The problem with this is he cannot address the gap in parenting. That is where the problem is.
My sweetie teaches at an all black, southside Chicago Catholic school. There are no vouchers in Chicago, all parents pay. One would think that would be enough. And in many cases, it is. There are parents that will dicipline their kids if they get in trouble. Others will not, knowing the school is loathe to kick them out because they can’t afford to be with one fewer paying customer. In a different way, they are just as screwed as the public schools are. The public schools have to accept everyone, no matter what. And the private schools have to keep everyone, no matter what.
What a mess.
This was sent to me, and I sent it to my teacher sweetie:
http://martynemko.blogspot.com/2009/06/white-teacher-speaks-out-what-is-it.html
The title of the piece is: “What it’s like to teach black students”
I must caution everyone, while the title references race, it’s not entirely so. Teachers across the country will tell you they run into this every day. In white areas, black areas, and latino areas. My sweetie taught in Houston, for heaven’s sake. He taught everyone except French students.
The circumstances described in the link I posted seem to be common with poorly parented children, regardless of race, income, and everything else.
When I sent that link to him and asked his thoughts, here’s what he said:
“It’s not race. We don’t have enough parents that give a shit.”
“It’s not race. We don’t have enough parents that give a shit.”
Parental support is the sine qua non of elementary/secondary education.People who want to believe that government school is as good as homeschooling must confront the fact that only involved parents voluntarily homeschool. It follows that as long at the government school must contend with any undisciplined children at all, homeschooling must be at least as good government schools. And it is far cheaper.
Even in the extreme case where a parent might come to realize that she's in over her head, at least she will have learned quite a bit in the process - which is more than can be said of some schools, apparently.