Growing Up In Oregon

I don't know if you've ever read O'Neill. But it seems to me that we're still waiting for the Ah, Wilderness! moment.

So, let's take a look at Oregon's "Adequate Yearly Progress" reports. We'll start with the largest of the area's school districts, Astoria.

Male students in the 3-8 and 10th grade that did not meet state standards:

In English, 30.4 percent, or, three out of ten students.

In Math, 34.7 percent, or, almost three and a half out of ten students.

In Science, 42.4 percent, or, more than four out of ten students.

Remember, that the goal of education in Astoria is

"Students of the Astoria School District will achieve their individual potentials through academic excellence and the use of critical and creative thinking. Students will be citizens of the earth, embracing responsibility for self, family, community, and democracy."

I still hope that some day, the school board will lose the members who believe that being a "citizen of the earth" is somehow more valuable for an American than being a citizen of America.

By the way, the school board members are Brad Pope, Marin Dursse and Shawn Helligso. You can get their e-mail addresses here.

The numbers for girls are even worse in science; 44.2 percent, almost 4-1/2 out of 10 girls did not meet the state standards.

What happened in Seaside?

In math, more than two in ten males failed. In science, more than three in ten males failed. The sad thing is, more than four out of ten females failed.

Imagine, if you were making hubcaps, and four out of 10 hubcaps were unusable. How long would you stay in business?

Warrenton?

Not good but better. In math, males who failed to meet standards was lower than three out of ten. Women in science performed even better, with 29.2 percent failing to meet the standard.

That is, if you owned a hubcap factory, only three of the ten hubcaps you produce would be unable to be sold. A thirty percent loss of potential return, against the same cost as a successfully produced hubcap.

And then, there's Knappa.

The boys in Knappa outperform any other school district in the county in science, and the girls underperform any other school in the county. To be fair, in English and math, Knappa has a higher success rate than any other school district in Clatsop county. And, they teach basketball well, too.




The fact is, our school districts are approaching a half-way mark of failure. Is 44 percent that much different than 50 percent? Four and a half out of ten, or five of ten?

If you ran a hubcap factory, you wouldn't be surprised to find out that you were out of a job, if you could only successfully produce a marketable product fifty percent of the time. In education, you get a raise. Only in government does failure equal success.

Why are our kids unable to figure out, that if you want health insurance, then, you buy it? Why are our kids unable to figure out, that if you want a high paying job, you earn it? Why are our kids unable to figure out, that if you want to be successful, you need to devote yourself to hard work, suffer loss and privation, be earnest and honest with those around you, and strive to overcome the obstacles that arise in your path as you work toward your own goal? I grant you, it is easier to believe that innovation comes from government, when you have no sense of personal innovation. I grant you, that it is easier to believe that success comes from government, when you have no history of personal success. I grant you, that the road to serfdom comes easily when your life relies upon others to supply you with the means of survival, rather than carve from the rough rock of life, your own path.

"Students will be citizens of the earth, embracing responsibility for self, family, community, and democracy."

It's all wrong. Students will be responsible for their own lives, their own choices, their own families. But what the hell is "citizen of the earth"? Who the &*(%^ cares about being a citizen of the earth? What country offers "earth citizenship"? Why would I teach a child he needs to take care of his "community"? What the hell does that mean?

We do not want a teaching community in Oregon that requires our kids to grow up. That's clear. If we did, we wouldn't allow schoolboards to have such flaky statements of purpose as does the Astoria School District. That is clear, when we allow boys and girls to go through school more concerned about the social aspects of fitting in, than the tedious work of learning the fundamentals of English, math and science.

Boys who don't want to learn about math and science is an indicator of failure. You can tell a kid, all day long, that he has a lot of self-esteem. But if he can't succeed after twelve years of public schooling, he knows it's all a lie.

Sure, he'll get food stamps. But he'll never know the joy of work and success.