Why Johnny, Shakela and Jose can't read

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 11/30/03 | Jean Baker

[2banana]

Why don't we discuss why Johnny beat the hell out of Jose in English class? In my past private school experience

The liberal whine - Government schools (that are a forced monopoly) are a failure and it is because they need more money. However, rich liberals send their kids to private schools by choice. Poor people must have no choice in the matter,

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The important thing about this school is that the teachers belong to the NEA and their union dues go to help elect DEMO(N)cRATS.

Other than that, schools and their students are irrelevant.

[ClearCase_guy]

Never mentions per student spending. I bet it's extremely high. Why can't they afford soap? or Books?

Guess California needs higher taxes and more government spending on education. That'll fix it.

Good schooling can be done cheaply. And good schools can be (and have been in the past) oases of peace for many children in troubled environments. Yeah, the kids come from bad situations, but good schools can be a real part of the solution. But that's not where the NEA is trying to go.

[r9etb]

So how much did we spend on the Olympics? Even worse, I can't stop thinking about the $87 billion to rebuild Iraq. This may be one of those times we need to think about rebuilding our inner cities, to clean up the mess in our own backyard.

This teacher, while no doubt very earnest, has to realize that the problem is not money, but the psychotic culture in which these kids are raised.

[SouthernFreebird]

Many students are absent for as long as a month to attend Christmas festivities with families in Mexico.

Must be nice....us white folks can only miss 15 days out of a year, and those must be spread out or the truant officer will pay you a visit and summons you to court.

[shawnlaw]

Jean, Ask your City Counsel and Willie Brown why providing sex change operations to city employees is more important than teaching these kids?

I'm curious as to why you believe the physical shape of the school matters? Can you show me a correlation between the condition of the school and the ability of children to learn, or is the learning environment affected more by such things as parent participation and attitude of the community toward excellence in education?

[sd-joe]

It is not the school that is the basic problem. It is the local social order (or lack of one).

Surprise. Kids without caring supportive parents, do not do well. Any school, supported by any amount of money, in this environment will fail.

It is first necessary to "drain the swamp" and establish a rudimentary society. This is an extremely difficult task, and I have no idea how one would go about it.

[petercooper]

It starts with the parents. Irresponsible bad parents have kids with the same traits..

[Jakarta ex-pat]

"Wasting valuable grading or planning time by attending senseless teacher meetings after school is a pet peeve among faculty.

The esoteric topics presented usually include focusing on our goals as a school culture and having meetings about protocol to have meetings. There is a lot of empty talk about consensus but no discussion about relevant issues such as discipline, behavior problems, teacher support, activities, or community involvement or resources.

Why don't we discuss why Johnny beat the hell out of Jose in English class?

In my past private school experience, I can't even imagine asking teachers to spend their time hashing out philosophical nonissues while ignoring daily survival techniques."

I think the writer is spot on with the above.

However, I feel the majority of the "education" given at the school is towards the author, than from her.

[Thommas]

Petaluma resident Jean Baker...

Ah.... Petaluma, that lovely artist' enclave for aspiring liberals escaping Marin county. Without a doubt, this educator thinks that the only cure for Shakela and Jose is more TAXPAYER MONEY.

[Republic If You Can Keep It]

She also never mentions:

The Great Society welfare state that destroyed the traditional 2-parent family.

Parental concern / involvement at the school.

The number of non-teaching administrators whose jobs are never cut, no matter what.

[Eska]

Speaking the truth. Newly built schools are quickly trashed. The real problem is with the family, child abuse, dysfunction, and the lack of parenting skills. The vast majority of these kids will never achieve the norm; but we can always blame the teachers.

[misterrob]

The physical shape of your school does matter as your surroundings and how they are kept say a lot about the people who live/work there. The problem is that when kids spray paint or Sharpie the walls and smash everything around them then what is the incentive to put any more money into the place?

[Tacis]

Do the math. School capacity = 600. Actual capacity = 1400, 65% are Mexicans, or 910. Some percentage of these (and we should be able to indetify how many) are criminal illegals. The difference or 490, are black. Now, this elitist liberal wants sufficient additional revenue to bring this school up tp Utah standards.

Clearly, the presence of criminal illegal Mexicans is lessening the quality of education FOR ALL. So, while the Mexicans are only here to take jobs that Americans won't take, they also destroy the educational futures of the blacks they displace in the first place.

As a union teacher, of course, her job is ALWAYS to bitch about resources and money. This creates high paying staff jobs for teachers and lets them get out of the classrooms. But, this is a problem with a simple fix; send the Mexicans back home where they can be properly educated and stop the endless flow of additional Mexican criminals.

[misterrob]

What a sad commentary on life and education for inner city kids. Most of these children will be tomorrow's criminals.

I hear some good points from this author and it sounds like she cares. What I don't hear her say strongly enough is that it is the parents and communities who are the problem. "Society", government and people in other communities cannot be the ones who fix the problem as mandating cures and fixes have never ever worked.

[Holly_P]

The physical shape of your school does matter as your surroundings and how they are kept say a lot about the people who live/work there

Yet many of our parents, G/parents attended one room schools and managed to get an education.

[Holly_P]

What I don't hear her say strongly enough is that it is the parents and communities who are the problem.

I think you hit the nail on the head.

Some people advocate the elimination of public schools entirely. While that might work in an ideal world we have to deal with the way things are and are likely to stay for a long time.

Throwing more money at the problem is not going to make it go away. Parental involvement in childrens lives would go a long way toward fixing it but you can't make parents be responsible.

[liberallarry]

I don't think anyone knows how to fix the rotten culture she describes.

It's not poverty.
Most immigrants have come to this country with nothing. Some families escaped within a generation. Some took two or three. But there are many, many such who've been at the bottom for generations.
Throwing money at them usually is a waste.
There aren't enough good teachers who're willing to work in such an environment to make a real difference.

Probably the best approach is the one used in my childhood. Those who show desire and promise are removed from their bad environment and given every opportunity to advance. The rest are left to wallow in the mud.

Let those who think that "no child left beyond" is realistic speak with their own time and money...or shut up.