Letter to the editor: Another case for county schools

Twenty-five years ago, an educational report entitled "A Nation at Risk" made recommendations in five critical areas to reverse the "poor performance" at nearly every level of the educational system.

[George]

County school systems works. They work for other states. Is it politics that is the stumbling block for Pennsylvania to move to greater efficiency? Mary, you make a compelling argument for transitioning from 501 Superinendents and their bloated staffs to just 67.

[fatboy]

Agree. The problem is that superintendents are all
little empire builders. Dr Joe is one of 501 Napoleons, which, of course, makes us all Josephine.

[Jan]

There are 501 school boards. The majority are not populated by strong, conservative managerial types. A large number of school board members have no experience whatsoever managing a business or anything.

[Dave]

School boards are locally elected for local control.

If the people elect idiots to local bosrds, they will elect idiots to county boards - probably more so because they will not know most of the candidates.

Would we have a county board? Who would volunteer for that responsibility?

If you live outside of Chambersburg, would your district have any say? Would those outside be tickled pink to pay for all the Chambersburg building projects? Certainly those in TSD would appreciate some dough from Chambersburg to fix their school or would it be closed & the kids just bussed elsewhere.

Good bye FM.

Local control. Its worth the extra cost. Pay attention when voting for school boards.

[Just Ask Why]

You are a typical victim of test score propaganda. As a parent that lived in that great school system just over the border and one other further south I can tell you that the schools in Maryland are all about test scores and that is NOT what is best for the kids. My child spent days taking practice tests and doing practice work based on only improving those scores. Is that good education? Scores of parents and even teachers are leaving those same districts because they have had enough. I agree there needs to be some change, but trust me when I say that 1. don't equate test scores with anything other than a number on a piece of paper. 2. Get involved in your childs education at home and in school that makes a difference. I see several disadvantages to small local districts, but those disadvantages are outweighed by the advantages. I love that I can go to a school board meeting and know the board members and know the administrators. If you want a county system move to Maryland, but leave the small districts alone. If you don't want to move then get involved in your school and make it better.

[survivor]

Dave and JustAskWhy,
Thank you for your seasoned perspectives (Dave as a former local school board member, I think). It's easy for all of us at times to becomed lured into the "grass is greener" mentality when few of us actually have first-hand knowledge of both local and county-wide school systems. Anyone else have first-hand experience w/ county-wide systems?

[words of wisdom]

a few more 'facts' to mull over.... a certain 'student' was educated through K & G1 in another state; family moved to MD, student was enrolled in G2, which lasted for 5 days, when he was moved to G3. Said student was bored silly in G3 with repetition of materials previously learned (in G1); major challenge was learning the 'hillbilly/Mayberry dialect' of the teachers and staff in MD. Family moved to PA the next year, where the student 'repeated' G3, and was chastized regularly by PA teachers for the 'hillbilly habits' learned in MD.
So much for the superiority of MD and their countywide school systems!

[Shipres1]

Just Ask Why wrote:

You are a typical victim of test score propaganda. As a parent that lived in that great school system just over the border and one other further south I can tell you that the schools in Maryland are all about test scores and that is NOT what is best for the kids. My child spent days taking practice tests and doing practice work based on only improving those scores. Is that good education? Scores of parents and even teachers are leaving those same districts because they have had enough. I agree there needs to be some change, but trust me when I say that 1. don't equate test scores with anything other than a number on a piece of paper. 2. Get involved in your childs education at home and in school that makes a difference. I see several disadvantages to small local districts, but those disadvantages are outweighed by the advantages. I love that I can go to a school board meeting and know the board members and know the administrators. If you want a county system move to Maryland, but leave the small districts alone. If you don't want to move then get involved in your school and make it better.

I had a relative who taught in Maryland. While I can not comment for them I know their system had a lot of problems. The one big difference is the decision of fewer control a larger area. This can be good but is not always.

[Retired in Saint Thomas]

Local Control??? You just think we control our little school districts. Harrisburg and the Teacher's Union control our schools through mandates from the state and control of teacher's salaries and benefits. We just pick up the tab. The PO had it right about our little school districts and township "control". It's an illusion.

[Alex]

Do you know anything about education? That report is all wrong and 25 years old. Child and the world have changed quite a bit since then. The rest of the world does not allow all children to partcipate in education. We are the land of the free and allow all children to participate. Comparing us with other countries is like comparing pro athletes to high school athletes. I agree that schools should go longer into the year, but when are the students and parents going to be held accoutable? Washington County has pretty good numbers, but they also pay very well. If you think education is so easy feel free to come back into the classroom. I think that instead of consolidating maybe PA should have some minimum qualifications to be on a school board.

