Navy SEAL McRaven says America's biggest national security issue is the K-12 education system

[Nevilledog]

Navy SEAL who oversaw bin Laden raid says America's biggest national security issue is the K-12 education system

https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-william-mcraven-education-biggest-security-issue-2020-7?fbclid=IwAR0AaXS2ynirjyAymWQwU4-I0VIsxr-80iPdYKy3_YZefFBUf3O2EYouYQc

While some former US military leaders have had offered witty one-liners when asked which national security threat keeps them up at night, one former commander had an unconventional answer: "K-12 education."

Retired Adm. William McRaven, a former US Navy SEAL commander and head of US Special Operations Command, said he was "the biggest fan" of the younger generation of Americans and that education in grade school played a broader role in national security.

"When I was chancellor, I would have a lot of town hall meetings, or meetings with our alumni, and that question always came up," McRaven, who was chancellor of the University of Texas System, said at the Aspen Ideas Festival on June 29. "And they would always ask ... 'What's your No. 1 national security issue?'"

"I think my answer always surprised them," he added.

McRaven, who stepped down from overseeing one of the largest US school systems in 2018, said he stood by that thinking.

*snip*

[dlk]

1. I wholeheartedly agree

For a democracy to survive and succeed, the people must be well-educated. There has been a multi-decades long assault on our public schools in service to a political agenda. The cost has been and will continue to be exorbitant to all of us.

[Blue_true]

15. Same here. Quality K-12 education is vitally important to society. nt

[ms liberty]

2. I think what we're living in now is proof that we need to do better

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I can't disagree with him.

[Hoyt]

3. One reason I support getting back to school as soon as reasonably possible.

What we have now is too close to home-schooling, subjecting too many kids to their parents’ white wing BS.

[stopdiggin]

9. how soon we get back is a real balancing act

with some (unfortunately) moving pieces.
But I made the point the other day (and got hammered for it) that there is a real, and sustained, loss involved in keeping our student home. And one of the big ones is -- you and I both know that (right wing or otherwise) .. "home schooling" right now means that a lot of kids -- are getting NO schooling -- period.
---- ----

[Hoyt]

10. Exactly. We lost 2 months in Spring, already. Still may have to

delay start in fall, but I think we ought to go ahead with planning to open. It’s definitely a balancing act.

[stopdiggin]

13. yep. no one (that I know of) is trying to claim

that there aren't "costs" involved here as well. (we've brought trauma into these kids lives, one way or another. and that's just the sad fact.) It's going to be a trade-off .. no matter how you slice it.

[Blue_true]

16. The problem is that the main person pushing for schools to reopen

is providing zero guidance on how to do that.

We need temporary facilities on school grounds to allow sick kids to be isolated. That also means that transport of those kids to school need to be changed. An alternative would be sites in the district where parents that have to work can drop their sick kids off, to be evaluated immediately and routed to isolation or regular recovery. All that requires resources that are simply not being allocated.

There are just so many things that can go wrong with throwing students and teachers in a place that is already an infection pit, even without SAR-COV-2 lurching.

[Hoyt]

18. Agree completely. A national plan to get as many kids as possible back

into some educational program would be great. trump’s admin has not stepped up to provide the leadership. States with good governance will figure it out.

trump does not understand that merely saying schools must open is not enough.

[Blue_true]

19. Even states with good governance are going to be pressed.

Districts are going to need a lot of facilities and capabilities that they now are really thin on. For example, sick kids, they either stay home or go to a facility than can care for them, or they go into school and infect teachers and students. Solving that takes money for lots of Nurses, buses, temporary buildings to allow kids to be isolated, etc.

We need to face up to the fact that our schools have been treated as baby-sitting facilities, with the added bonus that kids get educated. If we are going to continue that model, then schools will need a lot more resources than they now have.

[Hoyt]

20. Time to get working on it, because every day these kids go without

education is going to hurt them and us, long-term.

And, roughly half the kids are essentially being home schooled — and indoctrinated without benefit of different opinions — by ignorant white wingers.

[Blue_true]

21. To get working on it, we need a competent president, we don't have that. nt

[erronis]

4. It's hard for the rich, entitled older white folks to give a shit about K-12 kids in public schools.

Their kids are going to do just fine. Private schools, chauffeured cars/buses, trips abroad for summer (when they're allowed), plenty of food.

Other kids obviously just weren't "born right".

I applaud Admiral McRaven. I hope we can include universal healthcare in the list of national security issues.

[tblue37]

8. I spent 40+ years teaching college English. Some of my students came from supposedly high quality

(actually, just expensive) private schools. I saw no evidence that they had been better educated. They had all the same thinking, reading, and writing flaws as their less expensively educated classmates.

The only reason they'll "do just fine" is because of networking. Affluent, well-connected people can get their kids internships and cushy jobs.

[Hoyt]

11. Yes, connections. I used to crack up when the frat boys at my college flunked

finals because the prof didn’t ask the questions in the fraternity’s files.

But, many of those did go on to be “successful” in a trumpian way.

[Blue_true]

17. I went to college with a woman, really wonderful person, whose family got her

a summer job at a Silicon Valley startup as a sophomore. It was difficult for even young degreed engineers to get such jobs. I didn’t dislike her for that, she was a wonderful person who was from a rich, well connected family.

[PJMcK]

5. Thanks for posting the link and here are a few more paragraphs for context

Your choice of quotes were misleading to me and I'm glad I read the entire article. General McRaven was really saying that we need to step up our educational systems and re-invigorate people to learn new things. I read his comments as a critique of Trump's band of ignoramuses.

Here are a few more of his thoughts:

"It was because I recognized that unless we are giving opportunity and a quality education to the young men and women in the United States, then we won't have the right people to be able to make the right decisions about our national security," McRaven said. "They won't have an understanding of different cultures. They won't have an understand of different ideas. They won't be critical thinkers."

"So we have got to have an education system within the United States that really does teach and educate young men and women to think critically, to look outside their kind of small microcosm because if we don't develop those great folks, then our national security in the long run may be in jeopardy," McRaven added.

McRaven recommended the US develop a "culture of education" within communities, particular those where residents believe they cannot afford an education or where they think their children aren't "smart enough."

Thanks again for bringing this column to my (our) attention. Nevilledog. Have a great weekend.

[Nevilledog]

6. You're welcome!

I usually take the first four paragraphs. I'll try to be more careful.

[panader0]

12. Imagine foresight! Imagine someone thinking about the future.

I don't know much about McRaven except his SEAL background, but I like what he's saying here.
It's a very tough thing, having to keep your kids at home, hard on the kids, hard on the parents.
hard on those who need to go to work. But the alternative is the possibility of dead kids, or parents
or teachers.
I truly believe that if schools open, they will have to shut down before long. The odds of covid cases
are very high, and then it's back to square one except with more cases.
The same for sports. It won't last long. As I remember, the NBA was one of the very first of anyone
to shut down. It's tough, but not worth it.

[erronis]

14. Thank you for the additional context and content. This is probably the most important message.

Educate our children so they can be citizens of the world. Not just parochial.

Home schooling will only make copies of the parents knowledge and biases.

[marlakay]

7. Talking to my cousin today a retired science teacher

She retired just a year ago and has a bunch of teacher friends only few years from retirement and scared to go back to work but worried about their pension.

We were talking about lunch rooms closed, no breaks and how that is against federal laws, about having to sanitize in between classes.

She is from Seattle so lots of schools there.