Note: The deadline for this edition of TFP was prior to election results being known. Coverage and commentary next week.
If there is to be any meaning to the deaths of thousands of American soldiers in the Middle East, we must believe that they 1) had the maturity to risk their lives, and 2) gave those lives in the pursuit of freedom for those countries. The same freedoms we take for granted here. With the inescapable reminders of their sacrifices at every turn, I was both amused and disturbed by the reaction of certain people to the recent events in our school system.
Columnists are never going to please everyone. So it comes as no surprise that there are some folks out there who feel that I, and others, should stop expressing negativity toward the school district. They aren't worried that we would offend adult board members, staff, or teachers. It is that our students would get the wrong idea. They might feel that they were somehow receiving a flawed education, and that this doubt could affect their performance, and outlook on school and life.
The idea that our students don't have the ability to understand what they read and hear, and can't judge the issues on their contexts and merits, is insulting to the kids, the parents who raised them, and the schools that are educating them. Shall we teach civics and history as academic subjects, but then deny the students first-hand access to their own civics and history? Is it OK to expose them to facts, and harsh opinions, about Vietnam, Iraq, global warming, drugs, Darfur, China, religion, race relations, and gun control, but censor community opinion about the school district?
Of course not. Instead of ignoring the issues, we should be discussing them. Don't con the kids - involve them. After all, it is their educations. If the psychological theory is true that a person's attitude about him/herself has a direct impact on performance, then we need to reinforce how we trust our kids' abilities to think and respond. Give them responsibility, and let them carry on. Their futures, and in some cases their lives, may depend on it.
Some of these same students may, themselves, soon be deployed in the Middle East. There have been many from this area. As they sit in their classrooms today, do we tell them that very soon they will be old enough, mature enough, and brave enough to fight, and risk their lives, but not fit to hear criticism of their school? We can't - and shouldn't - tell them how to think, but we can surely tell them that we want them to think.
The same folks who decry the negativity say that it is undermining the children's faith in their education, and critics are setting a bad example. This simply ignores reality. The world isn't skittles and rainbows. Reasonable people can disagree verbally, sometimes vehemently, without civilization as we know it ending. We may use a few harsh words, but at least everyone here has the same goal - improving the schools. Elsewhere on this planet, less reasonable people are "solving" their problems in far more devastating ways, and truly setting a bad example. Like in the Middle East. But we don't insulate our kids from those tragedies.
Education isn't just about filling inquiring minds with facts and figures. It is about teaching them to digest the information, process it in historical and social contexts, and letting them reach their own conclusions. Show them that it is OK for people to disagree. Rush Limbaugh and Lou Dobbs each has his own following. It is the basis of our American society that we have free speech, free thought, and the right to dissent.
What could be a better arena to teach our sons and daughters about politics and society than our own backyard, with issues relevant to them. Integrated Math was a hotly-debated topic, and surveys of QCSD graduates played a big part in the decision to discontinue it. With the overwhelmingly negative results from the board's surveys, it would have been dishonest to hide those responses from pupils who are still living the problem themselves. Current students who are struggling probably feel validated, knowing that they are not alone.
And plenty are struggling. More than one-third of our 11th graders failed the PSSA math proficiency test. Teachers are charging that there is grade inflation. Are we to take the ostrich approach, and not talk about these issues, because our students might fear that something is wrong? They probably know before we do. And, worse, they will probably hear only rumors and misinformation. The matter should be discussed openly, the problem solved, and a firm policy adopted to prevent future occurrences. That would give our children confidence in their school, their education, and the adults in their world.
Aside from Integrated Math, the biggest issues in the district are board spending and tax increases. Anyone who lives in QCSD has to be aware of the impact on everyone's pocketbook, to the point where some folks on fixed incomes fear being forced out of their homes. Do we whistle in the dark and act like it isn't happening? What would that say to our kids? We only think happy thoughts? Welcome to Ozzie and Harriet.
There were, and are, places on this earth where the people hesitate(d) to speak poorly of the system. Places where you would not want to live, or raise your children. Nazi Germany. Soviet Russia. China. Saddam's Iraq. Idi's Uganda. Uget the point. We don't help our kids - or ourselves - by avoiding unpleasant topics, especially when they are right in front of us, every day.
Everyone should be free to express, and hear, opinions, positive or negative. Students - and parents - should be encouraged to make informed decisions. They surely won't all agree with each other. But the right to participate in the process is what Americans have always fought, and died, for.