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If people want to see immediate, positive results in their children's educational achievement, they need to step up to their own responsibilities as parents to emphasize the value of education and insist that
their children take full advantage of the opportunities readily available in our public schools. Parents must ensure that their children:
- Attend school and all their classes regularly,
- Come to class prepared with their notebooks, pencil/pen, and required textbooks,
- Make an honest effort to complete the assigned homework,
- Focus on the topic (not on socializing) during class, and
- Constructively participate in the classroom activities, making use of time offered for starting homework.
Our community needs to recognize and build on the excellent curriculum and educators we already have. Contrary to widespread perceptions, the education system is NOT being "dumbed down," rather it offers
significant opportunities to excel at an early age. My observation is that our students are successfully introduced to advanced topics as early as elementary school, topics I didn't even study until high
school. There are successful, innovative programs throughout the APS schools (at all levels from elementary through high school) that our public should become more familiar with
Demands for educational reform that focus solely on "reinventing the system" and improving teacher performance will have limited success without other, more fundamental changes. Discussions about public
schools must shift from the current focus on the policies, procedures, and personalities of teaching to the more basic questions of our community's underlying values, goals, and expectations regarding
education. If these values, goals, and expectations are contradictory and conflicting, we will make little progress toward improving student success and school "accountability."
We need to abandon the "magical thinking" that says we simply need to set higher standards for teachers and the system, that vouchers and "choice" will magically ensure a quality education. Instead, we need
to step up to the challenge of forging a four-way education partnership, perhaps with individual "contracts" between all four parties to a child's school success: teacher/school, student, parents, and parents'
employers. The teachers need YOUR SUPPORT in order to fulfill their responsibilities; they want your children to succeed!
The "customer" of our public education system is our society, not a narrow segment of it, whether that would be the individual student or the business community. The goal should be to produce informed
citizens who are able to gather, evaluate, and use information needed to participate constructively in a broad range of community affairs. For our public schools, the "business of education" is NOT "educating
for business," i.e., the narrow, short-term goal of work force development. Rather, work force development is a natural beneficiary of educating with an eye on the social responsibilities of citizenship.
I support longer PAID hours for teachers, because most teachers already put in those hours, unless they are working a second job to make ends meet. Pay should be increased commensurately, not a 3 percent
raise for 5 percent longer hours. It's an absolute miracle we have as many excellent teachers as we do — and a shame we pay them so poorly. If we demand excellence, we should be prepared to pay for it —
and not merely give lip service to the value of education.
I entered this campaign with few preconceived solutions; I'm taking my time to listen to others and think through the issues (and my own values and expectations) before answering questions that have been posed to
me. I believe it's important to understand a problem before offering potential solutions. While I may not have in-depth knowledge of all aspects of our public education system at this time, I am a
"fast study" whose past military career offered many opportunities to step into new, "uncharted territory." I was expected to "perform", and I needed to come up to speed quickly to assess a situation, develop
effective solutions, and put them into action. Both as a military officer and a professional mediator, I've developed a habit of listening carefully to all sides of an issue and asking probing questions.
You can expect the same from me as a school board member.
You can send your questions, comments, and suggestions to me by email to ergo@lobo.net or by calling me at 480-5000.
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