PLATFORM
"The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life"
- Plato
LIST OF ISSUES
Key Points
- Education
This is the greatest issue in school board. I personally feel that there are many issues that we see today in McDowell County Schools, but there are many things that are being done well also. It is my role to represent the people. The teachers, students, parents and all others in the community. I am not prideful to say my opinions are the best. I would rather represent the community as a whole.
However, a few select issues that I do feel passionate about are as follows,
-smaller class sizes. We currently have a great Student to teacher ratio, but the class sizes do not reflect this. The students and teachers alike would benefit everyone greatly if we could work together to make the two numbers work together for smaller class sizes that would represent more individual support for all students and more focus time for all teachers as well.
- Peer support.
It has been made clear to me that there are often times where our teachers see specific needs for students and their families that the public-school system cannot assist in. Things like therapy and mental health. Things that are now offered to state employees and their families, but not students. I would like to entertain the idea of creating an avenue with outside companies to help assist educators and the school system with getting students and their families help in times of need more easily with potential partnerships. This would bring business to companies within these fields and would help give students and their families the help and support they need without raising taxes on the McDowell County populations.
Other counties surrounding McDowell do this well and there are great resources around. This is something that used to be available, but due to circumstances out of the school systems hands, are no longer made available. I believe this is an important need in our school system that would benefit students, teachers, and parents alike.
- Parental education.
All of us "parents," myself included, have experienced the dread of helping with homework. And we often feel like we are reading a foreign language when helping study or do homework with our children. II have been told, as many of you likely have as well, that studies have changed since we were in school. But in many cases the communication seems to end there. I would like an evaluation of how parents and schools communicate about current lessons in the classroom. Parents need a "playbook" to go by when assisting their children with homework and schoolwork. This has often been a struggle for my family and, I know, it has been for many of you as well. We cannot, as parents, help our children or their teachers if we do not understand what our children are doing daily.
Internet
How many parents have children coming home, doing homework on a computer, phone, tablet, or more? How about extra studying on programs like Prodigy? In 2020, I am sure some would be surprised to find that internet is not a readily available privilege to everyone.
Fortunately, we can provide Chromebooks to every student in every classroom in the county, but that does not promise the students will have internet access when they get home. The other draw away from this is that discussing this with students is also inappropriate in that it could be discouragement or discomforting for a child to admit certain differences at home regardless of the reasons.
The point is that not all students have internet access. Therefore, there must be alternative actions taken that will allow each child a fair opportunity to learn and grow as each child needs individually.
Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is important for all adults. The ability to look at what is presented in front of you and make educated decisions for yourself is an important part of being a productive citizen.
We need to challenge students to learn and grow as people. Classrooms should be allowed to present multiple theories as to why things are the way they are but allow students to develop their own understandings. We should be educating children on how to appropriately make an argument for what they believe and why.
Theories are termed in this way for a reason. Theories are not fact. Theories within a classroom should never be presented as fact. In an educational setting personal belief should not interfere with the education of a child. A child should not be discounted for believing differently than a teacher or other students, but rather how well they form an argument for their personal beliefs. We should be teaching children how to properly formulate an argument, and to critically think about concepts.
Someone who can properly form an argument and critically process a theory can then firmly defend their theory. Even when others may not agree. It is not that they are right that is important in this, but that they learn what they believe and how to support their own belief.
Encouraging programs like DECA and debate events in a classroom is important for the development of a child because of what it can do for their future. As I have said many times, it is our job to prepare children for years down the road, not the test next week.
Trade vs. College
There is a great push, and has been for many years for all students to attend college. And when looking at the 15% college graduation rate in McDowell county, there is no surprise as to why this is. However, it is also important for citizens to understand the importance of trade jobs such as electricians and plumbers.
McDowell county has been blessed with many great companies with great leaders that do not possess a college degree. In fact, most business owners in McDowell county do not possess a University degree. I would propose events at McDowell High School and the middle schools introducing not only another path in vocational studies, but to also encourage students with interests in these fields to show that it does not take a university to become successful.
We currently have college events within our public-school system where people from various colleges return to speak about college. This is great, for the students this appropriately applies to, but what is truly important is becoming a successful and productive member of society as an adult. We need to host events that showcase the positive side of owning a business and the pride and positive life cycles that come from people who chose a different path.
We also need to offer more about how to file taxes, balance a budget, and pay bills. We need to help students set on a different path succeed as well.
We need kids to know college can be great for some, but not all and not always right after high school.
Standardized Testing
"Standardized Testing" is a term I despise. There is a theme that runs as deep as elementary school now that shows children are entirely over stressed over simple test procedures. Testing should not be a reflection of information retained by a student. For educators who know how to exude knowledge, the students will be able to recite knowledge back when it is learned without needing a test to do so.
I understand that some forms of standardized testing are important for state mandates, but I do not believe a test is a true representation of knowledge gained by a child throughout the term of a specified course.
I believe that every student is different. Because of this, every student will have different methods of displaying their knowledge. It has been my experience that standardized testing works great for some students. But not all. I would like to implement an "Option" rule where more than one form of testing is made available to each student. They could choose to take a standardized test, write an essay, create a presentation or power point, or give a speech. There are endless avenues to show knowledge gained. And each student should have the right opportunity to showcase their talents and knowledge in the way that they feel most comfortable.
Standardized testing is not the only way.