Community Commentary -- Paul James Baldwin

A recent 28-nation civics survey has found that half the students had

no grasp of democracy, lacked clarity about the Constitution, elections,

voting systems or the role of groups like trade unions. This is what the

newspaper The Australian reported about its country’s students on March

6.

If this report was describing students in the United States,

California or Newport Beach, then they would have added that the students

were deficient in geography and foreign languages. I challenge anyone to

go by one of our high schools and ask a typical student where Slovakia or

Uruguay is. Or what the official language of the United Nations is.

Now having gone to Newport Elementary, Horace Ensign Intermediate

School and Newport Harbor High School, I feel I was very lucky and

fortunate to have had teachers that encouraged me and everyone else to

learn. Sure, some of us were a bit rebellious, but discipline and

motivated teachers did make an impact on many of us, and we did learn at

times.

But times have changed, and now we live in a global society, and the

students in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District must be taught in

accordance with these new challenges that are being presented to us.

Although I do not have children of my own, I believe education is an

imperative and the future of our society and prosperity. I encourage each

and every parent to get involved personally in their child’s education,

not only helping with homework, but encouraging understanding of current

events and international affairs.

In order to facilitate better education, I believe that teachers’

salaries should be commensurate with the excellence of which we expect of

them. Excellent salaries equal excellent education. Of course this is a

crass oversimplification, and throwing money at a problem is not an

answer onto itself. My point here is that our children’s educators are

grossly underpaid, and if you want your children to succeed in this

world, then you should think the world of education.

* PAUL JAMES BALDWIN is a longtime Newport Beach resident whose

commentaries will appear occasionally.