Education's Cutting Edge

Children and the youth are the foundation of our entire country. Smart kids, adolescents, and young men and women rock our world. It's important to educate these kids and send them out into the world to see what they will accomplish. And they will accomplish. These brilliant young minds that are in all our communities, will soon be taking the world by storm. Consider a world where brilliant young minds are encouraged not to expand their world of knowledge. This world is the present. Our students are now told by the people working for us in this democratic government that summer advancement programs will not receive any more funding or support in Pinellas county because the state has decided that those programs are extemperanial for the students. Basically, if the kids are already smart, then why do they need to get any smarter? It's a waste of money. Is this the message we want to give to our future generations?

Recently I attended a Spanish summer immersion camp. The program has been funded for the past 15 years. The week long program has highlighted my summer for the last two years. I stayed in Eckerd College dorms and had classes right there on the campus. I was surrounded by friends and many young people with a common goal, to learn more about Spanish. We learned not only the language, but the culture. The goal was to show young people that learning is fun and that Spanish is fun too, yet educate and enrich our minds at the same time. The student's goal was to speak only in Spanish while we were there. Everyone had a blast trying to speak this foreign language. Over 60 kids attended the camp this summer, but far more than 60 kids will miss the opportunity for this wonderful learning experience because of lack of funding.

Even though Florida's budget for assorted tutoring and summer programs is $532 million (Rado and Becker), the camp has lost the funding that was so vital to its continuation. One of the many reasons that the young kids can participate in this camp is its reasonable price. Therefore, participation is not limited to privileged individuals, unlike other camps around the state. In fact, for a week of Spanish immersion with all meals provided; it was inexpensive. Notebooks with Spanish logos and phrases on them, and materials for all sorts of projects were provided for us. Food for projects that were examples of the Hispanic culture, a syllabus, explanatory handouts, and work sheets were also supplied. We even recieved a tiny little pin that said "Spanish" on it with a pencil that said, "Spanish Immersion." Entirely in Spanish, of course. We also had access to other materials that were needed strictly for learning grammar and rules of the language. Paper song books were alos printed for us. These materials are not luxury items. They completed the experience. What the students were asked to pay can not begin to cover all that was provided for us.

With all these things in hand, the camp began. Each of the participants had one roommate, possibly two. Usually they were decided before hand, but sometimes he or she may just meet up with someone when they got there. All of us had three class sessions during the day. The first day we took a pre test and were split into four groups of different Spanish levels. Then the bonding began. I got to know the people in my class better and better. Some of them I even knew from last year. We took classes after breakfast, before lunch, and then before dinner. After dinner we had cultural activities which included dancing, food, and arts and crafts. These groups usually combined into one or two for these activities. We also had free time between classes to do homework or talk with each other. However, there was always something else to do besides talk. We had many different projects we had to work on. We made travel brochures and wrote and performed Spanish commercials. I will not forget the four incredibly talented teachers that slept right in the dorms with us. They taught, laughed, had fun, and kept an eye on all of us. These women were dedicated to helping us grow and learn. All of us were lucky to have instructors like those four.

I had the opportunity to do so many things there. How can anyone take away such an exiting experience like this from kids who are actually eager to learn? These experiences I looked forward to every year, but are now over because of the lack of funding. Our governor has decided that a $1.2 billion budget cut would be more wise than putting money into programs like these (Nickens). Bad decision. Bad message. He thinks that a $648 million increase for education is enough when there is a $1 billion surplus for tax cuts (Nickens). Obviously the money is displaced. Schools have to struggle to get money for each child to have his or her own textbook (Rado). So far, it seems as if priorities are placed somewhere else other than educational programs for children. But where would they be?

It is all about reelection. Unfortunately the governors and the legislatures focus on the desires of voters, not children. They market themselves to the majority of the people living in a particular area. Here in Florida, that majority of voters would be senior citizens. Though it is terrible to say, the young people who are the future of the country are being seen as nonvotersby the officials in our government. Gov. Bush will take time to make sure a lumber company knows that they will save $10,149 through the new proposed tax cuts, and show a retirement community the savings on intangible tax on stocks and bonds (Nickens). Seventy-two percent of which is paid by citizens over 60 years old (Nickens). Senior citizens. Does it seem to you that these people really care about summer immersion camps? They spend $31.5 million to build a brand new jail to hold prisoners because the old jail is overpopulated (Meinhardt). Fifteen percent of those inmates are convicted felons (Meinhardt).

Where are our people's priorities? It is a shame to think that kids can't go to summer school and do something with their summer because someone higher up thinks it isn't money well spent. He chooses to use the money to further his political career by improving his image with mass tax cuts. Well, news flash Mr. So and So, it is money well spent. When these young men and women are making this country run, you might hope that these kids got all the education they could get their hands on. You would hope that they are more than well equipt for the real world. The Craig Dickenson Act states, "The legislature recognizes the importance of interscholastic extracurricular activities as a completement of the academic curriculum. Participation in a comprehensive extracurricular and academic program contributes to the development of the social and individual skills necessary to become a well rounded adult. It is the intent of the Legislature to provide the mechanism for all students in Florida to participate in interscholastic extracurricular activities. (ch. 232.425 Florida School Laws) The law simply states that enrichment is required for a student to receive a complete education.

Instead of stifling these kids who have this wonderful thirst for knowledge; let's encourage them to go out and learn.



Works Cited Page
Florida School Laws ch. 232.425 State of Florida 1996. http://www.firn.edu/doe/rules/ch232htm#232.425

Meirnhardt, Jane. "Population at County Jail Hits Record". St. Petersburg Times. July 19, 1999

Nickens, Tim. "Governor Takes Tax-Cut Plan on the Road". St. Petersburg Times. March 9, 1999

Rado, Diane and Becker, Jo. "Lawmakers Pass Budget with a Taste of Turkey." St. Petersburg Times. April 19, 1999

Rado, Diane "Senators Backing Book per Child" St. Petersburg Times March 4, 1999.