How quickly they forget

Editorial note: If you came by here for running stuff, today is not your day. If you're a general fan of me ranting, enjoy!

I was reading the paper Sunday morning (one of my favorite all time rituals) and noticed the lack of argument over school funding. This surprised me because for the last nine months school funding issues have been at the forefront of the local/state picture.

hmmmmmm...


This got me thinking; I remembered how one of the biggest complaints among educators every fall is how much the students have forgotten or regressed over the summer.

Then I thought some more. And I came to the conclusion that it is unrealistic to expect students to care about their education over the summer if the adults in their lives also take a summer vacation. Have any of us ever considered that each school year would be less of a funding and priority battle if we, as the responsible ones, kept our attention on the issues regardless of season? Out of sight out of mind is a plague of the American consciousness; if an issue isn't staring us in the face making us immediately angry or uncomfortable we let it slip from our attention and cease to care about it. That is until it jumps into our view again and we have to start over at square one, making up all our lost ground with little actual progress. Sounds a bit like students at the first of the school year, doesn't it?

If you expect your kids to learn and achieve, don't take the summer off; don't wait for the solutions to be provided for you. Get involved, stay involved and keep everyone else aware that education doesn't just happen from September to June. It takes commitment year-round to ensure our kids get the education they need and deserve.

Remember, our kids are watching; if we think about schools even when they're not in session, they will too.