It’s time Brevard schools pay less attention to sports and more to academics | Opinion

Below are excerpts from an opinion piece written by Ken Rhoden, Esquire for Florida Today:

“Brevard County has a new school superintendent and the election will bring two new school board members. However, there is still little discussion about how to improve the quality of education.

Brevard’s schools are above average when compared with other Florida counties. However, Florida’s schools rank 29th among all states, and overall, the United States ranks 14th when compared to other high-income nations. Our schools are not educating students to become the engineers, doctors, skilled trades-people, or scientists this country needs. What our schools are training is athletes. Every year we graduate hundreds of highly trained athletes, especially football players.”

“On average 6 percent or fewer high school athletes go on to play college sports, and of those, less than 1 percent ever play professionally. This is a minuscule return on our investment. Our high schools should concentrate on teaching students useful skills that are beneficial to the student and the nation. The sports culture should be replaced with an academic culture. Sports culture is deeply ingrained in our schools, and replacing it will take time, but that time is now.”