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Foundation for Democracy Labor Day weekend always reminds me of my own school days back in Shreveport, Louisiana, or even my two sons’ experiences in Missouri and Texas public schools. With all the legislative interest over the past few years, more and more Texans are concerned about public education, its funding, and sometimes even the learning potential of students by the time they graduate from high school. Will they be able to find jobs? Attend college or trade school? Become less dependent on parents? The prospects are not pretty. Our schools keep falling further behind national standards in such indicators as teacher pay and SAT scores. Lauren Ingram, one of our Live Oak middle school teachers, says that the average SAT score for admission to U.T.’s College of Education is 900, far below the standard for engineering. Overall in Texas, we are 47th in SAT scores. More than one person has told me teachers should be paid a lot more so that teaching becomes attractive to our brightest young people and more competitive as a result. Leander Independent School District has a vision: “Every student is encouraged, supported, and challenged to achieve the highest levels of knowledge, skills, and character.” I can’t help but notice that the first two goals, knowledge and skills, precisely match the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Students who plan to graduate from high school next spring must pass tests in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, in a passing range of about 59 percent for English and 51 percent in social studies. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Some areas would be easier for a particular student, but a minimum of 60 percent sounds doable. Still, complaints abound about “teaching to the test.” The complaints seem to fall in two major categories: first, the amount of teaching time needed to focus on how to take the test as well as specific learning objectives that are required; and second, the range of education that does not fall neatly into a standard exam, like creativity. The third Leander goal is “character.” They have a list of ten ethical standards:
The website goes on to say, “Leander ISD’s success is based on three key elements: a continually improving world-class curriculum, a focus on teaching and modeling ethical behavior, and encouragement of a level of parent and community involvement that is the envy of school districts across Texas.” Round Rock ISD, that meets Leander just across 620, also has a vision: “a place of nurturing, compassion, truth, happiness, respect, creativity, research and self-actualization. All students and teachers will be inspired to become partners in the quest for knowledge. Round Rock’s mission is “to provide exemplary education, guidance, and encouragement to empower all students to reach their individual potential and become contributing members of a diverse community.” There are excellent schools in these districts. Yet educators in Leander, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Austin, and Texas face enormous challenges in helping all of our students achieve these standards. Changing demographics mean that more families who speak no English and have no high school graduates at home attend Texas schools. Texas representative and Unitarian Universalist Donna Howard told me that hurricanes Katrina and Rita propelled 46,000 students to Texas, and 35,000 of them are staying. Many of them will need extra assistance in meeting state standards. They average 2 grades below Texas kids. I asked Donna about the effect of poverty on education. According to accountability ratings, there are 38 low-performing schools in Austin Independent School District, most of which are in eastern Travis County. They are not all dumb kids and they are not all bad teachers. The problem is clearly linked to poverty in the home and in the property tax base. The courts came up with the Robin Hood plan to ensure that especially wealthy districts could help bring poor schools up to a minimum standard. Donna said Austin Community College has a program called ACC Connections. Every high school graduate is automatically admitted, and there is counseling in the high schools about applying for financial aid. This is especially important to high school students who may be great prospects as future teachers, but have no history of higher education in the family and no money available for that purpose. I was dismayed to read that one third of Texas ninth graders do not even graduate from high school. The good result of current rating systems is that schools had to separate various groups and be rated on more difficult sub-populations. Some pay stipends have been awarded to teachers going into difficult areas, and more districts will probably start doing this. Live Oak member Esther Ford believes an important answer lies in pre-Kindergarten programs, usually the first area cut when budgets are tight. Parents need education about how to be their children’s teacher, how to engage them in conversation. For districts that focus on parental involvement on this basic level, there is a noticeable spike in achievement, even among poor families. “No child left behind,” an under funded program with an emphasis on test scores, has led to competition for high-performing kids. Parents whose children have a learning problem have been told, “We may not meet your child’s needs, but the school down the street has an excellent reputation for this kind of difficulty. Maybe you could ask for a transfer.” Competition also arises from teacher pay based on student achievement. Why would teachers share best practices if that means losing an important edge? Teachers in low-performing schools are motivated to leave for their own career needs. Esther described an alternative school system that she and others helped develop in Anchorage, Alaska. These parents did not want to homeschool their kids, because they wanted to stay within the system and improve education for all kids. Members of the UU Fellowship in Anchorage hosted a series of coffees to explore options in education. They asked the school board for space in a building that was scheduled to close in a couple of years. The school system gave them half the building for two years, with the understanding that the alternative school had to be open to anyone, and students had to pass end of year exams. The deal was made, and the Chugach Alternative School began as a pilot program in 1973 with 200 children from Kindergarten through grade six. The school, as they say, grew like Topsy. Teachers and students really wanted to be there because there was an emphasis on a variety of learning styles and situations. The headmistress taught classes and also recruited assistants from the University. Parents were expected to volunteer. After the first two years, there were 200 more on a waiting list. The alternative school continued to grow, and added a middle school and a high school. A few years after this alternative education began, most states began an alternative education for students who had been suspended or expelled for discipline problems. So the Chugach Alternative School became the Chugach Optional School. It still operates within the Anchorage Independent School District. Their web site proudly states, “Chugach is primarily child-centered, emphasizing the physical, emotional, and academic development of the individual child. At Chugach each child is responsible for directing at least some aspects of his/her learning; this level of self-direction varies from child to child, depending upon how much