Many of us have been seduced into supporting a professional sport model that has replaced the educational role athletics are supposed to be serving. We believe that athletics are a community commodity responsible for our entertainment, and that wins, trophies, and titles are paramount objectives. Publicly we would never admit it, but our actions speak otherwise. We imagine that protesters would swamp our Board Meetings were we to question the educational value of our athletic programs. Promoting more of an educational climate for our athletic programs will not be easy.
Tradition is resistant to change.
However, in the spirit of doing what's best for kids, it's time we as Directors took seriously our responsibility for aligning public school athletics with the educational environment envisaged for children in the 21st century.