Focusing on feelings won’t develop skills to earn a living

LETTER TO THE EDITOR, Starley Craig, Liberal

A “stakeholder” is a person, not involved, who holds the money put up by players as they compete for wins. I wish that USD No. 480 could at least get definitions right, as stakeholders really do not have any “stake” at all in the activity they are watching. So “stakeholder entities” who get results for the three areas covered in the Leader in Me program actually have no input at all in our school system.

Actual quote: “Leader in Me offers research-based and highly effective practices so they can pull out the rubric (that is printed with red ink) for those areas and look at what can be done ...” Yada, yada, yada.

Please keep in mind that Leader in Me is pulled out — probably screaming — from a book written for middle management adults who want to excel in business situations. It focuses on the seven “habits” that organized people should develop. It is not for children.

At second, third, fourth grade, social emotional skills are learned without being taught. They are picked up in daily socialization that occurs naturally. Academics are taught.

I wish the program was “Reader in Me.” But whether or not a child can read can be measured.

If a school focuses on leadership, how does the staff track progress? Who’s following? Maybe it’s the stakeholders.

Liberal is receiving $10 million from the government this year. Who pays the bill gets to call the shots. So what benefit does the government receive when knowledge takes a back seat to feelings? What adult function in a society pays for feelings? Do you want a doctor or a plumber or mechanic who is right on top in social emotional language and skills but low in how to do their job efficiently?

I listen to parents and other should-be-involved people who decry our methods and materials used in education, but I never hear from them vis-a-vis, nor does USD No. 480 ever say a word in defense of their policies. Why not? Can USD No. 480 count on apathy form the citizens of Liberal? 

And the correct word is stockholders.