'A' is for Apple, 'B' is for Banana, 'C' is for the flaw in the system.

I am a product of a flawed system. If you are American, chances are, you are too.

That system? The public-education system.

I just took a mid-term exam today. And I think I did well.

But what does that mean? Mathematically, I probably scored enough points in relation to the 100 points the exam was worth to receive a "passing" grade.That grade will be translated into a letter, and then subsequently translated further into another point system, and all of the grades I receive in my classes will be averaged out to compute my G.P.A.- Grade Point Average for those who truly do not know.

What did I learn though? And who decides pass/fail? Will I really be able to remember these things that I have received credit for from a post-secondary educational institution- that I will be expected to have learned because of the standards of the Council of Social Work Education?

I've received all A's at Northern- except I got an A- last semester. And I learned the most in that class out of all of them.

And that's not to say I haven't learned anything in my other classes- far from it! I've learned hundreds of new ideas. I've learned how to think about things in a different way, and how to see the workings of our society through different lenses. But if you ask me to pull out specific theories, or dates, or which specific policy was responsible for permanency planning becoming a part of our child welfare system...I am not so good at that.

The thing is, though, that the American education system- at least where I was, and when I was growing up- is at least partly to blame.

All along, I've been told to memorize specific things, places, parts, cities, all so that I could take tests and get enough questions right so that I could get enough points to get good grades. I was rewarded for the ability to put a bunch of information in my short term memory, regurgitate it, and move on. There was no real accountability to actually remember things. At least most of the time, that is.

That doesn't mean that I never 'learned' anything. Obviously there are things that I learned- I have basic math and English skills, I know 'Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species'. There are various other things floating around in there.

And to be fair, I bought in hook, line, and sinker. I never really applied myself above and beyond what was expected of me. I got the good grades required, and not much more. I was more interested in sports than I was in education- so I did what I had to do. I knew more about pro football in high school than I did about Deductive Geometry (which was where math really began to fall apart for me).

Society rewarded me too- I had so much praise from family for "doing good in school". There were other accolades as well. I didn't get in trouble. I was a 'good kid'. It all worked together to create a perfect storm for my educational mediocrity.

Since going back to school a couple years ago, I've been more focused and trying harder to actually "learn" things. And like I said, it's worked. But there is still residue of the old system. There is still a propensity for 'data in/data out'. When I read, I find myself looking for catch phrases- "_____ identifies four basic...., _____ exists on three levels, the table identifies four major dimensions...."- you get the idea. See! Even our textbooks feed into this system. We don't have to critically look for what's important- they feed it to us. If there's a number, make sure you highlight it, because it's going to be a question on the test.

Like I said before, my experience is my experience. It's from my personal schooling, during the years I was in school. I know things have changed, and will continue to change.

But as a parent, I have a responsibility to make sure that my children get the best education that they can. And honestly? We're seriously looking at home schooling our children. Is it a religious thing? I think that's part of it- but really, for me, it's a small part. See I want my kids to learn, at their own pace. I want them to learn about things that interest them, in a way that they can really learn. I want them to have social outlets, but with less drama than is afforded by most public schools.

I know that home schooled kids are still responsible to meet certain standards, but at the same time, I feel like the public school system is bound by the need to process children from a certain age to a certain age, and make sure that they score high enough on standardized tests and have attendance on the right days so that they can have funding...basically, there are too many kids and too many other responsibilities to really make sure that kids are 'getting it'.

In the end? All I want my kids to be able to think, critically, for themselves, and to make informed decisions for themselves, and to be able to know who they are as people- to have some power in deciding who they are, to not have it dictated to them by where they stand in some imaginary social hierarchy. And right now, I have no faith in the public education system to get them to that place.