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The media, parents, the business community. politicians and the educational community take delight in finger pointing.  “THEY” are responsible for the failure in education.  The complaint goes, “if only we had better students, as if the parents are holding back their better children until the system improves.  If only we had better teachers… If only we had better parents…

We need to realize that the system we have been using in this country for the past 200+ years has worked rather well for a large group of young people but has failed for another group of youngsters.  The latter group is growing and the system has not kept up with the changing economy and workplace.

We have many more single parents raising or not raising children.  We have two parent working families.

We have a knowledge-based economy and we are using an information based school system.  We still test information which seems to double every twenty-four hours.  We still use an agrarian based school calendar closing schools over the summer as if gaining knowledge is a 9-month process.  Our use of technology is basically using computers as electronic books.

The system needs to be improved and it will take the effort of all stakeholders working in concert to do it.  But as long as we criticize individuals we will be further at risk than we already are.

Five hundred (500) 18-24 year old dropouts were asked what would have kept them in school:

• better teachers
• offer more alternative classes
• link school learning to real-life opportunities
• provide more assistance in the form of mentoring and tutoring
• provide more school counselors
• provide greater opportunities to make up work (i.e. summer school, evening classes)
• provide greater school-to-home communication
• provide greater opportunities to get a diploma (GED)
• provide an opportunity for students to return when they are older
• https://educationalissues.suite101.com/article.cfm/dropouts_give_reasons

Five hundred (500) 18-24 year old dropouts were asked why they left school:

• 47% said classes were not interesting
• 43% had missed too many classes to catch up
• 45% said they were poorly prepared for high school when they were “promoted” from elementary and middle school
• 69% said they were not motivated to work hard
• 35% said they were failing
• 32% left to get a job
• 25% left to become parents
• 22% left to take care of a relative
• 66% said they would have tried harder if more were expected of them.

What are the implications to these answers?  The 15 effective strategies, which you can find on this website, indicate that the dropout problem does not begin in high school but high schools have a role by insuring that students are actively engaged in their learning (one of the 15 strategies) and that we need higher standards for all students.

In addition, for better or worse, schools are in competition with television, video games, movies and the internet for students’ attention.  We need to change the way we educate the students of the 21st century.

The Detroit News reports (7/29/2008) that Michigan has the worst graduation rate in the nation for black males while the Detroit Public schools has one of the worst rates among all districts in the country.  According to the article, Michigan graduates just 33 percent of black males compare with 74% of white males according to the report, “Given Half a Chance:  The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males”.

Detroit Public Schools graduates 20 percent of its black male population and even fewer white males -17 percent.

North Dakota has the highest rate of graduating black males at 89 percent.

According to Children’s Budget 2008, published by First Focus, “one penny of every new, real,non-defense dollar spent by the federal government over the past five years goes to children….Despite increases in federal spending over the past five years, the share for children has dropped dramatically.”

According to the report, overall spending on children did increase by about 1.4% over the past 5 years, but was easily outpaced by total federal non-defense spending, which grew at a rate nearly ten times faster.  Discretionary programs that benefit children declined by 6.7% compared to 5.9% increase for total federal domestic spending.

Spending on children’s education, child welfare, and youth training were affected even more, declining by 9.9 percent, 11.5 percent, and 4.9 percent, respectively, in real dollars since 2004.

The report estimates that domestic spending on children in 2018 will represent just 13.8 percent of federal domestic spending, down from 16.2 percent in 2007.  Meanwhile spending on the non-child portions of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will consume 59.2 percent of domestic spending by 2018.

The complete report is available at https://www.urban.org/UploadPDF/411699_kids_share_08_report.pdf

How many children live in poverty?  According to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 13.3 million below the age of 18 (for the year of 2007).  That’s 1/2 million more than in the previous year.  18% of the population below the age of 18 live in poverty compared to 12.5% of the rest of the population.

Among African-American children, nearly 40% of them lived below the poverty line compared with 28.6% of Hispanics, 14.95 of Whites, and 11.9% of Asians.

We know that poor -low income – students drop out at a far higher rate than any other group.

Nearly 9 million children live in families that lack health care.  This data was before the increased cost of gasoline, company layoffs and the mortgage crisis.

The Census Report is available at www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf

The 2008 Republican Party Platform, as presented to the Republican convention is available at:

https://www.gop.com/pdf/PlatformFINAL_WithCover.pdf

The education section is on pages 43-46.  Here are some excerpts from it and following those, excerpts from a few other sections that address our issues.

It has no direct mention about NCLB.  It supports private school vouchers, home schooling, merit pay, and principals having authority over teacher assignment without regard to collective bargaining.  It does support full funding for IDEA. It also calls for a one-year freeze on all domestic discretionary spending programs.  It also supports voluntary school prayer and the right of faith-based organizations to receive federal funds and be able to discriminate on the basis of religion in hiring.

Education Means a More Competitive America

·       Education is a parental right, a state and local responsibility, and a national strategic interest.

·       We advocate policies and methods that are proven and effective: building on the basics, especially phonics; ending social promotion; merit pay for good teachers; classroom discipline; parental involvement; and strong leadership by principals.

