Education reform required before state can progress

Publisher Rick Carpenter is in Sun Valley covering the Boise Metro Chamber’s Leadership Conference in Sun Valley.

Two speakers at the Boise Metro Chamber’s Leadership Conference suggested the we blow up and start over with our education system.

Mike McGavick, former president and CEO of Safeco, and Christine Donnell, representing the Idaho Business Coalition for Education Excellence, both said that the current education model is more than 100 years old and that we need to rethink the whole education system and process.

I agree with that but would like to throw some efficiency models out on the table that should be discussed as part of any education rebuilding program.

Think about it. We build public libraries, then duplicate them and buy many of the same books and subscriptions for our public schools. We build gyms, swimming pools and weight rooms for the schools then spend money building them again for public parks. We have huge open spaces with playground equipment at our schools, then we build city parks. We also have two crews – one for the schools and one for the city – taking care of those grounds which means twice the number of vehicles and manpower.

Then there is the mass transit issue. We have mass transit buses taking people all over the city and do the same thing with our school buses. We need to find a way to make safe public transportation for school children and adults. Think of how much we could save in the cost of gas, and the capital expense and repair of the buses as well as employee costs. But equally important is getting (very big) vehicles off the road which would also help us maintain compliance with the Clean Air Act.

Sure, there are some obvious security and safety concerns for our children, but we ought to begin the process of finding ways to pool resources and find efficiencies that could save the taxpayers enough money to begin paying for the roads and other needs in Idaho. The Chamber meetings are trying to address three major issues: education, infrastructure and energy. Eliminating duplication and consolidating our resources could address all three of those issues.