Rep. Jim White (R-22/Huron) was a teacher once, in Oakes, North Dakota. But that doesn't mean he understands education.
On his campaign website's Issues page, when he gets around to talking about education (he lists it last), he speaks of education solely in instrumental, economic terms. He says kids have a right to an education that "allows them to compete in a worldwide job market." He says education is important because of its impact on "lifetime earnings." He says we should recognize education as "economic development."
All three of those statements are true, yet they represent an incomplete view of the value of education. What about building character, Jim? What about fostering curiosity, creativity, and civic engagement? What about developing an appreciation of history, art, and the other treasures of our culture that we must transmit to the next generation? White mentions none of that; in his narrow world, education is just a feeder for business.
White has also forgotten what his teaching experience should tell him about education policy. His fellow Republican legislator Jim Bolin recognizes from his teaching experience that House Bill 1234, Governor Daugaard's really bad education "reform" bill, would waste money on failed policies. He voted against it twice in the House, and he'll likely vote against it as Referred Law 16 on this November's ballot.
But Jim White voted for it, and he foolishly continues to flack for it:
"Really, I just prefer to call it a fresh look at education," the Republican state Senate candidate in District 22 said at this week's Beadle County Republican Party campaign lunch.
"When I say education, I'm talking about our children," White said [Roger Larsen, "Education Focus at GOP Lunch," Huron Plainsman, October 4, 2012].
Actually, White's not talking about our children. He's misapplying national statistics and ideology to South Dakota schools:
The United States is ranked 34th among 37 industrial nations in terms of math skills, and is 17th in reading.
"Our children, as they grow up, you know are going to be in a world market," he said. "It isn't going to be just next door or in the next state, it's in a world market."
White ignores the fact that South Dakota kids outscore other states on a wide range of tests, including the ACT and science tests. If there is some crisis in student achievement that justifies flailing about for radical reform policies, it's not happening in South Dakota. Contra White, our schools aren't broken.
White retreats behind the usual GOP-1234 flim-flammery about needing a "fresh look" and always looking for ways to improve. Yet in this interview (and, I suspect, throughout this campaign), White has offered no evidence that Referred Law 16 will work. He just thinks that because Referred Law 16 sounds business-y, because it reinforces his bank-executive ideology, and because the Governor told him so, Referred Law 16 must be good.
White's opponent, Democrat Chris Studer, has consistently opposed Referred Law 16. In a fundraising message sent yesterday, Studer also criticizes the business-über-alles attitude that underpins White's support of RL16 and his flawed approach to government in general:
At a forum this morning in De Smet, my opponent, Jim White, said that he looks at state government through the eyes of a businessman (he's a retired bank executive), and he wants to "run government like a business." I know that's what some business people think: government is a business. He thinks government is some sort of profit-making entity for himself and his big buddies in the executive chairs. Sounds a lot like Mitt Romney.
I couldn't disagree more. Government is NOT a business. Government is a cooperative effort where all citizens contribute and every voice has the chance to be heard, not just the big boss man who wants to make a buck. I believe government should run efficiently, and spend within its means, but not simply to make money like my opponent believes. I believe government should work for the good of all, not a bunch of shareholders in a board room.
Other Republicans even disagree with Jim White's assessment. Former Republican presidential candidate Jim Huntsman said this about Mitt Romney: "I think his attitude will be efficiency &ndash I'm going to come in and look at government like a business, which isn't always the right answer because government isn't a business," Huntsman said [Chris Studer, e-mail, October 6, 2012].
Rep. White applies the business perspective where it doesn't belong. Schools don't run like a business. Referred Law 16's financial incentives won't produce productivity in our schools the way they might on a factory assembly line. And Jim White's everything-is-business attitude won't produce better government. Chris Studer understands that we build education and government on cooperation, not a quarterly profit report.
Let's elect Studer and get this seat back!
Cory,
Thanks for paragraphs 2 and 3. The big problem with all of the education reform is that they insist that students are a means to an end. In this case, the end is corporate profits and the students are merely tools to generate that profit.
Your third paragraph correctly points out that students ought to be seen as ends unto themselves. People used to tell us that no one on a death bed ever said "I should have spent more time at work." Now education policy reformers seem to want students prepared for nothing else but work. Death has always taken care of itself.
When I teach Animal Farm, I tell students that Boxer, the horse that kept working harder and harder until he couldn't work any longer and was sent to the knackers, was supposed to be a warning against allowing either capitalist or socialist taskmasters to abuse workers. It seems that some want Boxer to role model.
Dem Senate seat within striking distance:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82106.html
Jim White is like a mullet. He may be all business in the front, but he's all party in the back.
LK: How does teaching "Animal Farm" prepare students to compete in a global job market, enhance their earning potential, or contribute to economic development?
Seriously, thank you for your continued service. You do well by the kids.