In our discussion of what if anything we should do to improve K-12 education in South Dakota, eager reader Heidi Marttila-Losure suggests that we need to get schools to stop hiring teachers to be coaches first and teachers as an afterthought.
Not gonna happen in Rapid City:
Major universities across the country don't consider team athletes from Rapid City Area Schools when it comes to recruiting, according to a member of the Board of Education.
He wants to change that.
"Either we're going to be competitive or we're not," board member Jim Hansen said at Thursday's board of education meeting.
Hansen said he and fellow board member Brian Blenner requested a meeting recently with Superintendent Tim Mitchell, high school principals and athletic directors from Rapid City Stevens High School and Rapid City Central High School. The result was two hours of focused, passionate discussion on the district's present and future plans for its athletic programs.
"We're going to start pushing this," he said, calling the meeting "inspirational" [Lynn Taylor Rick, "School Board Focuses on Improving Sports Teams," Rapid City Journal, 2013.01.18].
School board focuses on improving sports teams... Rapid City neighbors, is that what you elected your school board to focus on?
The jockocracy rants on:
Hansen said he believes the district needs to decide what its philosophy is regarding athletics. Right now, it appears to be "everybody plays," he said. That attitude isn't real world, he said. When it comes to jobs, the students will be competing for top positions. "Everybody" doesn't get the job, he said.
At the same time, Hansen said, he also wants all students to have the chance to play sports they love. He believes the solution is a more tiered system and a stronger intramural program, possibly in partnership with the city. "If we could work with the city and make them bigger," he said of the current intramural offerings, then everyone could play, but at their "level," he said.
Board member Bret Swanson said that while he wants everyone to play, he also really wants to beat the East River teams. "We've got the athletes, and that drives me nuts," he said [Taylor Rick, 2013.01.18].
Yes, because sports are meant to create a hierarchy, where we settle to our proper level as we coronate a few elites on whom we will focus our school board's efforts.
Board member Laura Schaad said she has experienced the situation firsthand with her own daughter's athletic career. "It took going out of town to get her looked at," she said [Taylor Rick, 2013.01.18].
I know the feeling, Laura. I'm working on my daughter's Supreme Court Justice career, but my school has this silly "everybody learns" philosophy that has us teachers constantly breaking into small-group activities and individualized instruction to help the slower kids meet the basic standards. Why can't we work with the city to create a nice after-school intramural learning program so those kids could learn at their "level" and free up the school to act as an incubator for my daughter and other elites who will be the star players in government and business?
In Web page coding, I would now type </biting satire>.
The above-quoted Rapid City school board members make me think Heidi has put her finger on the biggest problem in South Dakota education. The words focus and sports should never appear in any sentence spoken by or describing school board members unless chaperoned by a not. School boards should focus on programs to propel students to top universities and top careers in science, medicine, law, the arts, and commerce. Once they achieve that goal, then maybe—maybe—they can consider creating additional opportunities for kids who are good at throwing balls at each other.
Related: In the undercard to Wednesday morning's House Education hearing, a few legislators are really worried that the South Dakota High School Activities Association will make rational business decisions about where to hold certain state high school sports championships. House Bill 1088 would forbid the SDHSAA from taking away hosting opportunities for high school state tournaments from communities otherwise willing and able to host.
Expanding an intramural program with the city is a great idea to get kids to enjoy basketball that otherwise would not get to play. That could be a huge benefit to younger kids and keep them off the couch.
I was in Rapid Friday and read this front page story -- I couldn't then, and still can't decide now if it is over the top funny--- or sad. It is true that the largest school in the state can't field a football or basketball team that could beat the school for the blind, and has the scores to prove it. that's weird, funny, something --- and given the tax dollars invested, maybe worth inquiring about if you are on the board.
But truly sad is that this -- not academic pursuits - are a front page story about one of the state's largest school districts, because there are school board members who are committed to this being a priority. I don't know them, or the system out there -- but you hope that they have at least as many special meetings about why their debate program has fallen on hard times and how to improve their school's academic standards (not to imply that they are at the same place in academics as they are in football - but we can all always improve)
Lee,
I agree that they should have as many meetings about debate as they do about athletics.
