FRI 30 JAN 2004
Children of Idaho learn less and less
By Josh StudorArgonaut Staff
Education is the single-most important problem facing Idaho, according to a recent study performed by Boise State University. The respondents couldn’t be more right. Granted, I am no expert on education or budget allocations, but I am a student, so I feel like I can say Idaho’s education — and its priorities — are screwed up.
While the Idaho Legislature is bickering over charter schools, testing and miscellaneous administrative issues, I feel like it might be missing the bigger picture: the fact that our children are not learning like they should or could be, and our university system is underfunded and troubled.
I have four siblings: a sister and three brothers. As the oldest I have had the ability to watch them move through schools and help them when they ask for it. Watching them go through school has shown me something I didn’t notice when I was in high school six years ago: These children don’t really learn much at all.
First off, the school district has more teacher in-service/teacher-parent conference days then anything else. The number of days my sister is in middle school is drastically different than when I was in middle school.
Second, the people entrusted with the education of our future are paid less than my 18-year-old brother, who works full time bussing tables for Dockside restaurant in Coeur d’Alene. This sad fact means that many quality potential teachers are discouraged from pursuing this career. Why attend a university and amass tens of thousands of dollars in debt just to go to a job where you have to work with 5-year-olds for less than a bussing wage? I applaud those poor souls who take on this burden.
Third, there is so much emphasis on self-esteem that children don’t learn as much about math or science as they do how to deal with bullies or stress. It seems like knowing 4+5=9 is less important than how you feel when you get it wrong. These kids aren’t stupid, but are not given the opportunity to learn like they should.
I could keep going on for pages, but the last point is important enough that I’ll just focus on it. Students should gain an education from school — something they are not getting from our current system.
Education is not job training. I realize it is important for people to know a trade. Mechanics need to know how to fix a car, not necessarily the theory behind how it works. A doctor needs to know how to treat a patient, not necessarily what the social implications of any particular Supreme Court decision are. But that is job training, not education. Education is deeper and more meaningful. Its job is the betterment of students with the knowledge to function in a society, as well as the increased ability to think.
A professor of mine said in class that he didn’t think a person could call him- or herself educated without having read Descartes’ Meditation on First Philosophy. If you’ve ever attempted to read it, the claim might look a tad extreme, but I think he is right on some level. I know seniors who have not read “Catcher in the Rye,” “Moby Dick” or Plato’s “Republic,” and some who couldn’t read them if they tried. I’ve met freshmen who don’t know how to properly structure a sentence, let alone a paragraph. I know people at this university who don’t know the difference between Picasso and Rembrandt. Some don’t have the first clue how many senators there are in the Senate or that the Senate is a part of Congress. I personally learned how to factor algebraic equations and what the proper use of a comma was as a sophomore in college.
There are many people I know who are trained or training in their field, and that is valuable, but everyone needs an education. This is important enough that it bears repeating: Everyone needs an education.
A woman in the church I attend spoke about abortion the other day. She had some good points that I appreciated, but during her presentation she said something like, “The Constitution guarantees all people ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Guess what? It doesn’t.
That’s the Declaration of Independence, which holds no legal weight whatsoever. As soon as I heard that I wasn’t able to take her seriously, and the rest of her points were all but lost.
Education is one of the most important parts of a democracy, but one would hardly recognize this fact when looking at the way it is funded. Idaho’s bickering over things like testing and charter schools does not solve the problem of mediocre education. The only thing that will fix it is a fundamental restructuring of our education system.
I’m not saying I know what would work; in fact, I don’t even claim to have a good plan. I just know we need help and a leader who will be able to do so. And some funding.
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