New math of Idaho school reform: Where the money comes from, where it goes | Education | Idaho Statesman
What do teacher contracts have to do with laptops and mandatory online classes for high schoolers? And what does the teacher-student ratio have to do with merit pay? Not much on the surface, but state schools Superintendent Tom Luna says its time to revamp the entire system.
But the complicated slate of reform proposals have another connection, too: in these tight budget times, if you want to spend extra money on technology and pay-for-preformance, you have to save it somewhere else.
2011-2012 SCHOOL YEAR
WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM
$62.8 million
[...]
I'm not sittin' down to do the math. There are people who get paid to do that and people who would be far better at it than I. I don't know if I agree with their choices or not (although skimming this I see things I really like and things I'm iffier on; my opinion's not what's important here). I'm thrilled to see someone with the clout to get stuff done, doing it, and even more pleased to see these numbers posted publicly so people who are much smarter than I can give the government feedback on it's choices.
It'll be really cool when there's just a pool of money dedicated to education (and one to health) that's tended and stewarded by the government, but only spent by the people; when districts can get parental input and input from other districts about what's working with whom on an instant and on-going basis, look at the numbers in a central national (maybe one day global) database and see what's available, see who might have extra of what they need, move some resources around, dip into the ed pot a little for what needs to be purchased, and everyone goes on their merry way. Yeah, there are gonna be the selfish ones and the ones who don't care blah blah blah the depravity of the human race, whatever. But as they say in this article (http://bit.ly/eQ7yAs), "'People who have gone into teaching and stayed in teaching usually are pretty dedicated, and most importantly, they’re doing the best they can [...] They’re not saying, "I’m not going to teach the good stuff until I’m rewarded for it."'"
Exactly. Most of the teachers I know love their profession, and feel personally offended when they hear about the one who's doing it until something better comes along. Most of the healers I know want to heal (and without offense to the doctors I know who are amongst those, too many of the doctors I know are not healers, but scientists; there's nothing wrong with that, but it needs to be kept in the lab and is inappropriate for the healing environment). Most of the people I know do the best they know how with who they are and what they have. Learning is how we come to know more about ourselves and everyone else, and good health is the foundation upon which we build a sound life. If money were not the driving factor, it would be possible at the very least for everyone to have water, food, and shelter, and with current and coming technology education and health care could also be made available to everyone everywhere (not just students and sick people everywhere, but everyone). I know very few people who won't seek out knowledge if the opportunity is there, and those who won't are either fearful of what they'll find (fine, eventually your curiosity will overcome that or you'll live and die encased in it; your choice), they've given up on there being anything that can interest them (most of them are near the ends of their lives whether anyone knows it or not), or they just don't know there's knowledge to be had. Can't blame anyone for ignorance unless they've willfully turned their back, and in a world in which any education at any level in any field is available to anyone that would be a conscious choice for which no one would have to apologize, and for which only the individual who chooses to be ignorant is responsible, therefore also taking responsibility for any and all consequences thereof.
At the same time, just as gifted teachers would attract more students, gifted students would have their pick of instructors. There would also be a far wider field of instructors amongst which people who might otherwise be considered 'average' or 'slow' might just find those few who understand how they learn and become 'excellent'. It would be much easier for people who work well together to find one another through student/teacher reviews and on-line resources.
If we know how, humans want to do the right thing. The fact that we care that or if there is a right and a wrong thing seems to be what sets us apart from any other natural specie or phenomena of which we're aware. Every last one of us differs in some way from every other one of us about what we believe 'right' and 'wrong' to be. There will never be a firm, all-encompassing definition of what's right that works all the time for every person in every circumstance. When our positions differ too strongly it becomes difficult to understand one another, and sometimes people take positions so extreme it is or seems foolish for anyone to stand with them. That will always be the case. The possibility of a day when everyone agrees with everybody is infinitesimal (though not non-existent). There probably won't even come a day when no one does violence to anyone else or no one breaks the public trust in any way. We are human. We are sometimes not up to par. We are sometimes even base. But if each of us in each moment is doing the best we know how with who we are and what we have, damage to ourselves and those around us from those failures on each of our parts will be minimized, and more quickly and easily repaired. In that kind of cohesive unit even catastrophic failures could be absorbed to some degree, people who simply break and cannot hold up their part for a while or at all. (Everyone deserves a break from time to time. :))
It's a vision, anyway, and I think it's only unrealistic in the eyes of anyone who really believes that most people aren't trying or don't care. I can understand feeling that way, I've been there lots of times, but when I take my own cynicism out of the picture and look around at what I'm really seeing, most people would like to be their best selves; some just don't know how or are afraid of what that means they'd have to do to get there, some just don't care and that's alright as long as they realize that's the case and don't expect anyone to make up for the shortcomings they choose not to address. Many are their best selves, all the time. Unfortunately they often get dogged for bein' 'fake' or having some ulterior motive, which is where I see people choosing to tear down others rather than address what they're not happy with in themselves, whether due to fear or laziness or whatever, but all it takes is a moment to realize that maybe that person is just trying to get along in the world with the best results and the fewest consequences, for themselves and those around them. With that realization we can take it on and try it for ourselves, and each moment in which we choose kindness, caring, and/or understanding rather than jealousy or wrath or the things we choose instead, is one moment in which the world is a little bit better place. It's a small thing, but it's really the only thing we can do.
Anyway, it's always exciting to see education addressed in a real and thoughtful manner. And thanks, educational professionals, for all you do. :)
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