Today, schools are burdened with roles that distract from their primary mission: academic instruction. When asked what schools should prioritize, parents now list childcare, nutrition, social-emotional learning and physical safety in addition to academics. This shift in priorities for schools has serious consequences.
Let’s look at the facts:
•U.S. students score well below other developed nations in international assessments of math, science, reading and writing, and these scores continue to decline.
•Only one-third of fourth graders in the U.S. read proficiently, and fewer still write proficiently. Math scores are similarly dismal.
•Teachers report being overwhelmed by responsibilities that have little to do with instruction.
•Absenteeism is widespread, often among the students who need the most academic support. Truancy laws are rarely enforced, and the concept itself seems forgotten.
Here’s the bottom line: If schools don’t teach science, writing, reading or mathematics, who will? Families? Churches? Communities? Realistically, no other social institution is uniquely positioned to provide academic instruction.
Our education system is failing not because of incompetent or unmotivated professionals, but because schools are overburdened with tasks that don’t belong to them. Schools must be allowed to be schools again — not substitutes for families and homes, churches, or community organizations.
Boards of education and other local, state, and federal policymakers seem untroubled by declining academic standards and low student performance. Utah may outperform the national average, but that’s a low bar. Just 36% of Utah’s third graders read at grade level proficiency. That means about two-thirds do not!
In those states where third-grade reading proficiency has improved substantially in recent years, it’s often due to mandatory retention laws. When students can’t read on grade level by the end of third grade in 25 states, students are retained in third grade until they can. This level of unapologetic accountability puts pressure on all stakeholders to deliver results. Utah does not have a 3rd grade reading retention law. The question is: Do we still have the will—and the wisdom—to expect more in Utah?
A compelling example is Success Academy in New York City. This charter school network, which serves students from areas like Harlem, sets high expectations for parents, students and teachers. Everything unrelated to instruction is delegated to other staff, freeing teachers to focus solely on teaching. The founder, Eva Moskowitz, is widely admired—and widely criticized—because she challenges the entrenched education establishment.
Unfortunately, the current entrenched education system seems more concerned with protecting adult interests than meeting students’ academic learning needs. These organizations often go to significant lengths to defend job security and benefits but demand little real accountability for student learning outcomes.
School choice alone won’t fix the problem. Charter schools are often forced to conform to traditional models of education by chartering organizations, and they are typically underfunded compared to regular public schools. Teachers’ unions devote enormous resources to securing teacher job protections, but not to improving student learning. Teacher merit-based pay is routinely opposed for a variety of reasons, and teacher pay is rarely linked to student learning results.
Parents also share responsibility. Parents must ensure their children come to school ready to learn—well-rested, fed, and prepared. They must value education enough to ensure their children attend school regularly, on time, and without unnecessary absences. Parents should support high academic expectations, stand behind teachers who uphold rigorous standards, and reinforce schoolwide behavioral norms where all students can learn, and teachers can teach without undue disruptions.
If we’re serious about preparing the next generation in Utah and in the U.S. to be intelligent, skilled, and competent citizens, we need to treat this immediate educational crisis with the urgency it deserves. Education is the key to a life filled with future opportunity. Continuing to do the same thing, expecting our schools to be all things to all people, while expecting different academic results for our students is, as they say, the definition of insanity.