School board headed down dangerous road

April 18, 2006

SPECTRUM/Carol Lowery

Why is it that public education is the only major institution or business that is run almost totally by people who have no training, education or background in that particular field?

Would plumbers be happy having a nurse tell them what to do? Would doctors like to have carpenters telling them what patient care they should be utilizing?

Would a convenience store owner appreciate having teachers walk in and rearrange shelves and products according to their opinions? Would the fire chief accept the directions of a school custodian in fighting a fire?

Of course not! Would any other institution allow people who obviously are hostile to that institution plot the direction of that institution? Absurd thought, isn't it?

We have that exact situation occurring here in our schools. The school board is composed mainly of individuals with little training in how a good school functions, and has made a very poor decision to outsource the custodial work for the district. They have, in fact, said the men and women who take care of our schools aren't very important, and are interchangeable and disposable.

This so unfair to the entire custodial staff! These people take great pride in the appearance and safety of &#8220their” schools, and are knowledgeable about the entire school, not just one little corner of it.

The custodians are one big part of the school family that makes a particular school function well. They are not just the folks who sweep the floors and empty the trash. They fill many other slots in a school.

They are called on in emergencies to know instantly where every exit, turn-off valve and danger area is. They check our buildings constantly for new or unseen danger spots. They are able to move about the building freely when others on the educational staff are confined to a room or area, and they are first in spotting strangers who might not belong in that building.

They are one big part of the &#8220face” of a building, meeting the public and the children daily in the routine of a school day. They are the ones the children know can be counted on to &#8220fix” things that are broken, or find things that are lost. They all have been through a system of background checks to weed out any possibly dangerous people who should not be in contact with our children.

Mrs. Turner's call for outsourcing the nutrition staff next, and then the school nurses and the principals, and then maybe even the teachers, shows that she neither understands nor appreciates the public school system. The other board members who voted with her don't have the same long-term hostility toward the schools, but they just don't have a feel for the total picture of a school and how it runs.

Our public schools are the foundation of America. Each member of the school environment is a vital part of the total working of that school, and if the board insists on going with the lowest bidder for our schools, they may get exactly what they are willing to pay for.

Carol Lowery is a retired Mat-Su teacher.