Time will pass, will you?

1. Public schools — through no fault of their own, really — can no longer acknowledge that all students are not created with equal ability. One of the more upsetting things I heard at a PTA meeting was a presentaiton from an academic consultant who stated that he wanted to “raise the number of children who were scoring above average on the standardized tests.” Anyone with a fairly basic understanding of standardized testing realizes that “average” is actually a quantifiable concept, and that any test that produced a larger number of students scoring “above average” would, by definition, be meaningless. The real problem is the idea that everyone should be able to achieve at some pre-determined level on an equal basis. Most of us have no problem acknowledging that not everyone can be a Tiger Woods, or a Leonard Bernstein, or a Christie Brinkley, for that matter. But political correctness these days seems to demand that everyone should be able to perform at a fairly high level when it comes to academics. And I won’t even get into the idea that any specific test, given on any specific day, hardly even measures what a particular student is capable of with any degree of accuracy.

2. Discipline is a large factor when it comes to the educational process. Even a student with a sincere desire to learn can be foiled if too much of the limited class time is spent deadling with a small group of students — or only one — who not only have no desire to learn themselves, but have no interest in what happens to everyone else around them. This is as much a societal issue as anything else, and while intolerance of others should not be encouraged, there is such a thing as too much tolerance. Societies only work when there is a clear understanding that everyone must play their part, and a clear consequence for those who infringe on others’ rights.

3. To be fair to public schools, the reasons that private schools have a built-in advantage have little to do with money. It is that they do not have to take on the task of teaching everyone; they do not have to tolerate any behavior from any student; they do not have to keep a teacher who should, for everyone’s sake, find another way of making a living. I agree that the tenure system is anachronistic, but I also have seen that schools are political institutions as much as any other large organization, and simply being an excellent teacher does not make someone immune from conflicts that have nothing to do with their teaching ability. There does need to be some system to ensure that one’s continued professional existence does not rely only on keeping one or two administrators happy. I don’t have the perfect answer, but I do think we can set up a system that functions more fairly than the one we have. Using multiple methods of evaluation that include the students, other teachers and the community, in addition to the administration, should at least keep the worst abuses from occurring.

I’ve rambled on quite a bit here, but this is a topic that is quite obviously the most important any of us can talk about, and should involve the community far more than it does.

BTW, the total cost of education for our children is not as low as has been stated. In addition to salaries and benefits for all faculty and staff, about 80% of the budget, there is building maintenance, books and supplies, food costs, equipment purchases, bus services, etc. Take the entire budget for your education department and divide it by the number of students enrolled. THAT is what it costs to educate a child; even that is low, because some expenses are in the myriad “regional budgets” that exist to cover common costs.

The perfect high school will not be public. The NEA, the national union our local teachers are members of, released it “goals” for this year. None of first 10 items listed dealt with classroom eduation. Does anyone see a problem with that?

Hindisght is 20/20. I will do my utmost to not repeat past mistakes in the education of my children.

A retired person is full of insights and even enthusiasm, as is any new parent or educator. The basic message all must accept as common is “NOT INTERESTED” as in “No time, not my department, not my issue, not in the budget..” and my all-time favorite, “insurance liability won’t allow it”. That has been the reason people cannot go off-campus to learn more readily (or even outside, I imagine). Liability is why more volunteers (including most parents), no matter how talented or eager, are not invited into the schools regularly (that’s also due to scheduling and increasing curriculum demands).

However, state legislation has recently passed saying schools should allow more involvement from parents (and the community although that may be a wishful thought). The current policy at some schools locally (and some libraries and other “public places”) is to limit postings and communications more and more to items pertaining directly to the facility in terms of Curriculum, stated goals. Faculty and managers need to comply with more regulations. No peace posters, community outreach or other “unrelated” communications can be made freely, not in our corner of America.

Remember, the need for this is to protct everyone from being sued for inadvertently favoring one group over another, remaining fair or disinterested, not embarrassing anyone by allowing open discussion of controversial subjects (even discussing what a conflict is and how to handle conflicts of any nature was deemed by one public facility as “inappropriate”, as was discussing mental health issues or getting books out in the public on such…)

But back to schools, where military can recruit high schoolers and have access to student records, where police are called (by law) is a racial slur is made, sexual harassment is detected among students, alongside more traditional violence or drug possession.

Students need to know they can be prosecuted as an adult at age 16, which can include matters in intimate relationships such as date rape, having sex with someone more than three years younger if under 16, and a host of other
crimes they may not realize they are committing…(maybe most know and hope they won’t get caught). Driving under the influence or with drugs in the car is a major offense, and people must not kid themselves it’s not..the penalties can add up quickly. Few employers are ready to hire someone with a criminal record. Back at home or in school or in public, yelling can lead to an arrest for disorderly conduct. That can lead to someone (a parent for instance) being made to leave their home for six months on the spot, even mothers who have young children. These are new developments in the law designed typically to protect women in difficult relationships, but the system needs tweaking…Legal advocates are trying to do that, but it will likely take months or more.

Parents, and regular citizens, as well as students need to work hard to know how our community and systems work. Don’t be afraid to learn, to ask questions or to voice an opinion. Know that much of that will not be allowed at school, if it’s “off topic”. Maybe the best school is one that is ongoing in the minds and hearts of all the citizenry…and doesn’t pass the buck or take long vacations or sit back and wait for things to improve eventually.

As to your larger point, I’m concerned that our current method of forcing change on school systems that aren’t working doesn’t solve the problem at all. I’m speaking of high stakes testing - favored by the No Child Left Behind crowd - that hinges a whole school’s fate on a few standardized tests. Can anyone point to an independent study that shows this strategy has improved student achievement?

I agree completely about the one-sized-fits-all mentality being a drag on the public education system. But I don’t know where you get the impression that private schools have the same approach. By necessity they must carve out a market niche and serve it, so I’m not sure I understand you when you say there is a “one-size-fits-all system present in both public and private schools …”.

As for the study, I haven’t read it but people’s reactions to studies are often more interesting than the studies themselves. When we see a study (or a poll, for that matter) that confirms what we already believe, we tend to accept it as proof that we are right. If the poll/study is conducted by people we like, we say it is credible. If it is done by people we don’t like and yields results we don’t like, then we attack the methodology or possible bias of the parties involved. If it is done by people we don’t like but with results we DO like, we say, “Even THEY admit that …”

The key component of the study you cite is the “adjustment” for “for individual student characteristics.” It would be very interesting to see how precisely it is applied. I will look at the study and get back to you …

I agree with many of your points in this post. I especially agree that the school system must change and it has not demonstrated an ability to lead in that area. However, competition is not the answer, only because a free market would perpetuate many of the traditional aspects of school that make them ineffective for an increasing number of students. The answer lies more with the work of researchers like Michael Fullan and a movement towards education requiring greater emphasis on the development of a self-managed learner.