Ask how many students have been eliminated from your athletic programs and you'll quickly discover that the figure is so small as to nullify any budgetary savings. 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. Promoting more of an educational climate for our athletic programs will not be easy.
Tradition is resistant to change.
But maybe we should remind ourselves that most of the significant improvements in the civil rights of African Americans, individuals with disabilities, and women were not achieved easily. In the spirit of doing what's best for kids, it's time we took seriously our responsibility for aligning public school athletics with the educational environment envisaged for Washington State children in the 21st century.