The Puzzle Palace: An Inside View of Decline in Our Schools
Burnham, James
Synopsis "The Puzzle Palace: An Inside View of Decline in Our Schools"
"The Puzzle Palace - An Inside View of Decline in Our Schools" is a revealing look at the decline of public education in Louisiana. Student test scores have steadily declined over the years corresponding with an increasing number of high school dropouts in many areas in Louisiana. This has resulted in the closing of public schools that have not met established academic standards. There has been a corresponding increase in home schooling along with an increase in attendance at private schools, private Christian schools, and Charter schools. The responsibility for this trend has been targeted at the local schools and more specifically, the classroom teacher. This book shows that the factors contributing to the above trends are much more complex than previously thought and have progressed over a period of time. It also shows that policy makers and/or lawmakers make educationally unsound decisions and then require the local schools to implement them; hence "The Puzzle Palace," There is an underlying negative spiritual element that cannot be denied that is also part of the overall problem picture. The stories in this book have been based on actual events but job descriptions and most details have been changed. The opinions expressed are the author's and are based on thirty one years of experience in the school system. In the end, Burnham places the ultimate blame not completely upon 'The Puzzle Palace' itself, but upon mankind's eternal enemy who has absolute disregard for the sacred creation of man, himself. For Burnham, if those who have been granted ultimate responsibility for the education system would understand one of his modes of operation, "to destroy a people or a nation" by way of, "the parallel decline of the schools," perhaps 'The Puzzle Palace' would find more appropriate ways of policy implementation thus reversing educational decline rather than promoting its proliferation. Hope exists, if the Palace would listen to the masses.
