We hear this nonsense about dismantling the public schools in Florida. From the beginnings of our American society we have relied on our public schools to acculturate each new generation to be American citizens. By and large, this has worked.
And now we are invited to question this in our state because of finances and because the public school system, in many cases is not working to educate our citizens to take their places as educated and responsible people. I do not think that we should abdicate our civic responsibility on this, but we could rethink..
We could truly make a difference as we pull back financially
What if we gave to each school the amount of money per pupil we have allocated? Let's take an example - Lacoochee Elementary School in Pasco County. The school gets whatever the state mandates per pupil by how many students there are. Then the school is responsible to make this amount of money work! Of course, the school must make the mark about the state standards about testing, physical standards, health and nutrition, etc. But each school could do this however they think best, and not be afraid of the dreaded System!
The principal has to work initially with the staff he/she has. Over time, this principal can trade teachers with another school. But the idea is: each principal is on their own! This principal can take any kind of leadership that works for them in whatever community is their school. What an interesting challenge this would be!
I envision each school with a leadership that makes it possible for the staff and community of parents to have a real voice in the education of our kids. We already have some of this in place at Lacoochee Elementary School: parent/ teacher committees and the Parent University in which parents get "credit" for working in the school, leaning English, etc. It could be vastly expanded under a creative administration.
When an organization, in this case a school, must hue to a budget for his/her school you'll be surprised at how seamless it is to save money. The kids can clean their own spaces, cutting down on janitorial fees, teachers can get on board for being frugal, those unused FCAT booklets can be returned, many school supplies can be scrounged for, volunteers can do a lot. And why do we need an entire room to contain supplies that are never be used? If a school has to do its own budget, in no time at all there will be solar panels on the roof, major recycling, maybe a school garden of the scope that can truly make a positive difference in the lunch room. A lot of creativity comes from necessity.
But, really, the thing is to get every single teacher on board, and that principal will have to make this school be the very best. Every school can be a challenge! Even the weak teachers can be brought up to a high level if they see the collegial worth of it and get peer mentoring. Such a challenge for the principal! In the case of Lacoochee, every teacher must be able to operate in Spanish as well as English.
What I am advocating is that each school is autonomous (with a few reservations!) Get the community of parents and friends on board because they are your constituents. It will be hard for the principal to just strike out and do some different things without fear from HEADQUARTERS. Hey, why not break through the roofs of those terrible classrooms and get some light in? Why do classes have to be all one age? Why are there no animals in the classrooms? Why can't kids actually work in the cafeteria and learn to make nutritious food? So, there are lots of strange and wacky ideas out there, but we need to hear them and consider them. Our kids are that important, and we can't be hampered by our little fears.
I believe that our teachers are the best transmitters of our culture. They work so hard in situations of fear and stress. Often they are the targets of our social anxieties and we blame them. But our teachers are US. They have the same lacks in education and experience we all do. The difference is that those teachers get up every single day and do their best with a bunch of kids who are hard. Just think of how much more effective this cadre of educators could be if they had the sense of being in charge, not having to be on task every minute to the texts of the FCAT. What creativity we would see!
I salute all teachers.
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