By Ron Friesen / Herald Forum

The verdict is in: Our public school math scores and achievement are at horrendous lows and getting worse. The Seattle Times Feb. 14 editorial gave us the bad news. Washington is in fifth place for school funding while 60 percent of our students are below grade in math, and 50 percent are below grade in reading. Low income students are below grade 76 percent and 65 percent respectively.

What the Times article did not mention was how we got here, why we are here, and what the solution is. Most importantly, is this just a funding problem?

The “how” is a complete failure of leadership in Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction . Superintendent Chris Reykdal has lobbied the Legislature for much-needed increased funding for our schools. But he and his agency cannot explain the current poor student performance, explain how this happened, or point to a solution other than to pour more money into a failed system. This bloated bureaucracy is ripe for an Elon Musk-type of clean out. Administering is not leading. “Lead, follow, or get out of the way!” Being in the way means being ripe to be swept aside.

How did this happen? The 1957 Sputnik crisis, when the Societs beat us into space, forced America to respond. School math curriculum were expanded to provide more than basic math, algebra and geometry. Advanced algebra, trigonometry and calculus were now expected for all the smart kids. Why? So we could be better at launching rockets and munitions than anyone else in the world. We succeeded and won the race to the moon in 1969. But from then until now, the math curriculum did not progress. But our culture changed.

Students want to learn how to program computers and AI, not launch rockets. The “why should I learn that” questions are only answered with, “It is a graduation requirement.” or “You need this to get into college.” These answers do not motivate today’s students.

The huge missing piece is understanding how our money and economy works. Ask a high school senior to explain the difference of an appreciating asset and a depreciating asset, and to provide examples. Blank stares will follow. Ask them to explain compound interest and provide examples. Do they know the difference between stocks and bonds? Do they have any clue about risks in investing and wealth building? As they prepare to launch into the real world, do they have a clue about how to rent an apartment, buy a house or the advantages and disadvantages of each? No, no, and no.

This is all about learning basic life skills which require a solid understanding of math. But instead of teaching math in the context of life skills, math is still taught in the same “beat the Russians” bubble we created in the 1960s. Lots of textbooks and methods have been created since, but no one has broken the bubble.

Our lawmakers are currently hard at work, and the budget remains their biggest job. I have been very critical of our legislators for how our schools are funded. But what can they do? The only solid case from OSPI is to fully fund special needs students, because districts now have to siphon levy funds away from their intended purpose. Other than that, legislators are justifiably frustrated at just “throwing money” at a failing, calcified system.

Our schools definitely need more money. But exactly for what and why? And how will this investment improve the current top-down, bloated and poorly performing system? Legislators want to know. I want to know! The answer from local districts? School boards? OSPI? Crickets. Is it any wonder legislators and local voters are so frustrated?

Our schools are so fearful of failure that innovation has stopped long ago. This is why we are stuck. With innovation comes higher risk of failure. But without it, a mired-in-the-mud system fails. That’s where we are now. Only courageous leadership can risk failure to achieve success. That’s what happened after Sputnik. That era has been over for 20 years or more along with zero leadership. It’s ong past time for a change. Tick-tock, OSPI.

Ron Friesen is a Marysville resident, a retired music teacher and community and church musician and is committed to community improvement.