If I were Professor John Nash, the schizophrenic, Nobel Laureate mathematician portrayed by Russell Crowe in “A Beautiful Mind,” I would cut out two articles featured in The Chimes last week, pin them to the wall with two thumbtacks, connect them with a string, and scribble a few notes around them.
But I’m not Professor John Nash. So, I’ll just talk about the connection in another Chimes article, which you are now reading.
Education feeling the California financial pinch
Last week, The Chimes reported on The State of Education symposium hosted by Biola’s School of Education. The symposium featured former California Secretary of Education and Biola alumnus, Glen Thomas.
During the event, Thomas mentioned the dire fiscal situation in California — a $26 billion budget shortfall. With such a massive financial hole, the state budget for education has been on the chopping block.
Notwithstanding how much or whether the education budget should be cut, teaching in public school classrooms have, in general, become more difficult. Even private schools have been tightening their belts.
Biola’s Sparro ministry appropriate for the times
Meanwhile, embedded on page B3 and somewhere in the vast expanse of cyberspace is a Chimes feature about Sparro, a relatively new campus ministry.
Sparro sends several Biola students to provide classroom aid and tutoring for students at Davis Middle School in Compton, Calif. A majority of Davis students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds and student achievement is perpetually low.
During the State of Education symposium, Ruth Perez and Joe Gillentine, superintendents of two local school districts, were asked how people can help schools in times of financial lack. Both unequivocally suggested that people approach school principals and ask how to volunteer.
Teachers and principals welcome, even covet, community members who want to help. And this help is precisely what Sparro offers three times each week in Compton. Sparro cannot be more apropos.
A new perspective on public education
Currently, the public education system is run by bureaucrats, who are stuck in distant levels of government and are, consequently, disconnected from everyday classroom occurrences. Even the most well-intentioned bureaucrat cannot possibly synthesize all the vast bits of information about every school, classroom and individual student. The lack of omniscience frequently leads government to make uninformed and misinformed decisions, often with deleterious effects. Sparro, however, is in the trenches with the students and can immediately meet their needs.
This raises an important issue: Government does not have to be the main provider of education. Granted, many argue that a public education system must exist to sustain a democracy, but education does not have to only consist of traditional public schools. Public schools, private schools, homeschooling, and charitable efforts such as Sparro, can harmoniously work together to sow into the lives of children.
Possibilities limitless in Christ
This more effective, more efficient way is only possible when ordinary people, empowered by the Spirit of God, dream up innovative ideas to serve their local schools. Sparro is the first fruits of this possibility.
If there is ever a moment for Christians to shine, it is now in this present fiscal crisis. When circumstances appear dire, Christians can display grace and hope. They become windows for others to peer into the goodness of God.
St. Francis once explained that words are not always needed to reveal God. Indeed, the simple act of voluntarily serving a local school speaks volumes. Believe me. I used to be a high school teacher. Families of the students will attest to the same thing: The impact that a volunteer can make, especially in a fiscal crisis, is priceless.
