Summer Observations

As I sit here teaching summer school, I have had time to reflect on the state of education in this small community and other problems we face in educating our children. As a roamed the Internet I found some interesting statistics. Read A+ Illinois report and Senate Bill 2288
http://www.aplusillinois.org/toolbox/faqs.asp#2
http://www.ieanea.org/SB2288.aspx

If we look at the problems in our society...poverty, unemployment, overextended welfare system, crime, drug use, abortion, the decline of the family, etc. we have to stop and wonder what is the root of the problem and what is an achievable solution. I truly believe that a strong education system is a fundamental foundation on which a solution can be achieved.

To solve the problem we have to educate and motivate teachers, parents, tax payers, and government officials to see that education is a solution to those problems as well. It is embarrassing to see the attention that our state legislators pay towards education, continually creating more hoops for educators to jump through (hoops that cost more financially) yet they continue to cut funding. If funding becomes an issue then they propose gambling boats to finance education or selling off the lottery to do the same. (This is the same lottery that decades ago was supposed to be an unlimited source of income for education...that worked well!!!) Look at it this way, if we assume that a good education is the healthy future of our nation, why are we so willing to gamble with it?

Look at those problems again...

• Poverty - In many cases those people are poor because the school system did not serve them properly or they did not take the importance of education seriously.
• Unemployment - Did the schools prepare them properly for the workforce? Did parents and teachers instill the proper work ethic at school? Did the schools hold them to high achievement standards?
• Crime - Crime rates continue to rise. Many of these crimes are committed simply because people do not have a quality education to meet their own basic needs. A better education system would be one step in the direction of lessening crime.
• Drug use - Selling illegal drugs is in some cases how people make money to make ends meet. There are also consumers willing to make the purchase in hopes that this will help them cope with their day to day problems.
• The Decline of the Family - Higher paying jobs tend to allow parents to spend more time at home with their children. In order to compete for those high paying jobs, individuals must have better educations. In lower income households many teenagers must work long hours to help the family make ends meet, giving them less time to spend on their education.
• Abortion - How many choose abortions simply based on economic reasons? Young people who can't afford to take care of a child, or if they agree to adoption, young people who can't afford the health care necessary for a healthy pregnancy???

If we encourage education, we allow people to compete for better jobs. Better jobs increases income, increased income increases property values, increased property values increases property tax, increased property tax increases revenue for schools.

Educators, parents, community members and government officials need to remember what Aristotle said...

All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that
the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.