responsibility the child can assume. Parent involvement is an integral part of the program.” Indeed, parental involvement is critical in the success of any school. Too many parents are so busy with work and other responsibilities that they will hand kids $20 or even a credit card and send them to the mall. Other parents will pull them out of public school so they can homeschool them, often so they can teach more about the Bible and their cultural values that clash with the secular world. Meanwhile, the government participates by paying for textbooks and transportation for private schools, often operated by churches. More than one person has pointed out that too many kids have not been taught how to behave. Parents often expect teachers to raise the kids. In any group of 20 kids, you can expect to have 2 or 3 or them crawling around under the desks, barking like a dog, scratching each other, fighting or screaming. Nathan Ryan says substitute teachers have to learn to manage classroom behavior, and they become better teachers because of it. Whether or not they know the subject matter, if they can control behavior, they have achieved a measure of success. Both Nathan Ryan and Lauren Ingram say the school lunches and breakfasts are not healthy at all. For breakfast, they might have cereal sweetened with Splenda, or pancakes with syrup and a choice of white or chocolate milk. For lunch, consider fried chicken, French fries, jello with a little chopped fruit, white bread, and milk. Or, older kids might opt for French fries, a Little Debbie cake, and a soft drink. Lauren says kids have little opportunity just to drink water. She gets her parents to bring a water bottle for each child to keep in the classroom and refill as needed. Young children have a hard time with strict schedules of bathroom breaks, but with a large number of students, teachers have little choice but to enforce a schedule. If some public schools are in such disarray, why should we support them with our hard earned tax dollars? We expect governments to provide police and fire protection, public utilities, and a health department that controls disease. Why should there be public education? In this country, though you might not realize it from current public policies, most of us value democracy, community, independence, and opportunity for all people. Let’s take each of these in turn. Value 1, Democracy, government of the people, depends on an educated citizen base to participate in critical decisions. A public system of schools, open to a cross section of students, can help kids learn to respect other points of view and how to communicate ideas and resolve disagreements amicably. Many families would never bother with education unless it were mandatory, so it behooves us to have a good system in place. Value 2, Community: Schools bring people together who might otherwise retreat into their own enclaves. By integrating diverse backgrounds and diverse learning styles, we create a cauldron of ideas that lead us beyond the family and into the world. Bringing all walks of life into the schools, gives more adults a sense of ownership in how they run. Students prepare for many possibilities: not just college, but police academies, truck driving school, grocery store clerks and managers, parenting. Schools that involve community participation benefit from the collective wisdom and experiences of many kinds of people. In turn, the participants bring home a greater appreciation of the value of education and challenges faced by our future graduates. Value 3, Independence: As difficult as it may be for parents to say goodbye to their young graduates, who hardly seem old enough to live on their own, it’s what we work for from the time they are born. We want them to achieve some measure of independence, for some, the sooner the better! I remember when my youngest kindergartner stepped way up and pulled himself into the school bus. I remember when each of my boys moved out of the house and the mixed emotions that coursed through all of us. Independence requires that they have a level of skill that will enable them to support themselves. For several years after they leave, we continue to support them financially if we can, but we anticipate the day when they will indeed make it on their own. Value 4, Opportunity: This portion of the American Dream depends on our collective ability to educate all the children—not just ours, and not just in our neighborhoods—but also in urban ghettos and isolated farms, where distance learning has brought new options for kids. Too many students read outdated textbooks in crumbling, overcrowded classrooms. Students in 7 rural school districts in South Carolina submitted photographs of their dilapidated facilities. An exhibit is on tour, and will open this Thursday at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. The plight of these districts has also been made into an award-winning documentary called “Corridor of Shame,” referring to a rural stretch of Interstate Highway 95. One commentator suggested a side benefit for inferior schools: to meet the demand for a low skilled workforce. That’s a harsh statement that may hold some measure of truth. From a position paper by Parents United for Public Education in Chicago: “Poverty has always had a major impact on education in the United States. Affluent towns and suburbs often spend four or five times the amount on education per child as poor urban and rural areas. Those who say that money does not buy a good education must explain why North Shore suburbs in Chicago will spend nearly $15,000 per child for education while some downstate rural communities can afford only $3,000.” Opportunity for all of us requires participation by each of us. I know that many of you are working hard in the field of education, serving on school boards, homeschooling your kids, looking for charter schools, thinking first of the school district before deciding where to live, working as school volunteers, and teaching in our own religious education classes. We are literally supplementing public education by giving Live Oak kids exposure to the wide world of religion, spirituality, peace education, creativity, and sex education. Nathan Ryan, our Director of Religious Education, is supporting this effort by providing teacher training throughout the year, since not all of us have a degree in education! The current administration speaks about No Child Left Behind, but when it comes to religious ideas and values, I wonder how many of you felt left behind by your church? In my church we learned certain things, but when we asked too many questions we felt shut down? Curiosity was not always rewarded. How many of you were left behind by your family? My kind of religion doesn’t match my parents’. Parker Palmer said, "What transforms education, is a transformed being in the world." In addition to lessons at home or school, at the mall or on TV, religious education is in the business of encouraging ourselves and our children to connect deeply to our inner being, into nature, and into human affairs. We value service to others and care for our planet. Spirituality involves listening to our inner voice so that we may achieve clarity about how to act in right relationship to one another. This inner spirit should be the motivating force of our life and action. I’d like to close with a Mary Oliver poem, “Some Questions You Might Ask”
“Is the soul solid, like iron? [completed as published] Educate the children, yes. But enliven their spirits, too.
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Copyright
©2006, Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church.