Free Press – February 7, 2008

Internet Schools, UBC poll, Start School Later

Dear Friends,

Good morning. I thought about our local public schools as I read two New York Times articles last week. The first addressed the growth of the Internet school…the possible savings to local taxpayers and the increase in students’ learning curve. The second was the reason why public schools should start the academic day one hour later, at least for middle and high school kids.

But first, a bit of levity.

I’ve been running unscientific presidential polls among the groups, to which Mighty Betsy and I belong. My Bucks County Herald column (Jan. 10) gave the results. You can find it on my website. The ages of our friends in the poll were between 60 and 80. And the preferences were all over the lot.

Last week, I asked the members of my boathouse for their answers. While they’re much younger (age 25 to 50), the results were identical…no clear pattern. I polled them before Democrat John Edwards and Republican Rudy Guiliani bowed out of the race.

“Who do you think will appear on the November ballot?” was the first question. Among the Democrats, the answers were- Clinton, three; Edwards, one; and Obama eight. Six thought New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would run as an independent. Among the Republicans- McCain received seven votes; Romney, three; and Huckabee, two. Note, no one voted for Guiliani.

My second question was, if the presidential election were held today, for whom would you vote? Three chose McCain; Bloomberg, two; Edwards, two; Obama, two; Clinton, one…and one facetiously picked Howard Stern, the shock jock radio host.

But just as my older friends had not rallied to one or two candidates, the younger rowers were of the same opinion. As the nominations narrow, I’ll ask these groups for updates.

Personally, I’m an Obama man. Since Pennsylvania doesn’t permit voters to cross into different party’s primaries, I won’t be able to vote for Obama…unless I change my registration from Republican to Democrat. I learned just how easy that is when Ed Rendell was in a Democrat primary fight when he first ran for governor.

Congressman Patrick Murphy is part of Obabma’s inner circle and campaigns with him all over the country. I’ll ask Patrick to find out if Obama is for compulsory service for high school graduates? You faithful readers know that I favor compulsory service for boys and girls…no exception.

Note, I didn’t write “compulsory MILITARY service.” If I had my druthers, I’d give each youngster, who either graduated high school or turned 18, the choice of serving for two years in a non-military OR military capacity. There are plenty of places where teens can participate in a non military function…Peace Corp, park service, hospitals, inner city projects and the like.

Those who choose the military option would improve the army’s ranks. “The percentage of Army recruits with a high school diploma fell to a new low in 2007,” The Week reported (Feb. 1). “Only 70 percent of the recruits had achieved a high school diploma.”

Worse, to meet recruiting goals, the army has lowered its standards to include kids with a police record. Unfortunately, the army is attracting more young people with lower education and greater troubles with the law. On the other hand, compulsory service would eliminate that problem.

Compulsory service for boys and girls, no exception, would have another advantage. Future presidents would be much slower to pull the trigger and start another war.

There’s a disconnect about America’s attitude toward the war in Iraq. That’s because very few Americans have a daughter or son in harm’s way. If compulsory service were the law, every president, governor, congressman, senator, state representative and senator would have a family member either in the military or non-military service.

In addition, two years of service away from home would better prepare young people for college, the work place…life itself. And it would reinforce the notion that voluntary service is the spark, which makes America different.

Congressman Murphy likes my idea although he’s not ready to go out on a public limb and champion the cause…unless Obama is of the same mind. So stay tuned, I’ll ask our congressman to find out where Obama stands.

Final item.

Would kids do better if we started middle school and high school one hour later? Here’s what the New York Times wrote in an editorial (Feb. 1). “A National Sleep foundation survey concluded that a quarter of the students fell asleep in class at least once a week. Researchers say this is true because youngsters- beginning around age 12 until they reach their mid 20’s- only start producing melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone, around 11 p.m. and that production peaks until about 7 a.m.

“The obvious remedy would be for high schools to start later- well after 8 a.m. A handful of schools that switched have reported beneficial results.” Attendance and grades improved. And students indicated that they did not use the later starts as an excuse to go to bed later.

The NYT suggested that three groups will oppose this idea. Coaches complain that later classroom hours would take time from their training programs and team’s success. School bus companies would be forced to change their schedules…and so would parents.

Will the local school districts consider a later start? Stay tuned.

I ran out of space so I’ll discuss the advantages of Internet school next week.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith