The minority Republicans in our General Assembly raised a good point recently. Majority Democrats have pushed a bill requiring local school districts to provide more than just “abstinence only” in their sex-education classes. Birth control and sexually transmitted diseases should also be addressed.
Meanwhile, there have been bills to require that high-school graduates attain certain levels of proficiency in science, math and English – and those bills have died.
Granted, sex education can be a matter of life and death these days, but just what are schools for if not to teach science, math and English?
It’s not quite as simple as that, of course, since there are complications. One is the myth of “local control.” I used to believe in such a thing, until I went to local school board meetings for about a decade. Every time the feds offered grant money, no matter how moronic the purpose (put a cop in school, or test the chemical purity of teachers’ blood) the school board would leap to comply.
And at most meetings, the superintendent would announce that “the state is now requiring … .” Again, the local board would snap-to and salute. Once in a while, a board member would grumble, “What are they going to do to us if we don’t? Put us in jail?” But that’s as far as the dissent went.
So the argument that more state requirements would diminish local control is like an argument about whether Superman could fly under a purple sun. Superman is mythology, and so is “local control” of public schools.
The real issue is whether a Colorado high-school diploma means anything. That is, if you’re an employer or a college admissions officer, and an applicant appears with diploma in hand, can you assume that the applicant possesses any specific set of skills and knowledge?
Granted, this hasn’t mattered much in the past, and may not in the future, either. If you check, you’ll see that Colorado ranks high in the percentage of college graduates in its population, and low in the percentage of high-school graduates that it sends to college.
In other words, we import college graduates. Since education is difficult and expensive, this probably makes financial sense. Let other states spend the time and money, while we reap the benefits as their educated people make their careers in Colorado.
Assuming that anyone wants to change that sensible arrangement, then what should the graduate know? My list would start with proficiency in “commercial English” – writing business letters and the like. I’d also require fluency in one common English dialect, be it Ebonics or Blue-Collar English, and at least tourist proficiency (“Where is the bathroom?”) in a foreign language.
Foreign-language instruction would start in kindergarten, since it’s easier to learn languages then, and continue through 12th grade. Aside from the cultural and commercial benefits, students would understand English better on account of learning another language.
In math, students need to know the commercial version, like calculating the net present value of an investment, as well as algebra, geometry and trigonometry. These skills are easy to test.
As for science, there are the basics of biology (including human reproduction), chemistry and physics, as well as some civics (Is it more effective to hire a lobbyist or donate to a campaign?), geography and local, national and world history. Most of this is pretty easy to test, too.
How would the state have school districts meet these requirements? The districts could figure it out themselves under my plan. As it is, the state provides money to school districts. For the purpose of argument, let’s say it averages $5,000 per year, per student. That works out to $65,000 for the 13 years of K-12.
So, just offer school districts $65,000 for every graduate they produce who meets the standards. Some might attain proficiency in 10 years, some in 15, some never, but under this system, you can bet every school system would be efficient and innovative.
School districts would know what was expected of them, and Colorado taxpayers would know what they were getting for their money.
And it might turn out that it was worth the trouble to look after Colorado kids, instead of continuing to rely on imports.
Ed Quillen of Salida (ed@cozine.com) is a former newspaper editor whose column appears Tuesday and Sunday.
