Yep, the duck is REALLY back. Earlier this week, the tone of this comic strip was so mild that I feared its author might have suffered a medical emergency (like choking on his conscience). But it looks like somebody gave him the Heimlich Manuver, because today's edition is a case-study in mis-information.
Followers of this strip (and the Republican agenda) know how much fear and hatred they have for public education. An educated citizenry is the bedrock of democracy. The very thought of "common" people being educated must make a shudder run through the right-wing, in much the same way the "Motor-Voter" laws do.
Today Mallard (actually drawn STANDING-UP and without his TV!!) is carrying a newspaper and telling us that "US 12th-graders scored 18th out of 21 countries' kid in math and science test!". He doesn't tell us the name of the study nor its authors or the date it was performed. He doesn't even mention the name of the newspaper that he was reading. This is surely intentional to prevent us from checking-up on him. And his punchline, "Still, it coulda been worse... ...No Asian countries participated."
No facts or sources are given because we aren't meant to question the study itself. The point is to deride our education system. No suggestions are offered to improve the chances for our children. But that's because he doesn't want the situation to improve. The goal is to dismantle public schooling and turn it all over to the church.
Another fact that the Duck "forgot" to mention was a major difference between OUR system and the system in other countries. In the U.S., all children attend school through the twelvth grade whether or not they are going to attend college. In many other countris, there is a split after the TENTH grade between college-bound students and those interested in pursuing a trade. So if an American student plans to become a mechanic, or carpenter or cook s/he STILL goes through the twelvth grade. However, in other countries like Germany, students would NOT. They would enter trade-school.
So Mallard's survey might be comparing average U.S. students to foreign college students. Which countries were tested? We aren't supposed to ask this (or any question). We are just supposed to feel anger toward teachers and vote to reduce the support for public education even further by voting for "school vouchers."
No thanks Mallard! But I MUST SAY, I'm glad to see you finally turned off your television and picked-up a newspaper. It (obviously) doesn't mean you will become more enlightened, but you'll learn ALOT more than you do by sitting in front of that TV of yours.
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