Good God, lady, get to the freaking point.
One third of pupils can’t read. That is totally unacceptable and unnecessary.
Yep! Why doesn't she lead with the punchline?
Regards,
"It is not poor teaching or a lack of money that is failing our most vulnerable populations. The real problem is an ethos of rejection that has never been openly admitted by those in authority."
"Why should millions of perfectly normal adolescents, not all of them ghettoized, resist being educated? The reason is that they know deep down that due to the color of their skin, less is expected of them."
"They also take revenge on a fraudulent system that pretends to educate them. The authorities cover up their own incompetence, and when that fails, blame the parents and teachers, or lack of funding, or “poverty,” “racism,” and so on."
What people, and this teacher, forget about our "failing" education system is most children graduate high school, and graduation rates have been going up since the 1960s-1970s. Which contradicts her point, whatever it is.
“Good God, lady, get to the freaking point.”
I second that!!!!
The 2nd paragraph hinted at the ‘discovery’ but then wandered off somewhere.
Seemed be more interested in bringing the focus upon themselves.
It’s long, agreed. But I read it all. Her main point is that it’s not generally the teacher’s fault - but students attitude and very bad disciplinary and curriculum policies.
I am totally in favor of school choice/vouchers. Before making that step, parents should be informed of their kids grades and attitude. In K-6 we were graded on performance, effort and attitude. Parents, and schools, should know what kind of kids are coming in and choose the school that will correct the most important deficiencies. I was a great learner, but a mediocre student - I had my issues as an adolescent but I wasn’t a troublemaker. Often just lazy because for the most part I was smart enough to get by, not then knowing that I only needed to compare myself to myself, not others.
The lions share of her blame goes to administrators, and though my experience is from decades ago I can’t quarrel with her argument. It appears to have gotten worse. If I were a teacher I would simply write hall passes for the disruptive kids. Let them hang out in the cafeteria if they don’t want to learn and let others learn.
Unwritten in the essay but I think a big deal is the money. Schools need attendance to get their cash. So they want to force all kids into this day-care system. Anyway among all the bad policies is the policy that your socio-economic status and choice of neighborhood dictates which school your kid goes to... good kids get caught up in the grinder of bad schools and bad student peers. Parents have no recourse, they should have all the say. And there is plenty of money for it - all the large schools are valuable assets which can be refitted to handle multiple smaller independent schools, or sold to finance the teachers’ pensions while great schools are being built each targeting different types of students and desires and teaching methods. A free market for education!