Archive: Opinions

The Lansing School District is facing some difficult choices.  The financial outlook points to some very lean years.   With AES declaring bankruptcy, taxpayers will have to shoulder much of the tax burden.  The Global Recession has hit home, at the heart of our lives, the education of our children. 

School officials have begun the onerous task of creating a school budget that reflects the loss in revenue and the added tax placed upon individuals.  Some programs will be eliminated from the budget while others will receive considerably less funding.   From cuts in custodial and cafeteria staff to teachers and aides, district officials are working out an initial plan to present to the community in March.

What the proposed cuts do not address is the upper levels of district staff.  Some questions the district might ask ought to focus on the administrative end of the budget.  Is it time to examine the need for a superintendent?  Or, if the district needs the office of superintendent, does each school need a principal?  Does the modern school system require such a top heavy administrative apparatus?

In the meantime, administrators, staff, parents and members of the community must think beyond the structure of traditional education and integrate 21st century technology into the budget equation.  If adults can learn outside the classroom through on-line education and earn a degree, would it be possible for students to accomplish these same goals?   Do students, especially those in high school, need to attend class every day?  Could distance learning through on-line education replace some of the standard teaching methodology and thereby eliminate the need for such costly overhead that mandatory weekday attendance requires? 

It is clear that a majority of children in elementary education possess a wealth of computer knowledge and usage well beyond that of most adults. We often hear that technology is changing the way we live and work.  Perhaps it is time to rethink the way we educate our children and begin to implement programs that make use of the internet.  Can children, under some adult supervision, work on classroom assignments via the internet from home? 

These are the real questions educators, parents, and those with vision must address.  Do we continue to educate our children the way civilization has for almost three millennia, or do we step beyond the comfort zone of classroom learning and embrace distance learning.  The decision to cut programs and jobs is never easy, but it ought to address all levels of the district.  If I had the answers, I would be the new superintendent.  And that is to the point.

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