 Do you like the look of this school? That is Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, Tennessee. The truth about education is that it should be the one place in our society free from the ridiculous. This is a 12 year program that is designed to produce the next generation of tax paying wage earners that will help keep the country and the economy strong. It should be the one place where we have no doubt about the learning taking place, where the survival of our country rests. It should be made up of clean buildings, the latest technology, the best teachers and the strictest codes of conduct. No one should be able to mess with our education facilities. Our graduates should have received a well rounded education, learned to be critical thinkers and problem solvers, pioneers, ambitious and hard working whether they wind up laying bricks or designing computers. And our schools should be working on making each class the strongest. Equal ability students should be grouped to enhance the pacing that the teacher can do. Weaker students get remedial help. Behavior students find themselves sent to a behavior school manned by an army drill sergeant who will not put up with crap. Those who do not wish to learn may join a trade or join the military. There is no argument about the rights of losers and whiners. And parents threatening lawsuits should run the risk of jail time for false and frivolous filings. Students should take pride in their schools and accept the challenge of learning with pride and purpose. THE REAL WORLD So what do we have now? Well for starters that above is a fantasy I would like to see happen. What I see now are unruly, disrespectful clusters of youth; the boys looking and acting like thugs, and the girls looking like young prostitutes in their dress  and demeanor. I watch kids smoking the moment they leave campus, spitting, swearing, fighting and making comments about their schools and their classes and teachers with the utmost disrespect. More time is spent figuring out how to bail on a class, steal from a store, spend a class text messaging each other and avoiding any semblance of courtesy, than anything else. Before you email me that your child is not that way, I do realize that there are normal kids out there. And to be honest, I do not blame the kids for their conduct. I blame the parents and the school. The parents have no excuse. The schools gave away the power. Schools never had these problems when students could get caned. But then some parent had to have some lawyer prove how that was cruel and unusual punishment and schools suddenly evolved into powerless institutions of good feelings for all. THE SHIP IS SINKING I walked a local high school campus last year and watched the sea of trash. The custodians were overburdened and had begged the gardening crew to help them pick up the little lazy, ill bred students would not. Still, the ocean of trash remained. And so I questioned the principal and for every suggestion I was shot down.  Students could not be forced to clean up the trash as that would violate child labor laws. Trash could not be left in classrooms as a deterrent because it posed a health hazard. Students could not be restricted from eating if they littered because they have to eat. It was always about the rights of the students. The students had the right to be stupid. The school had no rights. The teacher does not even have an enforceable right to expect respect. And I asked the principal: "How can we expect this generation of students to know about conservation and green applications when we cannot even get them to pick up their own trash? He looked at me and shrugged. "I know," he said. And that is where the conversation ended. And I left very angry at how ridiculous this notion of protecting the rights of stupid children is. The needs of the one do not outweigh the needs of the many. MAINSTREAMING IS A DIRTY WORD It is stupid that a classroom is comprised of so wide a range of abilities and personalities that teaching is fragmented. I do not care how fancy the edu-label is that gets used to describe this.  Mainstreaming is what you should do to cows in a field, not kids in a classroom. The range slows the pace and yet the pacing requirements speed up the pace leaving a void where the weaker students in the mid range are. The bright kids are bored. The weaker kids are lost. The foreign language speakers are in a trance from the barrage of illiterate content coming their way, while the behavior kids have mommy and daddy cause trouble for the teacher and the principal by demanding the rights that they should not have in the first place. Legal notices are stapled to classroom walls about all the areas that some parents had generated a lawsuit settled by the school district that then became a requirement. These are then followed through with the anti-potential lawsuit strategies such as ensuring that no kid has hurt feelings, or that the kid with the crappiest piece of work they did two minutes before class still gets a sticker because God forbid his feelings get hurt. There is more logic in a circus than in a school. There is more order in a zoo than a school. And everyone is good at bitching about the problems but no one has the guts to stand up and try to change things. I have seen entire classrooms of parents allow one crazy parent to stir up trouble just because the school would allow her to get away with it. I have seen a school where a student with a history of sexual harassment, having transferred to a new school and called out by the teacher for continuing to harass, having the teacher chewed out because the "student has rights, too." What mindless