Tucson: undervalued education or fear of misuse of funds?

November 7, 2:06 PMTucson Education Improvement ExaminerRebecca Darg

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Is Tucson really against education?
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At first glance, when comparing the number of votes against acquiring funds to invest in education in Tucson as opposed to Phoenix, seems to show that Tucsonans are more interested in investing in places other than the future of Tucson. That is, its people. There is a real need to invest in safety, in policing traffic, in being informed, in upgrading in many areas. But above all, there is a need for meaningful education. How is it possible that Tucson has so thoughtlessly rejected the propositions, when the need for reinvesting in education is so obvious?

A company pays workers depending on how much of a profit they generate. Yet education is a profession that does not gratify directly through profit, the great majority of teachers are not out there just to make money. What these teachers earn is not measurable: pride. Pride in reaching their goals, in watching students grow and learn, in knowing they make a difference. This means that the money needed to survive in our society must come from other sources, such as government funds. So, the solution is obvious: more salary to teachers means they can spend more time focused on instruction, on resting enough, on sharing ideas and polishing up on teaching strategies. Right? Wrong?

Unfortunately, there are many studies out there that show that this has not been an adequate solution. Students do not show the progress expected. Some problems include not sharing ideas among themselves, academic leaders not asking teachers opinions before implementing changes, both academic and economic. Also, in many institutions students are asked to evaluate their teachers, and this tendency is growing. With no prior training, students are asked to evaluate a teacher who probably is strict with one who is not, evaluators are asked to make surveys that can be understood in many different ways, and not enough programs are developed to meet “badly evaluated teachers”.

This seems to be the real concern of Tucsonans: how have taxes been used? How can they be used to enhance learning and demonstrating what they have learned, as well as implementing this information in practical ways?