EDUCATION: Our greatest investment for our Future

            As we all grapple with our economic future and look at all the dismal projections for energy, housing, businesses and our politics, nothing has a greater impact on our future than the education of our youth.  We often hear rhetoric regarding the needs for education but when finances are stressed, it is education that seems to be the first reduction and some of the most significant areas are cut.

            Education of our youth is the cornerstone of our economy and country.  When a large sector of our population is not educated then we increase the percent of people who are not productive citizens, able to pursue economic stability and production.  Currently over 40% of all 8^th graders are not proficient in reading according to recent NAEP assessments.  The situation is much more dire in Alaska where, Diane Hirshberg shared, over 33% of our students never graduate from high school.  As a nation, and as one of the wealthiest states in our nation, we can not afford to ignore the significant need to provide quality education to our students in facilities to serve them and the community.  This is one of our most important economic assets yet we are allowing it to go underfunded.

            Adequate state funding for education must be provided by our state, for the entire state.  The energy costs, both for facilities and human development, are overwhelming the current budgets.  Concurrently, our academic achievement scores for students are at best flat-lined, if not decreasing.  What can be done?  We know that providing increased funding  without expectations is not the answer, just as we know that lowering taxes for the gas companies without expectations for exploration is not workable. 

            Quality education, especially for indigenous people and students how are English language learners, is a complex issue but one that has research based solutions.  The community must be brought into the schools and make a commitment to the future of our students with high academics in a meaningful structure.  Students need to see a future filled with achievable goals and outcomes that are possible in their communities and in the world at large.  Through a combination of cultural integration and direct, explicit instruction designed to meet students learning needs, quality education can be achieved.  We need dedicated teachers who will make a commitment to the vocation of teaching.  They need to be provided with quality professional development within a collegial atmosphere of respect and value, to grow and change.  Through data based instruction that adjusts and is differentiated, all students can achieve content standards or higher.  When education is meaningful and generalized to the community and student needs, then a commitment is made to support it. 

            Unless we work together to address the educational needs of our students, our future, as a strong nation and state, is in peril.  The answers to the myriad of questions surrounding the provision of quality education are known and evident.  It is a major economic issue that must be addressed and quickly, rather than taking the current road of financial reductions and ignoring the problems of our schools.

Robyn Rehmann