If you've never been so fired up about something that it was almost impossible for someone to calm you down, then you might not be able to relate to what happened on the Gov't Schools segment of Teeing Off On... (www.blogtalkradio.com/t-ingoff). Aside from the fact that "Murphy" showed up with an array of problems--switchboard acting funny, chat room entry being arbitrarily blocked--I was hit with a sudden wave of passion for the topic that the show outline promptly discarded along with the structure of the show! Suddenly, I felt like the kids in the school yard who were determined to fight no matter the consequences!
Instead of laying out the facts in a methodical fashion, I heard myself cut right to the chase. Parents are the link. They can be what's right with public schools and they are most certainly what's wrong. Did I absolve the teachers of their responsibilities? No. But who holds the power to keep teachers in check? The parents. Who has the power to put a stop to waste, fraud and abuse that school systems suffer at the hands of bureaucrats whose children don't even attend public school? You guessed it. The parents.
More often, though, who sits back and just take what's offered to them because it's free? Parents. I would argue that public education isn't free to begin with. You just don't pay for it until it jumps off track or until your child's failure turns him into a drain on society (i.e. can't get into college, find a job or get out of your house). But it's viewed as "free" because you doesn't have to write a monthly tuition check to the schools to cover the expenses of books and uniforms and food and transportation. So my question is, then, why would a parent feel that, for free, they are entitled to the very best of anything? Why expect that your child is receiving a top-notch education when you've turned control over to the government? When was the last time the government ran anything well?
I tend to believe that what's wrong with public education is the public. The public is the one of the few cases when the intelligence quotient decreases as the number of people increases. Because this is the case, the system caters to the lowest common denominator. The curriculum is watered down. The floor is lowered so that the ceiling looks higher. Kids graduate from high school and go on to college only to find they can't cut it. Who gets the blame? The teachers. But who's really to blame? The parents. The parents who blindly trusted that their kids were in the best hands because it's the school's job to educated their kids. The parents who were on auto-pilot, never setting foot inside the school to see what was going on, never checking up on their children or their children's teachers, never available for comment until something went wrong.
As a parent, and I am a parent of two school-age children, you have to be vigilant. If your going to trust the public school system (with all its superfluous accountability schemes and antiquated learning models) with your kids, the LEAST you can do is be involved in the process. Check into what your children are learning, attend PTA and School Board Meetings, pop up on your kids at school and see for yourself what goes on during the school day. If something is wrong, make your voice heard. Chances are you won't be the only parent who feels that way. Be the change you want to see in your community. Don't just armchair quarterback your way through your children's educations! You owe them more than that. Don't be fooled into believing that the political and/or budgetary bottom lines coincide with what's best for your children. You shouldn't have to move from a neighborhood you love in order to get your kids enrolled in a school you love.
You may, however, have to consider other options. If you are able, you may have to consider private school. But if you go this route, you should understand that many private schools mandate the level of participation that I mentioned earlier. So if you're that parent that believes the magic is in the bricks or the label, then don't waste your money on private school. Private schools thrive because they can tell you to keep your money and take your kid somewhere else. Private schools can look at your child's records and decide that he/she wouldn't be a "good fit" at their school. In other words, they can filter out the riff-raff. Public schools can't do that. Before enrolling your kid in a private school, ask yourself these tough questions: Have I allowed my child to become riff-raff? Do I plan to remain on auto-pilot? Do I think the magic is in the name? Is the problem with me and my kids or is it really the school?
The final option is home schooling. I currently home school my children because I felt that their needs were not being met at our local public school, and as I stated before, what I don't like about public schools is the public. I cannot control what others are teaching or not teaching their children at home, and I didn't feel it necessary to subject my children to an environment that could not meet their needs. Both kids came to school well-prepared (entered Kindergarten knowing how to read, write, and count), but, sadly, they were in a stark minority and were held back from reaching their potentials due to curriculum choices made by the system. As a former teacher, I realized that I could leave them in the system and run around behind them all the time, or--since I have the time and inclination--I could cut out the middle man and teach them myself. Now I am the person who has control of their educations. Whatever their needs may be (I have a free-spirited kid and a type A kid), I can meet them without feeling that I am leaving other children behind. They learn at a much faster pace, and we are able to utilize resources the public system couldn't due financial constraints or just plain short-sightedness!
