- By Maureen and Jim Bell
- Opinions
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After negative community feedback regarding earlier possible propositions, a Facilities and Community Awareness Committee (FCAC) of parents, teachers, and administrators in the District plus engineering and architectural advisors was formed. This group assessed which potential maintenance and renovation items must be done for building safety (roofing, HVAC, etc.) as well as which should be done for the schools to continue to offer the exceptional education experience that Lansing residents have come to expect.
The group was critical and the meetings were grueling; the resulting Capital Project plan is a “bare bones” blueprint that will meet our District's basic needs. The Lansing School Board carefully considered the FCAC recommendations and voted in December to put the plan before the voters. Many people wonder why the high school needs more classrooms when enrollment has not increased dramatically. The answer is recent changes in New York State Regents requirements. When the high school was built (mid-1970’s) students were not required to get a Regents Diploma. Now nearly all are, which means one more year of history, two more years of math and science, a year of Fine Arts, and two years of foreign language. The biggest strain on our high school has been providing classrooms for all of these extra classes that students are now required by the State to take. Science classroom needs are particularly challenging because they are twice the size of other classrooms and require specialized lab space.
There was considerable FCAC debate about whether the Regent’s requirements were useful and whether it was worth it to add on to the high school. Do our students really do any better because they are forced to take more classes? In particular, are the Fine Arts requirements (orchestra, band, and studio art) useful? While debate on the Regent’s requirements is moot – students must pass them to get a high school diploma – we still wanted a community discussion of these issues.Do all of these classes help the next generation to succeed?
There have been a number of studies to determine what is the best predictor for success after high school. The best predictor for academic success in college is the student's high school record: number of classes taken and grades in those classes. In fact, the SAT was actually a poor predictor of a student’s success in college (see, for example, http://www.fairtest.org/facts/satvalidity.html). For this reason many colleges (including Cornell University) are considering dropping the SAT as a required entrance test. Colleges (and employers) appear most interested nowadays in well-rounded students who take not just the required curriculum but also Advanced Placement classes, and who participate in clubs, community service organizations, and sports.
Are Fine Arts classes valuable? Studies have been conducted on this question to learn if participation in arts programs benefits students in the long term. For example, a National Governor's Association report (see http://www.nga.org/cda/files/050102ARTSED.pdf) found that students who participate in arts classes are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and three times more likely to have the best school attendance records. Fine Arts also prepares students for the job market by fostering creative thinking and increased skills in design, visualization, and problem solving. Sometimes these programs are also just a source of sheer joy and pride, as everyone who participated in the standing ovation after the Dec. 6 Lansing High School Orchestra's masterful performance of "Pirates of the Caribbean" will surely remember.
Is it worth your tax dollars to support these two Propositions? We believe so. In addition to the philosophical arguments of providing the best education possible for the next generation, there are strong economic advantages for our community. There is a direct link between the reputation of the local school system and the value of one's home and property. Taxpayers in Lansing could be “shooting ourselves in the wallet” if we allow our schools to deteriorate or our kids' education to become anything less than excellent.
We urge Lansing voters to vote yes on February 6th on both propositions in the Capital Project initiative.
Maureen and Jim Bell
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