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Show Just Between You And Me Xiy jP "Red" Wilson 1 There has lieen a lot said about "Why Johnny Can't . Read" in recent years. In ' the main, we agree thatedu-:' thatedu-:' cation on the whole has suf-- suf-- fered tremendously over the last 30 years. But listening to the honor students speeches at graduation gradu-ation showed to anyone who was listening that at least on that level, local youngsters pretty well have both feet on the ground. We couldn't help but wonder how much difference dif-ference in philosophy would be represented between the upper 10 percent of the graduating class and the lower 10 percent. We imagine it would be considerable. con-siderable. 0 - Education has suffered not so much from the deviation from the basics, as from the diversification of curriculum. curricu-lum. This is not so much I'.ie fault of local administration adminis-tration and local school boards, as to federal and state funds, which have certain cer-tain strings attached. In order to qualify for funds from Title I to Title XX, administrators have succumbed to broader curriculum cur-riculum s. Local citizens demand the same subjects which are available in the largest metropolitan areas in the local school system'. 0 - It should be obvious even to the most obtruse, that Beaver Bea-ver County schools cannot lunction on the same levels as say, Granite School District. Dis-trict. To attempt to do so, means that teachers must teach as many different subjects sub-jects subjects which are often out of their field. As hard as they try, they just cannot do as good a job as they would like, when they must prepare for five or six entirely different subjects sub-jects each day, certainly, they cannot do as good a job as a teacher who teaches the same subject to five or six classes each day. - 0 - In Granite or Milford, top students will be found to have excelled In the basics. They know that despite their future fu-ture interests, they must have the basics to succeed. Weaker students follow a less rigorous route. They do no more than necessary to meet graduation requirements. require-ments. They opt for a vocational vo-cational 'curriculum with a minimum emphasis on the basics. This is true in small schools as well as metropolitan schools. - 0 - Thirty years ago the optimum op-timum of a high school education, edu-cation, was to go on to seek a degree in higher education. edu-cation. Today the emphasis is turning toward vocational education. - 0 - A teacher recently said, "How can I encourage astu-(Continued astu-(Continued on Page 2) iialiility of office, staff am! malpractice suits. The!ock worker works a 0-7 hour day, 4 to f days a week, lias job secutiry . numerous fringe benefits, no liability, lia-bility, and little responsibility. responsi-bility. And there's a darned good chance they are neighliors, living in comparable housing and travel in the same social circles. '- 0 - To say the least, advancement advance-ment of the minimum wage has been a tremendous contributing con-tributing factor. Another factor is the automatic cost of living increases passed on to government workers, from the local level clear up to Washington, D.C. Welfare and unemployment unemploy-ment benefits, which maintain main-tain a tax free modicum in come for unemployed andun I) employable also adds to the inflationary spiral, and poor incentive to make sufficient effort to improve yourself. While Utah is not as bad as many states in this area, the differential between unemployment un-employment and minimum wage is not sufficient to force many to look for a job, as long as they can draw living expenses from the rocking chair. If the professions, and , skilled labor are ever again to take their rightful place in society, the reward for the sacrifices of advanced education and training must be compensated for, not only by status in community, but with financial reward and security. Today this differential does not exist. The honor student or any, who go on to receive advanced education edu-cation or training will do so mostly for their personal satisfaction. But there is one more incentive which may be overlooked by those who choose not to further their education. The doctor is far more likely to leave his individual mark on the world, while the dock worker will most likely pass out of this world in anonymity. HERE'S MORE ABOUT Just Between dent to go on to college and earn a degree, with the prospect pros-pect of a starting wage of $10 - 12,000, when he can step out of high school and get a job paying maybe twice that amount." The fact is that the gap between skilled and unskilled unskil-led labor insofar as salary is concerned, has narrowed in the past 30 years to a point that is completely out of line. - 0 - Advanced education, and skilled labor, besides the original Investment, often bring the recipient long hours, added responsibility and Increased liability, while unskilled labor has received regular hours, little responsibility res-ponsibility and practicially no liability. Compare the doctor to the dock worker. The doctor is subject to 24 hours call, averages av-erages a 14-16 hour day, has |