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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels August 12, 2004 What do you think are the biggest problems that the Public Schools of your community must deal with? By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings Southern Oregonians give local schools high marks overall, but that doesn't diminish the belief that there's plenty of room for improvement. Joe Peterson, an Southern Oregon University education instructor, along with Assistant Education Professor Dennis Jablonski, had students in the School of Education Master's in Teaching program at SOU conduct a survey of attitudes about public schools. The results show that people have strong feelings about what schools are doing right- and what they are doing wrong. Thirty-nine out of 94 respondents said a lack of funding is a large problem facing public schools today, with 20 saying a lack of parental involvement is a serious concern. Overall, almost half of the survey respondents gave local schools a grade of B. But when asked about public schools around the country, nearly two-thirds gave a grade of C. An eye opener To fully understand and comprehend pubic opinion on education, Peterson and Jablonski had students in each of their foundations of education classes interview one person. The 94 students asked 20 questions, 18 that came from the 2003 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll on the public's attitudes toward public schools. Peterson said he and the students were surprised at how little respondents knew about the No Child Left Behind Act that was passed by Congress in 2001. Only 11 percent of the participants said they knew a great deal, 28 percent said they knew a fair amount, 45 percent very little, and 17 percent nothing at all. Today, the Oregon Department of Education released the Adequate Yearly Progress report, which is part of the No Child Left Behind Act. The AYP measures the success of schools and districts nationwide in categories such as English, math, academic growth and academic status. "It is the biggest federal intervention in education in history," Peterson said. "It's so important for the students to know about the act because it's going to be a big part of their teaching lives." Education student Dianne Mackin of Grants Pass agreed. "A lot of people don't know about the act because they don't keep up with current events," she said. "But people should know what's been passed, because it's going to affect their child's education as well as their teachers'. ... We'll be taking jobs in public schools and we need to know what they are thinking and what they believe." In regards to who should have the greatest influence in deciding what is taught in public schools, 56 percent said the local school board, 35 percent said the state government, and just 9 percent wanted to leave it up to Washington. One on one Jablonski said the survey is a powerful tool for these teachers-to-be to comprehend the importance of how a community perceives education. "When they get hired, they will become public school employees and need to be aware of the community's opinions, values and politics," he said. "The idea behind the survey is to get them to talk to a person on these issues and to get emotional data that gives the numbers a human face." Peterson agreed. "It makes a fairly dry survey real to them." "I thought the survey was very revealing of the public's opinion on public schools," said education student Kelly Flannery-Prinzo of Klamath Falls. "Everyone has an opinion and it's vital for us to have an idea of how the public sees education in their communities. I think the public wants to hold our public schools accountable." To Peterson, when it comes to education, it's vital for his students to understand that everyone has an opinion. "There's such strong (viewpoints) because everyone has experienced education and everyone has an opinion, which is unique for a profession," he said. "I want my students to be aware of how the public views public schools and education." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams