School closings

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

So in the boys Friday folders we got news that the consultants who were hired by District 11 had made a recommendation that among other things the District should close their school, Buena Vista. I took the time to download and peruse the reports.

First, I have to take a moment to rant about Colorado Springs and El Paso County. I love this city, it is my hometown, and I have made the choice to live here after living in a few other places. And I know that Kim feels even stronger about refusing to relocate. That being said, the anti-tax crusaders are doing their absolute level best to make me want to leave. Intellectually I grasp the reasons people feel that lower taxes are good. But those reasons simply don't make sense in my opinion. Not any more. Our current economic climate is poor, I know that, but we cannot afford to strip down our infrastructure more. Eventually for every company that wants to relocate here for the low taxes there will be 2 families that will want to leave or choose not to relocate to a place where the people will not shell out for a decent education for their children, decent roads and public safety.

So the reports again make sense intellectually. The growth rate in District 11 is negative. And there are more students attending schools outside of District 11 than students from other districts are choosing District 11. And in the face of growing costs for school maintenance etc. it makes raw economic sense to close/consolidate schools.

But I think all this does is short change the students and handicap the teachers. Students get more from a healthy neighborhood school where they can go to school with their neighbors and have the chance to walk to school etc. And if the school population is smaller than the students will benefit from a smaller student to teacher ratio. And if the schools start to improve then maybe the students who might be going elsewhere now might return. It's kind of like a small business: if your customers go to a different location do you close up and move or do you improve to draw your customers back?

I think that we need to improve our local schools and reduce the drain of students who go outside of the District or neighborhood rather than just give up. In the case of Buena Vista there was a proposal to make it a magnet Montessori program. I think a number of people do not realize what a great benefit it is to have a Montessori education here in the neighborhood. And a number of parents in District 11 do not even realize it exists. Well the same could be done in other schools, not necessarily Montessori, but other special programs, that can attract/keep students rather than giving up.