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Show Great Books decision limits Alpine education The Alpine School District didn't burn any books when it dropped the Junior Great Books program but it might as well have, as far as some children are concerned. That is unless something can be found to take the program's place. If that doesn't happen, the board's actions will ensure that some children don't have access to any program designed to stretch their minds beyond the average school curriculum. Instead, they will have allowed an outspoken few to limit the education of local children to fit the narrow ideas of a minority of school board patrons. There are some points about the program that make it hard to understand the concerns of the three board members who voted Great Books out of the school. --The program cost the district nothing. No teachers' salaries were involved No materials were provided by the district. All the board provided was a place for children and parents interested in-terested in the program to participate in it. -Only children who wanted to participate did, and only with the approval of their parents. --The program had operated for 10 years in the Alpine School District with no complaints from parents or children involved. Arguments for and against the program have been aired to excess, and individuals on both sides of those arguments have expressed no intention of changing sides - those opposed to the program have carried on what could almost be called a religious crusade against the program. Those who champion it have done so with the same intensity. And the board has been split with two members who agreed with the opponents and two who agreed with the proponents. But one of the board members voted not on the merits of the program, but on the merits of the controversy. And while Dan Fueal says ne doesn't like being labeled as the "swing vote" in the issue, he is. Fugal says he felt a "cooling off" period was needed because the controversy had polarized the community to too great an extent. . Unfortunately, no one has been cooled off by the board's decision. Instead, proponents of Junior Great Books in the area have rallied together to make some kind of statement expressing outrage at the shortsighted decision to drop Junior Great Books as a voluntary program. What probably bothers those people most is that they feel they were led to believe the program would be approved. They were also told not to lobby the board during the final week of deliberation. But the decision came after a propoganda blitz by detractors of the program, who. weren't given the same instructions, while the supporters had been lulled into a false sense of security by a board member and a very positive report prepared by the district's own committee set up to evaluate the program. The committee's recommendation was based on hearings with representatives of both sides of the issue. The hearings found that those who opposed the program had i never been to a discussion nor had enrolled one of their children in the program. On the other hand, the report states, "People with experience in the program (as discussion leaders or parents of children who participated) uniformly stated that it was an excellent vehicle for encouraging children to read, think, develop their own opinions about the stories, and to verbalize and defend their opinions." The committee said, "The testimony of people who knew how the program worked in Alpine School District was more convincing con-vincing to the Committee than the opinions of those having no experience in it." Since the individuals who opposed the program would never participate in it, or have their children participate in it, it is only reasonable that their opinions be discounted. Obviously the three board members who voted against the program last week didn't see it the same way their committee did. The district staff is now in the process of searching for an alternative program for children who want to be intellectually challenged. And that's a positive step. At least the district intends to instigate in-stigate some type of program for children who are looking for more of a challenge in their education than is currently provided by the regular school curriculum. But it would have made more sense to have kept the Junior Great Books program operating at least until a suitable alternative is found, approved and initiated. For now, it is the children who are left wanting more, while school district patrons must reconcile themselves to the board's surprise decision a decision designed to placate a few at the expense of the Alpine District's educational integrity. |