I’ve shared several news links about K-12 education in the last couple of weeks. Here are the top 5:
- Graduation Rates: High School Graduation Rate Set to Reach 90% by 2020 (Powell Report)
- District Financing: School Finance Ruling Portends Epic Education Battle (Austin New Statesman | See also Texas Judge Rules Against State’s School Finance System (Reuters)
- College Readiness: A Warning to College Profs From a High School Teacher (Washington Post)
- Community Violence: With Each Teen Killed, A Void Grows (Washington Post)
- Teacher Satisfaction: Teacher Job Satisfaction Hits 25-Year Low (The Atlantic)
For the last several months, I’ve been part of an informal science learning program in Prince George’s County, the same county featured in the fourth link above. And I can comfortably say along with many other participants: there’s nothing wrong with the children. Particularly in the middle school range, these children have just as much energy and learning capacity as children in areas with more funding, better infrastructure, less neighborhood violence, and stronger community-business support.
There’s nothing wrong with these children. But there’s plenty wrong with the context we expect them to progress in and the networked system that they’re being prepared to step into after high school.
Are you a teacher or parent? What aspects of K-12 education are most important to you? How are you working with your local school district to improve those parts of the system?