As education continues to take the spotlight of public discussion, it appears that there is real little forward progress. We have declining test scores, stagnant graduation rates, growing criticism that soaring taxes have resulted in little improvement, and a undercurrent of unease that maybe our schools are just not working as they should.

So, what if? What if we allowed parents to send their children to any school they wished? If we simply gave each parent a per pupil allocation consistent with a reasonable calculation of costs, and the community would send that check to any certified school in the country. It could be a charter school, a private school, a parochial school, another public school, a themed-based school (e.g., music, agriculture, vocational, etc.) or Internet school. The naysayers who predict the end of public education if such a recommendation were implemented are usually those most committed to the status quo.

What if we removed the computer from the classroom? It seems most children in America have access to a computer anyway, called their smart phone, and those who don’t have public libraries. Excepts for individual pursuits of incredible learning, show me one Maine study that has demonstrated that one to one computing has increased student learning.

What if we did away with continued contract status for teachers (continued contract status is commonly referred to as ‘tenure)? Would the system rush to push out veteran teachers? Would they dismiss teachers for lack of reason? Perhaps. Perhaps not. I think the best tenure teachers have is great teaching. Parents will not let administrators dismiss a great teacher.

What if we only hired teachers who were bilingual? You know the joke: What do you call someone who can only speak one language? (an American). If we taught English the way we teach a foreign language, I swear that half of us would not be able to speak. So, hire teachers that already speak another language and introduce this language within the context of every day lessons.

What if students were primary determinants of teacher merit pay? I am going to say something that will terrorize the average teachers, but it is profoundly accurate: After third grade, kids are incredibly insightful about teacher competence and very fair in their appraisal. I have piloted this model and it has generated very good data, much to the chagrin of the average classroom teacher.

What if schools were mostly ungraded? In other words, kids may have a homeroom to park themselves for morning announcements and they fly out of that room likes spokes in a wheel to the place they learn best. Did you ever consider how ironic and inaccurate it is to assume that every nine year-old is at the same educational and developmental level? Would we have swimming classes for 33 year-olds and another one for those who are 34? No, it would be regarded as ridiculous, and age level grouping is also silly.

What if we kept schools open until 9 p.m. at night, allowing kids to come in at noon or after? Shifts of kids, accommodating to their circadian rhythms, their personal schedules, could make such a huge difference in the learning cycle of a generation of students.

What if we provided adult education/GED preparation classes for free? The education level of a parent is the primary predictor of a child’s success. So, let’s invest in free education for any parent who does not yet have their high school diploma.

Finally, what if we redesigned school governance and rethought the value of school boards, the office of the superintendent, the administrative hierarchies underneath this office (special education directors, curriculum coordinators, department heads, principals) and tossed the model as a top heavy, outdated model that has no data basis for its continuance. In place, come up a new model of distributive leadership, a co-op model of shared vision and responsibilities with accountability at all levels.

There will be a lot of work to get any one of these implemented. I’d like to see us jump out of the airplane and make it work instead of endless ‘committeeing’ new ideas to death. Our children need new energy, new models, new risks that will take them from here (24th in the free world) to there (first where we once were).

William Shuttleworth is superintendent of four small school districts, a father of three, grandfather of four and can be reached at wshuttleworth@hotmail.com

More columns by William C. Shuttleworth