Rotary speakers urge changes for public education

As Texas public education struggles through a massive budget shortfall, it could be easy to proclaim money the problem that needs fixing.

Longtime educator Dr. Linus Wright and pilot Kevin Mechler say otherwise -- problems with America's education system go deeper than the government's pocketbook.

"The decline of public education, the educational level of the work force and the gross domestic product all have become national embarrassments as well as threats to our nation's future," said Wright, speaking to McKinney Rotarians on April 20 about restructuring public education.

His message was simple: improve public education, and the economy will follow.

But with a federal deficit of more than $16 trillion, including a $25 billion deficit in Texas this past legislative session, money-driven improvement isn't likely.

"It seems clear that there is an urgent need to restructure public education," Wright said. "And we must be creative enough to do so within the financial resources currently available."

Wright, who grew up in Dennison, brought to the Rotarian podium more than 40 years of experience in education. Gov. Rick Perry in January 2009 appointed him chairman of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, one of the country's largest trust funds.

Long before that, Wright served 10 years as general superintendent for DISD, then a term as Undersecretary of Education under then-President Ronald Reagan. He has served on the governing boards of Austin College and Lubbock Christian University, and has received three honorary Doctor of Laws degrees.

All the while noticing the decline of public education and the country's hand -- or lack of -- in its demise.

"For the past 50 years, educators believed that if they could only find the right curriculum, the right pedagogy, the right methods of instruction, all would be well," he told Rotarians. "I have witnessed at least six major educational reforms...accompanied with ever higher expenditures, but with little or no improved results."

The only results, he said, pointed to an education system "far worse than the general public wants to believe." He said that nearly 40 million American adults are functionally illiterate, unable to read a street sign or fill out an employment application, and that the 30 to 40 percent of students who drop out of high school every year only add to the illiteracy rate.

International Student Assessment results for 2010 showed that dozens of other countries outperformed U.S. students in reading, math and science. The U.S. ranked 23rd in science, 17th in reading and 31st in math.

Yet America spends more per student than comparable countries, and has increased funding for public education almost threefold over the past 20 years, Wright said. With literacy as a measuring stick, money doesn't seem to equal success.

"America, the greatest and one of the richest nations on Earth, has one of the poorest performing public education systems among the industrialized nations of the world," he said. "Insufficient funding is not the problem."

The issue, he said, is a system that has remained the same for more than a century, in which American students attend school 30 to 50 percent less time per year than students in other countries.

Wright said that if the U.S. is serious about improving the system, it must have a longer school day and school year, have more rigorous curriculum and begin education of all children at an earlier age.

Specifics of such a structure could include: eliminating 12th grade and transferring those funds to full-day schooling for 3 and 4 year olds (early childhood education); requiring every school district to undergo an internal and external evaluation every five years; more selective employment of teachers and administrators; and determining more efficient use of school facilities and auxiliary staff.

"The bottom line is we must develop an improved system within the funds available," Wright said. "There are no quick fixes. Only well-thought-out long-term plans by the brightest and most experienced among us can implement such change to improve both quality and outcomes and at once reduce cost."

Another specific, which tied in heavily with the ideas of Mechler, last Friday's Rotary speaker, was Wright's suggestion that educators should teach core values like respect, honesty, courage and citizenship.

Mechler, a retired 25-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps., is now a domestic MD 80 pilot for American Airlines. Speaking to Rotarians a week after Wright, he also expressed his concern with the direction of the school system.

"In schools and education, we have too many people getting out of the way, too many people who are lost and just not very motivated," said Mechler, an active volunteer for the Joe Foss Institute (JFI), a national program through which military veterans talk to students about America's foundation.

Inspired by the late Gen. Joe Foss, a Medal of Honor recipient whose vision was to teach American youth the value of their freedoms, the Institute offers to schools the volunteer-based Veterans Inspiring Patriotism program.

Its main focus is empowering young people, Mechler said.

"It is paramount that we take care of the future of this country and get involved in education," he said, referring to Rotarians, educators and older generations. "As a leader, it's never about me; it's always about the people who are following me."

Members like NFL Hall of Famer John Elway, author Zig Ziglar and famous news anchor Tom Brokaw make up the JFI National Advisory Board. The Institute's in-school program has now reached close to 700,000 students, according to JFI figures.

Yet Mechler, an Allen resident, and two other area veterans are the only volunteers who visit schools along the U.S. Highway 75 corridor. Parents and educators must join the JFI mission to instill nation-saving values in students, Mechler said.

"We need to inspire kids and understand that they've got to have the work ethic to make this country stronger," he said. "That's where the school system needs to focus, on educating kids not just in the ABCs. We need to teach them how to be leaders."

From separate generations and careers, and speaking days apart, Wright and Mechler both questioned whether the U.S. is doomed if it doesn't fix its education system. Money may be part of the solution, but it's certainly not the only part.

Problems with public education seem to go deeper than that.

"To neglect a decision to change the system will only contribute to America's losing its position as the leader of the world," Wright said. "I believe that if parents and the business community chose to make the restructuring of education a project across this state, they could both educate the people and influence the Legislature to act accordingly. It can be done."

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