Kent School teachers are on strike and defying a court order. They say it’s for the kids. Yeah, right! We are paying among the highest per student cost, if not the highest, in the world and yet our kids are falling behind other nations. More funding is not the answer as we cannot sustain the current education model without bankrupting the taxpayers. I hope the superintendent will look at a new model to take us into the future.

As an employee of a large aerospace company, 80 percent or more of my training is delivered over the Web as computer based training. Much of the basic knowledge our kids need to learn can be delivered via standardized lesson plans on the computer. Lesson plan quizzes are taken until passed, ensuring some familiarity with the information. These can be reinforced with block tests and finals. Teachers can then conduct group discussions on material on a rotating basis, thereby reducing the number of teaches needed dramatically. Teachers can be used to monitor the progress of each student via standard metrics, and apply special help where needed. Students that excel and want to learn faster are able to using such a model. Learning can be standardized much easier at the national level.

This approach is applicable to junior high and high school level and will better prepare the students for college classes. It could have some applicability at the elementary level, but differing education goals there necessitate more teacher involvement with students at that age. Consideration would also have to be given to the social aspect of school at all levels, along with sports and other extracurricular activities (if these goals remain part of our education system). But repetitive parts of the process can be automated as in other industries. There is no real reason that we can’t move to such a model, where teacher strikes would have far less of an impact – oh, except for Washington Education Association.

Gary Wigle

Covington