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Schools produce solid citizens

By V. LIONEL KING Guest Column
Published February 13, 2007

On Jan. 16, the St. Petersburg Times published a front-page story about an "educational guru" who criticized and condemned core subject teachers and said that "your schools have become museums." That guru was speaking in the role of a consultant to 3,000 educators gathered at a conference in Kissimmee.

Socrates said: "Let us first define our terms ... then we can have an intelligent discourse." Most dictionaries define museum as "a place or seat of the muses." A collegiate dictionary goes a step further: "A repository of knowledge, scientific facts and examples of culture and historic truth." The word guru does not appear in any of my dictionaries.

My conclusion is most gurus are charlatans who pretend to have more knowledge and wisdom about a chosen subject than anyone else. The dictionary says the slang name is "quack."

In my long career as an educator, I have taught in schools with fewer than 200 students and as large as 1,500 students. The term museum accurately describes all of the schools in my experience. Some were Tennessee mountain schools struggling to exist but were successful in producing graduates who went on to higher education and became productive citizens. Some became scientists, college professors or musicians.

Other schools in Citrus County have successfully produced graduates who have become productive citizens and professionals far and wide. Many live and work here in Central Florida.

All of the successes took place before the FCAT and "accountability" boondoggle.

Of course, educators should have open minds and exchange ideas and pedagogic methods. But to pay huge dollar amounts to "quack gurus" is neither smart nor ethical.

In closing, I must say that as I substitute teach in schools across Citrus County, I am impressed with the skilled and dedicated teachers as well as with the level of achievement of the students.

I am proud of the more than 100 former students of my own who now teach. That includes school superintendent Sandra "Sam" Himmel.

P.S. I suppose this charlatan guru is the leader of the great "throw-away society" and would sponsor a program to destroy all museums and older schools because they are old and obsolete.

V. Lionel King of Inverness has been a teacher in Citrus County and elsewhere for several decades. Guest columnists write their own views on subjects that they choose, which do not necessarily reflect those of this newspaper.

[Last modified February 13, 2007, 11:47:01]