Editor, Daily Press:
Here are a few thoughts on how to improve our public education programs, without having to infuse additional revenue, while possibly elevating the quality of instruction.
First, consolidate all school districts within every county under a superintendent, who is elected, and supervises all school principals within that country. This would eliminate some over-priced, over-egoed, and under-utilized personnel we are presently saddled with.
Second, by consolidating, we could replace the ever-increasing duplication of a non-teaching personnel. Each principal and his staff would be on the merit system, whereby their compensation will be controlled and not helter-skelter, as in our present program.
Third, each district would be required to spend $3 on academic programs for every dollar spent on athletics, regardless of source. Our state education system has lionized athletes to the determent of meaningful lifetime skills to the point it is going to take a major shakeup to correct the problem. Our nation is loosing world market share because we do not require our instructors (I won’t call them teachers because they, quite often, are not) to educate their students on the subject matter. It’s easier to just warehouse them for a few years and turn them loose on the welfare system, than to educate them in such a manner that they become contributing members of their community.
Fourth, quit busing students within a designated perimeter of their school and consolidate bus routes to best utilize the district’s fuel budget.
Establish a set of standards for school buses statewide in order to minimize the cornucopia of soon-to-be-obsolete parts that each district currently has on the shelf. Central purchasing would be worth looking into.
Also by buying locally produced, as opposed to produced elsewhere, we could save transportation costs, which are escalating almost daily.
We have, in our state, as good a cross-section for students as there are anywhere in the world, and as soon as we challenge them they can equal, and possibly surpass, and group from anywhere else in the world. It is up to us to create an environment that stimulates their curiosity and interest.
One minor change would be to cut down on the number of classes that a student attends each day. By the time the student gets seated and has his papers arranged, it is time to go to another class to repeat the same process all over again. Not fair to the instructor or the student.
Jerry Gay
Tahlequah
