Letter: Hold EFAs to same standard

Published: 05-27-2025 10:43 AM

As a public school teacher for more than 35 years, I was held to task regarding my expenditures. Yes, I could order new microscopes, but I had to show how their purchase aligned with local, state or national objectives/standards.

Proof of learning was then provided as my students were tested to show that they understood and had learned. We had to validate that the expenditures I made correlated with learning.

EFA expenditures should be held to the same standards.

How are those students using EFAs and expending my tax dollars held accountable? Can they provide hard proof that the expense aligns with an agreed-upon local, state or national learning goal, that the expenditure has resulted in learning? Are students tested to validate that they have learned?

I have dug deep into this subject, and I find no evidence that the expenses meet the criteria above.

The EFA expenditures are not transparent, and as taxpayers, we need to be able to see how the dollars have been spent. We need any tax-supported educational expenditure in our state to be held accountable for learning, just the way every teacher is held to that standard.

Being a middle school educator for years was not easy work. It meant reflecting on how all students learn, and carefully examining the scope and sequence of learning goals in every subject area. Finally, it meant designing lesson plans to assure that outcomes were achieved and learning happened. It was the work that made our public schools strong.

Until the state can account for exactly how the money is spent and a measurable and direct correlation to learning goals our state supports, I will stand in opposition to any EFA program.

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