I believe it is our responsibility to turn this around. The State Board of Education didn't approve this radical transformation of the public education system, and we are powerless to change it. We say the goal is academic achievement, but we are teaching and testing job skills. Time that is spent on mopping floors and phone calls is time not spent on history, science or math. What should be at the center of the public policy debate is the question of whether it is the function of our school system to educate youth or to facilitate and fund the creation of a cradle to grave system that produces workers to meet labor market demands in specific areas of the state.
Most parents are unaware, most legislators are unaware, even many fine educators are unaware.