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In the most recent Indiana Jones movie, Jones is approached by a young man who wants to involve him in rescuing the young man’s mother, but Jones is not interested until he is told that one of his friends (and a potential archeological find) are part of the deal. The young man tells Jones that he has not graduated from high school, even though his mother has sent him to numerous schools that teach worthless things. Jones replies that it is fine for him to do whatever he wants with his life.

However, later Jones finds out that the young man’s mother is his former fiancée, the young man is his son (and Junior), and THEN Jones says, “WE need to get Junior to finish school.” Junior says. “I thought you were OK with me not finishing school?” to which Jones replies, “That was before I found out you are my son!”

Until I became a grandfather, I sadly had the same view as Jones, but I was WRONG on MANY levels. First as a Christian Jesus said, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” I would want to be given every opportunity for a good education even if it seemed inconvenient to me at the time, or there was no family tradition of education, or I had other difficulties like having to work to help support my family.

Additionally, if only my descendants (and circle of friends) are well educated, then they will not have the best life, they will not live peacefully, and their education will not be as good as possible. From a financial, business, and societal standpoint the YEARLY additional costs to us Texans added by each year of dropouts is: “Dropouts cost Texas taxpayers additional Medicaid costs of $321 million and additional incarceration costs of $12 million per year.” (Queuenews and Edweek)

A recent Financial Times article Philip Whyte wrote entitled, “Why free markets have little to do with inequality” highlights this reality. In it, he writes, “The reason the Nordics and the Dutch have the most egalitarian outcomes is that they provide the best education. The correlation between educational and social outcomes across the EU is striking. People with low levels of attainment at secondary education are most exposed to the risk of poverty. Moreover, the more educated people are, the more likely they are to be in work: the employment rate for Europeans with tertiary education is 80 per cent, whereas it is just 50 per cent for those who fail to complete their secondary education.”

For the sake of my descendants/conscience/legacy, I am employed full time as an administrator for Responsive Education Solutions, ran for Plano ISD School Board Trustee in the most recent election, and write a weekly Education Ideas Emails note to the Plano ISD School Board. It is wonderful to find out that MANY people (including many in Plano) are working toward the same goals so I am joining their efforts.


About the author:


David Hall is a graduate of Abilene Christian University, 1972. B.S. Mathematics w/minors in Physics & Business. An ex-marine and a financial consultant, he currently serves as Public School Administrator/Auditor for Responsive Education Solutions. www.responsiveed.com. David Hall may be reached at DHall.Planoisd at gmail.com and on his blog. Married 36 years with 3 kids and 7 grandchildren, he now lives in Plano, Texas, where he is a member of McDermott Road Church of Christ.

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