Originally published in Real Change News – by Jesse D. Hagopian
http://www.realchangenews.org/2009/2009_01_07/Education_v16n02.html
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A new chapter has been added to the American historical record.
By electing the first Black president in a country founded on slavery, millions of people re-wrote the American history textbook—italicizing the word hope and underlining the phrase new direction. Deleted from the glossary of this new edition to American political consciousness were cynicism, and stay the course.
While a multitude of Seattleites helped pen this update to American political history, two major proposals from our local officials seem to come from an outdated edition:
- Mayor Greg Nickels has proposed the construction of a new municipal jail, projected to cost taxpayers over $200 million. Mayor Nickels’ City of Seattle webpage assures us that, “Jails can have a positive economic impact – corrections officer positions pay well and have good benefits. The jobs associated with construction can also have a positive impact on the economy.”
- With enrollment down overall and budget shortfalls, Seattle schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson has proposed more school closers in addition to the seven already shuttered in 2006. Should the Seattle School Board approve, the district could begin closing more schools as soon as September.
Unit Summary: it is now Seattle’s proposed policy to build jails and close schools.
Critical Thinking Questions: Why, when the people of our country, state and city so clearly titled this new political era “Hope for Change,” are Seattle’s officials working on a chapter titled, “Stay the Cynical Course”? Can you think of ways to keep our schools open and better ways to spur the economy than incarceration?
As you craft your answer, consider the following statistics:
The National Center for Health Statistics reported that, for the academic year 2004-05, Washington ranked 32nd nationally in high school graduation rates.
The American Economic Review, one of the longest running and most prestigious journals in the field, released a study recently that showed, “A one percent increase in the high school completion rate of all men ages 20-60 would save the United States as much as $1.4 billion per year in reduced costs from crime incurred by victims and society at-large.”
Additionally, the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington, D.C. based policy organization, found that if Washington State increased its graduation rates by 5 percent, the annual crime-related savings would be approximately $50,235,943. Such a graduation rate could be met with increased spending on education.
Under the Basic Education Act, passed by Washington’s legislature in 1977, the state bears responsibility for fully funding K-12 education—yet the level of funding for Washington’s public schools has been below the national average for the past decade.
This lack of funding prompted the Basic Education Funding Act, which set up a task force of leading legislators to realize Washington State’s constitutional declaration that providing for education is the “paramount duty” of the state. This body’s report of October, 2008, states, “Ideally we would return K-12 funding to its historical 50 percent of the state general fund, rather than the current 35 percent.”
Home Work Assignment: With Washington State failing to fund a 21st century definition of basic education, the Seattle School District should join teachers, parents, and students, to stand united in a demand for the funding it is owed.
Recent school board meetings have been packed with community members who want answers about why their schools are being disrupted. At a city council meeting on October 27th, several hundred people packed the chambers and an overflow viewing room for a public hearing on the mayor’s proposed budget that includes cuts to social services and the building of a new jail. Not a single person testifying defended the building of a new city jail. The stickers worn by most of the crowd summed up the views of the majority of Seattle residents: “Invest in people first!”
Fully funding our schools would be an investment with a high return both financially–in the money we save because of a lower demand for building cellblocks–and morally, by supporting our city’s youth.
Yes we can, Seattle, fully fund education, keep schools open, and reduce both class size and the jail population. But this will take the kind of thinking that has rewritten the book on what America can accomplish.
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Jesse D. Hagopian is a teacher in the Seattle Public Schools.
Schools not Jails
Originally published in Real Change News – by Jesse D. Hagopian
http://www.realchangenews.org/2009/2009_01_07/Education_v16n02.html
——————
A new chapter has been added to the American historical record.
By electing the first Black president in a country founded on slavery, millions of people re-wrote the American history textbook—italicizing the word hope and underlining the phrase new direction. Deleted from the glossary of this new edition to American political consciousness were cynicism, and stay the course.
While a multitude of Seattleites helped pen this update to American political history, two major proposals from our local officials seem to come from an outdated edition:
Unit Summary: it is now Seattle’s proposed policy to build jails and close schools.
Critical Thinking Questions: Why, when the people of our country, state and city so clearly titled this new political era “Hope for Change,” are Seattle’s officials working on a chapter titled, “Stay the Cynical Course”? Can you think of ways to keep our schools open and better ways to spur the economy than incarceration?
As you craft your answer, consider the following statistics:
The National Center for Health Statistics reported that, for the academic year 2004-05, Washington ranked 32nd nationally in high school graduation rates.
The American Economic Review, one of the longest running and most prestigious journals in the field, released a study recently that showed, “A one percent increase in the high school completion rate of all men ages 20-60 would save the United States as much as $1.4 billion per year in reduced costs from crime incurred by victims and society at-large.”
Additionally, the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington, D.C. based policy organization, found that if Washington State increased its graduation rates by 5 percent, the annual crime-related savings would be approximately $50,235,943. Such a graduation rate could be met with increased spending on education.
Under the Basic Education Act, passed by Washington’s legislature in 1977, the state bears responsibility for fully funding K-12 education—yet the level of funding for Washington’s public schools has been below the national average for the past decade.
This lack of funding prompted the Basic Education Funding Act, which set up a task force of leading legislators to realize Washington State’s constitutional declaration that providing for education is the “paramount duty” of the state. This body’s report of October, 2008, states, “Ideally we would return K-12 funding to its historical 50 percent of the state general fund, rather than the current 35 percent.”
Home Work Assignment: With Washington State failing to fund a 21st century definition of basic education, the Seattle School District should join teachers, parents, and students, to stand united in a demand for the funding it is owed.
Recent school board meetings have been packed with community members who want answers about why their schools are being disrupted. At a city council meeting on October 27th, several hundred people packed the chambers and an overflow viewing room for a public hearing on the mayor’s proposed budget that includes cuts to social services and the building of a new jail. Not a single person testifying defended the building of a new city jail. The stickers worn by most of the crowd summed up the views of the majority of Seattle residents: “Invest in people first!”
Fully funding our schools would be an investment with a high return both financially–in the money we save because of a lower demand for building cellblocks–and morally, by supporting our city’s youth.
Yes we can, Seattle, fully fund education, keep schools open, and reduce both class size and the jail population. But this will take the kind of thinking that has rewritten the book on what America can accomplish.
——————
Jesse D. Hagopian is a teacher in the Seattle Public Schools.
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