Recently, KSD Citizens was featured in an article by the Tri-City Herald. We appreciate the notice by our local newspaper and commend the work of Jacques Von Lunen, the Herald’s new education writer.
KENNEWICK — Bob Valiant is not happy with public school reforms, and he wants parents to know what’s at stake. Valiant has worked in schools since the 1960s, first as a science teacher, then as an administrator with the Kennewick School District and finally as a freelance consultant. He is pretty much retired now — “I work when I feel like it, which is less and less,” the 75-year-old quipped — but that doesn’t mean he stopped caring about schools. This time, it’s personal — Valiant has a granddaughter. He wants to make sure she will get the education he envisioned for her.
“I’m not going to sit by and watch what I think is wrong,” he said.
Two KSD Board members, Dawn Adams and her niece Heather Kintzley, make comments near the end of the article that require comment.
As for the group’s ideological bent, Kintzley said she didn’t completely disagree.
“I think the test data is important because you need to have a baseline,” she said. “But it shouldn’t necessarily drive the show.”
I commend Ms. Kintzley for her open-minded view. The KSD Citizens website has a wealth of material both in terms of what is wrong with the drill-test-punish format of NCLB and Race to the Top and some suggestions for reform that more directly reflects what is currently known about learning and instruction. If she wants to learn more, this is a good place to start.
Adams saw the matter differently.
“I’m in a position where I need to meet state and federal regulations to get funding (for our schools),” she said. “I’d be open to solutions on how to get there, rather than criticizing federal policy.”
I believe this is almost like saying “I don’t care if this is appropriate for kids, I just want the money.” A couple of years ago the Richland School Board determined that the WASL was an inappropriate test consuming huge amounts of class time and costing hundreds of millions of dollars. They fought back and the WASL is a now a thing of the past. That is the kind of actiivity I would like to see the Kennewick Board take on. If the Federal position is harming kids, which I believe it is, the Board should stand up and say “This is not right and we are not going to stand for it.”
But of course that requires having an open mind and being willing to look at the evidence.