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State's ideas merit much examination The Way We See It In a land governed largely by sound bite and empty gesture, it is easy to grow complacent. Since 1966, we have heard so many promises to make war on drugs, cap federal spending, and pay off the national debt, that we have stopped listening. Thus was it possible for most good citizens to hear about the new academic standards currently being peddled by the Ohio Department of Education, and to conclude that they amounted to no more than another in a long string of hollow promises. The Way We See It, that assumption was wrong, for there is much to admire within those new standards. But there is also much within them which provokes suspicion, and more than a little which merits alarm. Bureaucrats are attempting to sell the new standards with a promise that they will keep schools under local control But the sanctions dreamed up to give them the force of law has a long section which details the steps to be taken when the state feels it is time to remove a school district's superintendent, and neutralize the power of the local board of education. The Way We See It, that gives unelected agents of the state power to break contractual agreements, and to nullify the result of local elections. In the standards themselves, there are sections which specify the number of "learners" there shall be for each teacher. There are also lists of personnel each school district must hire, like it or note, need them or not. There is even a commandment which obligates every school district to seek out and recruit teachers on the basis of their "varied backgrounds and cultural experiences." That makes adherence to "politically correct" assumptions about personnel decisions, into a thing mandated by state law. So much for local control Salesmen for the new standards also promise they will motivate every student to achieve academic excellence. Yet they prescribe certain courses of study which are not part of the traditional academic package, and which worry many parents. How, they ask, can our kids be expected to excel in science, mathematics, and language arts, when their teachers will be charged with an obligation to teach them to "demonstrate primary healthy stress management and relaxation skills" (first grade) and to master "acceptable ways to show or express emotions" (second grade). The Way We See It, they can't, and anyone who expects them to do so is, without further discussion, wrong. The ways in which the new standards usurp some of the most fundamental and important parental responsibilities will be discussed on these pages at a later date. But rest assured they exist. We will also take a long at the "pupil services" portion of the new standards, which gives schools the power to offer each child, from kindergarten through 12th grade, "intervention, assessment, diagnosis, counseling, guidance, therapy, and health services," apparently without parental notification or consent. The Way We See It, the list of flaws contained in the new standards is too long to contemplate in a single sitting. That's why the Tribune will be writing about them for the next few months, whenever time and space allow, and with them the DOE's School-to-Work "initiative." We will also examine the ways in which the education establishment has asked state lawmakers to rush adoption of these standards through the legislature, and to give them what amounts to a blank check in the manner in which they are finalized and put in place. Because, The Way We See It, what our government does to our schools and to our children within the next 12-18 months will determine the course of American events for the greatest part of the next century. And, The Way We See It, that's too important to ignore or treat lightly. Please let us know, by mail, telephone or e-mail how you see it. _________________ REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION |
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