·       We advocate policies and methods that are proven and effective: building on the basics, especially phonics; ending social promotion; merit pay for good teachers; classroom discipline; parental involvement; and strong leadership by principals.

·       We support state efforts to build coordination between elementary and secondary education and higher education such as K-16 councils and dual credit programs.

·       we support the English First approach and oppose divisive programs that limit students’ future potential.

·       School districts must have the authority to recruit, reward, and retain the best and brightest teachers, and principals must have the authority to select and assign teachers without regard to collective bargaining agreements.

·       Partnerships between schools and businesses can be especially important in STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and math.

·       We support choice in education for all families, especially those with children trapped in dangerous and failing schools, whether through charter schools, vouchers or tax credits for attending faith-based or other nonpublic schools, or the option of home schooling.

·       We will energetically assert the right of students to engage in voluntary prayer in schools and to have equal access to school facilities for religious purposes.

·       We renew our call for replacing “family planning” programs for teens with increased funding for abstinence education, which teaches abstinence until marriage as the responsible and expected standard of behavior

·       We call for a review of Department of Education programs and administration to identify and eliminate ineffective programs, to respect the role of states, and to better meet state needs.

·       we support initiatives to block-grant more Department of Education funding to the states,

·       Because a federal mandate on the states must include the promised federal funding, we will fulfill the promise of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to cover 40 percent of the costs incurred because of that legislation.

·       We must ensure that our higher education system meet the needs of the 21st century student and economy and remain innovative and accessible.

·       While federal student loans and grants have opened doors to learning for untold numbers of low and middle-income students, the overall financial aid system, with its daunting forms and confused rationales, is nothing less than Byzantine. It must be simplified.

·       Distance learning propelled by an expanding telecommunications sector and especially broadband, is certain to grow in importance “” whether through public or private institutions “” and federal law should not discriminate against the latter.

·       Community colleges are central to the future of higher education, especially as they build bridges between the world of work and the classroom

·       We oppose the hiring, firing, tenure, and promotion practices at universities that discriminate on the basis of political or ideological belief.

·       We affirm the right of students and faculty to express their views in the face of the leftist dogmatism that dominates many institutions.

The Budget Process “” A Fraud that Guarantees Runaway Spending

·       We call for a one-year pause in nondefense, non-veterans discretionary spending to force a critical, cost-benefit review of all current programs.

·       We favor adoption of the Balanced Budget Amendment to require a balanced federal budget except in time of war.

Preserving the District of Columbia

·       Two major Republican initiatives “” a first-time D.C. homebuyers credit and a landmark school choice initiative “” have pointed the way toward a civic resurgence,

Protecting Union Workers

·       To protect workers from misuse of their funds, we will conscientiously enforce federal law requiring financial reporting and transparency by labor unions. We advocate paycheck protection laws to guard the integrity of the political process and the security of workers’ earnings.

Health Care Reform: Putting Patients First

·       Republicans support the private practice of medicine and oppose socialized medicine in the form of a government- run universal health care system.

·       To empower families, we must make insurance more affordable and more secure, and give employees the option of owning coverage that is not tied to their job.

Protecting Our Families

·       Bureaucracy is no longer a credible approach to helping those in need. This is especially true in light of alternatives such as faith-based organizations, which tend to have a greater degree of success than others in dealing with problems such as substance abuse and domestic violence. To accomplish their missions, those groups must be able to rely upon people who share their faith; their hiring must not be subjected to government regulation and mandates.

Preserving Our Values

·       Precisely because we oppose discrimination, we reject preferences, quotas, and set-asides, whether in education or in corporate boardrooms.

Safeguarding Religious Liberties

·       We support the right of students to engage in student-initiated, student-led prayer in public schools, athletic events, and graduation ceremonies, when done in conformity with constitutional standards.

·       We affirm every citizen’s right to apply religious values to public policy and the right of faith-based organizations to participate fully in public programs without renouncing their beliefs, removing religious objects or symbols, or becoming subject to government-imposed hiring practices.

The United States Department of Education data indicate that 16.6% of high school seniors leave school before graduation.  The Gates Foundation report, The Silent Epidemic indicates that the major reason for their leaving is boredom.

Many high school seniors have completed all or most of their core subjects and their staying in high school is simply “treading water.”  High schools need to provide reasons for students to stick around.

I suggest that many of these students should be encouraged to take courses that they would need in college.  High schools should link to colleges so that students can get “dual credit” for courses that they take in high school but need for colleges.

Co-op programs where students take courses in the morning and work in the afternoon provide opportunities for learning as well as opportunities to provide some income.

This is also the perfect time for students to gain skills in subjects that they would ordinarily not take like keyboarding or swimming.  A driver’s education course might be given only to high school seniors.  Advanced placement courses are another alternative for students.  Schools might also set up service learning programs so that seniors might connect the working world with the world of school.  Community assistance programs like “senior citizen escort programs” provide another possibility.  Having seniors read to hospital bound children or seniors in nursing homes provide both a intergenerational contact along with an opportunity for personal growth.