A Sunday article in The Arizona Republic, titled, Student's hopeful, teachers uneasy: Town halls spotlight education in Arizona, brought up some challenges inherent in public education as we move ahead with Common Core Standards and state-mandated teacher performance evaluations that take into account student performance on standardized tests.

A specific portion of the article draws my attention though. About 300 high school and college students from 135 Arizona schools participated and their opinions are interesting. (See this link.) First, of those 300 students surveyed, 95 percent say they plan to graduate from college. But the national average four-year college graduation rate in a six-year frame is around 57 percent. So, 38 percent of the participants have ambitions that may not match their chutzpah. That's worrisome. It appears some people have the mic but shouldn't. It's not quite Occupy Wall Street, more like Occupy Room 222. That said, teenaged optimism is always a good characteristic, and it must walk hand in hand with prioritization, financial aid funding, institutional support, timing and pragmatism.

Aside from poking at youthful ambition, here is what perks up the guidance world.

"Lack of support from guidance counselors was the subject of numerous gripes when students stood at microphones and voiced their views.

"A Paradise Valley high-school senior said she has been accepted to Grand Canyon University but has no idea how to pay for it. There is no financial-aid information available at her school, she said.

"A Mesa teen complained that he and his friends are channeled into classes that don't interest them by their school counselors. He said one friend, already fluent in Spanish and English, wanted to take German. But the counselor pushed her to take Spanish, a class that bored her, he said."

Wow, mild slander and my thin skin. Bad combo. I suppose anyone can say anything. In the words of Reagan's Labor Secretary, Ray Donovan, who was found not guilty of corruption charges, "Which office do I go to get my reputation back?" For the Paradise Valley senior above, during her senior year, her parents fill out the FAFSA form, submit it to the feds by February 1, and co-sign for loans. Her parents make up any financial shortfalls. That is how one pays for college. Financial aid information, College Goal Sunday, college recruiters, etc., abound at every public high school in Arizona.

From a glance at most university's web pages, they do a superior job of explaining the value of their schools' programming. However, a few can do a better job of putting total costs, FAFSA information and case study examples up front and out there so the PV kid and her peers can see what they're getting into from the jump. The cost of college attendance and the inherent sticker shock that follows for an 18 year-old kid is part of the sales process, but should never be hard to divine. Universities are fond of asking prospects to "take ownership". Tacitly that could mean to exclude parents until very late in the game when it may be too late to turn back.

At this time of year, while high schools tout scholarship dollars earned by each senior class, factually, the number of scholarships earned is small. Statewide, of say 500 seniors graduating at high school X, around 100 seniors will earn a merit or private donor scholarship. IRHS seniors do a little better. Having more students-like our PV fan above- take an active roll in the scholarship search is our mandate but getting students to take that process and own it becomes an onerous un-graded extra-curricular activity in the eyes of some students and it doesn't get done.

We have a solution to the scholarship search problem though. For the fourth time in this column, the AzCIS system is part of the Education and Career Action Plan (ECAP). All IRHS students-and Wilson and Coronado kids- must participate meaningfully in this endeavor. The State of Arizona says so, and APS counselors support that initiative and platform totally. We're all in. Please, get your kids on that system now and support guidance's efforts.

Regarding the pressure counselors place on students to take certain classes, as in the fluent Spanish speaker being recommended for Spanish, instead of German, it is possible to mislead through omission. Perhaps that counselor had information about the student's attendance and study habits and knew German would be untenable. Or, perhaps the counselor was seeking to maintain the student's AIMS High Honors Tuition Scholarship and didn't want the kid to gamble on ruining her 3.500 GPA. Or maybe, the constricted master schedule didn't permit a schedule change, so Spanish was the best option. Or maybe the counselor was just a horrible person and was trying to really undermine the student and ruin her chances at a meaningful life.

Anyway, thanks as always to the truth-seeking parents who partner with the schools and assign responsibility in a mature and thoughtful manner. By fervently partnering with schools and strengthening the relationships, our parents are able to address all children's needs. Without strong parental support and engagement, IRHS would fall into the mediocre Harper Valley PTA category (see this Youtube video). On the other hand, with your continued thoughtful and supportive ideas and actions-smart boards, site council, college fair committee, Project Grad, individual appointments, appreciative cookies and parenting-IRHS NPO and IRHS are most excellent, thank you.