Education and Media Discussions

by Cary L. Tyler

Six years ago, the Tyler family rolled into Chandler, Arizona. It was 107 degrees…a quick baptism by fire to living in the Valley of the Sun.

Now, six years of dust storms, crazy traffic on the 60 and the 101, Sheriff Joe, 110+ heat, and a few surprises, this adventure ends, but not with regret or bitterness. It’s simply time to make a spectacular, faith-based move.

In six years, I got to watch Desert Springs Church grow from a little congregation in an elementary school to a growing and Spirit-moved group that is sending people out in droves.

In six years, I got to work with some of the best and brightest kids in Arizona (even if they did not realize it or their grades showed it). Some of them have already graduated from college…a blink of an eye they went from juniors to potential world changers.

I got a taste of what administration could be like…not interested, but it allowed me to work with a cross section of high school kids that had little in common except cell phones and hormones.

A crazy group of yearbook kids taught me how to handle quick (and at times hostile) change, and in the process I think they learned how creative, independent and successful they could be.

Looking at the bigger picture, six years ago Arizona was exploding like a fireworks exhibit on the Fourth of July. Yet today, it is unsure of itself, struggling with a real estate market gone bust, people across the country criticizing it for its stand on illegal immigration, teachers losing jobs, and things not going according to plan in any shape of the imagination.

But as this family packs it up and heads for the green majesty of the Pacific Northwest, one thing is for sure. What has happened here in Arizona can happen anywhere. No place is safe from a meltdown of epidemic proportions. This is not a run to perceived safety.

Remember that 9-11 was supposed to shake us up, but while it may have sent us into a War on Terror and uncertainty about our security, what happened to this nation in the last couple of years has given those attacks a run for their money.

Two parties attack each other with zeal, yet oil damages the Gulf Coast and no Tea Party or movement has come up with a clear picture on how to handle the nation’s transformation in the past ten years.

We may be able to laugh with Glee or Dance with the Stars, but we can’t seem to overcome some of the Criminal Minds out there or people Breaking Bad for fun.

Yet we’re not done yet. There is still plenty of optimism, which is why this family is making a move outside of itself at a time when many might be satisfied to stick in one place where things are familiar.

There is nothing wrong with that…but I have taught my students for nineteen years to be willing to take risks and change when appropriate. If I let stand pat, then I have lied. Lied to myself. Lied to my children. Lied to my “minions”.

This is not a chance to prove myself…I don’t have to do that any longer. It’s just a chance to prove something, something greater than myself. I have no idea what will lead. Like I said, it’s just a chance.

This family took a chance on the East Valley of the Phoenix metro area, and even with a few bumps and bruises, the chance was worth it. Now it’s time to do it again, but those we came in contact with, thanks for sharing this experience with us.

To a new crop of students I was honored to teach, thank you for letting me steal 180 days (or more) of your time. I hope you got something back…I know I did.

Lord, Your Kindness is forever…thanks for showing me things I never thought possible, and giving me wisdom and patience when we had none.

Time to roll, but this is not the last blog. I will get back to my cynical, questioning ways pretty quick. Can’t help that. That is something that did not change in the six years out here, and if it did, those of you who know me might wonder about me a bit…if you haven’t already…

By Cary L. Tyler

We are facing a critical moment in American education, one that threatens to dramatically change everything we know about how schools have worked but ignoring the things that caused some to fail.

Schools have shown little to no improvement since 2001,  charter schools are either successful “private” schools veiled in public money or dumping grounds for students who are failing the public schools, and the existing structure of public education is under fire at every corner.

No Child Left Behind only pushed school districts to dumb down their education. Diane Ravitch – an education advocate who recently has “seen the light” – states that while 80 to 90 percent of their students were proficient, a federal test showed only a third of them actually were.

Yet on newspaper web sites across the country, the public insists that we should stop funding schools because of the failures brought on by educators, not because the structure that the teachers are in has set them up for failure.

Huge deficits exist in education, but, just as Ravitch states in her conversations, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on test-preparation materials, but there was “no

incentive to teach the arts, science, history, literature, geography, civics, foreign languages or physical education.

The U.S. Department of Education said that total appropriations for NCLB programs have been estimated to be $22.5 billion as of 2007, with funding for testing sitting at $407.5 million.

$22.5 billion.

This cost would most likely save every teacher laid off in 2008, 2009 and in the coming months. This cost would most likely save children from sitting in classrooms with 35, 40, 45, or 50 plus students, thus turning these rooms into day care centers instead of educational environments.

Now President Obama is ready to turn the classroom into a punitive scenario by believing that firing teachers and closing schools will fix America’s education. This despite the fact teacher education is becoming more and more rigorous, mentor programs growing each year, and bad (and unfortunately a chunk of good) teachers are usually washed out in the first three years of employment.

Ravitch said it much more eloquently than I can: “They (the administration) do not recognize that schools are often the anchor of their communities, representing values, traditions and ideals that have persevered across decades. They also fail to recognize that the best predictor of low academic performance is poverty—not bad teachers. “

That’s right. Whether we want to hear it or not, if a community does not believe in its schools or the idea of education, then students in that community will lean toward failure.  It does not matter how good the teacher is. An example of this is Rio Grande High School in Albuquerque, which has had a revolving door of teachers and administrators.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal money went into the school, but there has only been nominal improvement: only 52 percent of Rio Grande’s students graduated within four years, compared to 63.2 percent in the rest of the Albuquerque Public Schools district, according to Albuquerque Journal reporter Martin Salazar.

(Read the whole article at http://dailyme.com/story/2010022100002383/success-elusive-rio-grande-high-school.html )

It is this critical moment that I will be dedicating my blog to over the coming months. However, for teachers, parents and students in Arizona who are sitting nervously waiting for a sales tax to modify further cuts in education (not stop them completely), it is critical that more and more people start realizing that the problems in education are not going to be solved by cutting teachers, jamming classrooms, or new federal initiatives.

It is going to take an effort to educate the public and elected officials the true problems with education, and make real choices…some that are uncomfortable, but not nearly like the ones being made now.