Opinion
WA and MA: Similar demographics, different education results
I have now spent a few weeks in Massachusetts and I think it will be interesting to do a little comparison between Massachusetts and Washington. Both have approximately the same 6.6 million populations, both have dominant cities that are very significant in the politics of the states. Both have been very liberal in their politics for many years.
Massachusetts has more minority populations. There are twice as many Blacks and about 12% more Hispanics in the Bay State.
When it comes to education there are dramatic differences! There are more competitive colleges in Massachusetts than there are colleges in all of the Northwest! Harvard, MIT, Tuffs, Boston University, Holly Cross, Williams, Boston College, to name a few, are all colleges that are open only to those high school students who have taken high school very seriously.
Why doesn’t the Northwest, touting itself as “educated,” have a stable of colleges that are of this caliber? Many of the employees of Microsoft and Boeing come from these New England institutions.
Washington State is 35th in the nation in high school graduation rates only about 2/3rds of those who enter the 9th grade graduate and there are no specific standards for “graduation” in Washington in subjects as important as Mathematics and Science... Massachusetts is 10th in the nation and they have standards for both Math and Science.. So Washington is better than 10 of the 50 states and Massachusetts is better than all but 9! Perhaps if you have so few even graduating from high school, let alone being qualified to attend a competitive college, there just isn’t a demand for quality education in Washington? After being involved in Washington education for more than 15 years I would suggest that there just isn’t a demand for quality education either at the K-12 or college level. Our community colleges are full of kids taking remedial courses.
Massachusetts has charter schools, magnet schools and some of the finest public high schools in the nation as well as some of the premier private day and boarding schools. Why is this the case? I would suggest it is because the parents in Massachusetts have spoken clearly that bland education just isn’t adequate.
In Massachusetts school board elections are strongly contested events that offer some real contrasts in philosophy. These disagreements have lead to charter schools and a very strong private education system that allows parents to select many different approaches to an education. These various approaches are mostly designed to prepare students for the rigorous acceptance criteria of so many of New England’s, colleges and universities.
Why doesn’t this happen in Washington? As some readers point out it doesn’t seem possible to even have a discussion of these issues with school boards in this state. School Board members, in general, are just “not available” for any kind of public discussion about the quality of schools and all roundly proclaim that their schools are “excellent.” Even if some of the members decline to have their children attend them!
Instead of addressing these issues school boards in Washington seem to resort to wringing their hands over poor achievement scores, projecting better times ahead, and lamenting the lack of funding from the state. Oh, I forgot to mention school districts in Massachusetts do not depend upon the state for nearly the level of funding that school districts in Washington get! School boards in Massachusetts have to “sell” their needs to their local populations! They cannot rely on an excuse that the “State” isn’t helping them enough as Massachusetts doesn’t seem to believe that the state has a “Paramount Duty” to “educate” children! In Massachusetts they must believe that each community has this obligation.
It would seem then that if a Washington community really wanted better schools they would have to be more participative and more insistent. Washington State seems to have more than its share of apathy and this is most apparent in schools and education.
There hasn’t been, at least I haven’t seen it, anywhere in Washington, any group, perhaps save “Where’s the Math,” that has approached school boards in this state suggesting, or demanding, that our schools be competitive with even the best states let alone with the international leaders. When we don’t do well on the soccer or football field we demand changes. When we don’t do well on the whiteboard we shrug our shoulders, resign ourselves, and muddle on.
Where are the “soccer moms” for quality education? Based on the experiences of the Where’s the Math people I would have to suggest that they are either reluctant to enter the fray, even though their children are at risk, or they are too busy on the soccer field.
School board members, not feeling any heat, continue to follow the advice of their state association to “not be controversial” and look to the state for more money even if they couldn’t figure out how this money would actually improve education.
Is 35th in a nation that is probably 30th in the world good enough? It must be so. We are leaders in football and used to be first in baseball. Our soccer abilities seem to be improving.
