“Education is our most severe crisis, and the danger is increasing”

The Portland Press Herald published an important and thoughtful “Maine Voices” piece today written by James Gale, a 7th and 8th grade math teacher from Bath.

“BATH — It is no secret that among industrialized nations, our high school students perform at the bottom of the list in math and sciences.

School administrators, presidents and lawmakers have addressed this trend in recent times with initiatives and incentives intended to make schools more accountable, economical and successful.

Yet today, schools face the worst economic dilemmas in recent history and America is no better off among advanced nations.

Here in Maine, we have been hit hard.

Programs and teachers are being cut in districts statewide, and many gubernatorial candidates are actually in agreement that Maine needs to increase the number of students in classrooms in order to close in on the national average.

The scope of the situation is not only dire in that our kids are failing and we cannot fund them for success, but worse, people with the potential power to influence and implement change are proposing a major step backward in the effort to improve quality education in schools.

That schools are focusing on finding only the most affordable paths to improve test scores is fundamentally misguided. The culture of education should not be fused with the culture of the corporate world.

It is one thing for a corporation to overemphasize profits; the quality of products or services slips, product and/or workplace safety is ignored, and injuries, lawsuits, recalls and other controversies are imminent.

We have seen this scenario played out before us many times in recent months and years.

Businesses must present a service or product that is worth its price in the eyes of the consumer.

If it is a high-quality product or service, it will gain in popularity and earn profits.

An honest business requires skillful economic planning, and above all, an emphasis on the product or service offered.

A dishonest business will cut corners, overemphasize the numbers, and attempt to convince its market that the product or service is worth a higher price than it really is, at the risk of the aforementioned consequences.

When we cut corners in education, we risk more than a product recall, an injured employee or a dissatisfied customer base.” See full story at the Portland Press Herald.