State of the Schools
by Lorine Parks
What were your goals when you entered High School as a teenager? Can you remember what you hoped you would get out of those important years?
Our own Dr. John Garcia told us what today’s School Board is trying to give the students. Garcia, Superintendant of Schools for the Downey Unified School District, also encapsuled the students’ aims. They coincided but also differed in several important places. And they focused on issues none of us had to face before, namely, being prepared to compete in the 21st century.
We live now in a global marketplace and a global economy. The world is linked electronically, as anyone who has ever called a help desk knows. Jobs at the skilled and unskilled level, for example, are being taken by graduates in India and other third world countries, jobs that might previously have been filled in the United States. Clothes are made in Indonesia or Guatemala, cars manufactured in Japan or one of the three Little Tigers of Asia, and China looms on our horizon as the world’s biggest manufacturer of goods.
The 21st century challenges are not the ones posed by the narrower world we knew. Today the emphasis has shifted from verbal skills and problem solving, to proficiency in math and science, and being a full citizen of an electronic age. School kids in other cultures and countries around the globe are being prepared to compete on these levels, and the youth of America has to be ready to enter a global marketplace.
One common aim for students and educators is to be ready for the job market. Garcia stresses that graduates now are prepared for both college and career. It’s no longer either or, but both. But he disclosed that a third of those receiving graduation certificates have “incomplete” on their academic records.
From their prospective, educators prize academic values; excellence of performance and high standards for quality; clean and safe classrooms and facilities; and a school culture that prepares good citizens of good moral character. The latter is promoted by the Character Counts program here. Teachers want the students to be well rounded and proud of representing Downey.
Fiscal accountability is also seen as an administration goal, and financial responsibility, not only for the school district but also in teaching students how to manage their own finances, make a personal budget, write a check, maintain a bank balance. Much of this can be learned at home and reinforced in the class room.
What does the student body want? First, they want to be prepared for college or career: they want to be able to get jobs that are satisfying. They want real life skills. They want to learn leadership skills. And they want to be both book-smart and street-smart. Today’s Downey school population is idealistic and filled with ambition. They want to make the world a better place, and want the tools to do that.
Students are not so much concerned as their educators are, as to how to achieve these goals. Let the teachers and the school board set standards of excellence, curriculum, and choose the text books. The students will take whatever they can get, for what they want to achieve.
Garcia pointed out that the District had recently shared with the citizens of Downey what they had accomplished by voting yes for prop D: new academic buildings and technological training courses. It is essential to Garcia, the School Board and the Downey Unified District teachers and administrators, that they work closely every step of the way with the parents, the students, and the community of Downey. Reflecting community values is essential to success, which can be monitored by comparing results with other districts.
Great things have been accomplished, including Warren High being ranked 739th out of 20,000 high schools. In the decade of growth from 2003 to 2013, Downey Schools have seen a steady performance climb. Education Trust West reports that out of 49 school districts Downey is tied for 7th. Way to go, DUSD.
It is plain to see what drive, intelligence and enthusiasm John Garcia brings to his job. That he and the School Board are unified in their goals and work in excellent cooperation, is evident. We in Downey are lucky to have such an abler administrator, and an articulate one. Citizens can repose their trust in him.
What we as citizens need to do is to support the school board and the teachers when they ask for better facilities to do the job. There is one Downey measure on the November ballot, prop O, for money to improve facilities, upgrade classrooms, “upgrade science labs for 21st century science and technology and career/vocational training, improve security and fire safety, repair old classrooms and plumbing, improve disabled access, repair electrical, and acquire educational sites and facilities.” Dr. John is asking for your “yes” vote on O.
He and the District have demonstrated their fiscal responsibility and pedagogical wisdom. It is up to us to give them the best tools so they can do the best job for Downey’s kids. Yes on O!