Governor Bill Ritter's State of State speech last week revealed that he and his advisors have dropped the ball in trying to develop policies to lead the State toward an improved education system. Education was the one topic in his speech that was repeated over and over again; however, one short sentence near the end of his speech caused me to seriously question the soundness of the very foundation upon which the Governor is claiming to revolutionize Colorado's education policy. That one sentence reads as follows: "I am proposing that we establish policies that assume all students have the potential to succeed in college and that we prepare them accordingly." I propose that Governor Ritter is wrong, and the state's education policy should not be based upon such an erroneous assumption that the only valid purpose of public K-12 education is preparing students for college. I believe that both vocational education and special education are just two other worthy and admirable components of public education that should be recognized by Governor Ritter as being equally important to the state as the college preparatory component. Not every child has the potential, let alone the desire to be successful in college, and it is foolish to base the state's educational policy on such an assumption.

There are four major problems with the Governor's assumption. First, this assumption fails to account for the fact that many children move into Colorado from other locations where they did not receive the education or obtain the other necessary skills to be successful on a path to college, and can not be expected to be successful when plugged into the Colorado school system alongside Colorado kids of the same age. These immigrants obviously would need the commitment of additional school resources along with the expenditure of additional funding.

Second, even with the availability of increased financial resources at schools, every primary educator knows that without the active and consistent support of the child's family, the child is not as likely to achieve success in the K-12 system, and therefore not prepared for college. Not every family is both financially capable of and tenaciously committed to giving their child the quality physical environment, the specialized tools and resources, and the emotional support needed to provide their child a reasonable probability of being successful. Families are often more to blame for the lack of a child's success than the educational system - it's just not politically correct to say that.

Third, and maybe most important, I'm okay with admitting that a significant portion of our state's children have the potential, capacity, and desire to enter career fields that do not require college - and they will lead very productive and happy lives, worthy of praise and consideration as an admirable goal. Vocational education, including the latest emphasis upon new high-tech trades, should also be a viable consideration for state policy. These future technicians and trades people also need a solid basic education so as to prepare them for the specialized training their trades and employers will need.

Fourth, the Governor fails to account for the wonderful strides our education system has made over the past few decades in the field of special education. My mother obtained her Masters degree in special education in the late 70s, one of the first women to do so after this degree was offered in response to the historic 1975 Public Law now codified as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. I am very proud of my wife, Kim, who also has her Master degree in Special Education (she says there is hope for me yet). The massive commitment from our society and educational professionals to bring these students forward has also aided our society in making individuals with disabilities more visible and accepted as full citizens.

What do I know about educational policies? My family's history is centered in the area of professional educators and the importance of education policies that meet a variety of needs. Both of my parents were career educators. While they were the first in their families to attend college, they were not the first teachers. My maternal grandmother attended "normal school" in Nebraska, and taught in a one-room school house out on the plains. My parents met at Kearney State Teacher's College and they both worked hard to earn their Masters degrees. My father was the head of my high school's business department, and was basically charged with preparing students for entry into the business world upon graduation. My wife is a professional educator, using her Masters degree as a literacy specialist in the Douglas County School District. Both of our paths to and through graduate school were long, self-supported, and ones of which we are proud; I served three long years in the U.S. Army to earn my funds for college.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for the presence of a strong college preparatory program in high schools. My wife and I want to help our daughter be even better prepared for college than we were, if that is her desired path. My point is this - the Governor's assumption was elitist, and the state's education policy should not be so revolutionary as to diminish the importance of special education and other programs preparing students for high-tech vocational careers. I hope the Governor will admit his error and apologize to the professional educators, parents, and students invested in these programs.