Decisions

No one awakens in the morning and actively wonders how they might mess up their day. How could they make poor decisions? How could they be part of worsening problems?
Yet most of us can look back at times when it appears that is exactly what happened. In our personal lives. In the lives of those we observe. Somebody wasn’t paying attention. At least it appeared so. The texting bus driver is a recent example. Giving money to GM or Chrysler may be others. That is yet to be determined.
It all comes down to the decisions we make. And those decisions are often based on what we consider good judgment based on our previous experience. More often those experiences are responsible for feelings we hold and our judgment is an outgrowth of those feelings. Reason often is put aside if it is considered at all.
The feelings prevail.
What do you think about public schooling versus private schooling? Your opinion is probably influenced by your feelings around what you think you know about the two systems, most having experienced only one.
Perhaps you are one who thinks private is better, knowing that those with financial ability tend to choose private when available. But what do you really know about the subject to make a good decision, money aside? Like me, probably not much.
Last week I met two youngsters who had been educated partly in private schools. They were then sent to public schools. They were jubilant in their recounting the benefits of public over private.
Band, choir, sports were highlights for them in the public schools. The socialization factor weighed heavily in their tales. Bottom line, they recognized what they referred to as, “More opportunities.”
Their parents, doubtless, believed they had made the right decision in sending them to private schools. And ultimately, another decision sent them to public schools. Which was probably a good decision as well. At least for these two students.
Recent figures indicate that over 120,000 students were transferred from private to public schools in the United States last year. Finances of the families played a major role in many of those decisions.
School boards too are faced with decisions based on finances. It seems a never-ending battle to make choices that impact the system because of a lack of funding. We are witnessing our state making education funding decisions in the face of economic constraints unlike any previous limitations. And in the state’s case, not only finances but politics play a major role. It’s not a pretty sight.
Given that circumstances change slowly over time and operations are ongoing how do boards best make decisions for schools? At the local level there are virtually no politics. At least none that are readily apparent. It all comes down to dollars and cents.
Of course there are decisions apart from financial that are important. When decisions involve personnel or sports the issues tend to get a lot of attention. When they involve policy or programming, much less so. There is less passion attached to academic programming than one might hope for.
From the outside it may appear boards have disobeyed the premise that began this piece. In fact, we do not get awake and try to figure out how to mess things up. There is at work a question with an overriding qualification that plays out in all our decisions.
Given all that we know and all that it is reasonably possible to know about any situation, the end of the day finds our decision based on just one thing. What’s best for kids?