Quality education key to nation’s future

Education organizations at all levels, both public and private, are striving to rise to the occasion of a very dynamic environment while vying for the dollars that make the wheels of education turn.

One of the interesting trends is the increase of private funding for education and the continued dilution of public investment. The institutions that are both public and private are finding their public portions shrinking and their need for private funding growing. This is true for P-12 as well as higher and continued education. Here in Northern Colorado we are seeing serious consideration for substantial tuition hikes and education funding ballot initiatives.

The continued erosion of public funding seems to imply a lack of public support for education, yet the willingness to pay two to three times more per year per pupil for private education is becoming common. The message seems to be that a growing number of our population seems to believe there is a distinct correlation between higher cost and a higher quality education. This also implies that there is a perception of lesser value to the quality of education received through public schools.

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Is it true? My answer is an emphatic no. The danger is that if we keep depleting the funding for public options, it will get to a point where we can’t provide quality education opportunities for all individuals – and then we face larger issues.

I don’t think many would dispute the importance of a strong educational system to our ability to retain our place as a world leader. The correlation between an educated society and our ability to compete in the global market is evident. So, how do we assure we are truly providing an opportunity for every individual to attain his or her full potential to become a productive contributor to our society and strengthen the overall U.S. economy? By making sure we make quality education available to all.

Public education brings home the bacon

That is where I see the public education system bringing home the bacon! The public system is designed to provide the core platform needed for an individual to attain the skills necessary to make our nation strong and sustainable. I think in this day and age we take this for granted, but we shouldn’t. We are falling behind other countries at an alarming rate.

Having a system that allows every person, regardless of socio-economic status to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to be self-sufficient and contribute to strengthening our economy is paramount. If we continue to diminish the public system, we will be left with a system where those that have wealth will be able to get a good education while those with little or no wealth or means will be woefully left behind, regardless of potential. What a loss to society! Does that smack of a class system?

If we have a problem with our public system, we need to identify the issues and get them resolved. Choice is good and the quality of education is critical to our future.

I’m not advocating that doing away with alternative options is the answer. What I am saying is that there is a very real and necessary purpose for our public funding of education and that we need to recognize the importance of strengthening, not diminishing, our support. Our expectations of quality should remain high and we need to hold those in charge accountable for attaining excellence.

But we need to give them the funding and tools they need to make sure that we are keeping with the intended purpose to give every person an equal opportunity to gain the skills necessary for success.

We have a very real opportunity to impact our local status. Poudre School District has two initiatives on the ballot this year. Poudre has been diligent in reacting to continued reduction in funding by reducing staff, assessing school consolidations, analyzing potential school closures, putting much-needed maintenance on hold, and much more. The two ballot questions are 3A, a proposed mill levy to help compensate for funding that was reduced through state reductions, and 3B, a bond initiative to fund building and technology needs. You can get detailed information about these initiatives on the PSD website, psdschools.org.

Please take the time to review the information and understand the purpose of these initiatives. Vote accordingly. The quality of our future truly depends on decisions we make today.

Kathy Gilliland owns DK Innovative Solutions, a consulting company focused on strategic partnerships for workforce development. She can be reached at 970-493-7783.