For more than 50 years, I have believed that education was about kids, preparing the next generation to function independently and successfully as well as commit to ensuring a better future for the local community and even for wider societies. I regarded schools as the source of knowledge and those who influence their progressive development to be the committed gurus, who would go to the wall and fight for the children in the manner of earlier generations.
Now it seems that it is not about preparing kids to become intelligent and responsible citizens. It is about power and buildings and political wrangling that defeats the historical commitment to make things better. It is even willing to sacrifice one segment of its population to promote the rest – which, by the way, could have economic ramifications as the island workforce decreases.
I have always been an advocate of education for all learners. My training and then my own experience in the professional development of teachers in the area of student learning styles made me an advocate for multiple educational pathways from the college prep to the arts to career preparation. I know that while some students pursue further academic and technical education, others are more grounded in the trades.
Communities are built on the talents of all. The responsibility of community leaders is to ensure equal opportunity to learn. This concept leads me to protest the sacrifice of vocational education in my neighboring community.
I live in Middletown, but my roots are in Newport. I graduated from Rogers High School when it was at its peak as an island institution. I watched as the neighboring communities chose to develop their own identities. But Rogers was always vital to the broad categories of educational opportunity, even when it left the city center for a new structure. Community leaders ensured that the island students were still provided with the necessary tools to maintain the island’s vibrancy.
Social and economic developments over the years had reduced school enrollments and the facilities had deteriorated so that island communities finally committed to new construction – but at what price?
Yes, we all know that we must contain the costs to ensure the lowest impact on taxes. But there are options that can also ensure the protection of educational opportunity.
The recent action of the Newport Building Committee – including School Committee members who have been charged with advancing educational opportunity – to relegate access to Career & Technical Education to second-class status or even to eliminate it temporarily – is inexcusable.
At what point do all the citizens – especially parents – say: Enough is enough!
The schools are the economic future of Aquidneck Island. It’s time the focus returned to the kids.
Barbara A. VonVillas