[Orwell]

Well, Mary, you have read the blogs and realize why we will never consolidate or make progress in the schools or anywhere else around here. There are already too many of the folks "educated" in our local schools out there. They clearly can not write, can not think objectively, and can contribute virtually nothing to this dialogue or most others on the PO web site. I read blogs in the Wall St. Journal, Barron's, Business Week and the like and am astonsished at the sophistication of those whose submit blogs to those sites. There are some very smart people in the US, but very few of them seem to live in Franklin County.

Greene Twp.

[Local]

A fair number of folks seem not to like the standardized tests currently administered. What is wrong with teaching for a test? That has been going on as long as there has been an educational process. If the test is well-constructed and the curriculum matches the test, it should be a very reliable indicator of how much of the curriculum has been absorbed by the student. Only because too many teachers failed to do this well on an individual basis has it moved to government oversight. That is too bad. It would seem much better done by the individual teacher. When they collectively shape up, the need for outside evaluation will cease. Meaasuring a student's progress will always be necessary. If someone has a better idea than a test (regardless of who administers it), step up and tell us.

Chambersburg

[Dean 1]

I actually think that this would be a good thing. This whole state should go with the county school districts. Weed out all the idiots on the school board and the B.S. jobs that are created for their friends and then get someone in there who knows what they are doing and it just might work.

[three generations later]

Dean 1 wrote:

I actually think that this would be a good thing. This whole state should go with the county school districts. Weed out all the idiots on the school board and the B.S. jobs that are created for their friends and then get someone in there who knows what they are doing and it just might work.

I vote for you, Dean1. Now get busy and clean up this damn mess!:0)

[Dean 1]

Crap I don't want to work like that. I will gladly pay out my tax money for someone (qualified) to do that job. ;)

[Wow]

Orwell wrote:

Well, Mary, you have read the blogs and realize why we will never consolidate or make progress in the schools or anywhere else around here. There are already too many of the folks "educated" in our local schools out there. They clearly can not write, can not think objectively, and can contribute virtually nothing to this dialogue or most others on the PO web site. I read blogs in the Wall St. Journal, Barron's, Business Week and the like and am astonsished at the sophistication of those whose submit blogs to those sites. There are some very smart people in the US, but very few of them seem to live in Franklin County.
Greene Twp.

So if you don't agree with the Wall St. journal or Barron's business week you are not smart. They are the problem with the us. City people trying to run the local government. You sound exactly like the folks who migrated here from Maryland, the communist state.

[PGI]

Orwell wrote:

Well, Mary, you have read the blogs and realize why we will never consolidate or make progress in the schools or anywhere else around here. There are already too many of the folks "educated" in our local schools out there. They clearly can not write, can not think objectively, and can contribute virtually nothing to this dialogue or most others on the PO web site. I read blogs in the Wall St. Journal, Barron's, Business Week and the like and am astonsished at the sophistication of those whose submit blogs to those sites. There are some very smart people in the US, but very few of them seem to live in Franklin County.
Greene Twp.

Sp. astonished

[experience]

Elementary age students from the MD schools that have transferred to PA schools due to relocation of family have come into my classroom at ability levels well below that of PA students. Much work is needed to help the student catch up to his or her peers. And before people jump on the band wagon, I love working with these transfer students and I am not complaining. Just stating what I have seen and experienced first hand over the last 10 years of teaching. I don't know what the answer is to fix our school system; however I do know I'm not going to give up on the students or the parents of the students that I am blessed with each and every day. I've tried it all and there are always pros and cons to every "answer" that is asked of us to employ within our district.

[Ralph]

Kids are not born "un-smart". They learn it from their families. Kids have a tendency to accept the lowest possible level of education, based on what they hear from their parents, uncles, nephews, et al. My parents. thank god, puished all of kids to the max. My brothers and sister, have all at least attained a BS or BA degree and continue to push our kids to even higher degrees. It all starts at home. Always has. Always will.

[experience]

Ralph wrote:

Kids are not born "un-smart". They learn it from their families. Kids have a tendency to accept the lowest possible level of education, based on what they hear from their parents, uncles, nephews, et al. My parents. thank god, puished all of kids to the max. My brothers and sister, have all at least attained a BS or BA degree and continue to push our kids to even higher degrees. It all starts at home. Always has. Always will.

Ralph, you certainly made my day. It is very rarely, that as a teacher, I hear that education starts at home with a parent. I am constantly given "a chewing out" that I am the one where it needs to start and I am the sole reason a student may not be succeeding. Thank you for letting me know that there are parents out there that are not afraid to share such a huge and powerful responsibility along with their child's teachers.