Cost of International Baccalaureate Doesn't Justify the Trip

In other words the destination is not really the goal but rather the trip is the goal. This is the analogy that Dr. Jane Reed explained to the Ozark teachers and the Ozark School Board in regards to obtaining an IB Diploma.

“The point is not the point” explained Dr. Reed when asked about how many IB students receive an IB diploma versus the tax dollars spent. She maintains that students that participate in the IB program, even if they don’t earn the IB diploma will be better prepared for college than those students that are not involved with IB. Of course this is anecdotal.

If taxpayer dollars are being spent on education so students may experience the trip (the point is not the point), no wonder public education has a reputation (earned) for failing our students. Standards must be established and achieved or education has failed. There was no data presented that supports the fact that students who complete an IB diploma or experience the IB program are better prepared than other students for college. There was much rhetoric espoused about that being the case, but no hard data. As far as I can tell, colleges do not keep this kind of data.

No wonder I continue to Doubt IB. I have been very impressed with the verbal communication ability of IB talking heads. They are sincere in their talking points and no doubt believe every word they speak. Mr. Everett Isaacs had great success stories about how IB brought Central High School back from the brink, but I wonder how much the $23 million spent to refurbish Central High School had to do with its revival? I think it is fantastic that disadvantaged students mentored by teachers (IB or not) pull themselves up by their bootstraps and go on to do great things. I question, was IB the reason or was it the teachers? After all isn’t this what teachers are suppose to do?

After being subjected to a total IB indoctrination last Thursday night at the district’s special board meeting, where no district patron questions could be asked, I will admit the board did ask a lot of questions that were of concern, but I detected a little sarcasm in the tone being used. And of course the answers were right out of the IB playbook.

I still have concerns; foremost, why is it that no one in this community has heard from an organization or group that opposes this program? Why doesn’t the board spend as much energy and money to bring the district a special session that tells the opposition side. Why not bring in experts from schools that have dropped IB and maybe bring in a representative from TAIB (Truth About IB) for another perspective? I would recommend contacting Lisa McLoughlin, an expert on IB as well, to do just that.

Our school board is expected to get the job done. To do so, they must analyze situations, identify and solve problems, make decisions, and set realistic and attainable goals for the district. These are the thinking or creative requirements of leadership and they set direction. These actions provide vision, purpose and goal definition. These actions are the eyes to the future, and they are crucial to developing a disciplined, cohesive, and effective district.
Decision making and problem solving are basic ingredients of leadership. It is the responsibility of the board to make high-quality decisions that are accepted by taxpayers. The problem solving and decision making process in regards to IB has been flawed. There are seven steps that should have been followed in precise order. The board should have:

• Identified (recognized/defined) the problem.
• Gathered information (facts/assumptions)
• Developed courses of action (more than one solution)
• Analyzed and compared courses of action (alternatives/solutions).
• Made a decision based on selecting the best course of action (solution)
• Made a plan
• Implemented the plan (assess the results)

The school board is currently in step two when they have already set step seven in motion (applying for IB and paying the initial fees). I am sure they have concerns about why patrons don’t agree with them. Failure to follow the decision-making process is the reason. The meeting conducted Thursday evening should have followed the identification of the problem (whenever that problem was identified), which I am not sure they have correctly identified. Two of the most common errors a leader can make are identifying the wrong problem and identifying the wrong causes of a problem.

Leaders must gather all available information that pertains to or can influence the situation/problem from all applicable outside sources and agencies.

The board failed here by viewing only pro IB information.

The board should have kept an open mind throughout the decision making process. They failed here as well. The board should have developed as many advantages and disadvantages as possible for their course of action. This did not happen. The board should not have voted to move forward with IB guided totally by emotions or intuitions and immediately doing what “felt right.” The board should have had a plan that included who would do what, when, where, how, and why. Instead they deferred to Ozark High School Principal Dr. Sam Taylor. IB even required them to do this (feasibility study). The final thing they should have done was evaluate their decision making process before spending one dime!

It is a given that IB will be implemented. It is my hope that the school board will put a plan in place to monitor and assess IB. That plan should ensure International ideologies do not prevail, that the religion of humanism is not taught, that students are not required to challenge their belief system and that taxpayers get the most value for their investment.
The point is the point! IB diplomas will equal program success, how else can we the taxpayer know of the success?

To say anything else is a ruse!

Ronnie L. White is an Ozark resident and a retired master sergeant with the United States Army.