Some of you have rightfully pointed out that much of the information posted on “06106” so far talks about school funding negatives—a weakening economy, slowing state revenues, the threat to ECS phase-in, rising energy and health costs, looming local budget battles. You have gone on to suggest it would be a nice change to hear a suggestion or two of a more positive nature. I agree.
The problem—there’s that word again—is that viable options are a little harder to come by than challenges. But there are some positives, and I don’t mind throwing out a few ideas for the sake of discussion. I also don’t mind confessing up front to my own belief that the education dollar is the most important dollar in every state and local budget. But with that said, I think any real answers are not just about more dollars and higher taxes. I think it is equally—maybe even more—important that every education dollar go as far as it possibly can.
With the above in mind, I’d like to use the next two or three posts to talk about a couple of positive steps with potential benefits, both short and long term.
For both economic and ecological reasons energy consumption is—or should be—a big issue in all public buildings. I think that’s even truer for school buildings because of the teaching opportunities that can be derived from any program designed to a make a school building “greener.” Take, for example, a story about Wolcott School in West Hartford that appeared in the Courant earlier this week.
Wolcott’s principal has an impressive goal of converting the entire building from conventional energy to greener, more economical solar sources in five years. Other steps are being implemented now—modest in scope and potential savings—but important because they are easily doable. Every school in the state should have a program in place to a) stretch the energy dollar as far as is will go; b) plan for longer term permanent changes to greener energy consumption; and c) use the program as a teaching tool.
On a larger scale, the state legislature passed legislation in 2006 that will require school construction projects for new or renovated facilities to achieve a high rating based on national or global standards for energy or conservation. Read the statute and the reference to the green building standards here.
I have been told that projects authorized by the legislature in 2009 will be the first required to comply. That of course doesn’t prohibit towns with projects already in the pipeline to go “green.”
The thing I like about an energy initiative is that it is both near sighted and far sighted. There are small economic benefits to be achieved in the short run; and potentially greater savings in the long run—both resulting from a policy that promises added environmental and educational benefits. Kudos to the folks at Wolcott School in West Hartford!
3 responses so far ↓
Doug // April 3, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Great idea. Teaching these concepts at that age is the best way to ensure they’ll be in place long after we’re gone.
Here’s a positive… Windsor High added a Human Rights course to its curriculum recently. They’re learning stuff that, frankly, no one would have dared to teach when I was in school. I think it’s fantastic and long overdue… Here’s a link.
Anonymous // April 6, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I have a niece in a local public school and when her class project is green in nature, I jump for joy. We can’t just worry about the future of our children, we have to plan for it. I’m delighted to hear that schools are tackling energy consumption and they are using their efforts as a teaching tool. That’s improving my niece’s education and it’s making me feel better about the quality of local school expenditures.
Optimist // April 11, 2008 at 11:23 am
Here’s a bit of good news. I think the NCLB idea that testing, testing and more testing will solve all educational problems has just about run out of steam. I sense that most of us are beginning to realize that you simply cannot turn out educated young people by just testing them like you test radios or washing machines at every work station along an assembly line. For the past seven or eight years, we’ve seen strict testing formulas imposed on everyone else by Washington ideologues, the publishing of lists of supposedly failing schools, and the threats to shut down those schools. None of that worked and I sense that the pendulum now is swinging back toward a more sensible understanding of what really matters in schools: a rich and challenging curriculum; study units and projects that capture the imagination and interest of children; the kind of teachers who are so skilled that they can tailor their instruction to the needs of each child. I know there are still lots of problems with funding, resources lack of up-to-date facilities and equipment. But I still see reason to be confident that we are entering on a new era of more realistic thinking when it comes to education.
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