Ok folks … we have heard from both parties’ candidates for the big chair. What do you think? One of the most key livability in the city is education and it is currently ruled here by the public system. A system that is proven, come on now and be straight here, not to work. We have wondered off the path of common sense and the basics of education and cornered into the world of covering our you know whats. I will not get into a political debate here based on a party viewpoint, but look at this from purely logical standpoint. Massive amounts of data has been captured to prove that the state of the public education system in the US is appalling, especially in the inner cities. All one needs to do is to compare testing results between us and the rest of the industrialized world and even an public educated sixth grader can see the problems we face in a ever expanding worldwide economic system. The US is the most highly adaptive society in history and we the people are capable of anything we put our minds to. However, our government has grown to a point that it stands in our way of getting onto the path towards the journey that we all know we must take. Be it education reform, business development, tax reform, economic growth, health reform, etc… it is all held back because of government intrusion and control. Regardless of what problems need to be addressed nothing is going to get accomplished if we are uneducated. Senator McCain was absolutely correct when he stated education is our number one civil rights issue of today. Our entire ability to continue enjoying our freedom and way of life depends on a properly educated population. We must lift the education bar in order to compete in the world market. No amount of extra funds into the existing system is going to fix the problems public education faces. This is way I tend to lean towards the McCain plan instead of the Obama plan.
As I have stated on this blog in the past the major steps that need to be taken are:
Control of each school site needs to rest in the hands of the principal.
No more programs of the month. Stick to meat and potatoes basics.
Focus on areas of math, science, technology, writing, and reading.
Promote life long learning.
Teach health lifestyles thru physical education and health.
Focus on citizenship thru history and civics, but don’t cram doctrine. Be true to historical events and don’t give just a perspective.
Most important… encourage good teachers and weed out the bad ones. They are there for the kids.
No degree of tweaking the current system is going to get the job done, it calls for a complete and immediate overhaul. We not only have to lift up the failing schools, but raise the bar on the more successful ones. It’s a huge undertaking, but it is required. Government must get out of the way and allow it to take place. As example, the Minneapolis Schools referendum this November doesn’t address any of the problems that the education system faces. It is just a band-aid to allow the schools to stay open. This is why it must not pass, and the education board challenged to draw up a detail plan to bring the system around before any funding questions are placed in front of the voters. Unless they do this the taxpayers would be better off flushing the money down the toilet, because at least the school system wouldn’t have the chance to do it.
Sep 3, 2008
MPS Principal Academy may be a step in the right direction
Any changes to be successful in the Minneapolis Public Schools will require Principals to be highly skilled and trained for the office of commander and chief of their school. The administration at 807 needs to get out of the mindset of micro-managing each school site and allow the academic leadership of the school to take over. Enough with all the programs of the month and shell games played with budgets and get back to meat and potatoes education. Of course this will require cooperation with the other levels of government such as the federal and state levels. Most urban schools do have needs that are not as prevalent in suburban and rural schools and funding does need to reflect that. Specialized training and collaboration among peers is necessary and is a good step towards improving the quality of education. The only thing is … why did it take so long to get to this point?
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