The Truth is Out There. Let’s Just Make Sure This Time the Kids Win.

Enjoy this video, taken at the Orange County Learning Leadership Symposium, presented by the Learning Counsel.

Dr. David Miyashiro may not be your typical school superintendent. For one thing, he speaks his mind. Unabashedly. For another, he gets things done, and Katy bar the door if you are an obstacle getting in the way. Yet, Dr. Miyashiro’s solutions are real, and structured with compassion as his guiding light. In this very special presentation, Dr. Miyashiro shares some of what he has learned in his 10 years at Cajon Valley School District.

“I was hired to take over Rich Mill Elementary,” said Dr. Miyashiro, “which was one of the worst performing schools in the state. And they said, David, do whatever you can to raise the test scores. And so, we did. We did so well that the state of California sent proctors into our classrooms to make sure we weren’t cheating. That’s how well we did. So, we won. But who won? The adults won.”

“Sharon Ramirez was one of my sixth grade teachers who’s retired now. She came to my office later that academic year crying. She was upset because one of our students who had moved to Texas came back and now had a young baby at 15 years old. And Sharon said, ‘We aren’t doing a thing for these kids. We’re improving their test scores, they’re still getting pregnant, they’re still going into generational gangs.’ Richmond was a hundred percent Title I school, and we didn’t change anything. I allowed Sharon to share her story and let her cry and other staff members cried. And we said, ‘What are we doing to these children? What are we doing in the name of education?’ And by the way, the adults weren’t having fun either. What is the problem? The problems are not those symptoms. The problem is the design. Our system was designed in 1892 by the Committee of 10. And it hasn’t changed since then. This is our modern school.”

“10 University Heads in 1890 said in 11th grade everyone should learn chemistry,” said Miyashoro. “And senior year everyone should learn physics. A lot of these subjects are great, but these priorities were  dictated 124 years ago. And the government doesn’t help. Our federal indicators haven’t changed much in the last 80 years. This is the state of California. It looks roughly the same as it did at the first start. Then, college and career readiness was measured by high school graduation. Does a high school graduate mean college and career ready? I don’t think so.”

You’ll want to be sure to watch this riveting video – and be prepared to take a few notes, or you may be watching it again and again. It is that valuable.

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