I could hardly believe my ears at the audacity of this program described on Marketplace yesterday. As a resident of Maryland, I can attest that having a security clearance around here is viewed (by the sheeple, that is, almost everyone) as the best career move you can make. I’ve heard my superiors at my current and past jobs in the area promote this. But, it turns out that this is now the new ‘vo-tech’ substitute at Baltimore schools. No need to learn a skill, just make sure that you keep up the right image to get a security clearance!
So, I’m not surprised that the feds (in cahoots with contractors) are making propaganda videos and getting them played at high schools. I just don’t understand how an intelligent person could hear this story on the radio and come away thinking that public schools are interested in education and uninterested in blatant propaganda. But, at the same time, I know that this opinion prevails despite evidence as glaring as this “career guidance”/pro-security clearance program.
Of course, it helps that the teachers themselves are utterly brainwashed (emphasis added):
5:37 pm on July 8, 2011[Baltimore teacher Tina Edler]: The one thing that I really love about teaching this content is that I’m allowed to have those courageous conversations that never take place in the classroom.
