If we don’t prepare high school students through rigorous academics and other activities–just football–then we are cheating them terribly.
The May 30 edition of the Charlotte Observer carried a story about Charlotte area high schools having a tough time retaining elite coaches. The article begins with the story about Aaron Brand. Brand, who coached Vance High School to last year’s state football championship game, has accepted a coaching position at Irmo High School in Columbia, S.C.
Brand leaves for Irmo, SC (photo, WIS News)
Brand explained his decision this way: “They have excellent facilities, and I think they care a little bit more about football there,” he said. “And the pay increase was too much to turn down. Still, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”
But other comparisons favored Irmo over Vance. “For starters,” Brand asserted, “Irmo’s weight room and playing field dwarf anything Vance has to offer.” But there’s more. At Irmo, Brand will have daily lunchroom duties, won’t have to teach classes, and will make more than $100,000 a year.
In a related story, The Observer’s Langston Wertz, Jr. writes that “in many ways, high school football coaches are as valuable as principals. Sports is the ultimate drop-out prevention program, and there’ s no high school sport as big as football. Having an elite football coach should be valued. And apparently, it is at many schools across the border.”
Wertz goes on to quotes Tom Knotts, a football coach, who said: “The powers that be (in the Charlotte school system) have to decide if it’s (football) is important to them. I know academics always come first, but football sets the tone for every school. You can ask anybody that. Every principal, some begrudgingly, they all will admit it.”
Knotts goes on to say that “Teaching a full load is unheard of in South Carolina. They value equality of football and know what it takes for coaches to be prepared.”
My take on all of this–to quote George Will–is “Well!” The high school staff making $100,000 or more are non-teachers, the ones supervising the lunchroom?! Do they create a tone-setting program for a school? Do they prevent students from dropping out of school? Are they “the elite”? I don’t think so!
I don’t begrudge Brand, Knotts, or any teacher of making a good salary. However, I argue vehemently against the very concept that any coach or teacher as ‘being elite.’ That mindset is a slap in the face of every teacher of English, history, art, band, history, or whatever the program might be. Why? It’s because most of them are elites.
I know that some teachers aren’t hard workers or don’t care for their students. But most are and do. They, too, deserve the kind of financial support that often goes to weight rooms, salaries, supplies, and good fields on which to play.
No person who wins a championship(s) is “elite” because of that fact. If we, as a culture, travel that road, we will eventually crash and burn. We will be valuing misplaced principles.
Winning is not the reason for sports, just as it is not the reason for a band program, an art room, a dance studio, or any other activity offered for the education of a child. Being elite is a goal. Students who participate in an activity may strive to be the best, but it’s not reached by winning playoff games.
I know people who say “academics always come first,” but they don’t celebrate academic achievement until graduation day. They don’t recognize a student for scoring high on a national exam, having a painting displayed in an art show, or learning how to play a musical instrument in concert with other musicians.
Courtesy: The Atlantic
Yes, their words are there, but not their actions. Instead, the spotlight shines on the playing field, the weight room, coaching salaries, and the misplaced belief that only football can set the tone for a school.
It would be silly to deny that our culture isn’t in love with some sports. However, we are talking about high school!
Every offering for a youngster should be viewed through the lens of preparing her or him for life after graduation–a life where winning is not the measure of life quality.
The skills they learn and then apply matter much more.
Yes, it’s true that sports are one reason why some boys and a few girls stay in high school. But if we don’t prepare students through rigorous academics and other activities–only football–we are cheating them in terrible ways.
From where I sit, a large salary for supervising the lunchroom and coaching one sport is unjustified. But, it seems, that some school systems “down here in South Carolina” disagree. I suggest that those systems re-examine their educational priorities.
Football should be only one more offering for students who are in school to prepare for life.
