As if they don't beat us over the head with it enough.

As if they don't beat us over the head with it enough., originally uploaded by crau1971.

I was raving about this earlier. Those two wooden structures jut out of the front facade of the very modern, industrial complex looking building that houses the United States Department of Education. Little red schoolhouses. No other building in Washington has these cutesy little facades to distract us from the real mission; they all are what they are--cold hard policy.

The more I look at this picture, and think about those little schoolhouse entrances--an insincere, condescending attempt at being "teacherly"--the angrier I get. Because I think about the tax dollars that went to construct those, that DIDN'T go to educational programs in this country, or researchers to look into the actual effects of NCLB. I don't see these entrances as just structures designed to invite and welcome; I see these as proof of a government that allows us as a society to remain horribly misguided, reactionary, and out of touch. Where have we gone wrong as a society when children in sub-Saharan Africa can play tag with impunity, but American school children are banned because it's "too aggressive"? Seriously, someone answer this question for me.

End rant. I have actual educational work to do, and this travesty put forth by the USDOE is distracting me from my mission of ACTUALLY EDUCATING.