A recent letter to the editor was complaining that students had missed six days during the school year (due to snow). The piece argued for year-round school and was entitled “Students Need More Education, Not Less”. My own take (submitted as a response in slightly different form) is as follows: (I have deleted the writer’s name).
On the surface, it’s hard to argue with much of what XXX says in his letter. Who would ever argue that students need less education?? And I actually agree with him 100% when he says “Public education seems to be struggling to survive. Throwing more money at the problem won’t fix it until there is agreement on what’s needed”.
So, let’s have a good, public discussion about “what’s needed”. Indeed, let’s join the discussion that’s already occurring. Let’s not use flawed logic by assuming that more (or less) time in school will fix (or hurt) the problem. Going to school more (or less) won’t make one more (or less) educated any more than going to church more (or less) will make one more religious (or a heathen). Most of us actually only attend church a maximum of 52 days a year, counting only Sundays – far less than a school year. Will going more often help our religion? Will going less hurt it? I’ve always thought the longer school year argument by itself was a lot like saying “my car is running rough, so I think I’ll drive it a few hundred more miles.”
It should be clear – shouldn’t it? –that “what’s needed” is not (necessarily) more quantity but more quality in what we do – whether it’s church, school, or whatever. Let’s all pitch in and help educators as they try to make authentic learning easier to attain in the classroom. Let’s all help find ways to connect “the curriculum” to “the outside world” in ways that make sense to students, so they want to learn, and understand WHY they are learning. These goals –especially today – are NOT easy ones, and they’re made more difficult by not realizing how legitimately hard they are.
So, let’s have/join that discussion with open minds – it’s important! Let’s NOT get sidetracked with whether or not we’re doing the same old thing more or less often – it misses the point.
Comments are closed