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Church vs. State: Why?
This week’s rally against the FEA lawsuit brought out 10,000 people. If those people lived in Ireland, many would change their views. The Catholic Church runs almost all public schools in Ireland. It’s in their constitution. What does this mean for non-Catholics?
In today’s New York Times, there is a report of a growing movement to separate church and state. Here’s why:
- Students must be baptized to be admitted to public school.
- Almost all public schools are run by the Catholic Church.
- At least 1/2 hour per day is ‘devoted’ to religious training in Catholicism.
- Students who are not Catholic are put at the end of long waiting lists to get into school.
- Morning prayers and preparation for the sacraments are part of the day.
- Non Catholics seldom have any alternative place in a school to go during religious instruction.
- While regular church attendance is down to 14% in Dublin, parents often submit to baptism requirements to be able to enroll their children in school.
- Non Catholic parents face long school waiting lists and long commutes.
Irish law guarantees freedom of religion in public schools, but it also allows enrollment based on religious preference. In reality, parents have little choice.
Florida’s system of choice moves the educational system toward exclusion and religious, racial, and socioeconomic segregation. There is a lawsuit over this in Florida. There is also one in Ireland. Our founding fathers recognized this problem.
We need to reaffirm the need to keep church and state separate. When the shoe is on the other foot, as in Ireland, it hurts.
Common Core Botched or Needed for Jobs?
Was the Common Core movement simply botched or just renamed? We know that most states have adapted their state standards to align with but not mirror Common Core standards. We also know that there is substantive reasons for concerns over the suitability of the standards especially for primary school age children.
Yes, the tests are also not perfect. Even worse, the test and punish mentality is worse than the problems that Common Core is supposed to correct. You cannot use the ‘drill and test’ instructional method to teach critical thinking and problem solving. The tests themselves, moreover, are a work in progress. Questions are complex and testing is time consuming. If the end of year assessment paradigm were scrapped for a periodic diagnostic testing program, everyone would benefit.
The deeper question that has to be addressed is: Why the Common Core in the first place? Politicians and educational policy analysts are grappling with a genuine concern for the future opportunities for our children. They clearly are–too often–using strongman techniques to get their message across. What message is it? It is one we need to hear.
The World Economic Forum just published its report on The Future of Jobs. We know that traditional middle and lower middle class jobs are disappearing. New jobs are being created that require different skill sets–and those skill sets tend to change rapidly.
How must the educational sector adapt to meet these new conditions? This is a vitally important issue. Our local district’s advisory council has been charged with evaluating its career and vocational programs. What would the World Economic Forum advise us to do?
- Evaluate job skills programs. They may be short sighted if those skills will change in a few years time.
- Research work force talent trends and skills gaps.
- Evaluate programs for their impact on diverse groups in order to improve workforce parity.
- Reduce the dichotomy between Humanities and Sciences and applied and pure training.
- Encourage alignment of programs with life long learning and skills retraining.
HR
workforce parity
dichotomy between Humanities and Sciences and applied and pure training
life long learning and reskilling
NEA Petition to End High Stakes Testing
NEA has created an online petition to end high stakes testing. The high stakes relate to student promotion, teacher evaluation, and school grades.
The new ESSA bill requires annual testing, but states now have the authority to change how scores are used.
Here is the link to the petition.
Just click the link and complete the information. You can make a difference.
Charter School System Amendment Advances
The constitutional amendment to create a state charter school system passed the House K-12 subcommittee this morning. We really do not want this. Contact your legislators. It would take a 60% vote in the Florida House and Senate to put it on the November ballot.
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- League Members visit the office of Senator Marco Rubio
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- League Members wait to see Senator Bill Nelson
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- Education Team at the Department of Education
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