I have no idea what is going on with the Rapid City Central debate program, but Mark Vargo has done a great job with the Rapid City Stevens debate program over the past few seasons. It would be great if the Rapid City School system found a few faculty members to help him out as assistant coaches.
So has that bastion of conservatism first found a way to fund this program. I does not take an accountant to tell you that the sports programs cost more than any other program in high school. This should remind those conservatives that think they should not be taxed on money they earned and should keep for themselves, that this will cost money from somewhere.
I have never seen a sports program where everyone wins. There is always winners and losers. In academics, if you do real well, you do not risk losing anyways. I know everyone can not get straight A's, but if one tries harder in academics, they see their grades rise, that is a better lesson than sports where you can try harder and still lose.
Lee, I wondered exactly what you wondered when I read that story. Have board members Hansen, Swanson, and Schaad ever demanded a two-hour meeting to talk about rebuilding and restaffing their speech program or getting to the bottom of any academic deficiencies? It was as if Hansen wasn't listening to the absurdity of what he was saying.
Roger, when I coach debate and drama, I love competition. I've coached a lot more kids who've never won a state championship in debate than those who did. But win or lose, they learned. The difference between my philosophy and Jim Hansen's is that in speech and drama activities, I believe that even if every kid won't win an interscholastic competition, I want every kid to play. If 45 kids show up to be in a show, I may feel a temptation to say, "Hey, I'm only working the top actors here. Why don't the rest of you go read poems in the city's intramural theater league?" But as a public educator, taking dollars from all taxpayers, I serve all students. So should Rapid City's athletic programs.
Now if Rapid City's basketball and football teams aren't winning games, it can't hurt to figure out why. If it's because of unskilled coaching, if it's because the coaches aren't acting as good mentors and teaching their kids hard work, teamwork, and critical thinking, then sure, RCAS should look at making changes to better serve all student-athletes. If it's because the coaches are slacking off, can 'em. But if the low scores are coming because the coaches are focused on giving all kids attention in practice and playing time in the big games, if the kids are staying physically fit and learning useful lessons, and if the only thing they are lacking is a couple more trophies, then leave things the way they are.
For a time I covered school boards for a newspaper that had 12 districts in its circulation area. There have always been board members whose main concern has been athletic programs to the near exclusion of academics. I have seen coaches who were very good teachers fired for disciplining misbehaving athletic stars and caring more about fairness and equality of opportunity in athletic programs as a fitting part of educational purpose than about scores and compiling winning seasons. However, the administrations, faculty, and intelligent, responsible board members generally prevailed and put the athlectic programs in their perspective.
I cannot help but wonder how many people in Rapid City and readers in general realize what a refutation of the very premise of American democracy, as articulated in the Declaration of Independence and other documents board member Hansen's words are: "Right now, it appears to be "everybody plays," he said. That attitude isn't real world, he said. When it comes to jobs, the students will be competing for top positions. "Everybody" doesn't get the job, he said."
Those are the words of creating privilege and exclusion, advantage and dismissal of many as not worthy. He reveals a belief in an enforced inequality that lies at the heart of our problems in education. The countries with which the U.S. is often compared regarding test scores are countries that test only a selected elite, while we try to educate everybody. I have noted for some time that the real problem in education is school boards that think they are a corporate board of directors, not a public body which acts as the conduit of information between the professional staffs and the public it serves. Board member Hansen stands out as the poster boy of privilege, inequality, and deprivation of those who "will not get the job." He confesses a profound misunderstanding or a deliberate subversion of the purpose of public, compulsory education. Will his words shine the light of awareness for the people of Rapid City, or will they signal the advent of a pogrom?
We've had student clients whose cases have sat on a prosecutor's desk, instead of being filed, until after a sports season ended to keep that student playing without question. Mostly DUI cases, some pot cases, couple of theft cases and one possible rape case.
Debate/declam/speech/chess club/history club/etc kids either aren't committing crimes or aren't afforded the same luxury because I've never heard of a prosecutor waiting until after [insert academic club here] ending before filing an impending criminal charge.
