Marty: And that’s why they call it education

I finally figured out how to cut 90 percent of the cost of
California’s K-12 education for failing schools. Just eliminate all
instruction. Staff the classes with babysitters. And let it go at
that. We hear the same excuses from those schools every year, but
if they are not going to educate their students, there is no reason
to have them go to school or to pay the teachers and
administrators.
I finally figured out how to cut 90 percent of the cost of California’s K-12 education for failing schools. Just eliminate all instruction. Staff the classes with babysitters. And let it go at that.

We hear the same excuses from those schools every year, but if they are not going to educate their students, there is no reason to have them go to school or to pay the teachers and administrators.

Under the new system, everyone in a failing school gets a grade based their socio-economic status, language spoken at home, level of parents’ education and degree of interest in learning.

Have I covered all the excuses?

If one were to believe the education establishment, that’s all that matters – the quality of instruction has nothing to do with it. Of course, if you’re interested in getting your child a useful education in something other than excuse making, you may want to consider some alternatives.

The first would be a change in attitude by some in the education bureaucracy. 

Commenting on San Juan School’s recent inclusion on the state’s list of the persistently low-performing schools, Superintendent Willard McCabe said it was, “a bit embarrassing.” Whatever happened to purpose-filled statements such as, “This is not acceptable, and we are going to change it”?

The state released the list last week (see it here), and it included the bottom 5 percent of elementary schools based on how students have scored on standardized tests. San Juan was the only local school on the list.

We are talking about a school that has been failing the students, the parents and the community for years. Turning that around is a job that needs an attitude. The job of the education system is to educate – that means figuring out how to overcome the obstacles and getting it done.

More than nine years into California’s use of the Academic Performance Index (API), the number of schools that made the grade in 2008 was a bad joke. Only 40 percent of the elementary schools, 30 percent of the middle schools and 17 percent of the high schools were at or above the statewide performance target. That means an astounding 83 percent of the high schools are not making the grade.

The U.S. won WWII in less than four years. In more than twice that span, we are not even halfway to our goals for education.

On a positive note, congratulations to Hollister’s elementary schools and especially the leaders. They are generally doing better. The 2009 average API score was 807, and all showed at least some progress. Five of the 10 – Cerra Vista, Cienega, Dual Language Academy, Southside and Spring Grove – exceeded the state’s API target of 800. They had an average score of 845.

There are still some laggards, though. The lowest score was at R.O. Hardin at 735, but even that was a 3 percent improvement over 2008. Those underperforming elementary schools also need to get going.       

Hollister schools are doing something right, while San Juan is doing something wrong. The schools appear headed in opposite directions.

Instead of sending the kids to school – send the teachers and administrators. Send them to Hollister’s best schools to see if they can learn something about educating. It’s called benchmarking – everyone does it. Everyone who wants to be successful, that is.

As far as the language problem goes, if they do not fix it in elementary school, the odds are it will be a lifelong roadblock for many of the students. Even at this young age, too many are being sentenced to a life of poverty and all the problems that go along with it – crime, substance abuse, dysfunctional families and an early death. 

It’s certainly something to be more than a bit embarrassed about.