thinking can offer that defense? A principal of questionable character and ability. TALKING EXCELLENCE IS NOT AS EXCELLENT AS SOLUTIONS My point here is not to slam individuals, but to slam the system as a whole. We talk about excellence as though it were present and yet it is bullshit. Excellence is a rare element that we cannot nurture and cannot elevate because we spend all our time trying to maintain a lawsuit-free stance and offend no one. Teachers are told to teach, yet stripped of the ability to do so. Teaching is not about turning pages on command; it is about having the pulse of the classroom, cultivating the respect of the students and providing incitement to learn. So now there is no money for sports, arts, library, music, VP's and a host of other things that have been stripped away. Federal and state mandated programs must remain, however. Those things that are idiotic and self-serving to the minority, to the system abusing parents who would rather blame everyone else than their own manner of parenting, be unwilling to come and help the teacher. The needs of the one outweighing the needs of the many.  Gifted students can vegetate (someone should audit that program for accuracy or truth in advertising) while English Language Learners get a solid half hour with a dedicated teacher at the expense of the other 80% of the class. Lunacy. And we wonder why the kids do not respect education. And we wonder why they form groups to evade and avoid and ditch and party and vandalize; they have immunity. A child can graffiti your property and you have not got the right (unless court ordered) to force them to clean it off. That is up there with getting sued by the burglar in your house because he got injured. THE SECRET OF WHY A CHILD SUCCEEDS IN SCHOOL The kooks are running things. And we stupidly let that happen. Dropouts will continue. Program dollars will still be hurled at ways to raise scores, despite the stupidity of the scores. It does not take a million dollars to figure out how to make a child do well. I will tell you that secret right here. For free!!  In order for a child to succeed in school... THEY HAVE TO WANT TO! Think back to the one or two teachers you had that made the difference. They found your switch and made you want to bust your ass to succeed. Where the will is present the results are attainable. We do not make our students want to do anything. Because we cannot make them do anything. Because we cannot force them to do anything. Because they do not fear school, teachers, principals, police, or even their parents. If a student fears none of those things, that parent should be very, very scared. So now we have no money. We have no way to generate real learning because we are still looking at somehow fixing the old system. For God's sake, let it die. It is time to rebuild. Spend money holding parents accountable for the conduct of their children. Allow schools some authority on where a child attends. End mainstreaming. Allow foreign language learners schools with bilingual teachers until they are strong enough to do without. Send behavior problems away. It is not our problem. And then use the quality we cram into teachers to reach new heights. I would be happy teaching a class of 30 low performing students as much as a class of 30 high performing students. With that homogenized group you are able to pace at a more sane level. Together. With fewer losses.  It is time for parents to be pissed off. This is not about money. This is about direction and focus. Get politicians out of education. Get lawyers out of education. Hold people accountable for their choices and recognize that not everyone will achieve the same way. Doing nothing will result in a total collapse of education in this country within the next ten years. We cannot sustain what we are doing. Economically we are failing, in part because of greed and in larger part because of stupidity. Edu-politicians with agenda and binders of data, none of which is objective data, have no business talking what teachers have to live.  So what will you do? Or will you gloss over this, as so many do, smile, shrug and wait to see what happens on its own? Your choice. You just need to choose soon! MisterWriter |
Saturday, March 21, 2009
WHY IS EDUCATION SO DAMN UNIMPORTANT TO EVERYONE? EACH YEAR IT GETS WORSE THAN THE YEAR BEFORE. EACH YEAR THERE ARE MORE RESTRICTIONS ON FUNDING. EACH YEAR PRISONERS GET MORE RIGHTS THAN EDUCATORS. AND WHILE EVERYONE WANTS THE STAR TEST SCORES TO KEEP GOING UP, WE STILL HAVE TOO MANY DISINTERESTED, APATHETIC, RUDE, UNREGULATED, SELF-SERVING STUDENTS WITH NO IMPULSE CONTROL AND SIMPLY TAKING UP SPACE. SO WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
I agree with about 98% of your ideas. I have issues with physical punishment - I've never hit my children, and I won't allow anyone else to do so.
My mother always told me that my "job" was to go to school and get good grades so I could get a better "job" (college) and then an income-producing job. It never occured to me to disobey her, or the teachers.
However, it was not out of fear of them. I respected the adults in my life, and I respected myself, and it had nothing to do with the "feel-good" baloney most kids are handed today. Good work got me good grades. Half-assed work got me a failing grade. Simple as that.
The largest problem I see today is parents falling down on the job. They expect teachers to be all things to their child, and that's just unrealistic. I work with an amazing group of educators. I see parents make every excuse in the world why their child is not succeeding, but never is it the parents' fault or the child's fault. Hmmmm.
