Speaker says politics closely tied to education
Emeritus USU Professor Richard Knight spoke to students in the TSC Feb. 9 on the interaction of politics and education
To create awareness about the relationship between government and education, USU’s Government Relations Council brought Knight to campus as part of Education Week. The week is hosted by the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services. Other events during the week included speed dating, an ice cream social, a spelling bee and a carnival.
Before the event, Knight, a member of the Cache County School Board of Education, said, “One of the reasons I ran for the school board is to practice what I was preaching.”
As an educator, Knight said he taught at various high schools including Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum. He has enjoyed his career, even though educators don’t have high-paying salaries, he said.
Running for the board was an inexpensive process, Knight said, and said one of the best way to make a difference is to join a school board.
“I’ve run twice and have maybe spent 50 bucks on signs,” he said.
After Knight spoke to the audience about his role as a teacher, as well as his ideas about education and curriculum, he turned to the audience for questions.
When asked about the speculation that tenure may be eliminated for university professors, Knight said it was a bad idea.
“Colleges and universities need some protection,” he said. “Tenure is crucial and should also be a part of community colleges.”
Knight said the tenure process at USU is quite rigorous, involving six years of teaching, good reviews, and contributions to research and publications.
Cache County is growing with nearly 16,000 students, Knight said. The county will be in need of a new high school soon, he said, but it requires 40 acres and a large sum of money.
“We’re constantly growing and need to find ways to fund these schools,” Knight said.
Schools in the U.S. are funded by property and income tax, he said. Cache County has many children in school and a small tax base. He said funding for education more through income tax would help schools.
“I’d like to see a small added tax for school funding,” he said.
Another important improvement in education is improving the curriculum for mathematics, science and engineering, Knight said.
“Students will know more math facts and the inquiry of how math works,” he said. “I think schools should demand more and students should be encouraged to be more conscientious.”
A typical kid spends hours using technological media and only a few minutes reading. Students do learn through technology, but he said reading should be more of a priority.
Utah is currently one of the Top 10 states in SAT and ACT test scores, he said.
After teaching at Mountain Crest High School he taught at UCLA for a time before becoming a social worker, Knight said. He said this experience gave him a good idea of what inner-city schools were like. Catholic schools were the best inner-city schools, he said.
When students are raised in these cities, he said, there is often a mindset of living in the present and not worrying about the future by studying and saving.
The No Child Left Behind Act started by President George W. Bush Jr., had good intentions, Knight said, but didn’t do much good.
“They put in place a lot of tests and assessments for students. If enough students didn’t pass, the school was put on probation,” Knight said.
Ultimately, this didn’t increase funding, but stigmatized schools, he said. He also said pay for Utah teachers is too low, starting at about $33,000, Knight said.
“These teachers haven’t had raises in four years,” he said.
When Knight raised the issue of unemployment rates for some minorities, audience member and USU student, Richard Orcutt, said one cause could be a lack of parental support.
The “Big Six” characteristics of a good teacher are “intelligence, conscientiousness, openness, extrovert personalities, agreeableness and stability,” he said.
“Being a teacher is very satisfying and gratifying,” Knight said. “You feel like you’re contributing toward the future.”
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