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Undermining local schools
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Location: Blogs Jim's Blog |
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| Posted by: Jim Hansen |
9/7/2006 |
As school started in communities throughout the district in late August and early September, I have learned a tremendous amount about how schools are coping with change, how they are being ignored by many of their elected representatives, and how they are dealing with the gradual loss of local control and resources.
If incumbent congressmen actually spent time during the August recess to talk to parents and teachers and school board members, there is no question that they would be introducing legislation NOW to repeal the deceptively named "No Child Left Behind" act they foisted on us. Or, at the very least they would overhaul it to allow states to opt out or provide sufficient funding and flexibility that improves rather than destroys local control.
In Stanley, they don't even have a hot lunch for the kids at the elementary school. Take a look at the cold spot in the nation and chances are you'll see Stanley there more than once. When there appears to be no interest in Washington, D.C., in helping that community invest in its own kids, it is easy for local folks to feel like they are being taken for granted.
In Salmon, the schools are starting a four-day, longer-day schedule. Does the incumbent even know this and know why and how budgets have forced this choice on them -- and many other small school districts. There are some amazing community members comming together to put on Friday day-care programs for kids so their parents don't have to make the impossible choice of losing a day of work or leaving their kids alone at home all day.
In every school district, I have heard about how the huge spike in gas prices has made budgeting transportation that much more difficult. Congress' lack of interest in really addressing the long-term energy needs of this country means smaller communities and their schools have to struggle even harder to survive. I guess that's why the incumbent is seldom seen in those communities.
At the Shoshone-Bannock Festival at Fort Hall, I met folks connected with their local schools and shared their frustration that federal officials seldom come to hear their stories. In fact, I was appalled that not a single Republican incumbent attended the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe's big community parade and celebration on August 12.
I spoke with folks in Albion about the pressure they feel in their schools and the irony that at the same time the city must sell the historic Albion Normal School site to a private bidder. That is the teacher's college that was shut down in the 1950s.
While door knocking in Rigby, I visited with kids coming home from school and with parents who are raising small kids. There is growing diversity among the school population, yet the No Child Left Behind testing scheme ends up penalizing schools rather than helping them cope with the change effectively. |
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