Public School Educators Fall Behind

I recently attended a public meeting between public school educators, parents, business owners and state level officials. The meeting opened with an overview of the evening’s agenda. The goal was to inform the public of the coming year’s curriculum and policy changes. The speaker stated they would welcome input from the audience at the close of the meeting.

As I sat there quietly and listened to the educators speak, I realized that most were out of touch with the general public and the existing situation in America today. It appeared to me that they were 2 to 4 years behind the times and suffered from the “Ostrich Syndrome” (head buried in the sand).

When the floor was opened for input from the audience, the administrators, principals, teachers, etc appeared shocked to hear that large numbers of people were losing their homes and jobs, that businesses were scaling back or closing, that people had to make life-changing decisions that impact their families. It seemed as if the educators lived in another world and were unaware of our world. I began to wonder, where do they receive the news from? How could they not know? Do they not shop at the same stores we do? Where do they buy their fuel?

Never did the educators voice concerns about lack of funds or reductions to their budgets. I find this alarming when most school systems are funded by property taxes. Most states are experiencing a high increase in home foreclosures and homeowners are seeing the value of their homes falling by 20 to 40 percent. I would think the educators would be looking at trimming their budgets as property tax collection declines in the next several years. It appears the public school system has lost the flexibility to change with the times as the rest of us are forced to do. So if the educators are behind because of a sheltered existence, where does that put our children’s education?

See Ya Next Week,

- Jeff