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Comments
Long Live the Soccer Mom
Albert Einstein once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". If you look back at most of Hoff's articles, the common theme is that the Parents are always to blame, for poor academic performance. And, you will notice that he frowns upon any extra-curricular activity that takes away from classroom or study time, and his favorite target is sports. Now he is blasting the soccer moms, and he continues to write about the same tired subjects, bashing the parents who don't attend school board meetings, etc.. In Hoff's perfect world, we would have a bunch of 4.0 students with borderline obesity, as anything that could possibly take a student away from class or homework for some exercise is only contributing to our "Race to Nowhere". There is more to life than academics alone, and until the NCAA goes away, (ain't happening anytime soon) there are going to be athletic scholarships for students to attend college, so Hoff can quit beating that horse. Also, if the parents care, to be involved in their student's education, and support them, then they will continue to do that. If they don't care, then they won't, so there's another moot point. In the Fed Way district, it costs $120 to participate in a sport, and the sad thing is that school budgets will soon be so tight that all sports will be eliminated, much to the delight of Hoff. Reminder for all readers to Google " Hoff can't recall gene pool jab" so you can see the article, in which he lets his audience know that Federal Way has an inferior gene pool, so what the heck do we know, anyway?
Time for this to End
Watching Grass Grow.....Watching Paint Dry.....Reading Charles Hoff. Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah------Oh, and did I happen to mention Blah ? Am I the only one who thinks this column needs to end ? Can you show anything Charles has ever done that has had a positive impact on our school system, other than just bringing up the negative week after week ? I wonder if the Federal Way News actually pays Charles money for his ramblings, if so, they are getting a lousy return on investment. Judging by the lack of responses to his columns, I would think the FWay News would look at replacing Charles with someone more upbeat and positive, that would stimulate debate around more interesting subjects, instead of his one-sided BS about schools all the time. FWay News, please consider interviewing potential new columnists, someone who would bring a refreshing change. For now, his columns are a total waste of space, and you would increase your readership by putting Chuck out to pasture. Who's on board with this idea ? PLEASE !!!
Education
Does someone want to write about something that is good that is happening for all students in the Federal Way School District?
It could be an interesting dialogue.
If athletics are "good," why don't the schools require all students to participate. After all, "All means All" doesn't it?
Parents
I just watched Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York, discussing the fact that our "workforce" doesn't match the jobs available due to the lack of education that they have.
Hmm, doesn't this mean that more studying and less diversions?
The NFL is now telling us that the helmets used in football are not adequate. Does anyone think that $ 120 will by the helmet that is needed? Does anyone think that taxpayers should be buying helmets?
I AM on board with this idea!
I have responded to his soccer mom antics because I am a soccer mom. I met this man in person several years ago, and our conversation got very heated because I am an active volunteer in the schools, and everything he is saying actually makes our teachers blood boil too. He is so lacking of any common sense and logic, even my 6th grader thinks he is ridiculous. And, just because you once sat on the school board, doesn't make you smarter than the rest of us, and have all the cure all answers. I believe he just thrives for attention.....probably due to lack of self esteem. What an idiot.
Soccer Moms
OK, Soccer moms, where is the discussion on what do we do to get more kids to actually have the skills needed to either get into a real college or have a skills that can get them hired?
While you may be "working hard" to improve your school what does this look like? A new piece of playground equipment? Some new books for the library?
How about an analysis of the achievement levels of your school and a plan to improve them that is understood by the community? Too much to ask?
Probably, as this would require that you get beyond the "cul de sac" in your reach.
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I completly agree with
I completly agree with everyone who thinks this mans opinion doesn't matter much. I have met him a few times and never liked him. I put him on my crap list when I found out that he would rather see the nontraditional highschool I went to get shut down rather than support those who don't have the learning style of those in the traditional highschool. What difference does it make how the students learn, nothing they learn in the fed way district or the state of wa for that matter will ever live up to vision of the perfect education. Fed way mirror please stop posting his bs articles, they do nothing but make peoples blood boil. Thanks
I completly agree with
I completly agree with everyone who thinks this mans opinion doesn't matter much. I have met him a few times and never liked him. I put him on my crap list when I found out that he would rather see the nontraditional highschool I went to get shut down rather than support those who don't have the learning style of those in the traditional highschool. What difference does it make how the students learn, nothing they learn in the fed way district or the state of wa for that matter will ever live up to vision of the perfect education. Fed way mirror please stop posting his bs articles, they do nothing but make peoples blood boil. Thanks
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