I agree with most of what you have said in this post. However, I believe you are only telling half the story. There are many kids who want to learn. Kids who go to school, take rigorous courses, do hours of homework, behave and participate in class. They show up to community events like the campus clean-up day at Northgate yesterday where 600 people cleaned the school, the MAJORITY were students.
There are many outstanding teachers but just as you have disengaged students, you also have disengaged teachers. Teachers who are habitually absent from school, teachers who would rather put on a movie than teach a class, teachers who can’t speak English well enough to converse with students, teachers who make mistakes on tests but tell students they won’t fix the mistake because it doesn’t really matter, etc….
I can give you an example of a classroom of 31 bright and driven kids who after three weeks, 15 subs, and countless inane movies (including Mean Girls), decided to create their own homework assignment. While a sub played another movie, the class voted 30-1 (by passing notes) to study three chapters and be ready for a class discussion the following day. Something is very wrong. In this country no student should sit in a classroom and have to beg to be taught.
It takes two years to remove an incompetent teacher from a classroom. This is wrong. I agree, get the politicians and lawyers out of our educational system but let us be fair and get the unions out as well. Unions create situations that will continue to keep our educational system mediocre at best.
As we face critical funding challenges and eliminate faculty and staff we are not keeping the best and the brightest we are keeping those with the most seniority, how incredibly ridiculous is that. If tenured teachers were actually held accountable, just as you are asking to have students held accountable, we might actually have a chance to make this work.
The largest problem I see today is that all of the stakeholders are falling down on the job, not just parents. I know I run the risk that with this post you will say, “see another parent shifting the blame.” You would be wrong with that statement. I accept the blame directed toward parents, I would like educators to acknowledge and accept their role in this as well. No single group of stakeholders is all bad, but not one of them is perfect either.
MisterWriter,
I applaud you for writing about such important issues. I haven't read this entire post yet, but I can see it is what I come to expect and RESPECT you for. This truth needs to be told. People are reading your blog, and I am just as disgusted as you are. My young child must enter a failing education system. Very disheartening. I will do my small part to help. I will read your lengthy article, and yours is top priority after the day in the park with my toddler! Our family think you have wonderful ideas and are most grateful that you are have the intelligence and guts to post your ideas. - A faithful reader
"I support education"...hollow words. I mean, who would be against it. Saying it and showing it are two totally different things. Apparently we have the former.
Not to be one that believes in conspiracy theories, but look more deeply into No Child Left Behind. It may look good on the surface title, but that is it. Given the lack of funding, the unrealistic goals for some, and the punitive consequences for not achieving those goals, one might conclude that it is a planned program that intends to create failure. Once schools have all been deemed as failures, watch and see what is proposed as a method to fix the broken system. My contention is that NCLB is THE tool to break it. Can anyone say, "Voucher"?
I was an elementary school teacher for 20 years and finally left in frustration. I loved teaching.I still do. I am a teacher and always will be, but I will never go back into a classroom.
Schools are now interested in test scores. Gotta have high scores to look good and get more money. The problem is that we can no longer teach what the student needs or wants to learn. We must teach to the test and only the test. There is no time for anything else. Watch reality shows where people on the streets are asked questions. They know nothing that requires common sense or a recall of general knowledge. Our students are not taught how to think and reason. They are taught what is on the test.
We must give our kids 2 hours of homework every night. WHY? If the child already knows how to do the work then it is a waste of time to do more. If he doesn't know how to do the work how can he practice it? And for those of you who argue that practice is good, check out the research.
teachers get no support from the administration or parents. If little Johnny gets in trouble it is my fault. I heard "What did you do wrong to make little Johnny get in trouble" more than once.
And No Child Left Behind is a joke. In a quality education system no child is ever left behind. If the child knows the material, you move on. If the child doesn't know the material you spend more time with him. I never wasted time on homework and tests. I spent my time working with those students who needed help. Those that didn't need help went ahead on their own at their own passe. I taught what the students wanted to learn. [And yes, I also covered the required basics] This obviously went against the grain.
So now I am retired and watch the mess getting worse.
Thank you Mister Writer, you are correct on all fronts. I am a teacher, and the parents of the students in my class are a major problem. I have taken verbal abuse, and treats this year because I held a student and his parents responsible for his behavior, and not doing his work due to this behavior. I was not supported by my principal, because she is afraid of the parents, until I went to the district for help. We have too many children with social, family, and behavior issues in the classroom, and we as educators can not do anything about it. My question is, what about the child who is at or above grade level, with no behavior or social issues? What about the English only child, who wants to learn? All these other children take away from them, and it is not right. Our community needs to wake up, and realize that you are right, and we need to do something about our education system now.
