Jan Brewer has released the new budget proposal. Unsurprisingly, it is filled with cuts to public programs, and, yet again, cuts to education.
The fact that Arizona is once again slashing its education programs may not be anything new, but it should still be worrisome.
This is in the wake of a study released by The Education Trust, an education advocacy group, that shows nearly 20 percent of Arizona high school students cannot pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB.
The ASVAB is the standardized test the military uses to determine aptitude for service, and it's pretty basic. Practice questions found on Kaplan's test preparation website include basic math, science and English. The test is not something the average high school student should struggle with. And yet, students are.
Glenn Coopey, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant who is now an aerospace science instructor at Desert Ridge High School in Gilbert thinks this has to do with more than just money.
“One of the problems is the way things are done,” he said. “We teach to the AIMS test, and now we have No Child Left Behind. I've always said these kids aren't going to be the next Shakespeare. So why not teach them technical writing so they can explain things to people? But the state's not set up that way, and that's wrong.”
These scores, and the low quality of education they suggest, reveal a greater problem as well.
The ASVAB tests not only educational preparedness, but it also covers a number of occupational areas like general science, aptitude with technology and mechanical devices and language skills.
This study indicates that our high school students are not only under-prepared for military service, they are not ready for civilian life either.
David Rice, a sophomore business student at ASU is a cadet corporal in the University's military program. He feels that despite the deficit, education is one part of the budget that should not be cut.
“We can cut in other areas,” Rice said. “Social services could be cut, like homeless shelters. Not get rid of them, but with the idea that if more people are educated, they won't need the shelter.”
When the study was conducted, 7,526 students took the ASVAB in Arizona. The results showed 19.6 percent of those students did not meet eligibility requirements for the military.
That means 1,475 students in Arizona who wanted to serve and took the test did not score high enough to be accepted into any level of the military.
This is not the only indication that Arizona's education needs to be reformed. Arizona was ranked dead last in the National Education Association's 2008 Education Statistics study.
“I think the education system is sorely lacking. I've had three children go through the state education system, two of them from back east, and they were light-years ahead of the kids who were going to school here. I think that when they talk about cutting the budget it's one of the biggest mistakes they can make,” Coopey said.
These results are indicative of a problem with Arizona's education system. The study demonstrates that a high school education is no longer sufficient to defend the country and that is something we should all be worried about.
Contact the reporter at omcquarrie@gmail.com
