The News And Advance Asks The City Council Candidates a Question

Today the Lynchburg News and Advance asked the candidates running for Lynchburg City Council the Question:

"If a strong educational system is one of City Council’s top priorities, should the city give schools less money simply because the state increased its funding to Lynchburg schools this year?"

The following candidates said yes:

Edie Light
Rob Jarvis
Chuck Gammon
Joe Freeman

The following candidates said no:

Nat Marshall
T. Scott Garrett
Joan Foster
Bert Dodson
James Coleman
Jason Campbell
Robert Bailey

Previously, I have reported on how Lynchburg exceeds the National average on money spent per child, and I also pointed out that EC Glass is rated in the lower 40 percent of the top 1,037 schools in the nation.

We can spend more money on schools or we can spend less money on schools, but how we spend that money is the key issue. I have gone to schools across the world.

One of the best was in Scotland. There is where I learned about inadequacies of American schools. Children in my age group were about three levels ahead in math, and the reading material was about twice as advanced as what I was exposed to previously. And, even small details about how paper was folded, and how your handwriting looked, was judged.

The schools in Scotland worked on considerably lower funds. Yet by far, they were offering a higher level of education to their students.

I have also attended a school where one teacher taught three grades, all at the same time. She was perhaps one of the most effective teachers that I ever had. While no other schools in the United States were teaching the binary math system, I was in that school, and in the eight grade.

I do believe teachers should be earning more. But I also believe they need to be innovative in their approach, and receive good direction from the administration. Teachers should be rewarded on how their students perform.

Recently, I put a quote on quotation page by Rita Dunn:

"If the child is not learning the way you are teaching, then you must teach in the way the child learns."

If you can't interest the student you have already lost.

Interestingly, the majority of writers on this blog are homeschoolers. This happened by chance not by plan. They have all made the personal step to assure their child gets the best education.