms so they can create test based curriculms. Schools were then standardized, allowing the remaining teachers to lose their incentive develop professionally, as the test was the only thing necessary. The inspid man declared that liberals, progressives, immigrants and independent thinkers were pests. The people marginalized these pests en masse because these "pests" questioned the logic used in this new, unproven idea. As a result, the Wingut population ballooned, eating all the intellgencia. What good teachers weren't eaten failed due to the an unproven, empirically evidenced system of teaching only to a test to get the "good results" in education. This eroded away the basic idea of education that children learn to become smarter and the remainin public schools failed, while the weeds of charter schools were given all the water they could have.

What resulted over the years was the worst educational famine in the history of humanity. Estimates still coming in, but many teachers lost their position because they refused to teach to the test, many at the doors of principals' offices whom only concerned themselves with test scores and not student development. Repors stated that schools were forcing good, experienced teachers out to replace them with younger, cheaper teachers who could be molded into the new way of thinking. These reports turned out to be true, as many states have forced out many teachers who challenged the unproven, flawed system. Reports of cannibalism occured, where schools and teachers began eating their own to advance in their career. The effects of this misfortune are still felt even today, where people educated during this time are much, much shorter and thinner intellectually than normal.

As for the children. . .they lost critical thinking school and were turned into useless clumps of metal. The students didn't have teachers with sound educational theory backgrounds and the leader refused to advice of teachers and educators on ideological conflicts. A land that had seen little damage in 100 years by foreign hands was now running the knife over its own wrists. Three years after the educatioanl carngage began, things went back to normal and people found food again. A rival to the leader then stated, "Change we can believe in."

Then the rival quietly endorsed every educational policy the inspid little man started, allowing his educational underling to use the economic downturn, the Great Repression, to excise all the real educators and replace them with cheaper, mindless data providers.

I weep for the future.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. wow...........

[NYC_SKP]

2. Well, I read the whole thing, nice job for the most part. Too bad, though.

By choosing to focus on the single issue of the teacher, you ignored what was a great opportunity to teach a larger lesson, a much larger lesson.

Irony.

(I'm a former teacher, current professional developer, and yes, there's much to do)

[MissMarple]

3. Well, I thought, at first, it was a Hannah Bell post. However, it doesn't appear to be the case.

[Suji to Seoul]

4. And I'm a university professor in the People's Republic of China

And the allegory is fitting.