Also, sports as a primary goal for attending school, to the exclusion of education, used to be a quiet whisper game because we just couldn't really say it out loud.
There is more to school than kids sitting in front of a damn computer. We made sure our kids were given the opportunities to participate in school sponsored activities as well as club sports. My son spent the last couple of months on One Act Play practice. The first performance was last night.
We need sports, drama, debate and band to help the kids not only be more rounded, but to be excited about school. I spend a lot of time around my kids and their friends. I ask them what is going on in their lives. Guess what? They don't get excited about having 3 to 5 hours of homework a night without other things to look forward to.
"I'm working on my daughter's Supreme Court Justice career..." Can this be the new name of this blog, in bright, flashing, neon letters? Thanks in advance.
I was hoping you'd pick this up, Cory.
My favorite part of this story is when Hansen states that Central's orchestra students are recognized as high quality at the state level. The truth is, Central's orchestra program has been national recognized. They have been invited to play at the prestigious Midwest Clinic *TWICE* and in a *NATIONAL* competition in 2011 was ranked BEST high school string orchestra and BEST overall group of 60 that attended the National Orchestra Festival.
State average for Co-cirricular spending (spread over 9-12 ADM) = $934
Rapid city spending = $631
State average almost 50 percent more per student.
The two largest High Schools in the State, both in Rapid City, neither have a footbal field.
It is laughable that RC is accused of hiring "coaches that teach" hahaha, a tremendous failure if true.
I won't quote your whole comment, Mr. H, because it is long. I mean number 5 on this page. It was well said, young sir.
The commenter before Grudz hides behind a silly nickname to throw insults at RCAS's coaches. She/he/it also gets her/his/its numbers wrong. I offer my name and real numbers, with links, in response. The RCAS FY2013 budget indicates that the district spent $2.3M on cocurriculars in FY2012. (That's just under 3% of the $79M general fund, pretty standard for schools across the state.) The Department of Education says K-12 ADM in RCAS was 13,506. That breaks down to about $170 spent per student on cocurriculars, academic and athletic combined. If we want to look just at 9-12, then we have to subtract out the approx. $358K spent on middle school sports and some other non HS activities. $1.95M divided by 9-12 ADM of 3794 = $515 per HS student. I'll keep an eye out for a budget aggregator that tells me how much every district spends on HS activities.
By the way, in FY2012, RCAS spent about $1.23 million on sports at Stevens and Central. Amount spent at those two schools on non-athletic cocurriculars like music and debate: $365 thousand. Before we build that football field, how about we hire a couple debate coaches?
Taunia, I'll submit your suggestion to my marketing department, see what they think of changing the tagline. ;-)
fwiw: rapid city boasts some of the finest futbol clubs in the region at little relative expense to taxpayers.
Soccer isn't American enough for taxpayers to contribute.
The following link will take you directly to my source. My methodology is really just to get a generic comparison.
http://www.doe.sd.gov/ofm/statdigest.aspx
There is a Statewide profile available as well as every individual school district (multiple years as well). I did divide the entire Co-cirricular budget(s) by the 9-12 ADM, because I assume that will be the bulk of the spending. I certainly am not going for down to the penney accuracy for per student spending with my simplified method, but gross disparities will be obvious.
I use a nick name for personal reasons, not to hide or attack,I usually just thro out statistics and info, then let folks make up their own mind and keep my opinions to myself.
On the issue of RC athletics - our kids are being short changed. There are about 150 plus football teams in the State. Rapid City has about ten percent of the students and only two teams. If the rest of the State were in proportion to Rapid City - there would only be twenty football teams in the entire State (how would you like to be a young man that wanted to play footbal and live in RC?) That most likely accounts for the disparity in per student spending. The comments being generated seem to imply that the academics must be similar in performance to the football team, lol. I believe our test scores in RC are quite good.
However, as a former School Board member and taxpayer of this community, it grieves me to think of the students that could have excelled academicaly if they just had the chance to get that feeling of being significant due to a successful sports program.
american football has no place in the global community: talk about animal cruelty.
