Money can't buy.....

For far too long we have heard the message....give us more money and we will give you better schools. Has it worked? Not to my knowledge. The fact is that, even adjusted for inflation, the amount of money spent per pupil is around seven times what it was thirty years ago. Does money matter? Of course. But administrators and boards sometimes forget what their primary purpose is; not just to educate our children but to do a better job than we are currently
doing. Yet, just as we continue to do the same things we have always done, and in the same manner, we continue to allocate our funds in the same way they have always been allocated.
Identifying goals that will truly improve student learning and then prioritizing your funds to insure that the goals can be reached, why do we seem to find this impossible?

For instance, most educators and a large portion of the public see high school education as that area most in need of reform. With the rapidly accelerating knowledge bases, why do we continue to have six or seven period days from 7:30 to 3PM? Why aren't they open from 7AM until 5 or even 8PM? Students and staff could choose the times that worked best for them, tutoring sessions, on line learning and special interest classes could be held, there are a multitude of available plans and ideas. Would it cost more? Probably not much.

We have been talking about the critical need to reform for 18 years, (remember....A Nation at Risk?) The time for action is now! Visit http://www.electmarcianeal.com/