Example of Students Not Getting Priority

Interesting story here from Oregon, where students and parents are concerned that students are not getting enough instruction time. This is a quote from a student...

“I feel I am unprepared compared to students in other states,” Page Hall, a student at Sunset High School, recently told the Beaverton school board. “I want to go off to college fully prepared.”

Bravo for the student for wanting to get her parent's moneys worth. I would hire her on the spot wanting to put in extra effort in her education. However, I think she is the exception to the rule. More from the story...

Oregon requires high schools to offer students 130 hours per class and at least 990 hours of instructional time per year, which is the equivalent of a 165-day school year for students in class six hours per day. The national norm, by comparison, is 1,080 hours or 180 days.

Yet Beaverton is taking a wait-and-see approach on the 130-hour rule. Wait and see if a parent formally files a Beaverton-specific complaint with the state. Wait and see if the state allows school districts more wiggle room on what counts as instructional time or its equivalent. 

I would be concerned if this was happening in my school distirct. This is impacting graduation rates in Beaverton in a bad way. Surely learning across the board is hurt. More...

Beaverton school leaders have spent much of the year focused on the fate of their $680 million bond measure. They've also been preoccupied by contract negotiations with the teachers union. Actual class time for actual students has felt like a lower priority, which is disconcerting. It shouldn't take a teenager to point that out.

This is exactly the same type of thing that leaders of SD2 are doing. They are speding enormous amounts of time on making decisions on the recently passed bond, plus getting ready to lobby the legislature. Students have become a lower priority in Billings.