Here is some good food for thought as we enter into budget discussions on February 26 and begin to set priorities for the Franklin Public Schools.
This week’s issue of TIME magazine features a cover story on “How to Make Better Teachers.” It begins with the premise that American public schools are struggling to attract and retain high-quality teachers. It then reviews options for paying teachers for performance.
Also, included in the issue is a Voter’s Guide to Education. Most education policy, as well as roughly 91% of the funding, comes from the state and local level. But as No Child Left Behind showed, a change in federal policy can still have a big impact. The article highlights four K-12 issues in which the next President could make a difference:
No Child Left Behind
The sweeping legislation championed by President Bush, which makes federal funding dependent on mandatory annual tests, is up for reauthorization. Who would raise their hand in support?
Vouchers
All the candidates favor some form of school choice — Democrats prefer “public-school choice” — but not all advocate vouchers, which help parents pay for private schools
Merit Pay
Performance-based pay aims to reward outstanding teachers and give incentives for improvement. How it should be determined and distributed is a big sticking point
Longer School Day or Year
Children may enjoy a long summer holiday — a relic of America’s agrarian past — but many experts say that more time in class would bring American students closer to their peers abroad
Among the text, the TIME article suggests viewing the documentary Two Million Minutes which compares how American students measure up to those in India and China. The movie recognizes that regardless of nationality, as soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking. From that very moment the child has approximately?
- Two Million Minutes until high school graduation…
- Two Million Minutes to build their intellectual foundation…
- Two Million Minutes to prepare for college and ultimately career…
- Two Million Minutes to go from a teenager to an adult?
How a student spends their Two Million Minutes — in class, at home studying, playing sports, working, sleeping, socializing or just goofing off — will affect their economic prospects for the rest of their lives.
This film takes a deeper look at how the three superpowers of the 21st Century — China, India and the United States — are preparing their students for the future. Jay Matthews, an education writer for the Washington Post, shared his views on the film here.
You can view the trailer to the film by clicking on the image below:
