PUHBLIK EDUKAYSHUN: The Great American Shame
It is way past time for professional educators (educrats) to wake up, look at, and see what is going on around them. In many states, especially in California, the K-12 public education system has rotted to its core. The results produced by the system are below pathetic, the money spent is wasted, the urban classrooms are in chaos, school districts are in bankruptcy, discipline does not exist, building and grounds maintenance has all but disappeared, students cannot read – speak – spell at anywhere near grade level, and the only thing educrats can say is “send more money”. The system is fatally flawed and clearly money will not fix that flaw. The problem is not financial, it is systemic.
The evidence of this reality abounds. For instance, review Grandma's high school diploma which in my case is dated June 8, 1911. The importance of that document is obvious at first viewing in that it is 18" x 21" and very ornate. It features the original signature of the school Principal and each of the five members of the Board of Education. Thirty-two terms (a term was 19 weeks) of work with a minimum standing of 70 was required to graduate. Here is what she earned listed by subject and number of terms:
-Geometry: 2
-Bookkeeping: 2
-Botany: 1
-Physiology: 1/2
-American Literature: 2
-English Literature: 3
-Rhetoric: 4
-Modern History: 2
-Ancient History: 2
-Civil Government: 1
-German: 2
-Drawing: 1/2
-Domestic Science: 1
-Stenography: 2
-Typing: 3
No fluff, all substance. Math, science, English, history, government, a foreign language, and employable skills: what a concept! A solid, basic, well rounded education that had standards that were enforced. Those were the days.
Further we find Private schools are under siege from applicants opting out of the public system. Parents from every socio-economic category are finding a way to get their children out of the public schools. Of even greater consequence is the very significant and constantly growing trend to Charter schools. Although publicly funded, Charter schools feature both academic fundamentals and classroom discipline no longer in evidence is the existing system. They are designed by parents and educators who will no longer tolerate the morass of the public schools. The unfortunate end result of all of this is that our traditional public schools are increasingly populated by those who do not consider a good education any kind of priority or are trapped by a dearth of local options. Teachers are thus caught in a downward cycle that exists in an environment where their students have no grade level skills backed by a home environment that is often counter to the learning process. The public school system is headed toward total implosion and our educrats are wearing blinders.
Solutions are few and far between as long as there is no systemic change in the antiquated American public education scene. There will continue to be an explosion to Charter schools and Private schools will continue to be a growing choice. Clearly the marketplace is offering the best option for parents and families. Certainly some sort of school choice system is not far behind. The movement is unmistakable and, so far, our best hope to remain competitive in the global marketplace. While educators sleep, the world around us moves forward and leaves our young people behind.
From: http://www.greensrealworld.blogspot.com/
The number one problem in education is unfunded manadates from state and federal governments.
Also, political and religious views demanding to be tought in school. President Bush complains about our falling behind in science, for example, while attacking scientific theory. If we remove scientific theory from science we have very little. Most people are unaware that there is more evidence supporting the theory of evolution than there is supporting the theory that smoking cigaretts causes health problems.
We have groups trying to censor books such as Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye.
We cannot teach history because religious influences have to be left out. The right demands we teach God is America's protector. The left demands that God be not mentioned. Understanding American history without understanding Puritanism is impossible.
We need calm reasonable citizens to stand up to nuts and support moderation. If left to their own, local school boards will, generally, produce the education our children need.
At some point we have to trust the voters.
This year, we, the citizens of this great country, are waking up from a long sleep in which we dreamed that imps and goblins had taken over. They used to say that television could brainwash people, but, I believe we began losing our direction in the late 80's and was compounded by Walmart and the corporations that followed them, (to China and Taiwan,etc ) -- and thus, began our long nightmare.
I can remember to this day, when I went to the first Walmart opening in our small town in Florida. The signs were all over, Made in America, We Sell Only American Goods, were all over the store. We were thrilled with this and of course the items and reasonable prices. That was in 1990.
(do they lie, or what?)
didn't mean to sound off-subject, in the post above. It's that teachers are not given what they need to instruct kids, today.
In other words, the morass that begins in Washington flows downhill, all the way to the educator, and like one poster remarked in another thread, we need reform all the way down to the dog-catcher. Mentally and morally, we need to rethink America and our priorities.
I am a math teacher in New Jersey, and I realized a short time ago that I am not really teaching math anymore. I am showing students how to take standardized tests. We teach to the tests now. Children are learning algebra in 4th grade, but 6th graders don't know their multiplication tables. It's scary.
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you're reading it in English, thank a veteran.
What is your typical class size? How many sections do you teach? How many total students across the sections at any given time during the school year?
--Think also of the comfort and rights of others
My experience with having a child in both the private and public school systems has taught ME much about education. My son was enrolled in private schools for most of his educational life until the seventh grade, when he was forced into the public system because the private only enrolled up to that point.
He was bored to tears in his classes because he had already learned what they were teaching him when he was in the fifth grade of private school! He was also harrassed by drug dealers who just also happened to be his classmates! In brief, I learned the following:
1. Parental involvement was key. If you are struggling, as we were, to make enough money to send your kid to a private school, you better bet we were involved! We attended or had my mother-in-law attend for us, every PTO meeting.
2. As stated above, no fluff, only the basics, were taught in the private school setting. Trying to create a "Well Rounded" individual, was left to the parents to accomplish.
3. Critical Thinking was the centerpiece of the private school. The ability to take sometimes very divergent issues, compare them to the facts, and come to a reasoned and logical conclusion.
Fortunately, our son turned out to be someone that I admire as an individual, not just because he's my son.
We cannot depend on others to raise our children for us! I realize not all children are raised in a household like ours. There are many single parent homes and many times that parent has little choice but to work instead of attending PTO meetings.Passing a law similar to the Family Medical Leave Act for these parents, allowing their employer to pay them for time missed at work to attend to the educational needs of their children, would make a huge difference. What do you think?