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Editorial: Parents must engage to optimize educational options

Sun., Aug. 30, 2015

Tomorrow will be opening day for Spokane Public Schools, as it has been or soon will be for other districts throughout Spokane County and North Idaho.

A decade ago, perhaps, the vast majority of students would be returning to classrooms that looked very much like those their parents entered in their time, oh so long, long ago.

But as more attention has been paid to the differing ways students learn, the choice of schools and programs available to them and their parents has grown to suit as many as possible. And districts are sharing resources to help ensure they are offering quality, not just quantity.

Friday, for example, Washington Superintendent of Schools Randy Dorn helped dedicate the expanded NEWTECH Skill Center in Hillyard, with labs for computer game design, new science and biomedical labs, and courses in medical and dental services. Almost every Spokane County school district helps support the center, which also teaches more traditional automotive and construction skills.

They also can access a virtual learning program offered by Spokane schools.

Also last week, Spokane International Academy opened, bringing charter school education to Eastern Washington for the first time. PRIDE Prep, another charter school, opens Tuesday. The list of options goes on, from East Valley School District’s S.T.E.A.M. magnet science and technology program to like-oriented STEM at North Central High School. This year, that facility will be open to seventh- and eighth-grade students brought onto the North Side campus to get early exposure to high-level curriculum.

Montessori instruction has been extended. There are programs directed at Native Americans, home-schoolers, the gifted and those with special needs. Parents who want to be more intensely involved in their child’s school can enroll them in one of the Spokane district’s two Apple schools.

More parents should participate more. All the opportunities available for a class or program that might best meet the needs of their children are useless if parents don’t make the effort to engage their schools and school districts.

And they should expect more of their children as well as their schools. Education in the United States desperately needs to up its game if we are not to fall behind in the 21st century. Washington may not be as far along as the state Supreme Court might like in providing “ample” resources for its schools, but it’s clear that state leaders know that prized employers like Microsoft, Amazon and F5 Networks will not thrive here if they do not have the highly educated workforce they need.

So, open your books. Let’s get started.