Using the P10 billion wisely

Posted on August 28, 2006 - Filed Under Punch Forum |

Ms. Ric
28 August 2006


On this issue of education and the donated 10 billion pesos, let me address a few issues. First and foremost use the money to re-write the whole education policy as perceived by Filipinos. Upgrade the expectations for every single administrator, for every single teacher, and for every single student.

Let me use a newly passed law that we have here in the U.S. Four years ago, Bush put together a committee to oversee education. This committee started to listen to teachers (what a concept), one of our issues was to stop using Japanese classrooms to measure our standards. We asked to be compared with other classrooms in the U.S. - after all each state can’t be that different from each other (we thought). They agreed.

This education committee put together a law, signed and passed by both houses, called NCLB (No Child Left Behind). The law went into effect in 2002. One of the components of NCLB is that by 2005, every single teacher had to be proficient in what they teach. School districts had to provide training and/or education for these teachers. They had three years to get their acts together or they were asked to leave, tenured or not. Gone were the days when a PE teacher can teach math.

Another component is writing standards for the four cores: English, Math, Social Science, and Science. It’s a uniformed, re-vamped curriculum for the whole nation. Most of these standards are a step up from what we had four years ago. For example, Algebra 1, which used to be a ninth grade class, is now an eight-grade class. Your typical 15-yr. old ninth grader is now in Geometry.

Two major components deal with accountability and students. NCLB states that by 2017, every single student in the U.S. is proficient in those four cores. This created uproar. The intentions are good, but the premise is somehow flawed. Students were not defined. “All students” mean every single child from Kindergarten to twelfth grade. It doesn’t take into account that we have handicapped students (learning and physical), and in some states like California, we have language issues. No accommodations were made.

The other major component is funding. Districts receive three kinds of monies: Federal, State, and private donations. Under NCLB, districts will not receive Federal funding if the schools do not perform well. And how do we know if schools are performing well? Enter State policies. Each state had to develop a way to measure these standards. New York, Illinois, and California wrote the toughest accountability system in the nation. On top of the mandated state testing that we administer at the end of the year, California also has another requirement for graduation called Exit Exam in Math and Language Arts. The math part is easier than Language Arts, after all math is math no matter where you’re at. However, Language Arts is tougher. Every graduate has to pass a multiple choice test on not only the mechanics of writing and reading, but be able to write a couple of essays as well. Note also that next to Texas, California has one of the highest English Language Learners. This means that a Filipino student who’s only been in the country for six months or less is expected to pass this test if he wants to get a diploma. The class of 2006 was made the example. Last year, students were deprived their high school diploma without passing this test. This is not to say they did not receive a “certificate of completion”.

The whole NCLB is college prep driven curriculum. We all know that not all kids are college materials. Some of them will end up in vocational courses. This is where private donations come in. A district can only offer so many vocational courses because funding is very limited from both State and Federal. We rely mostly on private donations to offer an array of vocational courses the students can choose from. The Gates Foundation donates millions into this concept of ROP (Regional Occupation Program). ROP trains the students in their area of expertise, be it growing grapes, technical support, or building houses. The premise is simple. An 18-yr. old armed with nothing but a high school diploma or certificate can still function as a responsible taxpayer with ROP training.

The U.S. department of education is still flawed. We continue to have high school drop outs and illiteracy is still a major problem, but at least the pendulum is swinging back to when “Education Matters”. Philippines can still turn it around. Filipinos are going to need more than just the 10.5B to make a difference. Filipinos will need to change the whole philosophy behind what’s important: living next to someone who’s literate or illiterate.

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