Why The School District Closed Johnny’s School

A Venango County school district is closing schools again – this time it’s Polk and Utica in the Franklin School District. Of course, there are the usual “mandatory” public meetings where moms wring their hands and dads rant about how the schools are needed. Once the meetings are over and the hoopla dies down, the schools will close anyway. It’s inevitable.

Here’s a little reality check: the schools are not needed – that’s why the district wants to close them. The population of Venango County is declining, and there just aren’t enough kids in the area to justify the number of schools we have. That, plus the ever-tightening budget in the slumping economy, is forcing the demise of the “local” school.

So, what’s a parent to do? Well, here’s a thought – SCHOOL CHOICE. It already exists – Make it your own. I think it’s time we started leveraging today’s technology in the educational arena. I think it would be great if we went back to the days when dad went to work, mom stayed home and took care of the kids, and now the kids don’t even have to go to school – we can cyber school them! Imagine how much money we would save if we didn’t have any expensive school buildings, with all the inherent overhead. Imagine a world where parents actually took care of their own kids and accepted responsibility for raising them – including choosing and monitoring their educational experiences!