By Charlie Hoff, guest columnist
In the Dec. 8 Federal Way Mirror, Dave Larson, the newly-elected president of the Federal Way School Board, asks us to “keep our eye on the ball” when it comes to the education of our community’s children.
He is so right! It would be well to understand that the “ball,” or even the shape of the ball, is not defined in Federal Way, Washington state or even the nation. We are now in an “international game,” and this ball is not found on a field or in a gymnasium, and the scoreboard isn’t at one end of either a field or gymnasium.
Let’s not have an extended debate on “what shape the ball should be” as this isn’t a matter for Federal Way to decide. In the 21st century, the rest of the “teams” are pretty focused on skills that are productive, and allow their children to be constructively productive in society.
The “scores” in this game keep coming in and they aren’t inspiring. Newsweek and US News and World Report have both listed the finest high schools in the nation. There are no schools on Newsweek’s list of 1,200 and of the 44 high schools in Washington state that are on the US News report, we haven’t made either list. There are no schools in South King County on either list! So much for a “reputation” in college admissions.
A recent survey of parents, nationally, found that the highest priority they felt for education was that their children be “satisfied” with school. In this world of “things,” satisfaction with trigonometry may just not be possible. When I explained this to community leaders last week, they expressed, justifiably, shock that this could even be considered a viable priority.
Satisfaction for today’s America’s teens is more about cell phones, MySpace and malls than it is about “classroom learning.” “Multitasking” that includes any serious learning just doesn’t have a priority. Elsewhere in the world, teenagers are “required” to rearrange priorities to excel in things like trigonometry. Here, “satisfaction” overtakes any concentration on learning.
This past week I spoke with a former school board member who was shocked at what they found to be the knowledge base of some students that the former member had met recently. Not me! I have been tutoring in this community for several years and I have become immune to the gaps that I see in the basic knowledge of today’s students. However, I have been assured by “educators” that a knowledge base just isn’t important as we have now moved on to “critical thinking.”
Arriving at wise decisions, “critical” thinking, requires knowing as many facts about the topic as possible, but I am assured that these facts are all “readily available.” I don’t think that I want to be looking for the “facts” on how to drive on ice when I find myself in an icy situation.
Are there solutions to this? I think so, but they involve some unpleasant discussions with educators and parents about standards and priorities. We have to insist that reports to parents be accurate even if they are unpleasant. This accuracy has to be linked to actual standards for the subject, not to the relative performance of others in the class. “Doing well” just isn’t an accurate report.
Once we are sure that parents are getting accurate information as bad as that may be, based upon standards, not opinions that are designed to soothe parents, then we will find some parents that are shocked enough to “rearrange priorities” of their family. This renewed emphasis upon actual academic process should change the climate of our secondary schools where we have actually seen a decline in relative achievement for most kids. In some places, this is called grade inflation, and it seems to be a great ingredient in developing “satisfaction.”
This would take a determined school board focused on “the ball” and the “scoreboard.”
President Larson concludes with Larry the Cable Guy’s quote “Let’s get ’er done.” Amen!
Charlie Hoff is a former Federal Way School Board member who can be reached at c.r.hoff@worldnet.att.net.