Instead of raises for teachers and coaches, Madison needs to invest in their infrastructure.
http://offthebench.nbcsports.com/2013/01/21/surprise-madison-square-garden-light-careens-from-the-rafters-onto-unsuspecting-hs-wrestler-video/
grud: talk about the viability of the jewish state.
my error: a jewish state.
I haven't been in RC for 13 years, but my experience is it's just a question of focus, and having a lot more to do in the Hills than work on football or basketball skills 24/7. I understand that parents of top athletes want a little more attention paid to their activities, just like debaters and musicians want their programs to get more emphasis. There would be something wrong if they didn't advocate for the best programs possible.
If there is something that can be done to improve the football and basketball programs, and it can be done relatively cheaply and won't hurt other programs, there's nothing wrong with looking into it.
I'd just point out, though, that Rapid City has always excelled in baseball, and many boys, especially, concentrate on that. Then soccer teams started doing well in the 1990s, and track, too. In the past, RC had great gymnastics teams.
RC schools have done well in basketball, generating an NBA star and a future Hall of Fame WNBA star. RC also has fielded competitive tennis and golf squads.
There's just a lot to do in the Black Hills area, and maybe the kids there are better rounded individuals. I know a lot of kids ski/snowboard and mountain bike. There seems to be a lot more "extreme" and alternative sports in the Hills. Also, I believe RC finally got youth hockey going. Until they had indoor ice, banana belt hockey was hit and miss.
Interesting theory, Mr. Pay.
Senator Adelstein: looks like you're up.
I recall the Board's discussions around the cut vs. no cut philosophy in athletics. Certainly, there are only so many spots available on varsity sports teams, and some students who want to play at that level just won't make varsity. But to me, it makes no sense to push that philosophy beyond the varsity level. I'd rather have more students playing intramural sports than have a few more banners hanging in the gym.
High school football contributes brain concussions, broken bones, ruined leg and arm joints and the big stars are so inspired by the spirit of exercise they usually spend most of their lives guzzling beer. There are some exceptions, but football should not even be a part of high school or college for that matter. It has no connection to education.
Give college students the option of not supporting jocks so they can save a few thousand on their college education. Get football out of public schools and put in exercise machines so all students can get some exercise.
Mr. Pay is correct.
My guess is that there is some parental influence/vicarious living on the basketball and football success or lack thereof. RC schools excel at other sports and in many activities.
Imagine that, parents putting pressure on coaches to win. I watched parents demoralize the winningest coach in the history of a school enough to have him resign out of frustration. Fortunately for the rest of the kids in his school he remains the AP teacher of choice and the go-to-guy for letters of reference for college and jobs.
There are great teachers and great coaches out there...look harder! In the end, the best teacher and coach is one that is driven to be great for all the right reasons. State championships are just an added bonus.
Choir, band and orchestra is funded by taxpayers in the elementary grades. Let's do the same for debate, chess, foreign language, theater and yes, sports.
Why wouldn't we want our kids to have a world class experience at the many experiences they can get through their school years?!?
I am passionate about extracurricular activities and what they mean to our kids, let's not think about doing less...let's think about doing more!
When I was in school...a long time ago...many kids were in multiple sports, band, student council, choir, foreign language clubs and they were encouraged to participate in all of them.
Good grief South Dakota, why are we so willing to settle for just good enough - or worse. Don't take opportunities away. Bring more!
Speaking of foreign language, my kids did not have it available to them in the Rapid City schools until 9th grade - it was cut years and years ago from 7/8th grade. Way too late!
I would trade that obscene concussion-ready football activity for language training in middle school anytime.
Curtis,
Thanks for the part about the orchestra doing exceptionally well. Always good to hear the good also and not just the problems.
Interesting and enlightening to read the views. To one of grudznick's comments - Soccer isn't American enough for taxpayers to contribute? In every other state in the US - including Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska - high school soccer has been supported by taxpayers for years. Are we South Dakotans somehow more American than everyone else?
Soccer seems like a perfectly American sport, very democratic, everyone can play.