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News Item June 2010 |
First the good news. Two bills died in the Alaska legislature that would have impacted the educational community. House Bill 59 would have required the Alaska Department of Education to develop an early childhood education plan for preschool children (ages 3 to 4). House Bill 69 would have established a voluntary home visiting program to help educate parents with newborns to five-year-olds. In addition to monthly visits, the program would have involved monthly parent group meetings and annual screenings of the children for developmental and health issues.
Now the bad news. These types of bills are surfacing in numerous state legislatures, including Missouri and Michigan. They are part of a concerted effort to extend compulsory education at both ends of the scale. The Michigan legislature recently extended compulsory education upward to 18 years of age, after several years of failed attempts. Attempts to extend the lower limit to include 3- and 4-year olds failed. For now. The stated reasoning for this push is that many children come into Kindergarten already behind in basic learning skills. Older students still need to master key skills, particularly when the amount of information that must be mastered is accelerating. In most cases, the bills begin by making the programs optional or voluntary. But past experience and stated agendas point to this being a temporary feature. The goal is to make each of these programs mandatory. It's a “logical” conclusion to reach. More money for more years, even though it is generally recognized that what is in place already is not working. If the general populace is so willing to give their children over to state-run institutions for the vast majority of each day for the majority of the calendar year, year after year, then why not turn the children over to the state's direction as soon as they are born? Surely then they will get a head start on their education. Astute readers will notice an indefinite pronoun at the end of the last sentence. It is purposely so – to raise the question of whose education is it? The state's? The federal government who is forcing the states to accept all federal standards in exchange for monies? The United Nations' educational program based on the “right” of the child to be educated independently of the parents who are providing for them otherwise? The shadow looms large, even if it is just a shadow for now. 401 Words To view more 'News Itmes' Articles please 'Log In' and visit the 'Achives' page. |
