Accountability is the key

Shawn Vestal’s March 30 attempt to induce a guilt-laden excuse on relatively low taxpayer funding of education with marginal student outcomes shows that he doesn’t understand why our public schools fail. Instead of consulting the usual educational bureaucracy, try looking at the mission statement of Providence St. Mel (psmnow.com), a quality South Chicago school, or the Jay Pritzker Academy (jpa.org.kh), a Cambodian school that literally takes kids out of rice paddies and prepares them to succeed in school and life.

Simple, high accountability for students and staff is needed where students must reach for that bar instead of sitting in classrooms where excuses are made and that bar is lowered, giving them the false hope and illusion of a success they’ll never achieve.

Part of the above-mentioned statement is, “So we work, plan, build and dream – in that order. We believe that one must earn their right to dream. Our talent, discipline and integrity will be our contribution to a new world order.”

The problem is far deeper than any pocketbook Vestal would like to pick. How about Vestal and our local school board enjoying a road trip to Chicago, soon?

Ed Walther

Spokane