Power Brokers and Pawns

In MCPS, 93.9% of classes are taught by highly qualified teachers. One would think therefore that there is more than enough brainpower here, making the hiring of consultants from British Columbia at a cost of $200,000 per year to the taxpayers a spendthrift solution -- particularly objectionable when the times demand fiscal restraint. Besides, do such professionally trained teachers need hand-holding sessions with partners coming from thousands of miles away or could they not benefit just as much from free or low-cost webinars and webcasts? (What do you think, Mr. Leggett?)

If I am irate as a taxpayer, I confess to being amused as a homeschooling parent. Every year, the NEA publishes a resolution condemning "home schooling programs based on parental choice" as being unable to "provide students with a comprehensive education experience." Fast-forward to B-81 to read the most recent one and read here a brief description of one home schooling program based on parental choice -- one that does not cost the taxpayers a red cent. Of course, if one's definition of a "comprehensive education experience" demands the intervention of highly paid consultants flown in from foreign lands, homeschoolers are indeed doomed!

Interesting, too, is the fact that the NEA argues that "all expenses" must be "borne by the parents/guardians" and instruction "should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency." Pity the poor taxpayers and enjoy the exquisite irony. Taxpayers get stiffed for hundreds of thousands of dollars for advice to improve Montgomery County's educational system. Meanwhile, Jerry Weast and his NEA-card carrying friends actually attempt to prevent homeschooling parents from using their own money to enroll their children in classes taught by professional educators, as the letter published in the Extra-Credit column makes it clear.

It was not so long ago that Jerry Weast was in fact trying to discourage underperforming students from taking the SAT, according to several high school principals. Such students, I venture to say, would make acceptable homeschoolers for MCPS. The ones who must be thwarted, however, are the ones who would help raise the standardized test scores in their home schools. Let's face it: in Jerry Weast's world, students are pawns who are used to make The King look good and powerful. It's all about how you play the game.

Mark Twain got it right -- "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."