In just a few days, throughout our country, the school bell will ring for millions of our children. It should be a time of anticipation and hope.
The summertime is ending, most children can't wait to see old friends and talk about what has happened since June. Some will be going to school for the first time. They will have different thoughts. Some will have a determination to do better this year. Some will not. Some will be glad to get out of an unsafe neighborhood for a few hours. Some will have plans for the future. Some will not. It is a phase of every child's life. It is a very important time.
The foundation of every nation is the education of its youth. If our democracy is to survive, as we wish it to be, it should be a process of keeping what is good and useful and to change what needs to be changed.
This September, the winds of change are blowing new future challenges for the next generation. Some of us as adults feel them but as of now are not quite sure what they mean. The world is a different place from when we received a new pair of shoes and were sent to the schoolhouse for a new 180 days. The challenges of tomorrow that present students will face will be far more challenging and significantly different than anything we can imagine.
As they ride the bus or walk the route, have we as parents helped prepare them for the next leg of the journey? Are the school and faculty prepared to offer what is needed to meet the future successfully? Do the educators believe every child can learn? To what extent are the student, parent and educator committed to do the very best so the investment of time, energy and money will produce satisfactory, and even excellent, results? Only history will tell.
Yes it is a business! The business of education is education.
Most communities have been struggling with dollars for schools and other services. Some have even been lulled into feeling we balanced the budget, all is well until the next budget season. There are those communities gearing up for the battle at the bargaining table. For better or worse, these are the things that come with every business, public or private.
What receives less attention and is significantly more important is the core of the business - what happens inside each classroom and schoolhouse.
Some of these elements are: Are the facilities appropriate and not merely 950 square foot boxes to house 15 to 40 children? What does research say about how children learn? What is a good curriculum? We need children who develop both competence and character - what does this mean? What needs to change? What innovations will we attempt this year? What data will we collect to see if they worked? What research and development activities are being conducted in our schools today? Are the diploma requirements suitable for the challenges of the future?
There are others too numerous to mention. One thing is for certain, if we continue to do what we have done, the tradition of American education will be just that - a tradition. That, by itself, is a very poor business model.
Every community is at a critical moment in its history. What it chooses to do in the next five or 10 years with its school business will determine the success of its children for decades to come.
I am optimistic for my community of Andover. It has the ability. It has the basic ingredients. However, it needs more than optimism. Can we construct a good to excellent business model? Even more importantly, do we have the courage to do it?
Ken Seifert is a 40-year resident of Andover and former superintendent of the Andover schools.
