I will start this by quoting the USA founding father Thomas Jefferson, "An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people." I would also state that without an education people can not make informed decision no matter how many facts they are given. A quality public education should be a right in this country not a privilege granted to only those children in localities that can afford it. A quality education is vital these days since we have data bombarding us from all directions. Without the skills to filter the false data from facts no matter how the false data is delivered, a person will not make the choice that provides the results they want.
We are now trying to undercut education by giving a false choice of vouchers that allow schools to cherry pick students while others cherry pick curriculum leaving out facts and science they don't agree with. Over the last three decades the participation in school funding by the states has dramatically dropped leaving the poor localities with an even larger gap in the ability to provide a quality education. Giving choice to parents that for one reason or another do not themselves have a quality education is no choice at all. Giving choice to parents that have beliefs that deny scientific facts and have philosophies that are incompatible with a diverse society is perpetuating discrimination. Giving tax money to schools that do not have to accept and educate all applicants is taking money away from those institutions that have to.
A large portion of a public school budget is allocated to the compensation of teachers. This is seen by many as over compensation but why isn't the education of children, our future leaders, more important than the compensation of the lawmakers of today? Teachers have in the passed selected benefits over salary in many cases. At the same time companies have chosen to restrict benefits and salaries of most workers while dramatically increasing upper management compensation. These factors results in teachers having a much better compensation package excluding salary than the average worker. Now self proclaimed conservative lawmakers are trying to reduce teacher's compensation package by using the comparison against them. Many people are asking why teachers have it so good without realizing that as little as thirty years ago most people with healthcare benefits had as good a package. That the salaries of teachers are significantly lower that corporate trainers of the same education level, even after allowing for the summer vacation time off.
This brings me to summer vacation and the length of the school day. Summer vacation was originally set up to allow children to help out on the farm. Now that most people are not farmers hasn't outlived it usefulness? It has been proven that the extended time off causes students to regress educationally. The first part of the year is spent getting them back on track. Recognizing that children need a brake from school just as adults need a vacation, a solution that would more meet the current reality would be several shorter breaks throughout the year. This means that parents could match their time off to the school schedule and not be forced to take time off in the summer to do things with their children. It would even relieve the crowding at tourist attractions. The school day reflects a time when things were different, the curriculum was less complex and most households had a full time caregiver at home. With a society where most household have both parents working full-time this leaves the children without supervision at some point in the day or parent spending a significant portion of their salary on child daycare. Extending the school day would allow teachers more time to spend on teaching and reduce the need of parents for daycare. In the fifties we had one of the longest school days is the industrialized world. It has not changed and it is now one of the shortest.
What we need are higher standards for our public school teachers and compensation that meets the same training jobs in industry with those same requirements. Currently a trainer in business makes more than a school teacher with an equal education, this is unacceptable. Given the past history on principals and superintendents being arbitrary and playing favorites in evaluations a nonpartisan method of evaluating the performance of teachers should be use. Average test standard scores over several years is one method that comes to mind. It could also be used to give rewards to better performing teachers. Some school districts have teacher protected by tenure and by collective bargaining. They should only have one or the other but not both. Unions must not protect under performing teachers. They should be facilitating their improvement.
A year round school schedule that minimizes the vacation loss that our kids experience. With higher standards and compensation needs to come on going education and evaluation. With the fast moving society we are in what a teacher learned in school may be outdated. Having just a few one day teacher institutes a year is not enough. With a year round school year a majority of the student breaks would be used for the teachers to attend events to keep them up to date. The requirement for spending time in a formal fashion to update would also remove the argument of detractors that teachers have a shorter work year.
We must make sure our children get the fundamentals of arithmetic, phonics, spelling, and grammar while not forgetting to provide the modern skills of keyboarding and computer use. Over the years the other subjects that have proven to be of great benefit to the overall education of students have been disappearing. Art and music have suffered the most. While studies have show children with music education as part of their studies do better in especial in math. Other studies show that art education improves overall test score. History and civics are critically important to making informed decisions at the polls. Recently even history education has suffered by being reduced and by having facts changed to meet the current political climate. Eliminating from the curriculum or remodeling the view of those events they can't eliminate those events that don't promote the current agendas of the self proclaimed conservatives. While all histories tend to be bias to some point they have been heavy handed and revisionist. Even science facts have been challenged leading to a far inferior education.
If we are to remain a free society in fact rather than free only in rhetoric alone we must promote education back to a high priority and spend our money accordingly. View our educators and valued assets of the community rather than money leeches. Add back into schools attention to the required fundamentals, the arts and music for a well rounded education and keep politics out of the curriculum as much as possible. A longer school day, shorter school breaks, requiring better educated teachers, improved teacher compensation, fair teacher evaluation, and a well grounded historical view will make better citizens. A citizenry that can do what it takes to keep this country a free society.
