Looking to the Future of Education

“We have to plan for the future. We can’t wait,” Craig Cheslog, principal advisor to Tom Torlakson, state superintendent of public instruction, said during PTA Advocacy Day in Sacramento recently. Torlakson has put together a 50-member, bipartisan consortium of educators and business leaders to determine what services our schools should provide in California.

The findings of the consortium are forthcoming, but Cheslog provided insight into some areas into which the group is looking:

• Whole child education -- “We need to develop the whole child, and lay a foundation for the future where kids are healthy both physically and mentally,” said Cheslog. “We need to create a passion not just for bubble tests, but also for the arts and music.” 

• Funding reform -- “We need to increase the certainty and fairness of funding for our schools,” Cheslog said. Substantive funding reform needs to be defined and legislated. In addition, Cheslog suggests cooperation between and among districts as well as between districts and cities become a higher priority in areas where it is lacking.

Our current model of funding is “driving young teachers out of the profession,” being pink-slipped every year is dispiriting, fatiguing and stress-inducing, Cheslog remarked. Modifying education funding to a more clear and fair model based on priorities, such as the one in Arkansas, might help. Right now, he wonders, “Who will be our veteran teachers in 10 years?”

• Common standards -- Adopt a common core of standards, which is under discussion in the legislature. A common core of standards is a national set of standards, but requires funding to implement.

• Analysis -- “We need more comprehensive analysis,” Cheslog said. “Bubble-based test taking is not a career path in the 21st century.” Business leaders in Torlakson’s consortium agree, identifying core characteristics they see in successful employees – adaptability, collaboration, creativity and initiative, for example. These same leaders worry that our current methods of education are removing these skills, rather than enhancing them, Cheslog said.

• STEM teaching -- Focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is critical.  To that end, free Wi-Fi hotspots for children without online connectivity and making online access viable for all children is a critical component. “We call it No Child Left Offline,” Cheslog said.

• School construction – “Red tape and regulations drive costs up,” Cheslog said. Torlakson’s consortium is evaluating how to create a streamlined approach that makes building or refurbishing school facilities more cost effective.

“Right now, we have 6.2 million children in California who have one chance at an education. Some of them get this education in some of the most crowded classes in the world and the shortest school year in the world," Cheslog said. "Funding should be non-partisan issue. Our schools are facing a state of fiscal emergency.”

Note: Fiona Artiaga is an active volunteer in the Moraga School District and member of the Society of Professional Journalists. She is also a current member of the Moraga Education Foundation board and former board member of Camino Pablo's PTA.