>>SOUTHERN INDIANA — Although I’ve spent over 51 years in a schoolhouse — 17 as a student and 34 in the education profession — I don’t know diddily squat, or is it didly squat? I never worried too much about spelling, because I was more into the heavier stuff like scientific theories, which resulted in evolution, atomic bombs and Facebook.

It wasn’t that many years ago that an eighth-grade education was sufficient. Knowing how to read, add, subtract and a few fractions and you were on the way. Although you watched the smart kids diagram a sentence on the board, you knew it would never apply to you. The only people, who use it are English teachers. And who would ever need to know exactly why a person is a noun rather than a verb?

Education is much more important now with knowledge doubling every few years. Schools are criticized for not meeting standards based on test scores. Would more money for better schools, programs and teachers make a difference? What happens when less money is available, which is now the case? The alternatives are: cut programs, reduce salaries, release teachers, increase class size and/or close schools.

Which programs do you cut, physical education, art, music, languages, counseling and the library? Increasing class size from 25 to 35 saves money as does releasing eager young teachers not on tenure and keeping the old tired ones. Can a teacher effectively instruct and provide individualized attention for 35 students as well as 25? Is it easier to stand on you head for one minute or five?

No one wants to close schools, but it’s very costly keeping a small school with less than 400 students open when classrooms are available in another school a few miles away. The neighborhood school is convenient for parents, as was the one-room school back in the old days. Soon after I graduated from a 100-student high school, the county consolidated three small high schools into one and the educational opportunities increased 10 fold. There is an argument for smaller schools, but larger ones can offer many more educational opportunities. Most all children are resilient and adaptable and adjust very well to new environments. And all change schools at some point.

In high school, I majored in basketball and the Future Farmers of America. One of my granddaughters studied Japanese four years in her high school, and is now in her senior year in college — in Japan. The times demand that schools make a difference.

There are three main aspects in a child’s life, which provide an educational advantage, a stable home, good teachers, and the socio-economic level of a child’s schoolmates.

There are millions of children living in all types of dysfunctional homes. Meeting educational and grade-level standards for those in an environment where a school is a place to get the kid out of the house is most difficult, if not impossible. Most teachers do a good job considering the circumstances and pressures, but there are those others counting the days and putting in the time. If your child has one, form a tea party in your community.

At about age 12, peers begin having more influence on your children than you do. Educated and affluent families insist on achievement. If your child is exposed to classmates from such orientation, in most cases it will rub off. But there are too many children living in a house with nearly everything broken except the television. Johnny goes to school every other day after a breakfast of potato chips. Ideally, your child benefits from educational experiences with diverse populations, because that’s how the world works. And ideally, your child needs to be in an educational setting where he is inspired to achieve his potential.

With politicians demanding that all third-graders read at the third grade level despite less funding is like asking a plow horse to run in the Kentucky Derby.

A stable home and family, good teachers and a school with a challenging academic atmosphere are about all you can ask for, but don’t raise my taxes. Cut the superintendent’s salary.

I can’t cram 51 years experience in a schoolhouse into one article and will follow up next week with another. The public needs insight into what goes on in a school like the day Justin dumped 41 snakes from his duffle bag into the locker area two minutes before the last bell. It was a lesson in how biology affects human relations.



Educate Terry at TLCTLC@AOL.com