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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > February > 27
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Scott Elliott: Parents might not favor early-college route
Almost a decade ago, I was at a high school reform seminar at which a panel of experts threw out a radical idea — end high school at 10th grade.
That notion actually drew a few chuckles. The idea didn’t sound very practical.
Yet, last week President Barack Obama made a pretty similar proposal, and he was not kidding. Obama wants to allow kids who test out of their junior and senior years to go straight to a community college.
Here’s the big question: Will parents embrace this option?
I have my doubts.
The experts on that panel long ago (including one who had been part of a national commission examining the value of the high school senior year) had lots of ideas for what kids could do while skipping their junior and senior years.
Some of the more interesting ones that I can remember:
• Work. They could pursue paying internships in professions that interest them. This would help them choose careers and see the practical value of the skills they’d learn in college. Companies who’d hire them could scout for future talent.
• Volunteer. Understaffed, but important, nonprofit service providers would benefit from their labor, and the kids would see community needs up close, perhaps spurring them to remain active in civic life.
• Travel. They could travel or study abroad. The popularity of study-abroad programs speaks to the value of experiences that introduce young people to different ways of life and broaden their horizons.
• Move on with school. They could go straight to college. For those who are very academically oriented, this option would allow them to move ahead to a community college as an interim step or straight to universities for the especially gifted.
The presentation was followed by a thoughtful discussion that challenged the value of high school beyond 10th grade. The experts argued students can, and often do, easily complete all their graduation requirements by their junior year. Some then mark time by taking courses they don’t really need. Others start college-level courses early. Why not just let them move on, the experts asked?
Jokingly, I asked the panel how they expected these theoretical future high schools that end at 10th grade to win football games and hold proms without juniors and seniors?
As the audience laughed, I noticed none of the panelists cracked a smile. Finally, one leaned into the microphone and said, “Honestly, that is our biggest problem. We can’t get parents to accept the idea that high school should be radically different. So many of the parents can’t let go of their dreams of Suzy in her prom dress and Bobby as captain of the football team.”
The fact that most adults have a common, if outdated, school experience is often a problem. Ask a teacher about the parents who complain the kids aren’t learning the way they were taught. Or ask a superintendent who has had to campaign for new school buildings against the argument that “that school was good enough for me.” If there were options for kids to think differently about their educations, some would probably jump at the chance. But if it meant changing the basic nature of high school, would most parents balk?
Even if kids in the future could somehow be guaranteed a better education and better life chances by taking one of these alternative routes, how many parents would pick that option if it meant giving up stuff like sports and the prom? You might be surprised.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment | Categories: Columns, Education, Higher Ed, Scott Elliott
Editorial: Suburb councils not looking great
Many communities confront problems these days that defy the efforts of local officials to solve them. Sometimes, though, the local officials themselves are the problem. Or among them.
This observation is not made with an eye on the policy views of those officials. Typically, at the local level, reasonable people confront real issues pragmatically.
No, the issue here is the personal behavior of the officials.
• In Trotwood, the mayor has resigned under state criticism for doing his city job on state time with state resources, and for the “appearance of impropriety” in his assistance to a friend who ended up getting money from a city contractor.
• In Huber Heights, one member of the council thinks it’s perfectly fine to run for the city council despite working for a contractor in Iraq and being unable to do city business.
• In Riverside, council members are at each others’ throats, with such charges as “you’re acting like a high school punk.” A couple of years ago, one council member pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct stemming from an argument with another.
• In Carlisle, headlines are about sexually explicit images on a city-owned computer — whoever may have put them there — and about road rage. Some want to recall the mayor. The police chief has been put on administrative leave.
• In Moraine, a series of pointless recall elections had the government in turmoil for years, until recently.
From this list, one might gather that local government, at least at the suburban level, is in some sort of systemic trouble, that the right people just aren’t seeking elective office. Not really true. Every election brings good people who are willing to volunteer their time to do thankless jobs in many places around the Dayton region.
But in communities where most people are struggling just to hold their own economic lives together, often there’s no oversupply of such people.
So problems are destined to arise. (And, it must be said, every time a problem arises, that doesn’t mean the elected official in the news has necessarily done something wrong. Sometimes, the full story looks different from what the early headlines suggest.)
If people are upset enough about these kinds of embarrassments, one possible approach is a move toward regional government. That wouldn’t assure competence, integrity and good judgment, of course. But it could reduce the number of low-profile, low-turnout elections in which overburdened voters are expected to pass judgment.
In truth, the Dayton area has shown no taste for a hard-core version of regional government. But opportunities exist to, at least, consolidate some operations under offices that are well equipped to handle them.
Meanwhile, people who are not satisfied with the kinds of people who are offering their services might consider offering themselves. If you’ve sometimes thought about doing that, but you’ve wondered how your qualifications might compare with other candidates, the best approach is not to assume anything. One can get in the fray and see how things turn out.
Permalink | Comments (26) | Post your comment | Categories: Editorials, Martin Gottlieb, Suburban Communities
