School Choice:
Colorado affords parents the right to choose what school their child attends; providing there is space available. I believe this is a wonderful freedom. The competition for students drives schools to continuously improve on what they have. This benefits everyone.
Public charter schools are publicly funded, privately-operated institutions which do not have to adhere to the same state regulations as traditional public schools. This option appeals to a portion of our population. Merit Academy is meeting the needs of many families in our community. I have numerous friends who have their children in Merit, and they tell me only good things about its offerings. I am glad they have found a school setting with which they are so happy. I would never take this option away from them.
This option does not appeal to all our parents though, and we must therefore continue to improve our traditional public schools to ensure that there is truly a choice in Woodland Park when it comes to education and drive both schools to strive for betterment.
The actions of the current board run in opposition to their public messaging in regards to school choice. While stating they promote school choice, they are actively degrading the quality of education in our traditional public schools which is effectively limiting parental choice to match their own. It is worth noting that they can do so without consequence to the education of their own children, as they do not attend the traditional public schools.
American Birthright Standard:
The American Birthright Standard is an unproven social studies standard created by the Civics Alliance. It does not meet the educational standards of the Colorado Board of Education, AP, or NCAA. Woodland Park is the first public school in the country to adopt it as a social studies standard. When compared to the standard of rigor set by the most used social studies standards, ABS falls far short.
Bloom’s taxonomy is a model used for classification of educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. This model was first published in 1956 and contains 6 levels; Level 1 is knowledge (recognizing and remembering facts), Level 6 is Creation (design, formulate, or build new ideas from what was learned).
Of the 78 standards set by ABS, 6 reach Level 1, 43 reach Level 2, and 29 reach Level 4. None reach a Level 5 or 6.
Our great country deserves to be loved. On this point, the American Birthright Standard is absolutely correct; however, this standard promotes only the most rudimentary exploration of historical record while discouraging civic engagement and critical thinking.
The study of our past allows us to understand our modern world, but it cannot fulfill this purpose if we are unwilling to acknowledge both the mistakes and triumphs of our predecessors. Historical knowledge gives us the tools to analyze and explain the hurdles our ancestors faced, and it positions us to see patterns that might otherwise be invisible in the present. This standard fails to recognize the importance of historical understanding. Without reaching for a higher standard of knowledge and analysis, we fail to provide our students the necessary context for addressing contemporary issues.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
–George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man
Parental Involvement:
As a parent, I believe that we should be involved in our children’s education. Studies have shown that when parents are active in the education of their children, performance increases.
For years WPSD has made curriculum available to anyone who wishes to access it. They have also allowed parents to opt their child out of classes with which they are not comfortable. I strongly agree with this policy. I also understand that some topics are difficult for parents to cover with their children and that they would prefer a professional to handle this for them. I believe for this population the courses should be an option. Most importantly I believe that the School Board has an obligation to hear from all parents. It is their responsibility to hear those with whom they disagree and take into serious consideration their concerns.
Health Study:
I believe it is vital to the success of our children and to our community that all students have a base knowledge on the human body and the consequences of poor decision making. When I was in school, Health class covered topics such as puberty (hormones, a changing body, and how to keep it clean), the consequences of sexual activity (pregnancy, and STD’s), and the consequences of drug use (addiction and physical deterioration).
As I mentioned above, this may be a subject that some parents wish to cover in their home, and they should have the right to opt their child out of the school-provided course. I believe the parents should still have these conversations with their child. The parents would have the freedom to choose the method and language they use to cover the topics. Studies have consistently shown that communities that do not have robust health classes have higher rates of teen pregnancy and drug use. These classes are essential to helping our students avoid risky behaviors and their direct consequences.
Critical Race Theory:
CRT is not an appropriate subject for teaching in our grade schools. It is more appropriately covered in a college setting where adult learners have the freedom to choose if they would like to study it or not.
LGBTQ:
Sexuality is a personal and mature subject is and not an appropriate topic of study in our grade schools. It is never appropriate for a teacher to impose any of their own personal ideas about sexuality on students.
School is a place where all children should feel safe and bullying of any kind cannot be tolerated. When children feel threatened, an environment of fear and shame develops, and learning ceases to remain the child’s priority. Bullying is detrimental to the education of both the bullied and the bully.