I gave up cable TV a few months ago. Apart from missing a few creature comforts – my addiction to “Law & Order” is now woefully underserved, for example – the transition has been a smooth one. I never watched much TV anyway, but I was surprised at how little I miss cable.
With that said, once in a while the dearth of viewing options can be maddening. I really wish someone at the networks would call me so I can pitch my idea for a new TV show. I call it “Extreme Makeover: Wisconsin Schools Edition.” The premise for my show is simple: creating a dreamland of sorts where education is at the top of its game every day.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking – it’s been done already. But is it really so wrong to dream of school buildings in which kids aren’t too hot or too cold and can concentrate their energies on learning, where running a computer printer and a microwave oven at the same time doesn’t blow a fuse? Dare teachers be so bold as to expect the heat to remain on more than ten minutes after students go home so that they can work in their classrooms without wearing a coat and gloves? And don’t students deserve better than to sit in a wooden desk chair that’s broken and splintering?
(Lest you think this is hyperbole, all of these events have actually occurred in recent years in one building in a top North Shore school district.)
Now, while the building is important, my idea doesn’t just stop with the facilities. Just consider the possibilities:
Schools’ biggest headaches would be how and where to schedule the hundreds of courses they offer, rather than making the heart-wrenching decisions as to what classes need to be cut next.
Standardized test scores would be recognized by all concerned as only one small component of the bigger picture rather than as a starting point.
Our state’s leaders would come to recognize education as an investment in Wisconsin’s future, rather than as a political hot point designed to spark debate and win votes.
Teachers who love to teach, who constantly strive to improve and who take risks to innovate their lessons would continue to be supported in every way. Those teachers who need to improve their craft would also be supported in a variety of ways or counseled out of the profession.
A constituency and politicians conditioned to breathe fire at the mention of a possible 1/2 cent sales tax earmarked for education, would be gently reminded that previous leaders urged legislators considering the sales tax to “stick it to ’em” – for a baseball stadium. That same constituency would then realize that they’ve been paying that sales tax for sixteen years and the sky hasn’t fallen yet.
Are my dreams too lofty? Perhaps. But didn’t every true success story start with a wild idea or two?
