Yesterday was the worst day of the year for me to read the paper. Every year the paper has a big back to school story. It tells what every school district is doing new this year. Here is the story (you can check out each district):

Back to School 2012

Some might wonder if I am sad because Veritas was omitted. We were, but this is not why I am sad. I am sad because I can summarize almost all of the reports from all of the districts:

We bought or borrowed (or bribed kids to bring in their own) technology and they decreased the number of teachers.

The message is that in education technology is where it is. Now, I am not a Luddite (even though I like Wendell Berry). I think that technology has a place in education. It is a supportive place--i.e., it gives way so that the mind can be education rather than replaced or weakened.

Here is what the articles do not say, but should. This means that classroom size is going to get bigger. I understand why districts are reticent to hire. Teachers cost a lot--more than they probably should or in the long term can. This is mainly a benefits problem that must be fixed. The problem is that the way districts are trying to fix it is by swelling class size. This is the worst idea going. Here is the worst part of this horrible idea:

Middle School.

Middle School students are amazingly self-conscious. If you put middle schooler in a class of 35 and they struggle, they will not speak up. Their teacher will never get down to digging through things and unearthing the problems that these students have or fixing them.

To fix this problem districts are letting kids bring their iphones and ipads to class. This is the worst trend and no one is talking about it. We will pay.

I do not know what to do, but the system is so broken that it is getting hard to read these stories.