Oh, I could go on forever. At our site, there is a 1st grade boy who needs to be held back, and his parents agree, but all the "experts" disagree. So he will proceed to 2nd and falter miserably. Then, there is a genius mildly autistic boy whose parents have convinced the principal that his bad behavior is not his fault, but the teachers. Oh, then we have the new gifted program. It no longer has words so that English Language Learners can partake in the test. My son's 3rd grade class has 10 out of 20 students who are gifted. I seriously doubt that 50% of one class is truly gifted. Then there is the fact that our administrator deems the computer lab assistant not a necessary position. Even though the PTA and all parents voted on having this position saved. She then went to the Site Council and convinced them that it was an unnecessary position but couldn't eliminate it completely because the parents wanted it. So, she just decreased the hours to make it an ineffective position. This lab is probably the best in the district, and she is willing to let it go unstaffed. What we need to do is stop letting MDUSD and Administrators steam roll over us. Yes, there are tons of obnoxious parents who think their children can do no wrong. But there are also a lot of us who accept the crap given to them. And it's those parents who need to stand up and say STOP! We are sick of your lies.
My neighbors, who live in MDUSD school district, have just sold their home. They are moving to the other side of Walnut Creek so their children can attend Acalanes school district. I am very saddened. There is so much wrong with schooling in general, but those of us stuck with MDUSD have been screwed. A$99 parcel tax? BFD. Orinda Union school district has over a $500 parcel tax. That includes 1 high school, 1 middle school, and approx. 5 elementary schools.
Wow, I wish every parent would read this. Big changes are needed, but where to start? It will take the parents stepping up and not only asking what they can do to help on any level, but then being allowed to do it as well. I would gladly pull weeds, paint walls, etc, but are we allowed to due to union regulations?
Another thought I have is to create a volunteer campus "yard duty" pool. Parents, or any community member would sign up,then be assigned a school and a time to be there. If enough signed up, and again followed through, it could work. I would suggest parents not be assigned to their child's school though, to prevent any favoritism, or backlash against their own child. Just my two cents.
8:15- You sound a bit bothered by the GATE testing process. Perhaps if you had a better understanding of why a nonverbal assessment is so important in helping to determine giftedness you would be more supportive. The "Naglieri" test is a nonverbal measure of intellectual ability and is currently used in MDUSD as one way to determine GATE eligibility.* This test is used as an indicator of intellectual potential and is administered to all third graders. This test has replaced the "Raven" test, another nonverbal test, which had been used in this district for many years prior to 2007. A nonverbal assessment such as the Naglieri provides for a culturally neutral measure of one's nonverbal reasoning and general problem-solving ability, regardless of the individual student’s language, education, culture or socioeconomic background. If we only use verbal measures, some gifted students could be overlooked. You wouldn't want your child to be overlooked would you?
*FYI- Some students qualify for GATE based on high academic achievement as demonstrated by consistently high scores on the annual STAR tests.
Correction- The above comment is intended for anon 9:50, not 8:15
Wow, pseudo scientific jargon for assessing 1st graders as gifted and allowing them to remain so throughout their education even if they encounter difficulties in higher grades, which many do.
I'm sorry - I think GATE is a joke. If we want to cultivate kids who show aptitude for a higher level of learning, they should not be thrown into a classroom with everyone from the class troublemaker to the recent immigrant with no language skills and one (now) pink slipped teacher wondering just what happened to that dream of making a difference.
I could be wrong, but given the minority of students showing any genuine potential, I think the money could be better spent.
Anon 11:00 am
One correction.
The parcel tax in Orinda is $509 for the K-8 schools and $189 for the high school district. Orinda residents are paying almost $700 in education parcel taxes.
We have to pass Measure D. Our kids deserve better.
Get involved www.protectourlocalschools.org
Re:10:15 Yes, I am bothered by the "Gate Process". If we stress language arts and math in classrooms, use the star testing system to determine intelligence then that should be something considered "Gifted". I know for a fact that the star results don't mean a thing unless you pass this test. My own child had a perfect score in math and near perfect score in Language Arts but wasn't considered gate because of the test. Maybe I am "ignorant" on the Gate process, but like I said, 10 out of 20 children in one class that are considered gifted is statistically impossible. I think it is a bunch of crap.
Post a Comment