Educational Reform: Back to the Future

     I taught in schools in several states as I followed my husband’s job opportunities, and my experiences make the case for a No on 204.

       My first teaching job back in 1963 was in a 5 classroom school east of Kansas City, Missouri.  We had no principal, no superintendent, no secretary, no counselors.  We had 5 teachers, a cook, and a custodian.  It was the best run school I ever taught in.  That little school was our school and we were proud of it, and we ran it well. 

       A limited administration staff is absolutely necessary in larger schools, but my subsequent experience taught me that the deeper the layers of administration, the weaker the bond between teacher and student, teacher and school board, teacher and parents.

         Adjusted for inflation, the per-student cost of education tripled across the 40 years of my teaching experience, but that influx of money has had a negative impact on the quality of education in our schools.  Federal and state interference has simply complicated the system and created deeper levels of bureaucracy.

            We do need educational reform, but we need to start at home, in our neighborhoods, and with our local school boards. We need to funnel a larger portion of our education dollars into the classroom.  The tax increase will only more deeply entrench the toxic bureaucracy.