Sometimes the ebb and flow of local politics make you shake your head. The exchanges between the Union County Board of Education and the Board of Commissioners reminded me of a few years ago. I still chuckle when I think of the lawsuit and special working group where the parties couldn't even vote on minutes or approve their agendas.
The Governor's latest edict on K-12 education presents formidable challenges and a legitimate crisis for educating our children this fall. We conservatives believe in less government intrusion. Local Boards of Education have the greatest knowledge of their systems' capabilities and ability to educate. Typically the most informed decisions are those made closest to the constituents served, not in Washington DC nor Raleigh.
However, Gov. Cooper limited options for local education officials. We all need to recognize the Board of Ed’s hands are tied. Rather than blasting away at them for a crisis they did not create, why don't we put our collective wisdom together as a community and try to create solutions? This fall there will be real challenges for families with children in Union County Public Schools. We need to keep everyone engaged as the entire county maps a strategy forward.
There are families that rely on the schools for nutrition, and after school programs so that parents can work. The normal safety net of grandparents filling in may put certain seniors at risk from catching COVID from asymptomatic children as carriers. There is a tremendous opportunity for Churches and other non-profits to step into the breach providing needed options for families with school-age children.
As for middle school and high school students who are quick to lose focus, let's bring our very best to engage them and inspire them in the virtual classroom. Why not reach out across the country for the most creative Economic, Math, Science, English, and History educators and bring them into the classroom.
I am a podcast junkie. I regularly joke with friends that if Russ Roberts of Econtalk were a college economics professor where I went to college, half the University would have been an Economics Major. Union County has a globally recognized authority on Churchill living here. Why can't we get him to offer a series? I know he will do it. We need to get creative. Don't be afraid to embrace the situation and use the virtual classroom to inspire, to bring the very best educators into our children's virtual classroom.
Several colleges and universities have been offering free online classes during the early phase of COVID. They have the curriculum created, the textbooks are online and the professor's presentations are completed. Why not have the individual who wrote the textbook teaching the class?
Like those in the generations before us that made enormous sacrifices in the war, this can be our generation's “Finest Hour”. The question is will we do it? Or will we cower from the task at hand?
The choice is ours.
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