Excellence in education means meeting needs of new economy

It seems some Utahns have short memories and have already forgotten the battle over vouchers.

The good news is there are some thoughtful elected leaders who are aware of the crisis in trying to reform an outdated educational system, but they are pressured by those in the system, the so-called "stakeholders," who fight for the status quo. Many lawmakers, unwittingly, become hostage to the education policymakers who offer self-serving solutions — higher pay, increased incentives for recruitment and smaller classes — without disturbing the existing system. Some lawmakers are looking for cosmetic solutions — adding more state school board members, creating smaller school districts, team teaching, more seat time, more money and vouchers — rather than taking the broader view. How about a novel idea, like asking parents, students and front-line teachers how to reform education?

There have been many warnings, along with solutions, about the need to change, as far back as 1983 with the "Nation at Risk" report. Since that time, the world with the worldwide Web has changed dramatically, while our schools have changed only incrementally. The reality is "youngsters have access today to all kinds of technology. They are utilizing it in a whole variety of ways" (Milton Goldberg, director, Nation at Risk).

Citizens ought to press for standards that reflect the skills needed for today's economy, rather than the sequential and rote learning skills, still taught, that worked for the industrial era. We must prepare knowledge workers who are able to create, innovate, work in groups, be problem solvers and become constant learners. The current system stifles creativity for teachers and students.

The New Skills Commission report, "Tough Choices or Tough Times," sets forth a set of recommendations that states may want to follow in reforming education for the new economy: recruit from the top third of the high school graduates going to college for the next generation of schoolteachers; develop standards, assessments and curriculum that reflect today's needs and tomorrow's requirements; create high performance schools and districts everywhere and reform how the system should be governed, financed, organized and managed; provide high-quality, universal early childhood education; give support to the students who need it the most; enable every member of the adult work force to get the new literacy skills; and assure equitable funding for all schools by replacing local funding with a state funding system using a uniform pupil-weighing funding formula (www.skillscommission.org).