A few whistles of disapproval greeted his declaration. Peculiarly, a smile tried to escape his mouth.
And Mahrree saw it.
“You don’t really believe that, do you Captain?”
He stiffened. “I’m reciting what the Administrators have said, arguing in their behalf.”
“Why?”
The captain paused. “Because I’m the army’s representative in Edge, and by extension, the representative of the Administrators. Their ideas in Idumea may be later applied here in Edge.”
A flicker of concern flashed across his face.
And Mahrree saw that, too.
“The way children are being taught is changing,” he continued formally. “Parents no longer have to concern themselves in choosing the lessons. Just as the Administrators have alleviated the citizenry of difficult decisions concerning farming and ranching procedures, they’ve also decided to alleviate parents of the burden of deciding their children’s curriculum.” He sounded as if he was reading from an official parchment.
Mahrree was glad she wasn’t the only one disturbed by his message. The calls from the audience expressed a loud mixture of disapproval, intrigue, and confusion. Mahrree listened to hear what the overall concern was, and when she discovered it, she gave it to him.
“Why is it considered a burden to select what’s best for the children to learn? That’s the parents’ duty. My job is to help the parents provide that teaching.”
“Perhaps,” he said mysteriously.
Everyone waited for an explanation.
He offered none but smiled vaguely at her. “Miss Peto, why do you find it disturbing that the Administrators select what’s most important for our children to learn?”
She really wasn’t sure, but it sat on her strangely. “Captain, what if the Administrators choose to teach that which is against the beliefs of the parents?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Such as what, Miss Peto?”
She squirmed as she wondered just how close he was to the Administrator of Loyalty. “I don’t exactly know yet, Captain. I’m just posing the question for the debate.”
“And I answer for the debate,” he said sharply. “I can’t imagine any situation where the Administrators would recommend teaching anything that would be contrary to the welfare of the world. If anyone would be out of line, it would be misguided parents.”
Now the audience squirmed, too.
Exactly who would be deciding what was best for the world, Mahrree wondered, and what was best for an individual? Not even she was brave enough to pose such a question in public. Instead, she remembered something else that troubled her. “You mentioned a test of some sort.”
“I did.”
“What kind of test?” She gave tests to her students occasionally, ones she made with their parents.
“A test that’s been developed by the Administrators to make sure the children are learning what they should. A strong civilization needs consistently strong education,” the official voice declared.
While evaluation seemed reasonable to Mahrree, something else wasn’t. “No two children are the same. They all learn at different rates. How will the Administrators account for that in their testing?”
“This will be the first year of the test,” he said. “I’m sure the Administrators are confident they can assess each child fairly.”
“So this test won’t allow for any answer to the What color is the sky question other than blue?” Mahrree already dreaded his response.
“I don’t believe so.” His face was unreadable.
That irritated Mahrree, among other things.
“So how is that fair when there are many accurate answers? What if it’s raining that day?”
“The children will have been taught that the correct answer should be blue.”
“Even when nature disagrees?”
“Nature agrees often enough with the Administrators.” He smiled slyly.
Some in the audience laughed.
Mahrree’s stomach twisted again. “And if it doesn’t, will the Administrators change nature?”
The captain’s smile broadened. “Oh, I certainly hope they’ll try!”
More laughter.
“You have a lot of faith in this new government, don’t you Captain Shin?” Mahrree said. Until five minutes ago, she did as well. So why did this make her so uneasy, the Administrators wanting to ‘help’ with education, changing the color of the sky to ‘simplify’ everything?
And how would he respond to her question about his faith in the government? The relationship between the army and the Administrators was known to be shaky. The Administrators were doing their best to ensure the army’s abuses of the past would never return, but memories of the killing squads, carrying out Querul the Second and Third’s dictates, were hard to forget.