Committee on Architecture for Education

There was an interesting program that aired on Jan. 3rd on NPR's All things Considered with Melissa Block.  It described the latest casualty of the current economy, the school nurse.  Having two young children in elementary school, this hit close to home.  You can find the transcript of the program here: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=144615747

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Brian Minnich AIA
Architect
Rubeling & Associates, Inc.
Towson MD
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Mark Bartos AIA
Bartos Architecture, Inc.
San Mateo CA
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Most districts in California are probably down to one nurse for the district instead of one per site. Things are much different than when i was a kid growing up in Illinois.

Also the school librarian is going out of style too unfortunately. The librarian used to be like a teacher that guided us to good books and helped us on research.

But in this world where folks don't want to pay taxes for education, cuts will be made. Unfortunately we get what we pay for. Other nations put greater emphasis on education than we currently do. In the 60's with the space race we had a "Cadillac" school system. But since the 1980's the quality of our education has gone down hill.

With the political climate since about 1980, unfortunately investments that take longer than three months (a quarter) don't get our nation's interest. In the long run we are in trouble...our greatest resource should be a highly educated populace...

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David Schele AIA
Felder Group Architects Inc
Austin TX
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On the other hand, we seem to have plenty of money for SROs (School Resource Officers - the onsite arm of the school district's police force.)  This situation speaks volumes.






Original Message:
Sent: 01-06-2012 12:04
From: Mark Bartos
Subject: "No the school nurse is Not In"



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Mark Bartos AIA
Bartos Architecture, Inc.
San Mateo CA
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Most districts in California are probably down to one nurse for the district instead of one per site. Things are much different than when i was a kid growing up in Illinois.

Also the school librarian is going out of style too unfortunately. The librarian used to be like a teacher that guided us to good books and helped us on research.

But in this world where folks don't want to pay taxes for education, cuts will be made. Unfortunately we get what we pay for. Other nations put greater emphasis on education than we currently do. In the 60's with the space race we had a "Cadillac" school system. But since the 1980's the quality of our education has gone down hill.

With the political climate since about 1980, unfortunately investments that take longer than three months (a quarter) don't get our nation's interest. In the long run we are in trouble...our greatest resource should be a highly educated populace...