APS calendar debate shows how our students are not prepared
The student letter, “Plan would hurt student sports, jobs and more,” in the March 26 edition of the The Sunday Journal unwittingly demonstrates the persistent downward spiral of the educational quality in New Mexico.
The writer is opposed to the proposed changes to the Albuquerque Public Schools calendar, fearing it will disadvantage students who work or are in sports. Their argument is grounded on the false premise that students’ participation in athletics, clubs and jobs are at least as important as their course work...
MG has also been indoctrinated to believe that sports and jobs are equally as important as education. Again, not their fault. The sports schedule is an example of the tail wagging the dog, but hardly the only one.
Sports schedules, sports practice, off-campus jobs and school clubs routinely violate testing windows and take students out of school for multiple days. Even more worrisome is a related problem hiding in plain sight: Administrators at all levels certainly understand the absence problem, but “soft absences” such as off-campus jobs, sports events and clubs are still being allowed to increase their impact on instruction time.
The result is that MG and their classmates in APS, at least, have been disenfranchised and do not realize it. It is certainly not their fault. Writing skills should have been taught and practiced starting in fourth grade and continuing for the next eight years to achieve a level able to articulate an argument worthy of such a passionate voice. For this student and many others throughout the state, that didn’t happen.
Unknowingly, MG has demonstrated what I would call a mistaken assumption about the value of extracurricular activities, expressed using the absolute minimum level of writing skills necessary for survival in the modern world. MG deserved a better preparation in those skills.
Why didn’t they get it?