Long story short, if you are a "do-nothing" parent, then it's you who should immediately dis-enroll your child from government controlled schools. You are the drain on the resources. Your kids are the problem in the classroom. Your kids are the reason that so many schools are failing. Your kids are the ones who are unmotivated to learn. And they learned it from you.
Instead of laying out the facts in a methodical fashion, I heard myself cut right to the chase. Parents are the link. They can be what's right with public schools and they are most certainly what's wrong. Did I absolve the teachers of their responsibilities? No. But who holds the power to keep teachers in check? The parents. Who has the power to put a stop to waste, fraud and abuse that school systems suffer at the hands of bureaucrats whose children don't even attend public school? You guessed it. The parents.
More often, though, who sits back and just take what's offered to them because it's free? Parents. I would argue that public education isn't free to begin with. You just don't pay for it until it jumps off track or until your child's failure turns him into a drain on society (i.e. can't get into college, find a job or get out of your house). But it's viewed as "free" because you doesn't have to write a monthly tuition check to the schools to cover the expenses of books and uniforms and food and transportation. So my question is, then, why would a parent feel that, for free, they are entitled to the very best of anything? Why expect that your child is receiving a top-notch education when you've turned control over to the government? When was the last time the government ran anything well?
I tend to believe that what's wrong with public education is the public. The public is the one of the few cases when the intelligence quotient decreases as the number of people increases. Because this is the case, the system caters to the lowest common denominator. The curriculum is watered down. The floor is lowered so that the ceiling looks higher. Kids graduate from high school and go on to college only to find they can't cut it. Who gets the blame? The teachers. But who's really to blame? The parents. The parents who blindly trusted that their kids were in the best hands because it's the school's job to educated their kids. The parents who were on auto-pilot, never setting foot inside the school to see what was going on, never checking up on their children or their children's teachers, never available for comment until something went wrong.
As a parent, and I am a parent of two school-age children, you have to be vigilant. If your going to trust the public school system (with all its superfluous accountability schemes and antiquated learning models) with your kids, the LEAST you can do is be involved in the process. Check into what your children are learning, attend PTA and School Board Meetings, pop up on your kids at school and see for yourself what goes on during the school day. If something is wrong, make your voice heard. Chances are you won't be the only parent who feels that way. Be the change you want to see in your community. Don't just armchair quarterback your way through your children's educations! You owe them more than that. Don't be fooled into believing that the political and/or budgetary bottom lines coincide with what's best for your children. You shouldn't have to move from a neighborhood you love in order to get your kids enrolled in a school you love.
You may, however, have to consider other options. If you are able, you may have to consider private school. But if you go this route, you should understand that many private schools mandate the level of participation that I mentioned earlier. So if you're that parent that believes the magic is in the bricks or the label, then don't waste your money on private school. Private schools thrive because they can tell you to keep your money and take your kid somewhere else. Private schools can look at your child's records and decide that he/she wouldn't be a "good fit" at their school. In other words, they can filter out the riff-raff. Public schools can't do that. Before enrolling your kid in a private school, ask yourself these tough questions: Have I allowed my child to become riff-raff? Do I plan to remain on auto-pilot? Do I think the magic is in the name? Is the problem with me and my kids or is it really the school?
The final option is home schooling. I currently home school my children because I felt that their needs were not being met at our local public school, and as I stated before, what I don't like about public schools is the public. I cannot control what others are teaching or not teaching their children at home, and I didn't feel it necessary to subject my children to an environment that could not meet their needs. Both kids came to school well-prepared (entered Kindergarten knowing how to read, write, and count), but, sadly, they were in a stark minority and were held back from reaching their potentials due to curriculum choices made by the system. As a former teacher, I realized that I could leave them in the system and run around behind them all the time, or--since I have the time and inclination--I could cut out the middle man and teach them myself. Now I am the person who has control of their educations. Whatever their needs may be (I have a free-spirited kid and a type A kid), I can meet them without feeling that I am leaving other children behind. They learn at a much faster pace, and we are able to utilize resources the public system couldn't due financial constraints or just plain short-sightedness!
Long story short, if you are a "do-nothing" parent, then it's you who should immediately dis-enroll your child from government controlled schools. You are the drain on the resources. Your kids are the problem in the classroom. Your kids are the reason that so many schools are failing. Your kids are the ones who are unmotivated to learn. And they learned it from you.
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