Education is going through a transition we haven’t seen since Socrates

By John Rajcic

Someone said that to understand “communications,” particularly at a school board meeting, one should listen to what is not said. This article does some reminiscing, in that the past does define the present.

“The United States routinely spends more tax dollars per high school athlete than per high school math student — unlike most countries world wide. And we wonder why we lag in international education rankings?” By Amanda Ripley, The Atlantic, 9-18-2013.

I will merely scatter some thoughts on sports and allied miscellany. My wife, Connie, and I some time ago came back from my 65th high school reunion. There was talk about our favorite teachers. The football guys were talking about the 3-point loss in the City Championship football game. The conversation was mostly about the positive impact the team had upon them and some talk about the physical pain that endures from a particular game.

There was much talk about friends no longer with us. One person regretted that he played football. A retired corporate executive said the competitive nature of football helped him succeed in business. You have to improve your product or services to maintain market share and grow the company. This in a sense is true with football. You cannot, as a rule, keep using the same old plays, because the competition knows your moves. Using an old play on a particular occasion, however, may be a valuable surprise move.

It could be said that in football, deception is as important as it is in warfare. Coaches and leaders should read Sun Tzu’s “The Art of Warfare.” You have to be creative and innovate to win as Ramona’s coaches do.

I complimented the coaches many times for their obvious good work with students. A professional football player will tell you there is more to life than football.

Football is not the alpha and omega. There Is much more to education than football. Ninety percent of students will not be involved in football.

Let’s assume no one ever heard of football. We are the school board. Would we include football in our curriculum as we know it ? The Greeks’ academy was next to their gymnasium. We owe a lot to the Greeks in both academics and sports. In the Army, a sergeant would give physical training and exercise to a entire company. Speaking of cost effectiveness!

I subbed in a neighboring district and it seemed not uncommon for a physical education teacher to roll out a ball and watch the activity. During our high school open house, I visited a teacher who had physical education classes and also taught weight training. I was impressed with the program; so were the few parents in attendance.

Last time we were in Croatia, a third or fourth cousin was wearing a Long Beach High School water polo shirt. Croatians are known for their water polo skills, I asked, “Where did you get that shirt?” He was being recruited as a high school foreign exchange student to play water polo. Long Beach High School is a CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) champ in water polo.

When the soon-to-be superintendent of the Winnetka, Ill., schools was studying for his doctorate at USC, a question was asked about CIF. He said, “Raj, what is CIF?”

I explained that it referred to the California Interscholastic Federation. Immediately he assumed it was an academic organization. He was somewhat taken back when I explained it had to do with high school competitive sports. I do not know of an academic organization that has the power of CIF.

It was not unusual in the 1950s and ‘60s to find that many superintendents were former coaches. It made sense. Coaches are great organizers and place talent in the appropriate place.

I e-mailed a friend and we discussed the many challenges that confront Ramona: Common Core, declining enrollment, qualified budget, no contingency plans, excess student capacity, facilities that are in disrepair, aged transportation fleet, smothering debt, finances, unsatisfactory API scores and much more. He was a superintendent in a rather large California school district and also had a very successful business career.

The friend’s letter in part follows: “Don’t get me wrong, I love sports and played football in high school. But after entering the school business I came to realize how expensive and time consuming sports are in the high school scene. I live in a town of less than 50,000 in central Texas and on Friday night 8,000 folks fill the stadium with nine color coordinated coaches on the sidelines to watch a game in the shadow of a giant Jumbotron scoreboard with 4 miked-up officials supervising the spectacle. In many ways a great, fun and spirit-filled event but one must ask at what academic cost? If all that money, time, energy and enthusiasm went into the academic program, I am convinced our kids would be better served. Texans love their high school football and I’m certain that the community fathers would find a way to fund a fantastic community program and have fabulous Saturday games for the towns gifted athletes. The 90 percent of the non-varsity kids could engage in less expensive intramural contests as part of their PE program. This would allow a much greater percentage of the school population to benefit from the valuable lessons in leadership, discipline and grace in winning and losing that sports teaches so well. Hey then we could have a Friday pep rally for the debate team!”

The tail “football” should not wag the “dog” the academic program. John Rajcic is not arguing against the great work of coaches or abandoning football. It is merely a discussion of contemporary reality. All should read Gregg Easterbrook’s book, “The King of Sports: Football’s impact on America.” Gregg quotes Tony Dungy, “Football is America’s sport because it is aggressive, and Americans are aggressive people.”

Easterbrook made a comment by a well-known coach: “Football does not build character, it reveals it.” This set me back a bit. At my age touch football is even on the margin, golf is not. This brings back a quote of Arnold Palmer that goes something like this: “Before I make a business deal with someone , I take them out for a round of golf. Golf reveals their real character.” I have found this so true in golf.

Even fans reveal their character at the ball park. If you let people think they are thinking, they will love you, but if you really make them think, they will hate you. For the record, the word “parasite” is not in my vocabulary. Sycophant is!

I am merely arguing to keep our Great Republic more competitive with the rest of the world without embracing the culture of other nations. We have a great land where freedom rings and we must innovate and get much more creative on how we deliver educational services with the limited funds we have available.

Let’s not scuttle music programs and the other arts in the process. IT SEEMS THE STATE IS MORE CONCERNED WITH IMPOSING VALUES UPON OUR CHILDREN THAN TEACHING THEM HOW TO READ, WRITE AND COMPUTE.

The emphasis is on equality of outcomes. God did not intend us all to be equal. As an aside, I have nothing but praise for the volunteer work of the PTA and I am an agnostic about a lot of things in education but not the value of an effective teacher. Ramona has many effective teachers.

P.S. Change is inevitable. Those that do not like change will like irrelevance even less. Significant change will invariably produce conflict amongst those whose vested interests are threatened.

What is required is a structuring of the system to tolerate sustained conflict that accompanies discussion, review, questioning and suggesting alternative courses of action. Conflict produces social disorganization, stimulating relationships and needed change.

Diversity rather than uniformity is needed in procedures. Educators must realize that there is hardly a teaching task that cannot be accomplished in a multitude of ways — and many of the capabilities today have been entirely impossible over most of the span of educational history.

Education is going through a transition never seen since Socrates and it has absolutely nothing to do with Common Core. It is two finger arithmetic that brings about digital learning. Creativity and innovation must be encouraged to surface.

None of these words detract from the fact that our public education system has served my family, my grandchildren and a myriad of other families and their children admirably. This does not mean the status quo is sufficient to remain competitive with the other nations. Improvements are needed in many areas.

Yes, I believe in God. Further, I believe that every human life has equal value. With additional information, I change my mind. “Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”

Just some random notions in finally closing. The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom. Cemeteries are filled with indispensable people. I value an animated discussion full of life, action, spirit and vigor, which a stove-pipe organization that is risk averse, shuns criticism and unable to handle conflict precludes.

Nothing is more obstinate than a fashionable consensus, be it Common Core or the Local Control Funding Formula. I would encourage others to give their view even if it ruffles feathers. The government can not give to anybody anything that the government does not take from somebody else.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift from God, which is why we call it the present. I will not sacrifice my opinions and values solely for the opinions of others. I will stand for what I believe is right even if I stand alone.

I value your opinion even though I may disagree. If you are not interested in politics, that does not mean that politics is not interested in you. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Words that come from the heart go to the heart.